Anonymous wrote:My trick was to have an umbrella stroller along. Place the car seat in it, along with the child (make sure everything is secure) and then push stroller/car seat/child with one hand and have the rolling bag in the other. There’s even a car seat/stroller unit you can buy. Add a backpack that holds all the toddler stuff (diapers, etc) along with your purse.

MOST umbrella strollers are a pain to push with one hand.

Flying with one 1.5yo is not that difficult if you set your mind to it. DO NOT take a car seat, have other side get it. Then you just stroll your kid to the gate in your stroller, fold the stroller and you are done. I've flown a lot w/my kids and the gate agents and security people seem if not nice, then at least patient, as you get all of your stuff in order. I love the idea of a sticker with name and number on the kid, I wish I'd thought of that myself. Other than that, bring an ipad or whatever your kid is into. It'll be fine, I promise. Oh and don't forget a change of clothes for yourself in your carry on. You never know.

Anonymous wrote:After having a toddler run off in a crowd one time and then spent 15 minutes looking for him- I would write my name and number on price of paper and stick it in his pocket. For years.

In an airport, NO ONE is trying to have an unattended toddler. So, if your kids run away at say security (arguably the most crowded area) it is not going to be HARD to find this child!!! Everyone will be like "whoa, unattended toddler, where is the harried looking mother loading a stroller on the belt so I can return this booger machine before it makes me sticky?"

Anonymous wrote:Do not bring your car seat on the plane. Check if or see if you can rent one at your destination. If not, check it for sure.

Same with pack and play - do not bring. Rent at your destination or if staying with family buy a cheapy one of Amazon and have it shipped to them. They are not that expensive.

Gate check stroller.

Done.

The heck? We always traveled with a car seat -- we bought seats for our kids, and if I were traveling alone with a child I certainly would in case I needed to go to the bathroom in flight. I am very efficient at installing car seats.

If you can have someone drive you or take a taxi, have them drop you off at the curb where you can check your bags curbside. Check your car seat and a suit case. Proceed into the airport with your child, lightweight umbrella stroller and a backpack for carry-on.

I never found waiting for luggage with a kid to be a big deal. We get off the plane and stop to use the bathroom and do a diaper change, which eats up some time...sometimes the luggage was waiting for us once we arrived to pick it up. The real hassle is waiting for a stroller or carseat if you gate-check them. Get a foldable stroller to carry on the plane with you if you can.

After having a toddler run off in a crowd one time and then spent 15 minutes looking for him- I would write my name and number on price of paper and stick it in his pocket. For years.

Do not bring your car seat on the plane. Check if or see if you can rent one at your destination. If not, check it for sure.

Same with pack and play - do not bring. Rent at your destination or if staying with family buy a cheapy one of Amazon and have it shipped to them. They are not that expensive.

Gate check stroller.

Done.

My 3.5 year old has been on over 20 flights, of these half of them have been just the two of us. Here is what works for us:

After my child started walking and getting super mobile- around 15 months for us- we always bought a seat for her. I couldn't contain her as a lap infant anymore.

As she has her own seat on the plane, we always bring a carseat on the plane for her to sit in- Cosco Scenera. This works for us for a few reasons- she is comfortable and used to being in her car seat, it keeps her contained, and I need a car seat on either end of the plane ride. I personally don't trust checking it because they get tossed around. Also, lap belts on planes are for those 40 lbs and up. You could also use a CARES harness if you don't want the car seat on the plane. People have different opinions on this- do your own research and make your own decision.

Carseat goes in a backpack carrying bag.

I only bring a backpack carryon on the plane with us, filled with everything for kiddo- extra clothes, bottle/sippy, snacks, toys, blankets, etc. The only thing of mine in the bag is an extra shirt/yoga pants in case of spit up, wallet and phone.

Up until around 3ish we also brought a stroller with us. Now we only bring a stroller if we need it at our destination. We used a Summer Infant 3D lite, any lightweight stroller will work.

What we do:

Park the car at the airport. Open stroller. With a 1.5 year old, I would put the kid in the stroller. Have travel carseat already in backpack bag so that is easy to pop on. Carryon backpack goes under stroller/hooked on suitcase. One hand pushes stroller, other pulls suit case, car seat is on your back.

Lose the suitcase at check in.

Security is the most stressful time in all of this. Put carryon backpack, car seat and shoes through security. Only thing left to handle is kid and stroller. Sometimes TSA lets me push the stroller through metal detector, sometimes they make me put stroller on conveyor. Just take your time and know this part will pass.

When you get to the gate, ask for a gate check tag for stroller and explain your car seat is going on the plane with you. You will get on first.

On plane, place kid in a seat and hook car seat into the window seat. Sometimes a flight attendant helps me.

I get off the plane last so I am not in everyone's way. Our stroller is always waiting for us at the gate.

Put kid in stroller, car seat in your backpack and just grab your suitcase at baggage claim.

There are definitely lots of things to juggle and it seems like A LOT typing this all out, but it really isn't too bad.

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I would do: Get a lightweight carseat for sure (Cosco Scenera one is good) and a carseat bag with backpack straps. Lightweight stroller you can fold with one hand. Arriving at the airport you get stroller out, put baby in stroller and strap in. Get your carseat out and put it in the backpack on your back. Push stroller and drag a rolling seatcase with carseat on your back. You can make it to the bag check line like that. Gate check your stroller or better still buy the fancy small one and put it on the plane. I would also bring a soft baby carrier just in case something happens to your stroller.

This! I would absolutely do this. Make sure you have your diaper bag but maybe you can hang it off the back of the stroller as you walk? If you can't get someone to drop you off, most likely someone will try to help you get your suitcase on the shuttle from the day parking.

I traveled for the first time (sort of) solo with my kids 3&6 a few weeks back- plus their first flight excluding when my 6 year old was a baby.....totally different, I was breastfeeding him and my husband was there! Anyways, I struggled most with managing the gear; car seat in particular. some car seats can also be attached to the rolling suitcase....mine was literally in my hand so at one point I had the diaper bag on my chest (straps over my arms, it's a backpack), backpack carry-on on my back, pulling a heavy suitcase, holding the car seat and at one point holding my 3 year old in one arm as we have ran to the gate. I basically told my 6 year old to keep up and kept looking back at him. I 0/10 recommend that lol!!! I was unprepared as I thought I'd have help and was unexpectedly doing it on my own but yeah, thats what i would have done.

Plus- bring like 5 types of little bags of snacks, empty sippy cup, new, fun stickers, maybe a melissa and doug 'water wow', and controversial here but...a tablet with some shows, extra outfits, diapers, wipes, sanitizer, wetbag in case of a blowout, sweatshirt, and 1-2 favorite toys but they will probably fall to the ground...

It's stressful but do-able! You've got this

This post brought back my memories from that time. I flew by myself with my 1 1/2 year old son on 2 flights transiting through Miami. The highlight of the trip was him throwing up milk all over his clothes, car seat, etc when I was 1 mile from National Airport! I stayed calm, drove us to the airport parking, and saw that he was fine. Changed his clothes, etc. The rest of the trip was super easy after that!

My tips:
1. Have a packing list and have a very good carry on bag (at least 1 step of extra clothes, diapers, etc). I used backpacks because many compartments and I then had a free hand.
2. Lightweight umbrella stroller. Tell them at check-in that you want to check it at the gate. Very easy to do, and they will put it on the ramp after you land. I bought one that came with a bag, but still kept it with me in the airport (not checked in).
3. New book(s). I brought a new Paw Patrol activity book once that kept him occupied just looking at the pictures, stickers, etc.
4. Snacks for plane and airport. He did not want anything in the airport.
5. CARES harness. It goes around the airplane seat.
6. Before each flight, including the first: Try to have your child walk as much as possible. My son fell asleep during both flights. He was big enough that I had him push the umbrella stroller. We also looked at every airplane.

I did not bring a car seat because I was visiting family. I like to drive and park at the airport. My best advice is to enjoy the day and leave plenty of time for everything! I waited until everyone got off the first flight, and when we were leaving, the pilot asked if my son wanted to sit in the cockpit seat (on my lap of course).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another question - obviously I don’t intend to be separated from her, but should I label her somehow in case of emergency? A lanyard under her clothes or a bracelet or something?

No. Stop being ridiculous. You only have one child.

Not ridiculous at all. We only ever had one kid and did this for all of our trips in her younger years.

Anonymous wrote:It’s one flight and it’s only a few hours. The biggest worry I have is getting us and our gear from the car to the ticket counter. I can’t ship anything ahead I don’t think because no one will be there (vacation home). Once the bags are checked I think I’ll be fine. But I can’t figure out how to get from car to gate. We need a pack and play too. I guess I could make two trips to the car.

Can you bring a friend who will drop you off at the check in area? Or Uber? That will save you a ton of hassle I think!

Anonymous wrote:It’s one flight and it’s only a few hours. The biggest worry I have is getting us and our gear from the car to the ticket counter. I can’t ship anything ahead I don’t think because no one will be there (vacation home). Once the bags are checked I think I’ll be fine. But I can’t figure out how to get from car to gate. We need a pack and play too. I guess I could make two trips to the car.

Find out if there's a place that does baby rentals for a pack n play. You are trying to bring too much stuff.

Wear the baby and bungee the car seat to your stroller. Pull bag with one hand and push stroller with he other. Go slow.

It’s one flight and it’s only a few hours. The biggest worry I have is getting us and our gear from the car to the ticket counter. I can’t ship anything ahead I don’t think because no one will be there (vacation home). Once the bags are checked I think I’ll be fine. But I can’t figure out how to get from car to gate. We need a pack and play too. I guess I could make two trips to the car.

Anonymous wrote:Well, yeah, I’m a SAHM of two young kids, so I’ve spent a lot of time alone with them. I’m not sure what your life is like that traveling isn’t much different than being at home. At home, they can play in the living room or basement, I can go into the kitchen to make them a meal, I can take them outside to play, and if they cry, nobody hears it but me. I don’t find this to be the case in airports or on airplanes.

That's why I asked if the flight was less than 4 hours. If so, that's half a day of travel, let's say. IMO, that's just like a morning of crappy errands and waiting in line at 4 different appointments. Yes, they can't run around for the period of time they're on the plane, but that's why the multiple (small) new toys and the ipad and the exciting, normally off limit snacks are there. Some flights end up being bad and some end up being good, but the flight always ends. And in the airport there is usually tons of room to run around and play. Remember this is a parent with one 18 month old, not a parent with multiple kids to keep track of. This will be a lay up for OP. She will do great.

Well, yeah, I’m a SAHM of two young kids, so I’ve spent a lot of time alone with them. I’m not sure what your life is like that traveling isn’t much different than being at home. At home, they can play in the living room or basement, I can go into the kitchen to make them a meal, I can take them outside to play, and if they cry, nobody hears it but me. I don’t find this to be the case in airports or on airplanes.