Taking baby abroad

[CleverQuacks]

Hi all,
I haven’t travelled much and never taken a baby abroad so have a, possibly stupid, question. We are flying with TUI. My baby is 1 year old and not walking yet. What do we do about his buggy? I will obviously be checking in my suitcase but will need his buggy to get through the airport and to the gate. He is to heavy to carry for long. I am travelling just me and him so don’t have a partner to help. Also is there a way to get his buggy back as I get off the aeroplane on the other side? Or will I have to carry him til I get to the baggage carousel?

You can keep your buggy with you until you board. Buggy at the other end depends who's unloading and you may or may not have to go to the carousel to get it back

When you check your bag in a tag will be put on the pushchair. You then keep the pushchair until you get on the plane (you are responsible for folding it down) and it will be taken off the plane and piled usually by the wing as you get off.

Note a 1 piece buggy is free however if you actually have a pushchair that goes into multiple pieces ie the seat and frame seperate to fold down contact your airline as you may have to pay for this

It depends on where you're flying too. Some airports don't have the facilities to give pushchairs/buggies bag at the arrivals gate so then you have to carry/.wait till baggage reclaim. Some airports provide pushchairs for use till baggage reclaim, in my experience most dont and if they do they're not great/not available and there might be even less availability due to covid. I think you'd be best checking with the airline or asking more specifically if anyone knows about the airport you'd be arriving into.

Have you got a sling? They’re excellent for air travel!

While you can keep your buggy until you board, you don't always get it back until the luggage carousel. I had a non walking baby and was pregnant flying to Barcelona where it is a notoriously long walk to the luggage claim. The buggies were at the carousel. Nightmare. Be sure to check.

The alternative is to invest in a buggy that is small enough so that it folds and goes in the cabin with you - we always put our babyzen YoYo in the overhead locker and then we have it immediately we get off the plane.

I've flown a lot with small kids. You can always get buggy tagged at check in and through security it to the gate but never rely on getting it back at the gate. Sometime you will which is great but not guaranteed. A sling is essential as a back up as some arrival gates are a long walk and queue through passport control and baggage claim before you eventually find your buggy (often comes out a different belt with other outsize luggage).

Assume you will get it back at the carousel..,then any sooner will be a bonus

We flew twice in September with our chunky 15m old. Push chair to the gate literally to the door of one plane. I had a sling/baby carrier for the other end. But all 4 flights the prams came on thr carosel really quickly, a while before the bags. Our little one fell asleep as we landed and stayed asleep through the whole process until we got to the taxi and I carried her the whole time! My arms were shaking by the end lol.

If you're struggling for space take a fabric sling, otherwise if you have a carrier take that too!