Taking an Infant Carseat

[BabyMo]

We are planning a trip to WDW in January. It will include me, DH, MIL, FIL, and our baby, who will be 9 months old then. She will be sitting on our laps on the flight, but we will be taking her carseat (Graco Snugride) with us because we are not staying onsite.

We would like to take our own base with us and just handing over the carseat with the base attached when we get on the plane. My MIL is concerned that the carseat and base are going to get seperated if we do this.

I do know that the infant carseat can be used w/o the base, but we would feel safer using it b/c of all the driving we will be doing back and forth, etc.

Has anyone taken a carseat+base on a plane?

 

[Stimpy]

Do you mean you intend on gate checking both the base and infant carrier together?

We purchased a seat for my DD when she was an infant and used the carrier in her seat. The base was able to fit in the overhead storage. If you gate check the base/seat it will go into the luggage compartment under the plane and may run the risk of being jostled around a bit. (Just like if you checked it as baggage)

 

[BabyMo]

Thanks for the quick reply- yes, I think we were planning to gate check the carseat, the base, and the stroller frame. I don't want them to get jostled.....but if it's big enough of an issue to get a third seat or take the risk of jostling

 

[boomhauer]

We just got back last night. We had 2 carseats for our twins. We didn't bring the bases. It would have just been too much. They were perfectly fine on the plane and the car with just the carseat.

 

[tanyaandallie]

I would not think this would be a problem. Just put a different claim check on the base and on the seat just in case they get separated.

Have you thought about taking a convertible instead? That way you wouldn't have to deal with the base issue. We travel with a cosco Scenera. It's a very low cost (only $40) no thrills seat that works great for travel.

 

[Princess Roo]

If you really want to bring the base, it would probably be easier to check it with your luggage instead so that you don't need to carry it to the gate. I do not know if they will let you gate-check the base as a separate piece and I would be nervous about it getting broken if it's attached to the carseat carrier. As a PP mentioned, you could also bring just the base portion on the plane with you and put it on the overhead.
FWIW, the carrier is completely safe without the base as long as you install it correctly (get the belt really tight around it and check the recline indicator). After a little practice, it's not much harder than snapping it in the base.

 

[snubie]

My DD outgrew her Snugride at 5.5 months. You may need to bring a convertible car seat instead of the infant seat.

 

[momxx5]

Check with the airlines. We flew SW and we gate checked a highback (brand new out of box) booster and a seat only booster along with our new stroller.

The booster was placed in a large plastic back at the gate and tagged. It arrived perfect. So you may want to ask if the carseat attached to the base can be in a clear plastic bag, thus they will not get separated. Or even gate check them separately.

Also, the infant carseats can be used without the base.

 

[NotUrsula]

Your MIL is a smart lady. Don't do it. Not only are they likely to get separated, but there is a high probability that when it happens the latch mechanism that holds the seat to the base would end up damaged.

Either skip the base entirely (what I would recommend) or put it securely in your checked baggage with a lot of stuff in with it. Don't check the carseat that way, though -- you'll want to gate-check that to be absolutely sure that it ends up on the same plane that you do.

 

[BabyMo]

I was all for going w/o the base, and I think I will show the rest of my family this page- all the personal experiences are v. helpful!

Snubie makes a good point- if my DD keeps growing at the current rate then she will be out of the infant seat by 9 months!

Okay, now I have another question. If DD is still in the infant seat, we would also want to bring along the frame stroller (the kind that the carseat clips onto). I don't think that we would take it with us to the park, but it would probably help out a lot at the airport. Has anyone had any problems with checking a frame stroller? How many items can you gatecheck?

Thanks so much for all the help!! As a first-time mom, this is all new to me, and it is very helpful b/c we will also be flying to CA in September. Whether we will make it to DL is still up in the air.....

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

If you are going to carry the seat to the gate, get some of those portable wheels that you attache luggage to to haul it around on. This has been our lifesaver when travelling with a little one (and other families at the gate are smacking their foreheads saying, Why didn't we think of that). Those seats are heavy and impossible to easily carry.

 

[NotUrsula]

If DD is still in the infant seat, we would also want to bring along the frame stroller (the kind that the carseat clips onto).

Little-known factoid: if your regular stroller reclines and has a napper bar, ANY infant carseat will fit securely on top (as long as you are not negotiating rugged terrain.) I transport mine on top of my Peg Pliko in airports all the time. If you're a paranoid type, secure it with a luggage strap.

Bringing two strollers is overkill, so you want to go with multi-use gear wherever possible. The one exception is using your infant carseat as a stroller. Don't do that in the parks, because the carseat is just too hot and uncomfortable used for long periods (and not really good for baby, either, when the danger of a moving vehicle is factored out of the equation.)

Of course, the odds of a 9 mo still using an infant stroller are pretty low, unless she is REALLY tiny.

 

[dsneygirl]

Another one here who says you may be done with the infant seat by 9 months. DS was too long at 6 months even though he was well within the weight limits.

 

[BabyMo]

We do have a regular Graco stroller that matches the carseat and the carseat clips on to that as well. But the stroller is a behemoth, and so it will not be coming with us. The frame would be nice for the airport.

As for the parks, I think we will buy an inexpensive umbrella stroller and then leave it in FL- the ILs have a townhouse down there. Or we might rent, but the rental strollers do not have seatbelts, do they?

The more that people mention it, the more I begin to suspect that "Stretch" will be out of her infant seat at 9 months. At 3 months, she is about 24.5 inches.

 

[snugglepeas]

We do have a regular Graco stroller that matches the carseat and the carseat clips on to that as well. But the stroller is a behemoth, and so it will not be coming with us. The frame would be nice for the airport.

As for the parks, I think we will buy an inexpensive umbrella stroller and then leave it in FL- the ILs have a townhouse down there. Or we might rent, but the rental strollers do not have seatbelts, do they?

The more that people mention it, the more I begin to suspect that "Stretch" will be out of her infant seat at 9 months. At 3 months, she is about 24.5 inches.

I would not rent the rentals are not really for children that young, my daughter was 10 months old when we went last and she would not have done well in a rental and she had been sitting up on her own for more than 4 months at that point. we got a chicco C5 it's wonderful it's 14lbs folds like an umbrella stroller, has a smallish pocket in the back has a good size basket and comes with it's own rain cover which can come in handy in florida it cost $90 at babies r us.

 

[laughinplace199]

Your baby might be out of the infant seat by 9 mos.. It depends on the size of the baby and the limits of the seat. We have a Graco Safeseat, which goes to 32 in and 33 lbs. DS is on the small side, so he is still using it at 9 mos. If your DD is still in the infant seat and you want to take the base, just put it in your carryon so that nothing happens to it.

The rental strollers at the parks are not good for infants. They're hard plastic and they don't recline.

We went to WDW when DS was 5 months old. We used his infant seat on the plane and we put the base in a car seat bag along with one of my older kids' booster seats and checked it. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have checked it at all. It was in perfect condition when we arrived at MCO, so I guess we were lucky.

DS is now 9 mos and we're going back next week. I bought him a seat on the plane and he is still in the infant seat, but I don't have to worry about the base this time because we're not renting a car. I'm bringing the stroller that goes with the car seat. It's a Graco Metrolite - not as small as an umbrella stroller, but I won't have to carry the car seat through the airport because I can snap it into the stroller. In the parks, I will use his stroller without the car seat.

Good luck and have a great time with your baby!

 

[blessedby3]

The rentals would not work for an infant. That would be a nightmare. I also wouldnt buy a cheap umbrella either. Your baby will need to sleep and recline in the stroller throughout the day. Also, no basket underneath on most cheap umbrellas. I would bring your full size stroller or look for a better alternative to buy an inexpensive reclining stroller when you get there.

 

[Gillian]

It sounds like you'll want to look for a lightweight stroller with a recline and a basket, plus a convertible car seat. It's a good kind of stroller to have anyway.

I'd also advise getting a stroller bag or finding a duffle bag that fits your stroller. You can still gate check it, just attach the tag to the bag and put the stroller inside. It's an extra step when you get off the plane, but it keeps the stroller in better condition.