Traveling tips - strollers/carseats

We are going overseas on a vacation this summer, and the logistics are a little overwhelming. we'll have long flights there and back (3hrs + 8hrs then round trip) with a quick change of planes in the middle.

I am wondering about the logistics of needing stroller(s) and carseats. the kids will be 26 months and they really travel well in town when they are restrained in their carseats and in the stroller.

With being tourists and wanting to have fun, I'm wondering if we need to get 2 small umbrella strollers? I have the combi double savvy that we already have, but am thinking its so large...?

Part of the trip will be staying in on location for 3 nights, then the next part is a 6 night cruise. Since this is still 6 months away, I'm not sure how the kids will be at that age... I don't really think we want to go without the stroller, right?

and then the whole thing about carseats? We are thinking that they would travel on the plane much better with a carseat... but am not sure of the logistics of the rest of the trip. we won't be renting a car, will be taking either public transportation or a taxi in Sweden, then the cruise, I guess would be the same for the day trips.

we don't have new carseats right now, am still in the car carriers, but will be getting carseats at some point in the next month... just am not sure if we want to take them ?

any wisdom would be greatly appreciated! tia!

 

I would definitely take the stroller. If you choose to do some walking around, they will never last so that would mean you are carrying them around.


As for the car seats, not really sure what I would do there. It would be a pain having to tote them once you got there, but if they would do better on the plane with them then it might be worth it.

 

I would probably skip the car seats for the plane . Maybe get the cares harness instead . I would take the combi double, but i find the umbrella strollers to be harder to push and much lower and not as much storage.

 

I would take the Combi stroller, even if you only use it in the airports, it will be worth the effort. You may also find it's helpful in getting from the local transportation onto the cruise ship, since many have very long piers and the trip through the ship to your room might also be a hike.

I would skip the car seats since you can probably only use them on the plane. Instead, I'd buy or rent CARES harnesses. We travelled across country with my girls when they were 26 months old and the CARES harnesses were great on the plane.

 

thanks so much for the info!! I was just wondering if there was some type of harness, I'll look into that... and I definitely think taking carseats sounds very cumbersome... hopefully I find a different way.

and the stroller... probably 2 umbrella strollers are about the size of my combi... good idea to just take the combi...

 

We took our girls to Spain a little over a year ago when they were a little over 2. I wold suggest bringing 2 light umbrella strollers. We found that a lot of the doorways, elevators and sidewalks in Spain were a lot narrower then in the US so our double stroller would not have fit. It was also nice to have two strollers in crowded tourist spots and going up and down the escalators to the Metro.

We checked our car seats and the girls did great. It was nice to be able to lift the armrests and have them both lay down in the seat to sleep. They did great on the plane (after we got a few things figured out) and we have not traveled with the seats since. Just make sure you talk to them a lot before-hand about what is expected of them on the plane and that the pilot is the boss so when he says seat belts need to be on there is not messing around or crying.

 

that's an interesting perspective about the doorways etc. maybe being narrower...I wouldn't have thought of that. I do think with our group (there will be 11 of us) it might be just as easy to have 2 small strollers...

I LOVED the part about the pilot being the boss! I will remember that! we just got the airplane/little people set, and there's a pilot, so i may have to start playing that up!

I love all the different perspectives ladies!! thanks so much!

 

Last time we flew cross country (at 20 months ) the car seats were a big nightmare. Even though they are perfectly happy in the car, they hated not being able to get out of them when everyone else was moving around, they didn't feel any more secure in them because of the noise and strange surroundings, and...ugh. For the sake of full disclosure, it was the trip from heck anyway, but the car seats did nothing to make the situation better.

Have a great time!! And if you've got 11 adults, I would definitely go with two smaller strollers!

 

well... 9 adults, but still I am thinking of 2 smaller strollers.

and my dh found something that its only about $2/day storage to store carseats at the airport we land in, so that might make it doable to bring them... ? at least it will give us an option to think about instead of hauling them around with us on the trip if we end up thinking we want to take them.

interesting perspective that the kids might feel confined with others aren't... they are pretty smart kids, aren't they?!

 

Oh, they see - and want to be part of - everything!

 

Take 2 umbrellas that what we do when we travel these days, especially in big busy cities. We only took the double to resorts the last 1 1/2 years. Then if you have a day you don't need them, you simply don't take them. But they're good for the airport and when you have a busy day. You'll be dealing with jet lag, etc.

I wouldn't take the car seats, very little need.

You fly via what city in Europe. Some of the airports are horrible. I would try to avoid Heathrow, Frankfurt and Charles de Gaulle at all cost ... votes worst airports ... too big, too many things going wrong.http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20091023/worlds-worst-airports.htm. Amsterdam is always good (but I am slightly biased) and we're very lucky with Hong Kong as well, little spoiled!

 

Which airport, that sounds super cheap, almost impossibly cheap, especially considering the size you need. Mine are travelling fine without car seats on the long haul since 12-15 months or so.

 

Interesting about the airports... we actually fly through JFK... rated worst - ah well! maybe it will be good for me to anticipate it being bad, then maybe it will end up not-so-bad... we fly into Stockholm, Sweden, and that's where my dh found the cheap carseat hold price... have to see if we want to pay the $2x9 days x2... for the carseats... I guess it allows us the option to take the carseats for the flights if we feel the need. its hard for me to anticipate how they will be 6 months from now. and we'd still have to lug them through the airport at JFK... so we'll see.

thanks everyone for the great comments and suggestions!