Link of the Day: Flying with an Infant

Here's a good and clear explanation of what is allowed (and more importantly, what is not!) when flying with an infant. Part of having a good experience while flying is acquainting yourself and following the rules (whether they make sense or not, unfortunately).

Car seats and flying part 2

As a tip, if you are planning on taking your carseat on board the airplane and using it to restrain your child during the flight, it never hurts to print out the FAA's rules on doing so (found here) "just in case". We personally have never had a problem with using our carseat on the plane but I've heard from plenty of people who have had difficulties for one reason or another. If it's a rule-based issue, then having a print out of the document should help you navigate the issue (IF you're following the rules in the first place!). It also doesn't hurt to check your airline's website ahead of time and print their rules as well.

One thing to remember: you can only use a carseat on the plane for a seat that has been paid for. Now, some airlines will allow you to use the carseat in an empty seat on the airplane after boarding has been completed, but it's not always guaranteed and varies by airline by airline and by staff. Never assume if you haven't paid for the seat that you'll be able to use the carseat on the airplane.

LotD: How to organize your carry-on luggage

I have my own work in progress post on this topic but in the meantime, I stumbled across this neat link on getting organized while traveling with baby and special bonus -- a FREE printable travel check list here.

Quick tip

If you're going away for a significant period of time -- more than a few days -- and as a result, you've emptied your refrigerator, I highly recommend having a frozen meal or two in the freezer for your return, especially if you're coming back jetlagged or late at night. The last thing you really want to do is think about your next meal when you have tired, cranky kids and you're stumbling over suitcases. Not that that's happened to us...

Traveling with a car seat, part I

A question I hear a lot is whether it's worth traveling with a car seat to your final destination and the answer is "It depends." Obviously, if you're driving from your home to your final destination, then taking the car seat is an easy no-brainer, but what if you're flying overseas?

Nine times out of 10, it's probably a really good idea to take your own car seat with you but there are a couple of exceptions to that rule: a) if you're primarily taking public transportation (trains/subways and buses) and b) you're not likely to spend much time in an automobile (either rental or taxi). Now, it's always a good idea to use a car seat in a taxi, but that's also a judgement call. When we went to London during Easter 2013, we left the car seat at home, knowing we would only be in a taxi for the ride to and from the airport (the child sat in our laps for the flight). It was a risky decision but we figured it wasn't worth dragging a 25 pound contraption across the Atlantic for two 30 minute taxi rides. Your mileage may vary.

We did take our car seat to India -- a country where attitudes about seatbelts are lax (if seatbelts are even available in the car!). It was challenging to find a car with seatbelts in the back (forget about LATCH), but we did but lots of people traveling to India don't feel the need to take the carseat simply because the culture and the "infrastructure" (i.e. cars with seatbelts) don't support the use of them.

If you know you're going to be spending a lot of time in a personal vehicle, it's well worth taking your own carseat; the pain of dragging around a carseat well outweighs the safety gains made from taking them. I also recommend taking along the installation manual just in case you need a reminder or if the installation is different than what you're used to (ie LATCH versus seatbelt).

Carseat recall

Not exactly travel related, but important enough to share this information here: Graco car seat recall; if you own one of these car seats, please contact Graco at the 1-800 number listed in this recall notice.

LOTD: More Disney!

I apologize for the lack of updates lately; a lot of things going on here in Real Life (tm) including trip planning (hooray!) so I haven't been online to write as much lately. I did however come across this article on how to get your money's worth at Disney which has some neat advice for those of you planning a trip in the near future.