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AIBU?

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Original poster

To box my egg pram up to avoid airline damage?

422 replies

SenoraSurf · 18/02/2019 20:35

We are going to Spain from UK with easyJet when DC1 will be 5 weeks old. We will be taking our beautifully stunning and expensive egg stroller with us. I have read online that you can take it free of charge and it will be put in the hold but naturally, I'm really worried about potential damage.
Would it be ok to box it up and check it in properly when we get to the airport? would I have to pay to do this?

Any experience or advice would be gratefully received!

Before anybody suggests it, getting a cheap one to take is not an option I would like to explore.

Thanks

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Mrsemcgregor · 19/02/2019 08:34

OP- people take large expensive equipment on flights (even easyJet) all the time. Musical instruments, sports equipment, electronics etc.

Yes you can box it up and check it into oversized baggage. You will have to pay, phone the airline and ask how much. Make sure you mark it as fragile and take out extra insurance covering the price of the pram.

(I worked in travel for 10 years)

cupoftea84 · 19/02/2019 08:37

Ps I have a friend whose ears were done as a young child. They're really uneven and she do anything about it. Get it done when her ears are nearly fully grown (teenager) so they are well placed (and also she consents...).

overjoyedmumma · 19/02/2019 08:38

We took our daughter to Cyprus at 3 months, and I hate to be annoying as you said you didn’t want to bring an alternative pram.... buuut I’m so glad that we did. I love our pram, and seeing how much our cheap one was wrecked, as well as our lovely car seat, I am so pleased that we at least swapped the pram.

welshweasel · 19/02/2019 08:38

What are you planning to do about a car seat?

Cheby · 19/02/2019 08:41

OP I totally hadn’t appreciated that the baby hasn’t been born yet. You might be in for a shock. I don’t think I ate without holding or breastfeeding a baby for the first 6 months or so with both my DC. Neither were ‘putdownable’. DH used to cut up my food for me and I’ve eaten many a take away with a napkin over breastfeeding DCs’ heads so I didn’t drop food on them. 😂

I hope you get one of the magical sleeping ones who happily goes down in a crib. But just maybe consider that you might not do. Also, I’m not really sure how much dining out you will be up for with a 5 week old. You’re going to be exhausted. Anyway. I hope it goes well for you.

Oh and yes your DH is absolutely right on the ear piercing front. It’s awful to do a painful cosmetic procedure which carries risk of infection on a newborn. I cant understand why anyone would.

cliffdiver · 19/02/2019 08:48

OP you will not have to pay excess baggage.

When travelling with an under 5 on EasyJet you can take x3 of the following for free.

Buggy
Cat sea
Travel cot car seat

LotsToThinkOf · 19/02/2019 08:49

If you’re visiting family can’t you box up and courier the pram to them in advance, take a sling and meet it there?

SoyDora · 19/02/2019 08:49

To the PP who said a baby will be happy napping in a stretchy sling at 5 weeks... that’s what I thought with my current 6 week old after having 2 previous DC who would only nap in the sling... he bloody hates it. He hates not being able to see and being unable to move around freely.
That’s why it’s best to see what sort of baby you have before making too many plans and assumptions around prams/slings/travel etc.

KrazyKatlady · 19/02/2019 08:51

Can you get a bike box type of carrier for a pram? Lots of people travel with bikes costing far more than 1k but never heard of them getting wrecked in a bike box. I imagine its fairly costly to take as luggage though.
On a separate note we took dd on holiday when she was 5 weeks old. We had an expensive pram which we later regretted spending so much on as the 2nd hand one we got for DS was actually better because we were driving somewhere else in the uk. The first time we went out for a meal , we took dd in said pram. She cried the whole time unless she was held, we (me, DH, DM and DF ) ate our meals in relay style while 1 person picked her up or walked around with her outside!! The 2nd time we went out she slept in the pram the whole evening.

fruityb · 19/02/2019 08:52

“Dine”

Hahahahaha!!

I just saw a Facebook memory that said I had managed to eat a roast dinner one handed: and my ds was nearly six months old at this point! I ate one handed with cut up food for quite some time lol. And wait for your life to be totally dictated by a small thing!

Didn’t realise they weren’t born yet. You’ll become less precious when they’ve puked on it, had a poonami in it, it’s got muddy, baby doesn’t like it.....

darceybussell · 19/02/2019 08:58

'hate to break it to you but your DC will decide if they are willing to stay in the pram or not, you may find they only settle in the sling anyway after all that expense and hassle of taking it there.'

Yep, I had an expensive pram, my baby hated it - screamed his head off whenever we put him in it! I'd have been mightily pissed off if I'd forked out another £120 to take it somewhere and then he wouldn't go in it!

Frazzled2207 · 19/02/2019 08:58

Op
I've only just realised your D.C. is not yet born.

You will think differently when she/he is here, trust me. It depends on the baby but some just won't be "put down" for months. My own dc1 included - as long as it was moving it was ok but there was no way on this earth he's agree to just being put in a static pram until he was was about 8/9 months old. Most of this time he was almost permanently attached to my boob. I learnt to "dine" with one hand pretty quickly.

gamerchick · 19/02/2019 08:59

I'm going to cut your some slack. You're not half way through your pregnancy with a first baby and are excited. Things like prams and earrings and all the other pictures in your head will be feeling like a giant high to you atm.

I'm personally betting the last thing you'll want to do that soon after giving birth is travel or even bother boxing a pram up. The things you are thinking now won't have the same power when it comes to the time.

Fatasfook · 19/02/2019 09:00

I’ve just googled egg buggies and they look no different from an average buggy, so the vanity aspect is pointless. They look like mothercare buggies! Just use a sling, 5 weeks is tiny and light.

SoyDora · 19/02/2019 09:11

I should also point out that my sling hating 6 week old also dislikes the pram carrycot for the same reason... he can’t see anything! He likes to be held upright on my knee facing outwards the majority of the time. Makes eating meals fairly difficult, except on the rare occasions he’ll sleep without being in motion.

LipstickforFish · 19/02/2019 09:15

I would say no matter how carefully you package, the airline will manage to damage it somehow, they are not careful with luggage.

I honestly don't understand why you can't take a cheaper stroller or sling with you, or even ask your family in Spain to get hold of a cheap/secondhand buggy/pram for you then sell it on when you leave?

If you are that vain about wanting to show it off, you won't feel so smug pushing it around with damage on, will you?!

bedtimestories · 19/02/2019 09:19

I know what you mean, I'd want to take my pram with me too. Could you get a carrycot to go in a stroller? Like a bugaloo bee?

Peachesandcream15 · 19/02/2019 09:26

Get a babyzen yo-yo. They seem to be the 'in' stroller for people who want a flash pram when travelling. Can be used from birth.

Incidentally are you going to be able to get a passport in time? What if baby is overdue?

raviolig · 19/02/2019 09:41

Just to add to the majority but also to say I don’t think anyone has mentioned, what happens if it gets lost?
We travel fairly regularly (always with the cheap pram) and we have had one of them disappear, never to be seen again! Luckily it was one I could afford to lose and we just bought another one to replace it, but if it had been expensive I’d have been gutted.
There is also the chance of it getting wet, they often leave them sitting on the runway in the rain.
My son is severely disabled and I am petrified to take his adapted pram on a plane because I know other people who have and their’s got damaged. So essentially a wheelchair and they still don’t look after them.
Oh and the one that got lost was the one we checked in as excess size baggage. We have never lost one that went to the gate.

Good luck, I think you are going to need it!

Alsohuman · 19/02/2019 09:43

I had to Google Egg prams too. My guess is that nobody except another new parent would be able to tell what it is or how much it cost. As for it being a thing of beauty - well I guess we all have different tastes.

longwayoff · 19/02/2019 09:50

This is what you want to hear. "Oh OP you've got an Egg pram how lovely how shiny how expensive. It will be absolutely fine on the flight, all these other posters don't know what they're talking about". OK now? Really, if you don't want sensible informed advice why ask?

Damntheman · 19/02/2019 09:53

Your best chance at keeping the pram undamaged is a Stokke PramPack. I have travelled twice a year (to visit my parents) since my first DC was born five years ago. In all those travels (sometimes involving 3 planes at a time) I only had one instance of damage to the pram.

That said, you are taking a big risk with an expensive pram that you love for looks, but so long as you're aware of the potential for ruining it I'd advise the PramPack.

Cutesbabasmummy · 19/02/2019 09:55

I haven't read the whole thread but at 5 weeks I still couldn't sit down properly due to badly done stitches, was totally exhausted from a baby who never slept and due to reflux was often adorned with sicky milk. If you are in this situation quite honestly you won't care about what pram your child is in! Vanity will go out the window!

gamerchick · 19/02/2019 09:56

As for it being a thing of beauty - well I guess we all have different tastes

I used to chuckle inwardly when those horrible bug things came into fashion and parents would put spending a fortune on something that was basically a fashion accessory over practically. Any pram that has to be treated with feather pillows and kid gloves wouldn't do much to protect the baby if there was some sort of accident.

All these modern little wheels at the front jobs just make me think of shopping trolleys in supermarkets personally but it doesnt affect my life in any way so meh.

LaurieMarlow · 19/02/2019 09:59

I just googled the Egg (had never heard of it) and agree it’s a lovely pram. Very elegant.

OP do yourself a favour and get a cheap buggy for your holiday. You say you can’t afford it, but in reality you can’t afford not to.

What are you going to do if the Egg gets bashed? The airlines won’t give a shit, your insurance won’t cover it, there’s your lovely pram ruined before baby is six weeks old. And all for the sake of showing it off for a week on holiday. It’s not worth it.

Don’t be daft.

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