How to travel with a car seat
Expert tips for navigating air travel with car seats and kids
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I flew often pre-children and pre-pandemic, with only a carry on and a small backpack. But now I have two kids—ages 7 months and 3 years—and air travel has taken on a whole new meaning.
On a recent trip, we traveled with two suitcases, three backpacks, a wagon, two car seats and—of course—our two children.
If anything, we’d packed light for this week-long trip with extended family. But still, the pile of bags persisted, and the most annoying items were the car seats.
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There are many schools of thought about how to travel with a car seat. Some people rent car seats at their destination, while others check their car seats and pick them up at baggage claim. Still other parents recommend flying with the car seat on the plane for a child who has their own seat, or purchasing a lightweight car seat for these kinds of excursions.
There are car seat travel bags to keep the seats from getting damaged if you do check them, and all kinds of recommendations about how to best carry them through the airport, if you choose to do so.
To parse through this advice, I spoke with dozens of other parents who travel, then sought out the expertise of Celine Brewer of BabyCanTravel. Brewer has traveled extensively with her children and offers advice on her blog about how to travel both internationally and domestically. Here are her tips:
1. Make an airport game plan
Planning ahead is the key to easier travel.
You’ll have two options: Check your car seat when you check into your flight—for free on most airlines—or carry it through the airport with you, to the plane.
Most children under 40 pounds should use a child restraint system of some kind if they have their own seat on an airplane (which will be the case when they turn 2), according to the FAA.
There are also folding travel seats for toddlers—like the WayB Pico—which can work well for little ones on international flights. These are especially helpful for kids who are in the gray zone of not quite needing a car seat on the plane, but still needing to adhere to safety measures.
If you’re carrying your infant or you have a toddler who plans to sit on your lap, however, you will want to check their car seat.
Either way, make a plan for each kid before you get to the airport, so everyone knows what they’re carrying and which bags are being dropped at each stopping point.
If you plan to carry your child’s car seat through the airport, to the plane, you’ll want to bring both the car seat and stroller and then gate-check the latter. In this case, your child can ride in their usual stroller, then you’d attach your car seat to your suitcase with a luggage strap.
2. Be wary about checking a car seat
A padded travel bag is a must if you're planning to check your car seat.
Brewer notes that checking your child’s car seat is rarely the safest option, simply because bags often get tossed around as they’re being loaded and unloaded, and your car seat may get damaged.
You’ll need to check your car seat if you’re traveling with an infant or young toddler on your lap. If your child is over 40 pounds, and can safely ride in the airplane seat, you’ll also want to check their car seat.
In this case, you’ll be grateful for a backpack-style car seat bag. Most have padded straps and are large enough to fit a convertible car seat.
Brewer opts for padded bags like the J.L. Childress Ultimate Backpack, especially if she’s checking the car seat. “We add additional padding with any large jackets, blankets or diapers that we are packing,” she says. “We use these as protection, not because we’re looking to pack extra items.”
3. Avoid renting a car seat
Renting a car seat is not recommended.
Don’t rent a car seat at your destination, Brewer warns. “You won’t have any history of the car seat and won’t know if it’s been in an accident,” she says. “In addition, we’ve experienced car rental companies that try to give incorrectly sized car seats that just aren’t safe—like giving a booster seat for a baby.”
If you need to rent a car seat, look for local baby gear rental companies instead. These companies offer gear like car seats and pack ‘n plays that have been well-taken-care of and sanitized.
4. If you travel often, buy a lightweight seat
If you travel often, an inexpensive car seat is a worthwhile investment.
If you’re just traveling once each year, you shouldn’t buy an additional seat. But if air travel is a frequent part of your family’s schedule, consider buying a lightweight car seat.
Many standard seats weigh up to 20 lbs, whereas a travel seat can be much lighter, in the neighborhood of 5-10 lbs. This weight difference matters during airport schleps!
“Just make sure your car seat is FAA approved,” Brewer says.
5. Consider not bringing a car seat
Choose destinations that are walkable and have good public transportation if you want to skip brining a car seat.
If you feel annoyed about traveling with car seats, just like I do, Brewer has a great pro tip: “We’ve looked for destinations where we could get around without renting a car,” she says, noting that this plan works well with infants or older children.
“On these trips, we left the car seat at home. We made this work by using public transportation and doing a lot of walking.”
6. The more often you travel, the easier it gets
No matter how much planning you do, traveling with kids is just tricky. But heading into it with eyes wide open—especially when it comes to wrangling car seats—can only help. Every seasoned travel parent I spoke with reiterated that over time, travel became much easier. (This feels true with everything in parenting, doesn’t it?)
During each trip, these parents said that they were able to refine the travel process, plus their kids got more used to the experience and they found little tricks that worked well for their specific family. The bottom line is that there is no “right” way to travel with a car seat, but there are many good options that will get everyone safely from point A to point B. Choose what’s right for you!
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