Comments on: Babywearing and Traveling: A Perfect Match

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 01:54:12 +0000

My husband has been working overseas for 3 years so we have done a lot of long trips on airplanes, trains, buses and taxis. I have used my Rolz and Sassy wrap for various ages, and am now using it with my newborn.
When we travel we use a wrap for the smallest child (up until about age 2). I prefer a wrap over a carrier because I can leave it on me while the baby is out and it doesn’t become one more thing to carry. For the older child (2-4 years) we use a small stroller and check it at the airplane gate. It’s not an umbrella stroller but very close to it.
The older child is capable of walking on their own, but we’ve found that going through customs, etc. it’s easier if you can contain them, give them a snack, and keep them happy while standing in line. Also it’s hard to carry all the extra carry-on bags. When we have our big suitcases (up to 8 of them) while checking in at the airport we sometimes fold the stroller and put it on the trolly with the suitcases so that each of us can push a trolley.
I have also done a 2 hour flight/9 hour layover/13 hour flight on my own with a 1 and 3 yr old using the wrap and stroller. It worked very well-much better than I thought it might!

Here are the things that we find important about a travelling stroller:
1) Small. Not just folds up nice, but has to be narrow because when you travel (especially in asia) if it is very wide you won’t fit through doors and aisles. Also needs to be light to carry.
2) Has storage underneath.
3) Has a bit of a canopy on top. Doesn’t have to be big because you can always extend it with blankets, but you need something. I have found raincovers to be useless and take up way too much space-fleece blankets work pretty well and dry out very quickly.
4) Needs to lay flat. Not for sleeping purposes but to change the baby’s diaper. Most places we’ve been have nowhere to change a baby and train/bus stations are pretty dirty so you can’t lay them on the floor.

Most important of all is to leave lots of time so you don’t have to rush. Always count on someone having to pee just when you get to the front of the line! On a side note use a pull-up as long as you can even on a kid who’s been trained for years.
Make sure to take time to look at the whole travelling experience from a kid’s point of view. It’s amazing the things that they notice.
Travelling with little kids can be fun!

By: Montse

Montse — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:43:02 +0000

I use my Moby Wrap when we travel and I couldn’t do without it. The good news is I never have to take her out of it to go through security. They lightly pat her down and that’s it.
I highly recommend baby wearing while traveling. It makes the experience so much easier and the best part, my baby stays snug and secure next to me!

By: pixie

pixie — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:48:58 +0000

Good luck with the trip! I think your plan sounds very workable. We’ve only travelled with one toddler and I found the ring sling great for hopping on and off buses and trains, especially as she likes to be up, then down, then up again. But ring slings can get heavy when toddlers fall asleep in them!

Let us know how it goes

By: Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:18:06 +0000

What we found useful was to put the baby in a carrier and put a carseat in “go go wheels” from One Step Ahead. You can wheel a toddler around the airport in this! Very helpful. The wheels can stay on when the carseat is strapped to the airplane seat or carseat.

By: Theresa

Theresa — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:31:36 +0000

I just last week returned from the Caribbean to Eastonia via 3 flights, 1 of them trans-atlantic with my 8 month old. I used my Babyhawk Mei Tai the entire time and I don’t know what I would have done without it. With all the suitcases and carry-ons hubby and I had, there were simply no hands left to push a stroller. I nursed her in those long airport lines with ease and discretion, and she was quite happy to just hang out while we waited and waited and waited, and lined up, and filled out forms, and waited, and lined up some more. And of course, there were the many compliments about how cool my babyhawk was

By: CanCan (Mom Most Traveled)

CanCan (Mom Most Traveled) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:07:42 +0000

For car seats, I would look into the Ride Safer Travel Vest (for car travel once you arrive) and the CARES safety harness (for the airplane). These will both save a lot of space and trouble. You can check the baby car seat.

By: CanCan (Mom Most Traveled)

CanCan (Mom Most Traveled) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:06:08 +0000

I have two children. In airports what we did most recently was a gate-check stroller for the 3 year old and the ergo baby carrier for the 11 month old. My husband wore the baby on his front and a back pack on his back, I had a back pack and 2 rolling suitcases. My husband pushed the stroller. We made it to South East Asia.

By: Noah

Noah — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:27:21 +0000

We use a big stroller to haul the carseats and carry ons in more than the kids. Then we have it for when we’re out and about during our vacation and the kids (mostly my 3 1/2 yo) are too tired to walk. He’s 35lbs, so wearing him is difficult, to say the least.

By: phdinparenting

phdinparenting — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:01:21 +0000

I think your plan sounds like a good one. Another way to keep the older kids focused and also reduce the luggage carrying burden on you and your husband is to get them to carry their own stuff. Even with our 3 year old, we have gotten him to carry his own backpack with his toys and books for the flight and he rolled his own suitcase to the check in.