First time traveling with an infant...help!

[Ashlie in Wonderland]

This will be my first time traveling with a baby, we are going for my son's 1st Birthday. We will be staying at Port Orleans Riverside with a rental car and we are flying Southwest. What are the rules with flying with a stroller? I am going to check my car seat because my little one will be a lap child. All advice is appreciated....

 

[OutpostLarry]

Is leaving it at home an option?

We always the Orlando Stroller Rental and have had nothing but good experiences. Strollers are clean and ride very smooth.

If not, you should be able to gate check it. So, when you get to your gate, tell them you have a stroller and you'll get a special tag. Just leave the stroller at the bottom of your ramp with the rest. There shouldn't be a cost.

Don't forget SW has special boarding for families traveling with little ones. You'll go right after group A or B. keep an ear on the person announcing groups. This will help you all find seats close to each other.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I would also recommend leaving your personal stroller at home and renting one at disney. we did this in march (our first trip with an infant) and it was great! We rented from kingdom strollers and had a great experience. we are renting from apple strollers in october.

i just found it a lot easier to wear dd through the airport using my beco gemini than rolling along a stroller. we did buy her a seat on the plane and had her car seat, but it was also easier to bring it through the airport empty, since dd would have had to have been taken out of it to go through security anyway.

for boarding the plane, we flew southwest as well. i highly recommend checking in early enough to get an A boarding pass. then one of you can board with your 'stuff' (carry on, diaper bag, etc) and get a seat, and then the other can follow during family boarding and just be able to sit down quickly.

 

[kmb584]

I'm going to advise bringing the stroller with you and not renting one from a rental company. As someone who has traveled numerous times with a child since the age of 1, having that stroller in the airport was not only great but served as comfort item because my little one was used to it. On DD's first trip to Disney, our flight on the way home was delayed for 4 hours. Without her stroller I probably would have looked a little something like this lovely lady, . After 2 hours of running around like a loon, she slept for the next 2 in her stroller.

Once you get DS's stroller through security ask for a gate check ticket at your gate. Once you begin to board fold the stroller at the end of the jetway and leave it there; those working for the airline will load it into the belly of the plane. After de-planing, wait in the same location where you dropped it off for it to be brought back to the jetway. No cost is incurred for this. I'd also recommend a stroller bag. It'll prevent the stroller from getting scuffed, etc!

 

[Julie711]

I'm going to advise bringing the stroller with you and not renting one from a rental company. As someone who has traveled numerous times with a child since the age of 1, having that stroller in the airport was not only great but served as comfort item because my little one was used to it. On DD's first trip to Disney, our flight on the way home was delayed for 4 hours. Without her stroller I probably would have looked a little something like this lovely lady, . After 2 hours of running around like a loon, she slept for the next 2 in her stroller.

Once you get DS's stroller through security ask for a gate check ticket at your gate. Once you begin to board fold the stroller at the end of the jetway and leave it there; those working for the airline will load it into the belly of the plane. After de-planing, wait in the same location where you dropped it off for it to be brought back to the jetway. No cost is incurred for this. I'd also recommend a stroller bag. It'll prevent the stroller from getting scuffed, etc!

Agree, we always bring our own stroller. It is a great help in the airports & we like having our own knowing it's clean & comfortable!

 

[mjkacmom]

Bring your own for the airport - you never know if a flight is going to be delayed. Just gate check it. BTW, you will be travelling with a toddler, not a little baby (I think of an infant as a very young baby, before 6 months).

 

[bandksmommy]

As others have said, just bring the stroller through security and ask for a gate check tag at your gate. At least in my experience, the stroller will have to be folded up and sent through the x-ray thing so be prepared for that (don't load up your stroller with lose items before security). Also, our gate checked items have on occasion come back to us pretty beat up, so you might want to invest in a stroller bag.

I've flown quite a bit since my first child was born, and personally find it easier to "babywear" and not bring a stroller. But I did bring ours when we went to Disney when DS was 9 months and I am SO glad we had it! I'm sure the rentals are nice, but baby will be away from home and sleeping in a strange place, and it's nice to have SOMETHING familiar. Especially something he'll be spending so much time in.

Have fun!

 

[Angel Ariel]

I'm sure the rentals are nice, but baby will be away from home and sleeping in a strange place, and it's nice to have SOMETHING familiar. Especially something he'll be spending so much time in.

Have fun!

I don't entirely disagree with this..the familiarity is a good idea. it wasn't an issue so much for us, because dd's stroller at home is a city mini, and that's what we rented - so it's not like it was a different type of stroller. she had no problems sleeping in it and being comfy in it (she was 8 months old on that trip)

 

[khertz]

We have always brought our stroller from home, and it makes it easier to get through the airport with our stuff when we can put DS in the stroller and a bag in the basket underneath. Like others have said, gate checking it is no problem at all, and it lets you be able to use the stroller to move around the airport while waiting for your flight if need be.

Even though you are flying with DS as a lap baby, make sure to ask when you check in if the flight is full. If there are empty seats, you will be able to put DS in one with his car seat. We have gone on 3 Southwest flights with DS as a lap baby and only had to actually have him on our laps once! Both of the other times, he was able to fly in a seat for free.

 

[mmps108]

We are traveling with an 8 month old and her 18 month old cousin and we're considering renting a double stroller for the parks. Any feedback with double strollers on maneuvering around the parks?

We are still planning to bring our respective single strollers for the airport and when we aren't at the parks together.

However, I'm very concerned about our stroller getting damaged by the airline. We have a brand new City Elite.

I can babywear her in the airport, and rent a single in addition to the double or should just find a cheap stroller on craig's list or somewhere else?

 

[NotUrsula]

ALWAYS carry on enough clothing and baby supplies for 24 hours, and a spare outfit for yourself. In the event of a delay, it is very difficult to find baby items in most airports.

TSA may give you grief about this, but if so, ask to speak to a supervisor and politely insist; because TSA cannot guarantee that there will be no flight delays.

 

[CourtneyL]

We are traveling with an 8 month old and her 18 month old cousin and we're considering renting a double stroller for the parks. Any feedback with double strollers on maneuvering around the parks?

We are still planning to bring our respective single strollers for the airport and when we aren't at the parks together.

However, I'm very concerned about our stroller getting damaged by the airline. We have a brand new City Elite.

I can babywear her in the airport, and rent a single in addition to the double or should just find a cheap stroller on craig's list or somewhere else?

Buy the stroller bag for the city elite. We have the one made by baby jogger for our city mini. It is nicely padded and protects the stroller really well. We've gate checked our stroller 4 times so far and have never had any issues (we always fly JetBlue)

 

[PixieMamaAma]

We always bring the MacLaren Triumph. This year, since our sons will be almost 5 and 7.5 months old when we go (in 30 days), were borrowing a friends MacLaren double stroller. Never any problems on the airline. We do bring a colored "bungee cord" for wrapping around it to
keep it together. We got it at Menards or Home Depot.

 

[DanieD0909]

My little one is almost 11 months old now...we have flown with her five times now...all southwest. Here are my recommendations: 1. I bring my own stroller - I have a gate check stroller bag. It is a necessity for us to have somewhere to "corral" her when going through security. Get everything on the belt - take dd out - put stroller on the belt - go thorough scanner - get stroller off belt - strap dd in - get rest of stuff off the belt. We then gate check the stroller. Once you get to your gate ask the agent for a tag. The stroller does not count as one of your two checked bags. Once you board the plane - leave your bag with the stroller in it at the bottom of the jetway. The staff will take it and load it on the plane. Then when you get to either your connection or to Orlando retrieve the stroller before entering the airport. They usually hand me the bag with the stroller but sometimes, they have taken it out of the bag for me to strap DD in right away with out me even asking. Southwest is pretty awesome like that!!!
2. I know everyone will have differing opinions on this but here is my recommendations....the car seat...we ALWAYS bring our own. I have a little fear of renting a car seat and it smelling unfavorable. This is what we do....when you check your bags...they will ask you if you want to check your car seat. We always say no. We take it with us through security. Then at the gate we tell them we need to gate check the car seat. We have a car seat bag for this as well.
Here is my reasoning - one...if it is gate checked - it is going to be with you. If your luggage is mishandled/missing/didnt make your flight/etc on baggage claim...you will still have your car seat!! Two - southwest is pretty cool and if there is an open seat they will let you use your car seat for your little one without you paying extra!!! This has happened four of the five times!!! If I had checked my car seat I would have been out of luck!!
Hope this helps!! Have an awesome trip!!!

 

[msmama]

I do/have checked my carseat, but I always do so in a box, in a carseat bag. It makes me nervous that it gets tossed around. I figure by keeping in in a box (we're up to a booster now and I was finally smart enough to keep the box it came in) I'm not doing any more damage that was done to it when it was originally shipped to a store.

Also, a Cosco Scenera is a really nice CHEAP travel carseat if you don't want to bring your "good" seat.

As for the stroller, I always fold mine up myself and hand it over already folded at the end of the jetway (or leave it already folded), but I don't know if that's necessary.

 

[sigmasal]

First trip when DS was 2, we gate-checked our stroller at the airport. If your son isn't too heavy to "wear," go for it but mine was at that time. The only part that was a bit of inconvenient was taking our stroller on the buses but we went during a very slow time (early February) and the buses weren't very crowded. Also we were younger then! (And the wearable baby accessories have gotten much better!). Last time we went dd was 3.5 and ds was 6.5, we went with another family and rented a stroller a few times in the parks for the little ones. We missed having our stroller at the resort when we got back at night because 3yo girls can be quite heavy to carry from the bus stop to the room at 10pm after a very long day in the parks!