LordHamster

Hey folks, I need your help. I've been searching every thread here, but I'm ending up more confused. It seems that most folks are traveling with slightly older kids.

My wife, four month old and I will be flying from Cleveland (CLE) to Beijing (PEK) via Newark (EWR) on Continental. We've booked Business first for the international leg and First for the domestic. However, as an old one-bag no checked bags traveler, I'm at a loss as to what to do and what equipment I should take.

Currently we have:

Graco Snugride rear facing car seat
Graco Snugrider collapsable stroller.

For those not familiar with the Snugrider, it is a collapsable frame onto which the car sear snaps... it cannot take the baby without the carseat. This is alot like a "snap-n-go"

We also have a Baby Jogger City mini at home, but so far we've never used that without the carseat.


We'll be in China for three weeks traveling by car and by plane (China Southern). So I think we'll definitely need at least a car seat.

At this point, I really don't mind buying additional or alternative equipment, but I really don't know the following:

Is a stroller + carseat setup practical for international travel?
Will I have trouble gate checking both the stroller and the car seat at the gate on Continental or with China Southern?

Is there any equipment someone could recommend that may work better for us?

vicarious_MR'er

I think you have the PERFECT set up for a trip using the carseat (which you'll need anyway) + the snap and go stroller

Just perfect. You don't need a thing


Have a great trip

vicarious_MR'er

By the way, practice installing your carseat without the base before you go, and also make sure to have a shirt or towel handy at all times so you can use it to level the carseat when installed w/o the base

Also make sure to have the seatbelt locking clip with you in case there are not the locking/retracting seatbelts there like we have here, and you probably can't depend on LATCH to install, either

dbuckho

In the middle of our first plane travel trip with our six month old. We have an Uppa Baby stroller and are using a Keyfit carseat with it via adapter - so similar setup. Two flights so far and everything has gone smoothly with security and gate checking.

I also have a cover for the Uppa Baby stroller. After I collapse at the gate I put the whole stroller in the bag. That came in handy on flight #2 when we landed in heavy rain. Baggage guy did a good job keeping the car seat dry with an umbrella - but the stroller would have been soaked if not for the cover. Not sure if the Graco has a similar travel cover?

My wife carried on our Luna Lullaby pillow and it worked really well for having the baby on our lap.

We are also going to Thailand in December at 10 months. Not sure if Beijing is like Bangkok, but have been told that some parts of the city will not be passable with a stroller. So for that trip will also be taking our over-the-shoulder baby carrier too. Would think having the option to leave the stroller in the hotel would be good for China as well.

globe.trotter

For the flight you should be fine.
However the use of a stroller in many part of China I think is going to cause you issues. They aren't really set up for strollers, so you will do a lot of man-handling the thing and many places (if your away from tourist stuff) will not let the stroller in or will simply not have room for it. Many of the tourist areas as well are so crowded that a stroller is a PITA.
Are you renting a car? Is the plan to have the stroller/car seat at all the locations and then use the car seats in taxis?
Does the 4 month old have their own seat on the flights? If not I would Personally just leave it all at home and get an ergo/Beco (baby carrier-but not the cheapo ones that hurt your back/shoulders). But I'm a minimalistic packer with my child I have an ergo sport (little bigger so dads love them also) and have worn my child around for 10hr days with no pain issues (since birth and still going at 1 yrs old).

ArizonaRoadWarrior

Unless you are going to have a private car or cars (either a rental or a hired driver) for your entire stay in China, leave the car seat at home. Most of the taxis in PEK, PVG and HKG have the backseat covered with a white sheet so I have doubts that you could connect it. Also, given the fast paced nature of China, I have doubts that a taxi driver is going to wait for you to install it then uninstall it.

When my son was 16-MO, we went on a trip that included a visit to China. Since my son had his own seat, he had a car seat which basically he used for the departure and arrival since we had lie-flat seats. His car seat sat in the room for the three weeks that we were on vacation in China.

ArizonaRoadWarrior

It depends upon the city, the location, etc. In Shanghai, we had no problems using our umbrella stroller with our then 16-MO son on the streets; however, we use taxis. I am sure that if we took the subway, I would have to fold the stroller since there are no elevators and etc. In Hong Kong, we had no problems with umbrella strollers on the streets. At Hong Kong Disney, it was stroller friendly. At Ocean Park (an amusement park like Disney, Sea World, etc.), it wasn't stroller friendly.

When we were in Shanghai, we went to the Wal-Mart Superstore almost every day so we used the stroller to haul our bags. We are going back to China shortly and we are going to take our son's umbrella stroller (which he hasn't used in months) for hauling stuff.

LordHamster

Wow, thanks for all the great advice everyone.

We will be traveling to Beijing then to Zhengzhou (CGO). We'll be staying in a city near CGO using mostly private cars to transport the rugrat around, however there will also be some cab travel. ArizonaRoadWarrior is absolutely right about the cabs with the white sheets.

I'm tempted to just check the car seat through and then perhaps use the Baby carrier (I have an Eddie Bauer, but have never used it) to schlep the baby around in. You all bring up good points with respect to stroller access. With so many sidewalks, stairs etc, on-body carry may be the way to go.

vicarious_MR'er, dbuckho: I'm glad to hear the setup I have in mind will work for me. The big concern I have is Gate checking... especially in China. Will I get my things back planeside, or will I have to walk all the way down to baggage claim while carrying the baby. If thats the case, I'm not sure the stroller is worth taking.

globe.trotter: The four month old doesn't have a seat. We opted for "Business first" for both parents with a bulkhead bassinet reservation rather than three seats. We'll see if it was a good idea or not. As for the carrier, I'm going to try out the one I've got tomorrow all day and see how it goes. If I like the concept but not the equipment I may upgrade to a ergo.


Thanks again everyone!

vicarious_MR'er

I don't know about the gate-checking issue in China. I know some other places DO give it back airside, and some don't.

Good luck on your trip, and enjoy

ArizonaRoadWarrior

It depends. For domestic\intra-China flights, you take a bus to your plane at some airports instead of using a jetway so I don't know how gate checking works when you take a bus. If I remember correctly one time during our 2007 trip, we had to claim our gate-checked umbrella stroller in baggage claim...I can't recall if that was at the Shanghai airport (PVG) on our inbound flight on LH from FRA or our flight back from Hong Kong to PVG.

You might want to check with CO to see if CO bags their gate-check items. If not, you might want to get a bag for your stroller so that it doesn't get dirty. On the domestic flights that I have taken with CO over the years (used to be an elite FF on CO for four years plus I have taken over 10 flights since they became a Star Alliance partner), I have not seen them put gate-check items like strollers in bags. They might have a different policy for their international flights.

During our 2007 trip, the stroller was put in a bag on LH, OZ and CX.

globe.trotter

I think I have a coupon for $10 off an ergo... msg me if your interested. I'm guessing (from what I have heard about the Eddie Bauer carriers---they aren't good for long wears). *I* think good choice with the seat location.

LordHamster

Ah, too bad. I already ordered an ERGO from Amazon.

The Eddie Bauer isn't bad, but it has a very dangerous problem with it. The top of the carrier is secured with two regular carabiners and there is no "backup." The other day I was testing it around the house with the 4 month old facing in. As I went to take him out, I realize he had his little hand on the carabiner squeezing the gate in the open position. Had I jostled even a little bit, the top of the carrier would have come open.