Both sets of our families live an airplane ride away, and we will typically fly back to see the them at least once a year. This doesn’t include the personal travel we do to see friends or our own family vacations. Because of this known travel we’ll be doing each year, we’ve established a pretty minimal but effective collection of travel gear for our children (ages 2 and 5) when traveling via airplanes.
The Travel Car Seats
We first bought the travel convertible car seat when A was 15 months old. He was moving up to the Nuna Rava from the Uppababy Mesa, and a friend recommended buying this carseat off of Amazon so we wouldn’t have to lug the heavy Rava to and from the airport. If you take away one thing from reading this post, DO THIS TIP. It’s a lifesaver not having to undo our ‘normal’ car seat each time we travel and the travel car seat is so much lighter than the Rava. I can carry it with one arm!
Once we added G to the mix, and she had outgrown the infant carseat, she took A’s convertible travel car seat. I immediately ordered the next size up for A and it works great. These carseats are not the comfiest carseats. They are perfect for travel, but I would not recommend them for every day use.
Double Travel Stroller
We bought the double travel stroller when I was flying back to see my parents with both kids by myself. The kids were 10 months and 3.5 years old. I wanted a stroller I could collapse by myself with one hand while wearing a baby. This stroller does it. It’s very light and compact, but not too much where it feels like there is no area to put things. The undercarriage of the stroller holds A LOT. We cram all the travel bags, backpacks, water bottles, etc. and it easily holds it all. It can fit through all doors, elevators, and I can get it in the handicapped bathroom stall. Our kids are now 2 and 5 and we still use it when we travel. We have several friends who own this travel stroller as well.
Car Seat and Stroller Travel Bags
I’m amazed at how well our inexpensive car seat bags and stroller bag work. All of our gear is in excellent condition thanks to these very affordable bags. Also, I’m afraid to know what the condition is like under a plane. I don’t want to think about how nasty it must be under there. So there is no way I wouldn’t cover up our car seats and stroller when our kiddos are immediately going to be sitting in them after the plane lands.
Luggage + Packing System
We have had a fabulous experience with Herschel’s Hard-Shell Luggage. We’ve had two separate incidences where the luggage needed to be replaced (one of which was not the luggage’s fault – just an aggressive TSA agent) and the process to replace the luggage was seamless and so easy. I have the Hard-Shell Large Luggage where I pack my things and all the bulky items that the kids need. This bag gets checked which is great because I can bring the large tub of sunscreen, bath soaps, etc. The kids share a carry on and C has his own carry on. We’ve done this packing system since have kids (just added one more carry on when G was born).
Travel tip: we gate check everything except backpacks when we arrive to our gate. This makes getting on and off the plane so much easier, it saves money so you aren’t paying for checked carry-ons since it’s free at the gate, and all you have to do is get to your gate before you can offload all of your luggage. And, if it wasn’t obvious, get TSA pre-check. Your kids can go with you through security up until they are in they’re 12 before they need their own TSA pre-check number! Happy travels!
