I will be flying with my 5 1/2 month old this weekend. She will be traveling as a lap child. I have read the posts regarding air travel with an infant and they have been very helpful. I have decided to check the car seat and carry my daughter in a Baby K'Tan carrier. I don't need/plan to bring a stroller.
My question is what do I do with the car seat base? Do I check it with the car seat, pack it in my luggage, or carry it with me? I definitely need the base to secure the seat in the car. I believe the seat only attaches to the base at one end so I don't know whether I can attach it and have it checked that way or not. Has anyone done this before?
Thanks for your help!
S.
Thanks for your replies! I've borrowed a car seat bag and took the base out of one of our vehicles this morning and it attaches tighter than I thought it would without it being strapped into the car. The seat and base will fit in the bag together and I'll check that with my suitcase. Since it's just me traveling with my daughter, I didn't want to have to carry it down to the plane with me.
Hopefully, the flight will go well!
Thanks again,
S.
Hi S.! We just flew with our 6 month old a couple of weeks ago. We attached the base to the car seat and checked it as one piece. The airline people secured all the straps and it looked like they were actually very careful with it! We had no problems at all. Have a great trip!
We checked our car seat and base together. We also had a travel bag made especially for car seats, just to protect it. A car seat doesn't count in your total # of bags, so that's good. It's probably too late to get one if you're going this weekend, but you should be able to give them the car seat in the base to check.
Hope that helps!
Check the owner's manual of your carseat. You should be able to secure your carseat without the base into your car. It's not as convenient, but would be one less thing to carry/pack. Usually the car seatbelt follows a path under your child's bottom, which is why the base makes things much more convenient. Enjoy your vacation.
I spoke with a friend of mine that works as safety at an airline and she said to attach the base to the car seat and check them in together. Chances of the base getting lost will be less.
We carried the seat attached to the base and checked it at the plane. They are really quite good about baby stuff and extra carry ons like a diaper bag :)
Good Luck! And remember, nurse on the way up and on the way down and it shouldn't be too bad;)
