Hello out there!
My family and I are planning our first trip with my young son. He will be 1 in September, and we will be flying out later that month. I am looking at the best way to travel with him. We are planning on going to NYC for seven days. I know the city has a great transit system, providing cabs, subways, buses, etc. To get things worked out, I'm trying to determine the who car seat and stroller situation. I believe my son should be in a car seat, no matter what. I'd hate for something to happen to hime! I have been looking at the Sit 'n Stroll by Lilly Gold (http://www.lillygold.com/sns.html) and by Triple Play (http://www.tripleplayproducts.com/skprodsns.asp).
Has anyone had any experience with these? I know they are a bit pricey, but my son is worth it. I also figured that I will be able to get additional use out of it as we travel more.
Any other ideas are appreciated as well! Thanks in advance!
Well, I bought the Triple Play Sit 'n Stroll. (I ebay'd it to say money!). It has been the best investment ever! I took it to Philly and to NYC. It was a little bulky at times, but worked out perfectly. I was able to keep my son safe in the shuttle cars and able to take him around in the city and city transit. He was comfortable and was even able to sleep in it when tired.
I thought I was going to have trouble with it in NYC, but no problems at all. We just wheeled him on and off the subways and put in the trunk when we had to rid in a taxi.
Others had asked where I found it, and I happily told them all about it. My parents even made me demonstrate how it worked.
And when my son was tired of sitting, he used it as a "walk-behind" and pushed it himself. LOL!
I personally don't have one of these. But, my friend has one. She bought it because she does travel a lot. She says it works great. no matter where they are (flight or car)her child is protected. Totally worth the money.
Hi M.. I have 3 kids. A daughter who is 11 and two sons 2 and 3. We flew to Florida when my sons were 1 and 2. I wish I would have had two of those strollers. Traveling with kids is hard enough without having to worry about the car seat and stroller. I made the mistake of forgetting my 1yr old son's car seat when we went to Florida and keeping him in his seat on that airplane was almost impossible!! If you are traveling by yourself, I would highly reccommend that stroller/carseat. You can roll it right down to the airplane, leave the stroller and they will put it under the plane and pull it back up when you are getting off of the plane. You won't have to worry about how you are going to carry the car seat and push the stroller and watch your son while going through the airport. Unfortunately, I haven't found the airline personnel to be very helpful.
Good Luck!
Sherice R.
We own a sit & stroll. An excellent product. We have a 15 month old girl. She sat in the S&S from here to Hawaii last Christmas, and we just took her in it last month to Phoenix. We travel a lot, and when we take her as a lap child, we baggage check the S&S for use as our car seat in the rental car. I will tell you that we also take our Maclaren Volo stroller with us to warmer climates as I think the S&S is not as ventilated/cool for her, and an umbrella type stroller is just easier to pop in & out of the car with. The S&S is a wonderful product, and it even has a head rest cushion for when they doze off. You can literally carry her on & off the plane without getting her out of the car seat. The wheels come down in one quick lever action, and it is easy to manuver. I have written about it several times on this blog recommending it. I know the price holds many back, but if you are an active traveler, it's worth it. Also, to rent a car seat from a rental car company is min. $10/day, so after a few trips, it would pay for itself. Happy travels!
Just a bit of advice....you may want to check and do some more research into the mass transit systems in NYC. Most public transit systems do not allow you to use car seats. There is no place to hook them in; even most cabs that I have seen do not have the seat latches for car seats. You would most likely end up using just a stroller for the duration of your stay - aside from the airplane.
We have travelled to Europe already twice with our son who just turned 12 mos old. We will be taking two more trips to Europe in the next four months. We use a jogging stroller at home but decided against it for our trips. (European restaurants/stores can't accomodate large strollers) We just bought a $20 Umbrella Stroller for our trips. You can't store as much but it's so much more convenient for Subways, Taxis, Trains, etc. You can buy car seat covers at Babies R Us for approx $20 and they are worth their money if you opt to hold your child on the plane and gate check the car seat. Before we head through security at the airport we make sure everything in the diaper bag is zipped up in individual ziploc bags too. Security in European Airports is pretty tight and then they don't touch all your kids things if they open your diaper bag and search the contents. They don't actually make you open the see through ziplocs. Our car seat was FAA approved but there wasn't actually room in the coach seats for it to fit properly. I would recommend calling your airline to find out the exact size of the seat before buying a car seat that may not fit in the end. Our best tip to is to get a Bulkhead seat on the plane. We have taken flights as long as 12 hours and it's so much nicer when there is enough room for both you and your baby. We carry a blanket we throw down in the plane that keeps our son clean but allows him to stretch his legs and move around. It makes for a much less cranky traveller. Good luck! Our last trip took 22 hours of straight travel before we got to our destination...if we can survive that, with our sanity intact, you can travel anywhere. : ) Safe travels!
I have seen these in the airport when I've traveled. Unfortunately they didn't have them when my kids where smaller. My husband and I thought they were really neat and the parents seem to like them. I would go for it and purchase one. Just remember that he may get tired of sitting in the same thing every now and then, so be prepared. Have fun and enjoy your trip. Good luck and God Bless.
I agree your son needs to be in a car seat even on the airplane I do belive most car seats are compatiable with the airlines.
I've never used those, but I don't think I'd want my little one that close to the ground. And the book "Baby Bargains" reviewed at least one such product unfavorably, saying it wasn't a good car seat or stroller. I'd probably take an inexpensive, but smallish convertible car seat (one ranked highly in that same book) and a lightweight stroller like a Combi or a Chicco. Good luck!
I can't give you any advice on stroller namebrands but I was wondering, have you traveled in NYC with a child in the past or are you from there? They do have a wonderful transit system but it is not child friendly. Children are not allowed in strollers on any of them(you will get a ticket) and they must be completely folded up or not allowed at all at many of the tourist sites. Depending on the size of your child, you might want to think of a child backpack to carry him in. We have been to NYC every year to visit family and had to learn the hard way over the years.
Good luck,
D.
