Go read the Disclaimer again. I am not a doctor. This is not medical advice. Seriously.
My husband and I like to travel. I've had a lot of problems over the years traveling with other people. It has been difficult for me to manage my allergies while traveling (down pillows, food allergies, etc.). Many people choose to ignore colds and similar "minor" illnesses while traveling, because they don't want to give up any of their planned activities. That does not work for me (and based on what I see happening with other people, it doesn't work all that well for them, either). Because continuing to travel is very important to me, I have put a high priority on finding ways to manage all of these problems. Traveling with a baby was not unexpected, but the details are a constant struggle.
We first traveled with Teddy in October 2005. I refused to attempt travel earlier, because I was still healing, and Teddy was so young. On that first trip across country to our house in Brookline, we were able to carry him in his infant car seat and we bought him a seat on the plane. On one of our flights, the airplane was switched before we got on it, and all the seat reservations were moved around, resulting in the three of us being scattered around the cabin (despite the fact that one of the seats was an infant fare). Much later, I found out this is a common problem. As a result of this incident, I only fly Southwest, which does not assign seating, and which pre-boards families with children under 4, thus guaranteeing we get the seats we want, together.
Teddy was young enough that he did not require sophisticated entertainment. He nursed and napped a good amount of both flights. He did have to be reminded to nurse on takeoff, but on later flights he was able to manage the pressure change well.
Also on this trip, we discovered flooding in the basement of our house. We did not have a floor or sump pump as the basement had been dry for several years. Dealing with the water exhausted my husband and meant he was not available to helpt care for Teddy. He also got very sick.
In part as a result of these experiences, I flatly refused to return to the East Coast with my husband until June 2006. Again, there was a storm. Again the basement flooded. We had a floor pump from the previous trip, but this time the flooding was bad enough the washing machine did not work and the hot water heater was damaged. In addition to having a plumber install a new hot water heater, we had a sump installed. We did not get the washing machine working until we moved out in September 2006. However, this time I arranged to have one of Teddy's child care providers travel with us. He was hugely helpful. We had planned to have him travel with us the previous winter on a car trip to Leavenworth, WA, but he'd gotten sick and been unable to go. I was a little concerned that might happen again, but it did not and it was absolutely worth the additional hassle to have the extra help.
For the June trip, I bought some additional gear. While I had originally hoped to wear Teddy most places, in practice I had a lot of trouble finding baby carriers that did not give me mastitis. We had a jogging stroller, which I was impractical to travel with (more on that later). We had also had an infant car seat carrier, but Teddy was now in a convertible car seat. I got a MacLaren Volo, based on its small size, light weight (just under 9 pounds) and known brand. Teddy has never been particularly comfortable in the Volo. In practice, it got used a lot to transport the car seat and the rest of our carry on luggage, jackets and so forth while we carried Teddy. I believe at this point, my husband usually carried Teddy in the
Because Teddy started walking at 8 months (April), I bought a baby leash, aka leading strings, safety harness. While I have since overheard some negative comments, I've been told many times directly how smart I am to have thought ahead to have a leash for Teddy at the airport.
By this time, I had a laptop (a PowerBook G4, pre-Intel Inside) and we brought Teletubbies DVDs to play while on the plane. I also got an EVDO card, so we would have internet access throughout our trip, including at the house. I thought that would reduce my stress, knowing that if some disaster occurred, we would always be able to find someone to call to come rescue us. I figured since we were moving in September and did not know when we'd have internet at the house, it would be useful then, also.
Between the June trip and the September move, I had hoped to visit a friend in Spokane, and friends in the Bay Area. The Spokane trip tickets were for the weekend after the announcement that a terrorist plot had been discovered in the UK aimed at the US, resulting in the no-liquids-on-planes rule. We cancelled the trip. Because the tickets were on Southwest, we were able to use those funds, with no penalty or fee, to buy our September tickets to move. We did not go to the Bay Area, but instead met those friends in Disneyland the following February.
I did not buy any additional travel gear for the trip East when we moved in September, but instead used the same gear from June. The house was partly childproofed from the June trip; my husband finished installing more childproofing. Unpacking with a toddler is sort of a nightmare. I don't have a lot of useful advice about how to do that. Teddy was very hard to distract, because he was very clingy with all the changes happening to him and around him. We also did not yet have child care, and had less help from East Coast family than we had hoped.
Once we'd settled back into our home in Brookline, I bought an Ergo baby carrier, Ergo backpack (which attaches to the baby carrier, so you can wear both at the same time) and front pouch and baby-wearing coat (a wool version on the one they currently carry). These were all very handy when we visited Seattle briefly in the middle of December 2006. We still brought the stroller, but used it almost exclusively to cart luggage. We either wore Teddy, or let him run on the leash. The coat kept Teddy and I warm, because there were no outer layers between us.
At Christmas, we took the train (Amtrak Acela) from outside Boston to Newark, NJ to visit relatives in West Orange. We continued to use our existing equipment, but were increasingly unhappy with the stroller, since we only used it to move gear around and it was very inconvenient on the train where we were not able to check baggage/gate check the stroller, and which gave us very, very little time to get on and off the train. My husband almost got stuck going to the next stop.
For the February 2007 trip to Disneyland, I decided we should abandon the stroller. Teddy was never able to nap in it, so renting a stroller in Disneyland (they rent joggers, which he can nap in) made more sense, and our costs were capped because I was going to buy an annual pass and spent $49 to add daily stroller rental to it. However, we needed a way to transport the car seat. Several options were available. I concluded that the PacBack was a waste of one of our backs.
Several products let you use a car seat as a stroller. One of these is a lot like a luggage cart (gogoKidz Travelmate ). Another is a T-strap that uses the LATCH connectors to attach the car seat to a carry-on (Traveling Toddler). A third is similar, but includes some storage and attaches with snaps (ToteaTot). These are all replacements for buying an FAA approved travel system (like TriplePlay's Sit'n'Stroll). We bought the T-strap, and were a little stunned they wanted slightly over $20 for something that small, but quite pleased that it is that small. We hike; we understand that sometimes you have to pay a whole lot more to get something that weighs a whole lot less (altho often we wish we'd thought to make it ourselves). We did not currently have a rolling, structured carry-on, so I bought one on eBags, along with some other gear for myself.
The strap worked beautifully. We did not miss having the stroller. The Ergo (for me) and Sutemi (for my husband) continued to work well. Unlike a travel system, I don't think you could use this stroller on a daily basis. For our purposes it worked well, however.
Unlikely as it seems in retrospect, until this trip we had used some combination of cloth and disposable diapers from the June trip through December. Cloth diapers while traveling are a pain in the tail. You have to make sure your hotel (or somewhere) has laundry, and you'll spend a lot of time monitoring your laundry because stuff will just not work right. Well-meaning relatives (who once used cloth diapers, decades ago) will forget, and put fabric softener in, thus making your cloth diapers not work any more and require you to rewash them enough to get that damned waxy stuff back out. If you are able to use EC to some extent, these problems are mitigated, but they don't go away completely unless the kid is 100% reliable and you are 100% aware, and I don't see that happening on cross-country flights simply because turbulence can screw over your ability to get to the WC in time anyway.
We had always taken the car seat on the plane, because we've always bought Teddy his own seat. We needed the seat on the other end anyway. But if you are able to rent a vehicle and a car seat on the other side (or have car seats on both sides some other way), or if you would prefer to check your car seat (you can buy special bags to protect them), consider CARES once your baby is between 200 and 44 pounds. It attaches to the airplane seat belt and lets the kid sit safely in the seat. It is FAA certified and can be used during take-off and landing. It's a little steep (about $75) but very light (about a pound). I'm hoping Southwest starts renting these.
We bought the CARES for this trip and it worked beautifully. Teddy is large enough that there's not space to play in the car seat anymore, but there is plenty in an airplane seat. Best of all, instead of the car seat having to be in a window seat, Teddy could sit in the middle. No more hard plastic digging into the unhappy adult in the middle; instead, two adults with extra elbow room.
Oddly enough, on this trip, we sort of missed having a stroller. Teddy kept wanting to ride in the luggage carts and similar. The luggage carts turned out to be quite useful, enabling me to pick up our checked baggage while Roland got the car on the return trip. We did check the car seat after buying an unpadded but pretty durable travel bag for it; both bag and seat seemed none the worse for wear. We exclusively disposable diapered this trip.
Southwest has modified its traveling-with-small-children policy to board families between A group and B group. However, if you check in online 24 hour in advance of your flight (for your first flight, which should get your whole itinerary even if it is more than 24 hours away), you're more or less guaranteed a good spot in A group, behind only the Business Select folk. If you're really worried about it, buy Business Select Fares for everyone in your group; that will buy you into the head of the line.
TSA had recently introduced separate lines for separate kinds of travelers. We successfully landed in the Families/People Who Need Extra Help line. For whatever reason, at both Manchester, NH and SeaTac, WA, these lines were basically empty and we got through faster than if we'd been in the regular line (can't speak to the express lines). TSA's newer than CA/not brand new policy on liquids and gels meant we were allowed to bring regular sized yogurt outside a quart size bag (but clearly visible in the bin) just by pointing at Teddy.
Because the Volo has never been a viable nap location, I've always wanted to bring the jogger along, but figured it wasn't possible. Recently, I discovered there is (for about $100) a check-able softcase you can fit the stroller into. I'm refused to fly for several months because the Disneyland trip really took it out of me and I'd hoped a few months with no major disruption might help Teddy learn to reliably use the potty on his own. It did not. My high school reunion (20th), DECwest alumni gathering, and relatives in the Netherlands did convince me to fly in the next 6-9 months. Once I was pregnant again, I figured it was now or never to see Seattle friends before the impossibility of traveling with two small children.
If you have a stroller-trained kid, and are looking for ultra-small strollers, you could attempt to lay hands on one of the Australian QuickSmart strollers sold by Safety 1st or the Quinny (company) Zapp (item name) which is from the Netherlands. They aren't lighter, but they fold up really, really tiny; they have a tripod base. I have not successfully found them in the US, but we saw them in Disneyland and at LAX.
Current (pregnant with 2nd) thinking about strollers and travel
Lightweighting parent-entertainment choices
It really is easier to travel with a pre-mobile baby, unless the logistics of caring for your baby are really difficult. Ours weren't. They're smaller. They require less entertainment. As long as you exclusively breastfeed, food and comfort are rarely if ever an issue.
Once they are mobile and/or require additional entertainment, consider some of the following:
Copyright 2007 by Rebecca Allen.
Created February 20, 2007 Updated July 7, 2008