Checking Car seats

[Lovetoplanx3]

Hello I leave in 2 weeks for the World. We have never flown before with our three little ones 4, 3 and 2. So I am not sure what to do with the Car seats. I know my DS (2) we will bring his car seat on the plane. The two girls 4 and 3 we want to check them. I was wondering if the airports (Ohare and MCO) have some kind of bag we can put them in or should I just grab a trash bag from home. If you have any suggestions I would really like to hear them.

Regards

 

[DVCsince02]

There are car seat travel bags. I think ours came from Babies R Us.

I've never used a trash bag, but I'm sure others can give you some good ideas.

 

[moxiecola]

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5652240
They also carry stroller covers. There is another thread just like this one where a flight attendant posted a response. She recommended putting all kids in seats. She said if you'd use a car seat for them in a car then you should on a plane. Just her opinion but it is valuable since she is a flight attendant.

 

[jodifla]

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5652240
They also carry stroller covers. There is another thread just like this one where a flight attendant posted a response. She recommended putting all kids in seats. She said if you'd use a car seat for them in a car then you should on a plane. Just her opinion but it is valuable since she is a flight attendant.

Cars and planes are not the same.


I stopped using a car seat for my son on the plane once he turned 3. First, the was the MAJOR hassle of dragging it around, then their was the fact that there was no room for his legs once they start to be that big.

 

[LoveKermit]

We used a bag and checked it through. I have seen bag-less carseats going around the carousels everywhere I've been. ORD and MCO included. We always used the bag (when we had a lap-baby) but we bought a seat for the next time, so it will be drag-city (literally and figuratively).

Do with your older kids what you are comfortable with. I've seen young kids without a carseat and they just curl into a ball and sleep or they can work on the tray.

 

[all4fun]

If you're going to check the car seats then buy a car seat travel bag (sometimes you can fit two seats in one bag depending on the size of the seats) OR buy commercial grade trash bags to put them in for the flight and double bag them. I tried fitting one of my ds seats in a regular trash bag and it was too big for it. I think the commercial grade ones found at home improvement stores are bigger.

If you can use them on board the plane though you'll save yourself the headache of worrying about how the car seat will come back to you. If it's damaged, most likely the airline won't reimburse you for it (not w/out a fight anyway). Most of the airline sites I checked say that car seats are considered "fragile" and will not cover the cost of replacement so the only way to ensure they will arrive in one piece is to use them on board if you can (they must have the sticker on them that says they are approved for airline use).

Just some food for thought. I have checked my ds seat on one trip. We were using DME and only needed it for a few days during the middle of our stay. On our last trip just a couple of weeks ago, on the way home, one of our return flights was canceled and we didn't get our bags until four days after we got home so I would have been really upset if one of them had ds's car seat in it! If you're going to check them, then I suggest gate checking so at least if you get to the airport and find out a flight has been changed or canceled, you'll have the seats with you instead of who knows where.

hth.

 

[las3888]

I have purchased a car seat bag from BRU for about $20. It was well worth the cost. We have used it at least 5x now. Anyways, I pack the car seat in the bag at home, then I load a large plastic bag (i.e. LARGE target bag or trash bag) with diapers, sippy cups, blankets, clothes, any misc. baby/toddler items that are bulky and lightweight. I then load it into the car seat where DS would sit and zip it all up. This way when we get to Orlando, we just get the carseat from luggage carousel. We then get our rental car and we just throw the large trash bag with diapers and whatnot in the trunk after we install the car seat into the rental car. On our way back, we load our dirty laundry in there. It has been a GREAT way to lug extra stuff, especially now that the airlines are starting to charge for extra baggage.

 

[tjlovespooh]

We didn't check our carseat but we did buy a bag just to make carrying it easier (shoulder strap). It was a major hassle but was well worth it since DS didn't put up any fuss about having to sit for the 3 hour flight - I know he wouldn't have been content to sit otherwise.