You’ve booked a flight with your baby and now you’re starting to worry. How will I carry all that stuff and the baby? Do we need to bring the car seat? Am I insane for attempting this trip alone? After eight international flights and more than a dozen domestic flights with an under-2, I’ve got the answers for you!
Carrying the Car Seat
You’re going to need your infant carrier or convertible child restraint when you get to your destination. NEVER check the car seat when you check the rest of your luggage. If you’re not using the car seat on the plane (see Airline Travel Trips), then gate-check it. That will almost guarantee that your car seat won’t get lost.
Carrying an infant carrier or convertible car seat through an airport can be a struggle. Here are some of your options, from worst to best:
- Terrible. Carry your car seat in your hands while juggling the rest of your gear and carrying the baby somehow. Exhausting. Don’t try this!
- Slightly better than miserable. Buy a car seat bag with a shoulder strap. However, the strap won’t be padded and the bag will probably end up ripped. The only reason to buy one of these bags is to protect the seat if you gate-check it.
- Good. Strap your car seat onto your rolling suitcase or stroller using bungee cords. This method is hard on the arms and shoulders that will move the rig through the airport, especially if your baby or child needs to be carried as well.
- Better. If you have a baby carrier, buy a Flying Falcon Infant Car Seat Carrying Strap. Make sure your carry-on is in the form of a backpack for comfort.
- Best. If you’re traveling with a convertible car seat, buy a Cheeky Monkey Pac Back
. If your baby fits in either the convertible car seat or an infant carrier, choose this option because it’s much more comfortable to carry. Also, consider bringing a front pack baby carrier like an Ergo or baby pouch to carry your child in. If you set things up this way, make sure your carry-on is either a rolling suitcase or a daypack that you can strap into your car seat like a toddler. DO NOT strap your child into the car seat when carrying it with a Cheeky Monkey!
The Best Car Seat Installation Trick
Pre-board the plane if you can so that you won’t feel rushed. If the baby’s not old enough to sit up in your seat, ask a flight attendant to hold the baby for a few minutes.
The key to making your baby’s flight safe is to install the seat so that it’s TIGHT. Here’s how:
- Put the child safety restraint into its most upright position, if it reclines.
- Untangle the straps and make sure they are pulled forward (not slack behind the car seat).
- Recline the airplane seat as far as it will go; push the recline button and push the top of the seat with your other hand.
- Put the car seat into the airplane seat (rear-facing unless your child is over thirty pounds), take your watch off so you don’t break it, and thread the seatbelt through the normal car seat lap-belt path.
- Flip the buckle end of the airplane seatbelt over so that the part you lift up to release the seatbelt faces OUT. Fasten the seatbelt.
- Make the seatbelt as tight as you can by putting your knee into the car seat and pulling hard on the airplane seatbelt strap.
- Raise the airplane seat back to the upright position by pushing the recline button and pulling the top of the seat with your hand.
- If you install the car seat in a rear-facing position and it has a tether strap, attach it to the frame of the seat in front of you.
- Put your watch back on so you don’t lose it and thank the flight attendant who’s still got your baby!
Reverse these steps when you get to your destination. If you stay calm, it will take less than five minutes to get the car seat in or out.
Don’t let the person in front of your baby recline into the baby’s space, especially if you paid for your baby’s seat. Ask them nicely to raise their seat back, explain that they are hurting your baby, tilting the car seat to an unsafe angle, or that the baby can’t move. If they refuse, ring for a flight attendant’s help.
Yes, air travel with a baby can seem like a huge hassle, but it’s one of the shortest parts of your trip. Bon voyage!
Julia Ziobro is a freelance technical writer based in Bellevue, WA, and a mom who loves to travel.
