Car Seat Airport Hack: What you need!
I saw a version of this car seat hack ages ago, and my resourceful husband created a similar setup for pushing a car seat through an airport for us! Our how-to and what we used is below.*
Background if you care: if you buy a separate seat for an infant under 2, the FAA recommends you use a car seat. Every place we've traveled we've also rented a car, so it has made perfect sense to just bring a car seat with us for both the plane and the car... and that will be our reality for at least another 6 months. Once Wolfie turns 2, we can decide if he's ready to sit in a seat solo on the plane, and then we can check the car seat. In this time between 0-24 months, having this cart set up made getting through the airport much easier... and we didn't have to wear a carseat on our backs, leaving us both free to carry a backpack!
Here's what we did:
THE CAR SEAT: Bought a very light, slim car seat. Although this Graco seat doesn't check all of my non-toxic/clean boxes, for this limited use, I was okay with it. ;) It is very easy to buckle into the airplane + a car... and it is seriously very light. At 16 lbs, it's among the lighter convertible car seats, and the price point is very good. Graco Contender Slim Convertible Car Seat
THE CART: Grab yourself a Foldable Hand Truck and 2 bungee cords. This hand truck comes with 2 cords so you're good to go if you get that one. This folds completely flat once you put the car seat on the plane, you can just put it in the overhead bin.
THE ATTACHMENT: Once you're at the airport, simply attach the car seat to the hand truck with the cords. You can put other things in the car seat and easily push it where you need to go. (We even pushed it through security and did not need to take it apart at any point until we got on the plane on a recent trip.)
THE STROLLER: Wolfie has ridden in a stroller throughout the airport every time we've traveled thus far and this Jeep stroller is the one we bring on the plane b/c it fits in the overhead bin... no waiting for gate check! Our every day stroller is an UPPABaby but I just could not stomach spending another $500+ on a travel stroller. This Jeep one has been GREAT (for not only the airport, but for quick trips, etc). Also - this stroller is GREENGAURD Gold Certified and JPMA certified, so I felt good about it despite it being a more mainstream brand.
On a recent trip, we took 2 backpacks, a large diaper bag, a carry on suitcase plus a stroller and the car seat, didn't check anything, and it was comfortable to get through the airport and we had everything we needed.
Yes, the car seat cart is still something to push, and you need to be sure to attach it well or the car seat will flop around. But, it is far better in our opinion than wearing a car seat on your back.
Happy traveling!!
*commissionable links
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