Prior to a recent trip with our toddler, my husband and I purchased a Gogo Kidz Travelmate car seat attachment. On a previous flight, we witnessed another family using this product with their toddler and knew that we must find our more about it! I did some research and located the Travelmate online for $75 with free shipping and decided to purchase (later, I found it at my local Babies R Us for almost the same price). I wanted to provide a review for other parents that may be interested in this particular product.

Pros

• It is very convenient to wheel the car seat through the airport instead of carrying it.
• The Travelmate acted as a stroller and my son enjoyed being pushed and pulled in his Britax car seat. This made the experience much more enjoyable for my family since baby was happy and our load was lightened!
• The wheels rolled very easily with my son securely strapped inside of his seat.
• The Travelmate is compatible with many FAA approved car seats. For a complete list, visit this link.
• Can be used with child secured inside the car seat until he or she weighs 50 pounds.
• No need to rent or borrow a car seat at your final destination! The Travelmate allows you to conveniently bring yours along.
• The Travelmate is lightweight at only 5 pounds and is compact (5″ deep, 17” wide, 28” high).

Cons

• The strap attachment that hooks around the car seat does not open and close as smoothly as expected. My husband and I both had trouble with the teeth catching (at one point, we thought we’d have to cut the strap to get it unhooked)! My advice is to not wait until you arrive at the airport to familiarize yourself with the attachment, practice in advance!
• TSA was not very friendly about the attachment being hooked on the car seat while trying to get through the security check point. Read about my experience at Orlando International Airport.
• The handle was difficult to lock while in the lowest position.
• The price is a bit steep, especially if you are not a frequent traveler.
• If only one parent is traveling with a child, it may not be easy to remove the Travelmate and control your kid at the same time.

We removed the Travelmate completely before boarding our plane so I cannot say whether or not the car seat could be rolled down the aisle. I read online that the car seat can be installed on the plane with the Travelmate attached; however, we just went ahead and took it off. The Travelmate easily fit into the overhead compartment and was a breeze to reattach once we deboarded the plane. If you have questions about this product, you may want to visit the official FAQ page.

All in all, this product made traveling with a toddler much smoother and I am happy with my purchase. We had several parents traveling with young children stop us to inquire about the Travelmate and whether we recommend it. Obviously, there is room for improvement (including price), but I do recommend this to parents who will be traveling with a car seat.

Have you used this product? What are your thoughts?

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Britax Boulevard

For parents who are wondering whether or not to take your child’s car seat on an airplane, I highly recommend it! Do not assume your car seat is FAA approved though, make sure you verify this information (you can check the car seat manual or the manufacturer’s website). We did not purchase a separate seat for my son; however, since our planes were not full, Southwest Airlines allowed us to bring his Britax Boulevard on board.

My husband easily installed the car seat next to the window and my son did not disagree about being strapped in. This proved to be invaluable for our trip out of Orlando since we sat on the tarmack for 2 hours waiting for a storm to pass then another 30 minutes when we returned to the gate for a malfunctioning toilet. My son actually slept soundly in his car seat during most of the chaos. I was hoping he would sleep the entire flight to Washington, DC since I strategically planned our flight during his nap time, but the delay threw everything off.

He did really great though, only cried for a few minutes at take off due to the pressures on his ears. I tried feeding him and offering a drink; however, he didn’t want either. A mom with two young boys was sitting near us and gave my son a Tootsie Pop and said it may help his ears. The lollipop was too large to fit in his mouth, but it definitely distracted him from the pain. After a few minutes, I was able to strap him back into his car seat and keep him entertained for the rest of the trip.

On my previous post Flying With A Toddler, a fellow mom blogger left a comment about wrapping toys for her children. I took her advice and wrapped 5 new toys in tissue paper. Thank you Katie, each package kept him occupied for 15 minutes! He had a blast shredding the tissue paper and then discovering his prize inside. I also packed a few of his favorite books and some fun finger foods, so he was a happy boy.

In all seriousness, I do not know what we would have done without the car seat on the airplane. My son is a squirmy toddler and there was no way I could have held him still for that long. He would have driven me nuts! Even though it is a pain to carry along the car seat, my advice is to do it anyway. Your child will be much more comfortable and safely restrained. We used a GoGo Kidz Travelmate to roll it through the airport which lightened our load tremendously (we also strapped our son in it and pushed it like a stroller). I plan on posting a product review in the very near future.

I was also very hesitant about renting a car seat at our final destination. I have heard horror stories about car seats being filthy dirty as well as in poor condition. Having my son’s car seat also brought me peace of mind.

Do you restrain your child in a car seat while on an airplane? Do you bring along anything special to make your child more comfortable while flying? I’d love to hear about your experience.

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I fully respect the position of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers to safeguard our airports, but do they have to act like such asses? On my flight out of Orlando, the TSA officer that was overseeing the security line ran into me with a cart filled with trays. She saw me standing there with my son and literally pushed the cart into me without an apology. Then, she proceeded to chew me out about my car seat having a GoGo Kidz Travelmate attachment so it would not fit through the x-ray machine. I conducted my due diligence and knew that TSA could hand inspect my car seat with the attachment or I could simply remove the wheels and place everything intact through the machine, yet she insisted that I completely remove the entire attachment. To be honest, I didn’t mind complying, I was more annoyed with her bad attitude.

She proceeded to tell me that I should have waited until I was through security to attach the Travelmate, and I kindly told her it was none of her business and that I am traveling with a toddler. I didn’t owe her any sort of explanation nor did I ask for her opinion. Even though my car seat fit through the x-ray machine perfectly without the attachment, she still decided to hand inspect it anyway. Her inspection took almost 8 minutes and trust me, I know from experience that it doesn’t take that long to inspect a car seat. What ever happened to customer service?

On our return flight out of Dulles, my family was directed to an empty security line and we began putting all our belongings on the screening conveyer belt. We opted to remove the GoGo Kidz Travelmate car seat attachment completely to avoid the chaos we experienced at Orlando. The TSA officer asked me if I had any food or drink for my baby. I knew the jar of food I brought would need to be tested, but based on previous experiences at Dulles, I knew it would only take a few seconds. Well, the TSA officer over-reacted and told me that I was going to delay the security process because I didn’t go to the Family line. He said he’d have to run the jar down to the Family line for testing which would take several minutes. After he proceeded to give me an ear full, I casually walked over to the trash can and discarded the jar of baby food. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but he made it out to be one. First of all, I was directed to that particular line by the previous TSA officer and secondly, there was NO ONE behind us in line.

Once we made it through the security line, I noticed the liquid testing machine was right beside of the area we had just gone through. Unbelievable! I am certain TSA deals with some real winners every day, but is it really necessary to give such attitude?

Have you had an unpleasant experience with TSA? Perhaps being rude is a job requirement? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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I am starting to get a bit nervous about an upcoming trip my family has planned. It has been six months since we took our son on a plane and at that time, he was still breast feeding which made life so much easier. He could have some milk and fall right to sleep in my arms. Now, he’s not a cuddly baby and is constantly moving so this trip should be interesting.

I don’t want to be “those” parents with an uncontrollable child (you know exactly what I’m talking about, the ones you shake your head at). I am praying my son will be well behaved and if not, I may have to order a mimosa or something to calm my nerves!

I have received some great advice about packing toys and introducing new ones to peak his interest. Also, snacks are vital and I plan on taking a nice variety. I’m wondering whether I should purchase a portable dvd player, but I know he won’t let me put headphones on him (he cannot stand hats so what makes me think he’ll agree to something on his ears).

We did not purchase a separate seat for him but are hoping the plane is not full so we can have a row to ourselves. If this trip turns out to be complete chaos then we will definitely consider spending the extra money on our return flight. He does great in a car, so I’m wondering if having him confined in his car seat would make traveling a bit easier.

I purchased a GoGo Kidz Travelmate to push him through the airport in his car seat. I refuse to spend $50 per day to rent a dirty car seat so we’re taking his with us. The Travelmate will allow us to roll him right to the plane. Like I mentioned previously, if there are extra seats I will take the car seat on the flight (his Britax Boulevard is FAA approved). I made sure to confirm this fact instead of assuming like I did with his infant car seat on his first flight to NYC.

Any additional advice for flying with a toddler? I know I probably just need to relax, but I hate the thought of disrupting others. Thankfully, the flight is less than 2 hours and I scheduled it during his nap time. Let’s pray my strategy works out!

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