How bout flying commercial with an infant?

[Kristie]

My sister is flying with the baby (9 mo's now) up to Michigan on thursday...she can't seem to find any information on how best to fly with a baby..whether or not she needs an infant car seat (facing backwards) or if she should use the babys forward facing car seat?! also, she's wondering how to best get her and baby thru security - in a stroller, in a snugli or what?! she heard my story about how a friend of mine went up to Ohio and had a heck of at time cuz she had her baby in a sling & nobody (esp security) would help her get thru security...

granted, that's not TSA's job.. but i just want to make it simple for my sister so she doesn't have to go thru as much hassle.

she's wondering if it's better to take the regular stroller or get an umbrella stroller and carry the car seat on her back (with one of those back attachment thingys)...and she's also wondering - if she checks the stroller in at the gate, will it *definately* come back up to the gate after the flight if she has a 1 hr connection between flights?

these are questions that I can't answer...I've seen folks with strollers/car seats and all, but never really took notes.

she'll be flying NWA and can't seem to find any info anywhere on the web (which i find to be amazing!)

[USMCmech]

We took Clint to my grandmas funeral when he was 5 days old.

We put him in his car seat in the airplane, and he was fine.

[kellwolf]

Which airline is it? Checking the stroller at the gate is a crap shoot if you want it between connections. My money is on it getting transferred with the baggage. Unless she specifically tells someone that she wants it at the transfer airport, that's what will happen. Even then, you'll probably have to tell them AGAIN when you get to the transfer airport.

[MQAAord]

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..whether or not she needs an infant car seat (facing backwards)


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For an infant who has not yet reached his/her second birthday, said child is not required to occupy a car seat. From a safety standpoint, USE A CARSEAT!!!! Babies have to ride in a car seat in a car in EVERY state in our country, why on earth are airplanes any different. For a 9 month old, she should ride rear-facing.

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or if she should use the babys forward facing car seat?!


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Not yet, at 9 months she's not ready to ride forward facing yet.

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also, she's wondering how to best get her and baby thru security - in a stroller, in a snugli or what?! she heard my story about how a friend of mine went up to Ohio and had a heck of at time cuz she had her baby in a sling & nobody (esp security) would help her get thru security...


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I recommend a stroller. She'll be asked to remove baby from stroller and carry baby through the metal detector. The stroller will be folded and go through on the belt. Or I have also seen strollers pulled aside and hand-wanded if they're too big (even collapsed) to fit through the belt.

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she's wondering if it's better to take the regular stroller or get an umbrella stroller and carry the car seat on her back (with one of those back attachment thingys)...


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I'm assuming she's using a travel system, where the carseat clicks into the stroller? That would be ideal. Use the regular stroller and carseat.

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if she checks the stroller in at the gate, will it *definately* come back up to the gate after the flight if she has a 1 hr connection between flights?


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If it's tagged as a 'gate-check' item, yes it will meet her plane-side when she arrives at the connection airport, and she can gate-check it again at the connection flight.



We took our older boy to visit his great-grandma in Florida when he was 10 months old. We used his stroller/carseat travel system and it worked out perfectly. Rear facing carseat, and we gate-checked the stroller for all 4 flights. We had to connect in ATL and had no problems.


This is my BIG soapbox issue, but please please please put your babies in carseats on airplanes!

[TheShortOne]

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Which airline is it?

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she'll be flying NWA

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SA!!

[kellwolf]

Ah. Missed that. Happens when you're typing with one hand and holding a screaming 5 month old (or almost 5 months) in the other hand.

[Kristie]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
..whether or not she needs an infant car seat (facing backwards)


[/ QUOTE ]
For an infant who has not yet reached his/her second birthday, said child is not required to occupy a car seat. From a safety standpoint, USE A CARSEAT!!!! Babies have to ride in a car seat in a car in EVERY state in our country, why on earth are airplanes any different. For a 9 month old, she should ride rear-facing.

[/ QUOTE ]rear-facing? i've never seen any rear-facing seats when i've sat in a plane before! they've all sat forward facing! can you even buckle in a rear-facing seat??

she says Julia is getting too big for her infant seat (she's over 100% on length already) which fits into the stroller or as you call it - travel system - she has another car seat that is forward facing now that she thinks she should take but won't fit in the stroller.

she's definately taking a car seat - no doubt about that.. she says "no bullet baby for me, besides, she'd get antsy in my arms for too long"

now, does she also need to take the "clip in" portion as well as the seat itself (ie: the bottom part that you clip the seat into)??

also, any ideas on how to deal with baby ears and takeoff/landing problems?

would you recommend her taking the regular stroller and checking it in via baggage.. then taking the snugli & carseat and going that route? or is it still easier to just take all 3?

[MQAAord]

[ QUOTE ]
she says Julia is getting too big for her infant seat (she's over 100% on length already) which fits into the stroller or as you call it - travel system - she has another car seat that is forward facing now that she thinks she should take but won't fit in the stroller.


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Is it a convertable carseat? That is, can this new carseat face forwards or backwards? We have a Britax Marathon, which faces etiher way. Most rear-facing seats do fit on airplanes, we used ours on Delta with no issues. If she thinks the seat may not fit, try a bulkhead row (not a exit row or a row immediatly fwd or aft of an exit row though).

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she's definately taking a car seat - no doubt about that.. she says "no bullet baby for me, besides, she'd get antsy in my arms for too long"


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Amen to all of that!

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now, does she also need to take the "clip in" portion as well as the seat itself (ie: the bottom part that you clip the seat into)??


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Depends on the carseat. The Peg Perego Primo Viaggio, for example, must be used with it's base. But my infant carrier, an Eddie Bauer, can be used with or without it's base.

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also, any ideas on how to deal with baby ears and takeoff/landing problems?


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Have a pacifier or bottle for her when there's significant altitude changes going on. Also, if she seems really upset, you can rub her ears just forward of the ear 'hole', and that seems to help.

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would you recommend her taking the regular stroller and checking it in via baggage.. then taking the snugli & carseat and going that route? or is it still easier to just take all 3?


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That totally depends on what your sister is most comfortable with. Some people LOVE their snugglies or slings, and carry baby everywhere in those. Some people are stroller people. If you sister is more comfortable carrying her in the Snugglie, go for it. Personally, I'd go the stroller route, but that's just me. Some people would rather not haul all that, but I like having a place to PUT baby!

[TheWife]

[ QUOTE ]
rear-facing? i've never seen any rear-facing seats when i've sat in a plane before! they've all sat forward facing! can you even buckle in a rear-facing seat??

she says Julia is getting too big for her infant seat (she's over 100% on length already) which fits into the stroller or as you call it - travel system - she has another car seat that is forward facing now that she thinks she should take but won't fit in the stroller.



[/ QUOTE ] The reason babies are supposed to be rear facing in a car is because of risk of injury on impact. The chance of impact on an airplane is so minimal that they don't require a seat. I'd bring one for the convenience anyway, but, I disagree that it needs to be rear facing. If there was turbulence, a baby would certainly be safer in a buckled seat than in your arms, but that would be the same whether the seat was rear or forward. The chance of a frontal crash is pretty small.

However, as far as her being in forward facing at 9 months in a car, that's a big bad idea. The law in almost every state that I know of requires rear facing until one year AND at least 20 pounds. Kyla is too big for her infant carrier as well, they only go to 26 inches and aren't great when infants are trying their hardest to be sitting up cause the carrier is so reclined. So at that point they go in a rear facing convertible seat. These seats are made to be rear facing up to 30-40 pounds usually, then once they are 1 AND 20 pounds you turn them around to be forward facing up to 65 pounds or you can keep them rear for longer. Then you can put them in a booster.

However, I will be keeping Kyla rear facing for longer than age 1. One is the min. age. If you read statists on deaths to minors, car accidents is the highest cause of death in children and infants. In Sweden and other countires they are required to keep them rear until 2, and most choose to until 3 or more. And their rate of death to infants in car accidents is virtually zero. We have Kyla in the Britax Boulevard. Britax is a European company so they have to conform to even higher standards then the US seat makers.

[Bandit_Driver]

I routinely jumpseat to work on NWA. I have seen many people use carseats on the plane and the big bulkly strollers. The grounds crews have always brought them back up to the Jetbridge at the end of the flight. Just make sure they are pink tagged.

As Amber said you cannot sit in one row prior or aft of an exit row. If there is an empty seat, I definately would put the infant in the car seat. They are much safer there. Studies have shown most kids get hurt in airplanes by becoming projectiles during mishaps.

[kellwolf]

Take the umbrella stoller. Rampers will love you for it.

[MQAAord]

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Take the umbrella stoller. Rampers will love you for it.

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Bah, if I can haul my beast of a double stroller around all day, the rampers can bring it to/from the plane!


Actually, that's why I love my Peg single stroller, all the features of a full-service stroller, but it's lightweight and folds up umbrella style.

[kellwolf]

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Bah, if I can haul my beast of a double stroller around all day, the rampers can bring it to/from the plane!

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Remember, yours is not the only stroller. Nothing sinks a rampers heart like seeing 12 off road Eddie Bauers in the jetway. Not only do they have to go down the stair one at a time b/c of the size, we had to find SOMEHOW to get them all in an already stuffed plane. It's more than just bringing one stroller up and down stairs on one flight.

[Bandit_Driver]

Isn't that what the rampers are paid for? No disrespect but I get a lot of grief from rampers about starting #2 (NO APU INSTALLED) to cool the plane while boarding. Unfortunately, this creates a hot and loud baggage hold. Just wondering when ramper comfort came ahead of passenger comfort.

Don't most Jet Bridges have slide to send luggage and stollers down?

Again, I am not trying to slam rampers as most of them are hard working and earn every dollar they get. Just a different point of view.

[kellwolf]

Getting the strollers down is the easy part, you just send them down the slide, unless the oweners are watching. Some of these people are really fanatical about their strollers, and after I paid as much as I did for mine, I probably would be too. Getting them back up is the sucky part.

Now, as far as rampers getting paid, they get paid to work in all weather (hot, cold, rain, snow, ice, etc) in a loud, dangerous environment for at least 8 hours a day. Depending on the airline and station, you could be at a busy station or a slow station. If you're at a slow station or one that's not short staffed, then you really have no right to complain. If you're on your third flight in an hour, have had to cart 10 strollers per flight up the stairs, stack 120 bags in a bin (IF you have help, otherwise it's more like 200), all while it's raining and/or 98 degrees outside, I think the guys should be cut a little slack.

Too many people walk by and see rampers sitting around watching TV. Well, that's about like saying that all pilots do is read the paper all day b/c that's what they do in cruise flight. On top of that, I took a pay CUT to start as a ramper at SWA from my supervisor job at Sea World.

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Isn't that what the rampers are paid for?

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On the flip side, why do pilots complain about short overnights, quick turns that you can't get out and get food, delays and missing their commute flight home due the weather? Isn't that what they get paid for? Every job has it's drawbacks.

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No disrespect but I get a lot of grief from rampers about starting #2 (NO APU INSTALLED) to cool the plane while boarding. Unfortunately, this creates a hot and loud baggage hold. Just wondering when ramper comfort came ahead of passenger comfort.


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Simple solution to help both sides: hook up the a/c. Pax are cooled off, and it's still realtively quiet on the outside. On the 737 it was DANGEROUS to start the #2 engine while we were still loading, so it wasn't even an option. On the RJ, the engines were above us and relatively quiet. I never heard them in the bin if they did start the #2 engine. If someone's complaining about that, then they're just whining. Besides, if you're actually WORKING the bin is gonna be hot no matter what.

[MQAAord]

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Some of these people are really fanatical about their strollers, and after I paid as much as I did for mine, I probably would be too.

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My single and double strollers cost about $200 each. So yes, I'm a bit fanatical about them. They are made to take abuse though, and really, sliding down the 'slide' on the side of a jetbridge isn't going to hurt them any more than my shlepping them in and out of my Tahoe all day does. I would only get pissed off if I saw someone deliberately trying to damage it.

When we gate checked my old Eddie Bauer stroller I knew what I was doing, and knew the possiblity of it getting damaged in transit. I was pleasantly surprised when it came through all 4 legs in perfect condition.

One thing I don't get though, is when people bring their jogging strollers through airports. My single jogger is pretty heavy, and far from compact, even folded! The double I'll be getting in a couple weeks is even worse. There's no way I'd want to deal with that thing in an airport! Sure it's a comfy ride for the kids, but oiy, what a hassle.

[Bandit_Driver]

Very good points Kellwolf. I guess when you have a severe problems in base and at a few outstations we tend to make a few too many generalizations. And I can see how much a pain it can be if you are short handed in a busy station. Can you come work in IAD so I can get an aircart and loaded properly on time. How does $7/ hour sound in DC. No wonder they can't get quality help in DC.

The #2 engine thing is big for us cause the lazy rampers don't want to hook up the GPU much less the A/C cart.

I think the problem with our rampers are they have no interest in aviation and they are just putting in time. I wish more flight schools were near major airports. Then maybe they could attract more people that were into aviation and would actually enjoy their jobs "most of the time". We all have bad days. <end rant>

[kellwolf]

There's three kinds of rampers: the ones that love aviation and being around airplanes, the ones that are there for the flight benefits and the ones that are there for the paycheck. I've worked with all three, and by FAR the easiest to work with are, of course, the first scenario. Flights go out on time, there's no arguement on how to load the plane and everyone does their fair share. The day goes by quickly, and you've got that feeling of satisfaction from having done your job well at the end of the day, even if you are a bit tired.

The second group is okay, b/c deep down inside, they know if the company starts losing money due to delayed flights, lost bags, etc, they might cut some flights here and there, killing a vacation plan or two. The last group is probably the worst to work with. They really don't care what happens to the company since they'll just get another job somewhere else.

SWA's station in MCO was BUSY, especially during the summer. Sometimes, we were so short staffed, we'd fly in rampers from BWI or STL to help cover shifts. Overtime? Plenty if you could hold your body together long enough to work it. Most of the guys I worked with were the type that checked the company stock price on a daily basis and yelled at you if you left off a piece of mail b/c it hurts their profit sharing. Yeah, they might be looking out for number one in the long run, but success of the company was in their best interest, and they knew it. Heck, I knew I wasn't going to be there 5 years when I got hired, and I quickly fell into that group.

As far as not hooking up the GPU or the a/c, that's just straight up lazy. It takes 30 seconds MAX to hook both up. Less if you've got two people doing it. We did it for every flight at SWA so the pilots could shut down the APU at the gate and keep from burning too much Jet A.

[rausda27]

My daughter just turned a year old and in that year she has been on at least 8 roundtrips. When she was really young, she traveled in her graco snap in seat, which was convienent because it snapped into the stroller which was checked at the aircraft door. Once she got bigger, we brought a carseat which can be strapped in forward or rear facing. There is a little device in the front which unsnaps and changes the angle depending in which way it is facing. The most important thing to bring are toys to keep them occupied and something drink, which helps equalize their ear pressure during takeoff and approach.

[Merlin]

Originally Posted by rausda27

When she was really young, she traveled in her graco snap in seat, which was convienent because it snapped into the stroller which was checked at the aircraft door.

We too have the Graco for our 5 month old and we're travelling for the first time next weekend. Did you also bring along the base that straps into the car? Can the Gracos be used without the base?

Jeremy