Carseats, strollers, luggage, oh my

[jlrn366419]

Couple of questions:

 

-anyone ever bungee cord the cosco scenera into the first years jet umbrella stroller? (not with child in it!) or same carseat into similar cheap umbrella stroller?

 

-anyone use that t strap contraption to attach carseat to rolling luggage? They sell one that lets you put carseat onto rolling luggage with child in the carseat. Mainly for ease through airport not to be used as stroller.

 

-what tips do you have for lugging carseat, umbrella stroller and tot through airports and ports etc? Just looking for any ideas to make things as simple as possible.

[kms118]

Bump! Taking an 18mo with us next January.

[beckyjohns]

We have twins so we were always trying to get thru the airport with bags, strollers, carseats, kids, etc. Regardless of how you do it, it's not easy!!!

 

That said, we used to use those t-strap things (don't know the exact name) to strap a carseat to a carry-on bag, then push the child in the stroller. While it probably would have been "safe" to stgrap the child in to the carseat while it was attached, all the extra weight ended up crushing the suitcase, so we never did that. When you get to the gate, it's real quick to fold down the umbrella stroller, detach the strap from the carseat and get on the plane.

[Mom2B&Z]

On our first trip we strapped our Britax Marathon to an umbrella stroller to transport the stroller (not with the child!) through airports. I wore DS2 in the Ergo and it worked fairly well.

Last year we didn't bring the stroller but hooked a shoulder strap from another bag we had to the LATCH bars (I asked our Transport Canada person about where it was safe to attach a strap to a car seat, she told me the bars were the best place) and DH carried the seat across his back through the airports. We found it much easier at airport security to simply place the car seat on the conveyor, rather than unhook it from the stroller, fold everything up etc. However, DS2 travels well in the Ergo, so it may not work if the child can't be carried or cannot walk on their own.

I know what we do is try a few practice runs at home, with each of the adults carrying what needs to be carried through the airport. It helps us figure out who has hands free to open doors, hold hands on escalators etc.

 

(As a side note, don't carry the seat by the harness or tether strap as they are not designed to carry the weight of the seat. I didn't know this until I talked to our TC person... who knew!)

[mikesteg]

Interesting. I'd think any of the weight bearing straps (tether, harness or latch belt) would easily carry the weight of the seat. They are required to hold the seat+child in place under multiple Gs in the case of a crash. Nonetheless, I wouldn't put a child in the seat attached to a bag... even with just the seat it seems forward-heavy and liable to tip.

 

We bag our car seats and I attached them upside down to the bag with one of those brightly colored ID straps. (Obviously not with the child in it :D ) We have CARES harnesses, so we check the car seats and use cheap-o umbrellas to get them through the airport. We gate check the strollers and just have the 2 diapers bags (+ camera bag usually) to carry on. It's still a pain in the butt to go through security...

[scarlett81]

Couple of questions:

 

-anyone ever bungee cord the cosco scenera into the first years jet umbrella stroller? (not with child in it!) or same carseat into similar cheap umbrella stroller?

 

-anyone use that t strap contraption to attach carseat to rolling luggage? They sell one that lets you put carseat onto rolling luggage with child in the carseat. Mainly for ease through airport not to be used as stroller.

 

-what tips do you have for lugging carseat, umbrella stroller and tot through airports and ports etc? Just looking for any ideas to make things as simple as possible.

The 'not with child in it' line made me laugh. Thats a funny picture.

Ok so when we travel, we bring our all terrain stroller. Its similar to a bugaboo, but sturdier. Once in the airport, we check our bags, then me or hubby hold or walks our daughter. We put a carryon bag on the stroller seat part, then lay the carseat upside down over that. Then I hang my diaper bag on a hook on the stroller. My stroller also has a huge storage shelf underneath the seat that can fit a typical carry on size bag.

Once we're at the gate, we get 2 stroller gate check tags. Our stroller separates into to parts. We get to the airplane door, unhook everything and hubby carries the carseat, and carry on bags onto the plane first. I collapse the stroller and check in. While I'm doing that, hubby installs the car seat and then babe and I walk on.

(yes we are frequent fliers...ugh!)

[jlrn366419]

The 'not with child in it' line made me laugh. Thats a funny picture.

Ok so when we travel, we bring our all terrain stroller. Its similar to a bugaboo, but sturdier. Once in the airport, we check our bags, then me or hubby hold or walks our daughter. We put a carryon bag on the stroller seat part, then lay the carseat upside down over that. Then I hang my diaper bag on a hook on the stroller. My stroller also has a huge storage shelf underneath the seat that can fit a typical carry on size bag.

Once we're at the gate, we get 2 stroller gate check tags. Our stroller separates into to parts. We get to the airplane door, unhook everything and hubby carries the carseat, and carry on bags onto the plane first. I collapse the stroller and check in. While I'm doing that, hubby installs the car seat and then babe and I walk on.

(yes we are frequent fliers...ugh!)

 

That was very helpful, thank you!