Navigating the airport with a toddler while pregnant

[Anonymous]

I'll be flying alone with my almost 2.5 year old in about a month when I'll be 26 weeks pregnant. I'll have help up until security to help me get our checked bag to security and again on the other end to get our bag from the baggage claim, but I'm wondering how I navigate getting to the gate and getting from gate to gate for out connecting flight. If I weren't pregnant, I'd wear the toddler in the ergo and push the car seat and our carry on in the stroller and then gate check the stroller, but I'm not sure I'll be able to wear her comfortably by then. My other idea is to push her and the carry on in the stroller and carry the car seat on my back. The car seat is pretty light and we have a backpack cover for it. Is there another option I'm not thinking of? (we'll need the car seat on the other end, so using a CARES harness is not an option).

[Anonymous]

would you feel comfortable skipping the car seat on the plane, maybe using a cares harness on the plane? That's what I ended up doing last year with my (admittedly large) 3 year old and 1 year old. I had a stroller, 1 year old, and 3 year old and one carseat to shepherd on the plane. I checked the 3 year old car seats at curbside. In that case, I wore the carseat on my back, pushed the 1 year old in the stroller and tried to maintain a death grip on my 3 year old, who decided to have several meltdowns in the middle of the airport.

fun times.

[Anonymous]

The good thing is that if your toddler is anything like mine, he will find every last outlet in the airport, so you will never be without a place to charge your phone.

[Anonymous]

Definitely check the car seat. Check as much as you possibly can; put the kid in the stroller and wear a small cross body purse (with wallet, ID, boarding passes) and a backpack for any gear you'll need in-flight.

[Anonymous]

Check the car seat! It's free and will make your experience 10,000 times easier.

[Anonymous]

I had DD "help" me roll the suitcase by holding it while I also held it. She'd also JUUUUUUST gotten the hang of "red light/green light" so when I saw she was antsy and it wasn't crowded I could give her the green light to run ahead and when I needed her to stop I yelled out red light.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Maybe I'm crazy, but the idea of checking the car seat kind of freaks me out, based on how they toss bags around. I'm also wondering if I'll be shooting myself in the foot by not checking the car seat because I'm afraid my daughter won't sleep if she's just sitting in the seat. Is it really ok to check a carseat?

[Anonymous]

Call your airline, but most will let someone accompany you to the gate to help. If you are meeting someone on the other end, they should probably be able to get a gate pass too.

[Anonymous]

Check the car seat. Or check the stroller in a bag and get a gogokidz thing to push the car seat with your child in it. Check everything you can. It will make life easier. And definitely put travel do a in a handy to reach spot

[Anonymous]

My travel car seat (a lighter weight seat) nests nicely into my umbrella stroller, and at age 2.5 the weight of DC + car seat was still well under the stroller weight limit, so he sat in the carseat in the stroller and I pushed that while wearing just a backpack. I did use a bungee cord to hook the carseat around the back of the stroller, just in case. Worth checking to see if yours will fit this way or not. I'm with you on not wanting to check my carseat, given what they've done to gate-checked strollers.

[Anonymous]

Check the stroller, get the GoGo Kidz thing that attaches to the car seat and let's you pull it along, have toddler in car seat. Check everything else except a small carry on (preferably backpack) with necessities. The more you check the better.

[Anonymous]

You should have no trouble at all getting a gate pass on both ends. I have done it several times. Sometimes the skycap can give it to you, but usually, you have to go inside to the ticket counter. Calling the airline ahead of time will not help you. They will tell you it is up to the desk agents. Your helper will just need to show photo ID to get the pass and then again at security (just like any other passenger) and briefly explain the situation. I've never been told no and it really seems to be no big deal. On the arrival side, same thing, the helper just needs to go to the ticket desk and say they are meeting your flight, explain the situation, and ask for the gate pass.

As far as the transfer between the two flights, I'd ditch the carry on suitcase for a backpack. Put the kid in the stroller, put the car seat on an old school luggage cart (Target or WalMart) tied with bungees (not sure you should strap it to your back that pregnant???) and have your backpack. I wouldn't check my carseat, either, and still travel with it a lot and my son is 3. I just recently ditched the stroller because we either have one at the destination or just really don't need it anymore.

Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check the stroller, get the GoGo Kidz thing that attaches to the car seat and let's you pull it along, have toddler in car seat. Check everything else except a small carry on (preferably backpack) with necessities. The more you check the better.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll be flying alone with my almost 2.5 year old in about a month when I'll be 26 weeks pregnant. I'll have help up until security to help me get our checked bag to security and again on the other end to get our bag from the baggage claim, but I'm wondering how I navigate getting to the gate and getting from gate to gate for out connecting flight. If I weren't pregnant, I'd wear the toddler in the ergo and push the car seat and our carry on in the stroller and then gate check the stroller, but I'm not sure I'll be able to wear her comfortably by then. My other idea is to push her and the carry on in the stroller and carry the car seat on my back. The car seat is pretty light and we have a backpack cover for it. Is there another option I'm not thinking of? (we'll need the car seat on the other end, so using a CARES harness is not an option).

Your child is not a toddler. I did this while 7 months pregnant, with a 15 month old. You need to check as much as possible and use the go go kidz. It isn't that hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll be flying alone with my almost 2.5 year old in about a month when I'll be 26 weeks pregnant. I'll have help up until security to help me get our checked bag to security and again on the other end to get our bag from the baggage claim, but I'm wondering how I navigate getting to the gate and getting from gate to gate for out connecting flight. If I weren't pregnant, I'd wear the toddler in the ergo and push the car seat and our carry on in the stroller and then gate check the stroller, but I'm not sure I'll be able to wear her comfortably by then. My other idea is to push her and the carry on in the stroller and carry the car seat on my back. The car seat is pretty light and we have a backpack cover for it. Is there another option I'm not thinking of? (we'll need the car seat on the other end, so using a CARES harness is not an option).

Your child is not a toddler. I did this while 7 months pregnant, with a 15 month old. You need to check as much as possible and use the go go kidz. It isn't that hard.

Wow, well aren't you special? What is 2.5 if not a toddler? A preschooler? Does this really matter.

And I didn't know about the the Kidz thing before I read this post. I'm guessing the OP didn't either. So while this post wasn't new to you, it is helpful and was for someone like me. And the poster didn't say it was that hard, just that she was looking for suggestions.

What is making you be so mean today?