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.

CDC health alerts

As you get ready to travel, it's always worth taking a look at the Center for Disease Control (CDC)'s website for the latest advisories on outbreaks, epidemics, vaccines that are needed, and other information. You can find information regarding traveler's health advisories here.

Kidco Peapod bed recall

I want to alert you to the recall of the Kidco Peapod travel beds due to suffocation risk (and at least one infant death). I actually purchased this bed for my child on a friend's recommendation but discontinued use after a couple of tries as my child rolled into the wall of the tent enclosure and couldn't get herself free; luckily, I was still awake and could hear her struggling and rescued her promptly. It was a scary moment and while I discussed my concerns with Kidco, I didn't necessarily feel they understood the sides of the walls were non-breathable and that advertising the beds for ages 0+ and up was probably not a good idea.

You can read more about the recall here and if you already own the Kidco Peapod bed, you can get the recall kit here. I've ordered and received the kit but have yet to use it. I'm not sure I could ever trust this bed again and plan to use the tent enclosure only outside as a playarea for my child when I'm supervising her.

I'm at a loss to recommend a good travel bed that isn't bulky at this point. We took our Pack 'n Play with us when we went overseas simply because we trusted it more than any other solution that we knew about at the time. A friend of mine recommends the Go Crib wholeheartedly as it folds nicely into a backpack; I have no personal experience with this crib, just passing on the recommendation since I know that finding a place for baby to sleep can be stressful when traveling!

Going to the bathroom while traveling alone with baby

Safaa raised the question of how to handle the call of nature while traveling alone with baby? Depending on the mode of travel, the question of bathroom usage can be very tricky. I've had experiences traveling alone with baby by air and also by car so hopefully my hints can be helpful to you. I will say that it's not easy and can be stressful.

First, traveling by air, I found a friendly flight attendant to hold baby while I went to the bathroom. I wasn't terribly concerned about asking someone on the flight to hold baby for me, but I definitely preferred a flight attendant and luckily, found one who was willing! Just be advised that you'll need to wait at least until all flight attendant duties are over -- i.e. meals and beverage -- before asking and when the seat-belt sign is off. If no flight attendant is available when you need to go, consider asking a fellow passenger who looks friendly and responsible; there is always a grandmother or a mom who wouldn't mind a few minutes of baby time on board. Finally, as a last resort, you can take baby into the restroom with you and seat baby on your lap while going. This last bit is awkward and clumsy but if you're concerned about leaving your child with a stranger, this is probably your best bet. If you baby-wear, that's another option as well.

Traveling by road is a little easier, but I would never ask a person I find in the bathroom at a rest stop to hold/watch baby. Too many escape routes. At least on an aircraft, you know it's very unlikely for the person you ask to watch baby to take off with said baby.

When traveling by myself on the road, I usually put baby in a stroller and then wait for the handicap stall to be available and then wheel baby in and then use the bathroom myself. In many cases, the handicap stall is the one that has the changing table in it so I can take care of baby at the same time. If you baby-wear, that's another option as well. And if you're really, really lucky, some bathrooms have stalls that are equipped with a child seat attached to the wall that you can strap baby into while answering the call of nature. IKEA stores, by the way, have this nifty seat as do some airports.

Above all, when you are traveling by yourself  with baby, be hyper aware of your surroundings, especially on the road. Know the route well, travel in broad daylight, and carry a cell phone to let your loved ones know where you are. If something doesn't feel right to you, don't take a chance and keep going until you feel comfortable and safe.

Travel booster seat recommendation

One of the interesting things about traveling abroad is how different baby equipment can be and that included availability. While in Japan, we found that a 'baby chair' was simply a tall bar-stool type thing with no straps -- not a great option for our wiggly 12 month old. We made do with that chair by wedging it up against a table leg, but poor girl was constantly slipping and sliding down and generally looking uncomfortable.

When we decided to travel to India, I talked to a friend who told me that high chairs were few and far between and also (and by the way, this is not country-specific) not always clean. With the memory of Japan still fresh in our minds, I went searching online for a solution and after some research, decided to purchase the Munchkin travel booster seat. We used the seat extensively in India and also at the grandparents', making it possible to avoid buying a high chair for their place as we only visit a couple times a year

I chose the Munchkin seat because of a) the price, b) I liked the look of it, the c) the sturdy legs, d) the ease of folding it up into a carry case, and e) the extra storage for placemats, food, etc. The seat fits nicely into a suitcase and isn't very heavy, maybe less than a couple pounds. The one downside is that it doesn't have arm straps, only straps for the lap, but we saw that as an improvement over nothing at all! Another issue with this travel seat is that the chair you install it in needs to have a high back otherwise it will not work properly as the back of the booster is not particularly sturdy or supportive.

Measles and traveling abroad

I want to give you a head's up regarding a major measles epidemic in the UK, and more specifically, in the greater Swansea area in southern Wales. As the UK is a very popular summer vacation destination, please do your research ahead of time, especially if you're traveling with an un-vaccinated child. This is not an insignificant epidemic; as of April 29, 2013, the number of cases reported in Wales has approached 1,000 and as of April 19, 2013, the the first measles-related death may have occurred. The BBC has some maps showing current measles cases in the UK here. You can read more about measles and vaccinations at the CDC's page here. Note that measles is highly infectious and can cause death. The World Health Organization has some sobering statistics on measles here.


If your child is under the age of 12 months and has not yet received a measles vaccine (commonly known as the MMR), talk to your pediatrician about it, especially if you are traveling to a part of the world where a measles outbreak exists. I got the MMR for baby at age 11 months as I was traveling to a part of the world where 50 percent of the cases originate; she had absolutely no reactions. The downside, however, is that baby did need to get another MMR at 15 months as any MMR prior to 12 months won't count for official vaccine paperwork.

Please take the appropriate precautions when traveling overseas after speaking to your trained health provider. Measles is a highly infectious disease that has the potential to cause serious complications in small children, including death.