I'm traveling soon with a young kid who requires a car seat. Has anyone ever used one of these dollies that collapse down real small for wheeling the car seat through the airport? The main thing I'm wondering is whether the dolly itself would count as the kid's carry on or personal item? It collapses small enough to fit under the airplane seat.

Get one of the light weight $50 car seats from Costco/Sams and check it before you go through security. Your good seat stays in your car.

You don't have to worry about damage or loss on vacation.
You don't have to deal with strapping it back in at the airport before driving home.
You don't need a car seat on the aircraft, so checking it is one less thing to carry.
Bonus, get a car seat travel cover, and stuff a pack of diapers (plus shoes, etc) inside for the trip.
Checking a car seat is free.

You can strap it to your roller bag. There are youtubes out there that show you how.

We rent car seats when we arrive. Zero reason to travel with one.

Actually my kid needs the carseat on the plane due to being under 40 lbs, so it has to come on the plane.

https://coscokids.com/products/scenera-extend-convertible-car-seat-cc341

Travelled extensively with this seat. Certified for use on aircraft and very lightweight. Other than some very short flights (think Houston to Austin/Dallas), we'd always buy our baby a seat. It's safer and more comfortable for you and them.

We've traveled with a car seat before, but as others have said, airlines wouldn't even require them even with our son being under 40 pounds at the time.

When he was younger I just bought a carrying case I could sling on my back and carry through the airport, and bought a reliable, but cheaper, carseat so we wouldn't need to take the good ones out of our cars. Cheap and easy.

Delta and American also let us board before anyone else so we could get the carseat installed, and they just told us to stay on the plane. Just need to ask the gate agent about it.

Thunderstruck xx said:

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Actually my kid needs the carseat on the plane due to being under 40 lbs, so it has to come on the plane.

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Actually, no, that's not a thing.

Thunderstruck xx said:

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Actually my kid needs the carseat on the plane due to being under 40 lbs, so it has to come on the plane.

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My kiddo who's not quite 30 lbs rides in his mama's lap on Southwest and American. Don't think a car seat is a requirement on a plane.

My kid is just over 2 years old and so the airline made us buy a ticket, so I'm bringing a seat which will be used anyway when we get a rental car. I'd rather bring it on the plane either way than check it and have it get damaged. The other bonus of the car seat is keeping my kid contained more easily.

Have you flown with kids before?

Naveronski said:

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Have you flown with kids before?

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No, I'm freaking out man.

If you really haven't flown with kids, it isn't terrible. Gate check your car seat, nothing will happen to it. Most parents overthink how much their kid will piss other passengers off, when in reality it doesn't bug a lot of people. Most people just pop in their headphones or AirPods or whatever, and can't hear it.

Have a change of clothes ready for everyone, probably two for the kids, plus plenty of diapers in your carry-on/personal item. Bring plenty of snacks. We travel with our kids (both under 6) multiple times a year and use one of their personal items as a backpack full of clothes, snacks, diapers, formula, whatever.

The only time I've ever had an issue with another passenger on a flight with my kids is when some boomer asked if our baby could stop staring and her and if he could face forward.

One of mine took an awful dump in his diaper on a flight. Cleaning him up in the tiny bathroom was not fun. They have the baby changing tables, but I was worried it would just smear poop everywhere. So, I had him stand up on the closed toilet seat and did my best. So, if you get thru the flight without cleaning up kid poop, you're ahead of me.

Look, you've gotten a lot of good advice from people who have, and no one is advocating ****ing with a car seat onboard the aircraft. It's not required. It's uncomfortable for the kid. It's one more bulky thing to carry around the airport, then you have to set it up and strap the kid in.

Ktown linked an inexpensive seat above that looks to be the same I mentioned in my first post.

Is there a safety reason you want the kid to be in a car seat?

https://www.newegg.com/p/03U-012F-00001

Cares harness. Will fit in your purse.

fire09 said:

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https://www.newegg.com/p/03U-012F-00001

Cares harness. Will fit in your purse.

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Rent car seat from car rental company.

OR

Babyquip. You can rent a gucci helicopter parent car seat. They meet you at car rental and drop off/pickup on your schedule.

Safe travels, don't carry a car seat through the airport. Amateur hour travel strategy.

Until you get a junky ass car seat from the car rental company.

Carrying a car seat isn't a big deal. They have bags that carry them that you put on your back and you just gate check it.

You must be one of the lucky ones whose wife doesn't pack 10 other bags of unnecessary **** to drag through the airport.

Lol. She used to be but we've gotten it under control thankfully

Naveronski said:

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Look, you've gotten a lot of good advice from people who have, and no one is advocating ****ing with a car seat onboard the aircraft. It's not required. It's uncomfortable for the kid. It's one more bulky thing to carry around the airport, then you have to set it up and strap the kid in.

Ktown linked an inexpensive seat above that looks to be the same I mentioned in my first post.

Is there a safety reason you want the kid to be in a car seat?

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I've already decided that I am taking the car seat for safety reasons. My original question was simply about taking a dolly, and I guess nobody knows the answer.

Good for you. Have traveled many times with a car seat on the plane. Peasant class and first class. It's best practice. FAA does not require it but strongly recommends it. Have also used the dolly each time. No problems. It probably won't fit down the aisle on the dolly so be prepared for that. And they will swab it at TSA. Big perk of the dolly is the kid can ride in it through the airport. We get all kinds of whoa that's cool comments. Also be prepared to advocate for yourself if need be. I've not had to but lots of horror stories out there about uneducated flight attendants. Have the regulations printed out or bookmarked.

For those who may find this thread later, using your car seat on the plane is best practice. Checked car seats are damaged every day. Arriving at your destination only to find your car seat cannot be used will put a real dent in your travel plans. Damage can occur to the internal components of the seat so that it's not visible to you, and now the seat is compromised in the event of a car crash. Car rental companies will provide A car seat. It may not be one appropriate for your child (think forward facing seat for an infant) and it too could be damaged and therefore compromised in the event of a crash. During the flight, a car seat keeps your child contained in a familiar way. My 2yo would absolutely not sit still otherwise and the seat belt is much too big for him. He would want to run up and down the aisle. I would tell him no and he would scream the entire flight. It's also safest in the event of severe turbulence or a survivable crash landing. Every time there's a landing/takeoff incident my mind immediately jumps to hoping there were no lap infants.

I too once thought no way. Then I asked why. And I changed my mind. It's worth mentioning my husband with nearly 30 years in the fire service, 20 of which was in aircraft rescue, is fully onboard with this.

AlphaBean said:

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Good for you. Have traveled many times with a car seat on the plane. Peasant class and first class. It's best practice. FAA does not require it but strongly recommends it. Have also used the dolly each time. No problems. It probably won't fit down the aisle on the dolly so be prepared for that. And they will swab it at TSA. Big perk of the dolly is the kid can ride in it through the airport. We get all kinds of whoa that's cool comments. Also be prepared to advocate for yourself if need be. I've not had to but lots of horror stories out there about uneducated flight attendants. Have the regulations printed out or bookmarked.

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I appreciate the response. What do you mean by TSA "swabbing" the car seat?

Could you point me to the specific regulations you're referring to in case the flight attendants give me flak?

They just do a hand check of the item with a wand that is meant to find trace explosive material.

It's not too bad traveling with a kid. One is much easier to travel with than multiple. Great advice to earlier to gear up on snacks.

Personally I've never brought the car seat onboard, have always gate checked and it always works out fine. I also don't know your kid, but if they are over 2 they may not want to be in the car seat during the flight and that could be a struggle in my opinion.

There is an age range where the dolly is really nice getting through the airport. Especially if you are dealing with a second kid who is too young/old for it. My kids were always super content to be in one.

I was always super annoyed that during the time period my kids were of age, United for some reason stopped early boarding for parents with young children. Not like we were trying to pass off a 6 yo like people do now, we had an infant and a toddler along with a car seat to deal with. Think the policy came back as soon as they aged out.

This site seems to cover the basics in plain language and links to the FAA documents. https://thecarseatlady.com/before-you-fly-know-your-rights/

Make sure you know exactly where the aircraft approval sticker is on your seat.

Graco Tranzitions 3-1. It's a plastic car seat. Cheap. fairly lightweight. my wife and i both carried one through the airport for our 2 kids.

airline approved. strap the seat in. strap the kid in. much safe if there is bad turbulence.

Thank you!

Furlock Bones said:

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Graco Tranzitions 3-1. It's a plastic car seat. Cheap. fairly lightweight. my wife and i both carried one through the airport for our 2 kids.

airline approved. strap the seat in. strap the kid in. much safe if there is bad turbulence.

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I got a Graco Slimfit 3 LX which is great because it's only 20 lbs and is 16.7" wide so it can roll down an airplane aisle on a dolly.

i forgot to tell you. as someone mentioned, make sure you know where the stupid airline approved sticker is. show it to a FA on the actual plane before strapping in. we went by multiple FAs who never asked. get the kids all strapped in and ready. doors about to the close when a FA asked, "has anybody checked that car seat". had to pull the kiddo out and the seat. find the sticker. then redo everything.

Ugh, that sucks. I did find the sticker on my seat, so I'm good to go.