Checking carseat?
 

I'm traveling with my almost-2 year old in a couple of weeks. It will just be the two of us, so no husband help this time. I purchased CARES and will be using it onboard. I'm intending on checking my Britax Marathon as baggage but as I look online I see several recommendations against that as it might get damaged.

If I do decide to go ahead and check it, how should I wrap it? I don't have the original packaging.

My other two options are to buy the Cosco brand car seat and have it shipped to my destination, or to buy a backpack contraption for the car seat. If I end up doing that, my CARES purchase was pretty much wasted because if I'm going to haul the car seat through the airport, I'm going to use it onboard.

Any advice?

We've checked our carseats (first a Graco Snugride, then a Britax Roundabout) a few times and have never had a problem. Just get one of those $30-40 backpack carriers for the carseat and check it. The backpack carrier makes it easier to get the carseat from baggage claim to your rental car or whatever, too. I wouldn't recommend checking the carseat "bare" and plastic bags just don't give enough protection (we had a plastic bag rip off one time and got a little stain on our car seat--that's when we bought our backpack carrier). But an inexpensive canvas carrier will give it pretty good protection from being stained or ripped.

I know the purists out there are concerned that by letting it get banged around by baggage handlers you might risk compromising the structural integrity of the carseat. But I think there are much bigger things to worry about in this world than whether the plastic structure of my car seat might be slightly weakened by being tossed around. The odds seem extremely low of the seat being critically weakened in an invisible way AND you later being in a car accident where that weakness causes your kid to get hurt. I think there's a much greater chance of your kid getting hurt because you were trying to lug the carseat and all your other stuff and couldn't grab him when he went to run out in front of a speeding luggage cart in the airport or something.

If you're still not comfortable, however, just order a Scenera, have it shipped to your destination, then donate it to Goodwill or something when you're done using it.

Thanks for the quick reply. I checked with the other moms at my office and one of them has a car seat bag she's going to let me borrow, so I think I'll take your advice and go ahead and check it.

It's going to be a fun weekend, but hauling a todder LGA-DTW-MLI then MLI-MSP-LGA is not going to be fun!

DTW has a fun fountain in the middle of the main terminal that toddlers love. Grownups, too. Toddler might get a little wet, though, as it's awfully tempting to touch the water.

MSP has a couple of play areas where the toddler can climb on stuff and burn off some steam if you have time.

Last time we were in DTW, there was a strategically placed t-shirt store right near that fountain, so after you and the little darling get soaked from the fountain (every kid tries to make ripples in the smooth water!) you can buy yourselves nice, dry souvenir t-shirts. :D

We use the Go Go Kidz roller wheels on our Britax Marathon and love it. Your kid gets to enjoy the ride as you wheel him or her around the airport in his or her own car seat.

And, when you do that, you have the car seat at the gate, so you have the option of bringing it onboard or gate-checking it. It seems to me that there's less risk of damage when you gate check, as opposed to regular checking. Nonetheless, we put the car seat in a $40 car seat bag, even when we gate check.

Can you return the CARES harness? We bought a Cosco Scenera. It comes with its own bag with a carrying handle. Awesome travel seat.

You can also ask for a bag at baggage check.

We ask for bags for our stroller (can double as a luggage cart) and if the Scenera didn't already come with a bag, we'd get one for our seat as well. We ALWAYS gate check the strollers and seat. This current trip we're on, the baggage agent we pressured us to check the seat then, but we were adamant about not doing it. It's better to just buy a seat and use it on the plane tho.

Note some airlines no longer give out the heavy plastic bags for car seats at the ticket counter. In our experience over the last couple years, CO has had them. DL has not. And B6 sometimes has them but charges for them.

Gate-checking is much safer than checking your seat in as baggage.

Many people claim they've checked seats and they've been "fine" but the truth is that your seat could be damaged and you wouldn't be able to tell. The only way to know is if there was an accident and let's hope there isn't. This is not a "purist" view but a practical one. A car seat is an important safety item. Checking it means it could be mishandled. Car seats are only meant to sustain one accident after all.

No car seat bag will protect your seat from damage or lost. The only purpose in using one is to keep the seat clean.

The other big risk is that your seat could get lost. It usually takes about two days to get lost bags returned to you. Then how would you transport your child?

The best way is if you take the seat to the gate. I fly alone with three children and honestly, taking a car seat is not a big deal. I have very active children and I've never had any problems with any "running off" and getting hurt (silly logic IMHO). My husband is never with me to help and gate-passes aren't possible.

I strap my car seat on to a small foldable metal luggage cart. I use an extra bungee cord and this is less expensive and works better than a Gogo Kidz. Your child would be safer and more comfortable in the seat than in the CARES harness (which can only be used for a short time anyway).

Then you would be sure your car seat is not lost or mishandled.

Do you strap 3 seats to a luggage cart or do you just have older "active" kids? You gave good advice, it's just that it sounds like 3 kids could still be a big deal if they're younger. If you only have 1 seat, that means 2 are at least in boosters (and where are they?). Otherwise, 2 of them are like 8+ years and no matter how active, it's not that big a deal to see an 8 year old behave even if they're active.

Just trying to make sure things stay realistic here.

No, I take just one car seat at a time. I'm alone with three close in age so I can't take more than that. Boosters aren't allowed on airplanes anyway. My mom had a car seat and now boosters in California we use on our visits. From about age 3-4 on, they went in regular seat belts, which is too young IMHO and less safe than car seats but higher harnessed seats are not available here and were not that common when they were young. One trip I did have a lap baby because I couldn't use her car seat on the plane (thank you Air France). I did talk the crew into letting me bring it on board and my 2 year old went in it.

We could have really benefited from the CARES harness but it came out too late to be of any use to us.

Priority should be in making sure the child has a car seat in the car, since the real risk is on the ground, not in the air. If you arrive in Detroit, and your car seat is in Chicago, you have a problem.

We've also gone to destinations where we didn't need car seats. In London, for example, we used public transportation and friends had extra car seats in Bristol. A few times, when travelling in Europe, my husband drives and we fly. He travels a lot for work so we join him sometimes. We have extra boosters for the two oldest and often he takes the bulk of our luggage. I then only have the one car seat to take.

To tell the truth, the oldest and youngest are my runners. My middle child sticks to my side like glue (she's terrified of getting lost still at age 7). I'm really paranoid "landside" (before security) but can relax a little once we're airside since I know that no one but employees and fellow passengers are around us. One time the little one dove under the toilet stalls at SFO while I was "busy". Terrifying! I try to have my parents or husband with me at least until security. I used a leash for my oldest when he was little and I was alone (he hated the stroller so I gave him the choice).

Realistically, I think one car seat per adult is reasonable. I do know of parents who can manage more than that. They'll take two strollers, one dedicated to carting the seats. The Radian is skinny and folds so two can fit on one metal cart or one can be slipped under a double stroller (side-by-side). A car seat strapped to a cart can be used as a stroller, especially for a child who walks but occasionally gets tired, and then if a stroller is needed at the destination, it can be checked.

I used a Scenera too and also recommend it a lot. I didn't get a carry case though! It's half the cost almost as a CARES harness and can be used in the car too. Car seats can also easily be ordered on line and delivered to addresses in N. America.

I was able to hang my Scenera off the stroller, it was so light (tether, not shoulder straps please). I got a Sit-n-Stroll for a second baby gift. My oldest liked to push his younger sisters in it (the handle is adjustable). From about age 3 on, I made my kids cart some of their things.

Flying with children often means getting creative and taking advantage of circumstances!

http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com

If it's an option, return your CARES restraint and get the Go Go Kidz Travelmate. It converts your car seat to a stroller, and is one of the most useful things we had for our baby. Last year on a cruise where we rented a car in two ports, she was the talk of the ship as everyone saw her getting wheeled off the boat in her car seat. :D

I've seen this. It's a possibility. Is it hard to attached and detach? I'm seeing mixed thoughts on whether or not I need to detach it before putting it in the airplane seat.

Airlines don't advertise it, but we had 2 car seats delayed on a trip 2 years ago, turned out at least United and US Air have car seats available at most destinations if yours get delayed (or worst lost).

We regularly check our car seats (2-3 trips per year) and have not run into any problems other than the one delay. (funny thing is the seats were actually on our plane, but they assumed they needed to be brought up as gate checked and no one noticed for several hours)

The new versions have pop-off wheels, so you can leave the frame attached to the carseat while belted in the seat.

Even the old versions car be left on when belted to the seat, but it leaves minimal space for the kid's legs.

It's very easy to detach/attach. Two large bolts screw into a bar that goes into the "hollows" on the back of the carseat.