Is it crazy to do only carry-ons?

[KerriKaden]

Hi, everyone! We are flying out Saturday night. Since I've never flown before, and don't have a clue would I be crazy to try to pack only carry-on luggage for our family of 5. I'm using the ziplock method for the 2 smaller kids, and will also put our underclothes, and other small items in ziplocks if possible. Anyway... will this be too much of a hassle? I plan to take my laptop and stuff, too. Would 3 carry-ons be too much? Also, we'll have the stroller & car seat.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[gary4jenn]

Let me say that the aisles in the aircraft are really narrow and trying to herd my 3 kids ahead of me, avoid hitting the other passengers w/ the car seat and then of couse not getting snagged by the diaper bag and my purse- Yikes!

Why don't you want to check your luggage. They proabably won't lose it and if you want to be careful, you can pack half and half (pack half or your clothes in each suitcase so if one goes missing then at least you'd have 1/2 your clothes.

And let's not forget about all the stuff you need to bring home! I bring an extra suitcase along inside another packed one just for the extra stuff.

Instead of giving your self a backache and headache- I say check em. If it was only you and your spouse you could probably get away with it. It sounds like you have enough to keep track of with your kids, laptop, stroller, purse, car seat, etc.

 

[Jeanne B]

I always do what gary4jenn suggested...pack half our clothes in each suitcase so in case a piece of luggage is lost we'll all have some clothes to get us by for a few days. IMO it seems like with a family of 5, 3 carry-ons, a stroller and a carseat it would be quite a hassle for you. On our last flight the overhead bins arounds us were so full I didn't even have room to put one of my carry-ons in the bin (I had to really push on it to get it to fit under the seat in front of me and it still didn't go entirely under the seat). I don't know if people are starting to carry on luggage a lot more than they used to or what!! We're only going for 4 nights later this month and I would like to carry on our 2 small pieces of luggage because they just (and I mean just) meet the carry-on size limit and we wouldn't have to waste time with baggage claim but they just seem too big to lug on the plane and knowing how full the bins were last time I don't think I want to bring it on and maybe inconvenience other people so we'll probably check both of them and just carry-on a shoulder bag.

 

[WDWorBUST]

Honestly.....after flying for the first time with my dd when she was 13 months in December I would say you are certifiably crazy to try and do it with 3 kids. We had my dd, the stroller, carseat, diaper bag, digital camera and film camera and their bags, a backpack with toys, and our fanny packs. I can't imagine trying to do it with our clothes suitcases too. I'm still trying to figure out what to trim back for our flight in September. The digital and my film camera have to go with me. I just would not check them. I guess I can consolidate the diaper bag and toys together. But we still need the stroller and carseat which were the hardest. Oh yeah....and we can't forget the baby. Maybe try to do some type of ID wallet so we can just pack our fanny packs for when we get there. I'm sure it could be done, but I would not recommend it

 

[KerriKaden]

OK.... what was I thinking?? Perhaps I wasn't! I've got too much stuff going thru my mind... trying to pack, etc. 3 more days!!

 

[Corinne]

Hi Cheryl:

I do understand your original thought, but I agree with the other posters, it simply it is not worth trying to get everything into carryons. Have a wonderful vacation, and your children are adorable!

 

[poohluvr]

I was in a situation once where I had two suitcases checked and both wound up on the wrong flight. I had no clothes, no nothing. It was terrible! If I were you, I'd check most of the luggage, but just make sure you pack a couple of changes of clothes in your carry on and anything that you can't do without. Don't forget there might be items, that they won't allow in a carryon. My sister had a metal nail file in her purse and they made her put it in her checked luggage.

 

[KristinU]

DH and I both travel quite a bit for business, and we both prefer to not mess with the delay at the other end when checking luggage, so we've learned to pack light...there's a certain liberation to walking right off the flight and heading straight for your rental car or other transportation! We used to just carry on for WDW trips too, pre-DS. We're now a family of three (well, four, but our furbaby stays at "puppy camp"!) and we've checked for family vacations thus far.

Tomorrow we're going for a long weekend and decided to give the no-check thing a shot again since DS requires so much less support gear than he used to (bottles, etc.) and since it is a short trip. For a week I don't think I'd try it until DS can carry his own backpack. Oh, and we also aren't big souvenir purchasers, so there's never very much to lug back home for us.

Here's what we'll be carrying:
a small rolling duffel
a backpack
a diaper bag (Skip Hop, so in the airport it will be hooked on the stroller)
a courier bag
DS's carseat
and we'll gate check the stroller

Our travel party is me, DH, and 16 month old DS.

I'll report back next week and let you know if we end up checking anything on the way home!

 

[WDWorBUST]

Oh....I know what you were thinking. It would be so nice to be able to carryon what you needed for vacation. I severely underestimated the amount of stuff we had until we were trying to go through security at the airport holding a baby and trying to get all that stuff through the xray machine. Have a fun vacation!!

 

[Jeanne B]

DH and I both travel quite a bit for business, and we both prefer to not mess with the delay at the other end when checking luggage, so we've learned to pack light...there's a certain liberation to walking right off the flight and heading straight for your rental car or other transportation! We used to just carry on for WDW trips too, pre-DS. We're now a family of three (well, four, but our furbaby stays at "puppy camp"!) and we've checked for family vacations thus far.

Tomorrow we're going for a long weekend and decided to give the no-check thing a shot again since DS requires so much less support gear than he used to (bottles, etc.) and since it is a short trip. For a week I don't think I'd try it until DS can carry his own backpack. Oh, and we also aren't big souvenir purchasers, so there's never very much to lug back home for us.

Here's what we'll be carrying:
a small rolling duffel
a backpack
a diaper bag (Skip Hop, so in the airport it will be hooked on the stroller)
a courier bag
DS's carseat
and we'll gate check the stroller

Our travel party is me, DH, and 16 month old DS.

I'll report back next week and let you know if we end up checking anything on the way home!

You've just inspired me!! DH, DD11 and I are going for 4 nights and here I am talking about checking 2 small suitcases in addition to having a carry-on shoulder bag!! I would love to be able to get everything into the 1 suitcase and the shoulder bag - if I could do that I wouldn't mind carrying on the small suitcase so we could skip baggage claim. Now if it was my DH packing I KNOW it would be one suitcase!!

 

[KristinU]

Now if it was my DH packing I KNOW it would be one suitcase!!

LOL Jeanne B! If it were my DH packing all we'd have is his courier bag!

Good luck and let me know how you make out.

 

[rifamtrav]

Think of it this way, you're just ahead of your time! From the photo of your beautiful family, I'm guessing big sis can be a big help and even bro, but as soon as you said stroller that was the end of that. We did a few trips to WDW when all 3 were in strollers (DTD's 10, and dd 12), I packed SO MUCH stuff, double stroller had to get gate checked because I couldn't be without, it was always waiting for me as I exited the plane. I also remember checking 3 car seats, an umbrella stroller, and extra luggage full of diapers!!! Of course I always managed to convince one or more adult family members or friends to travel with us!
If its any consolation, it gets SO MUCH easier as they get older. Nowadays each DD is responsible for their own carry on. We always use the ziploc method, or for longer trips we use the larger plastic bags sheet sets come in. One thing you might want to try is having DS be responsible for a small (lightweight) wheeled carry-on (or wheeled backpack works good too.) He might enjoy the assignment.

Good luck, have a great time.

 

[KristinU]

OK, well I said I'd check back in after we got back...and I have a positive report - we made it just great without checking! It went so well that we plan to do it for our week long trip in September. We've made some notes and plan to get a second backpack rather than using the small rolling duffel. The backpack held so much more and was the same size (must be the zippered section thing or something). We used the ziploc packing method as well. We also plan to go with a bigger diaper bag/stroller bag and ditch the courier bag. We will be staying in a 1 bedroom at BWV in Sept with laundry in the room, so honestly we won't need any more clothes and we'll also be making a grocery stop for diapers and wipes and snacks (which we packed with us this time since it was a short trip) so we are up for the challenge!