How To Protect Your Stroller During Plane Travel

Just because there’s the possibility that your stroller could get damaged doesn’t mean you have to shy away completely from bringing it with you on a flight. If you’re going to fly with a stroller and check it at the gate, there are steps you can do to help ensure its safety. And if you are going to bring a stroller, your best bet is to bring one that folds flat without much effort. The last thing you want to do is to be stuck struggling to collapse your stroller during the last call for boarding. With that in mind, here are a few words of wisdom we garnered from the Strollerqueen, Janet McLaughlin.

• Take a stroller with you to the airport that latches to stay shut. One way to ensure that your stroller stays folded is to use a luggage strap and wrap it around your stroller before you check it in at the gate.
• Although a stroller bag is one way to protect your stroller, parents should keep this in mind: some airlines don’t like the use of a bag because they don’t know what’s in it. Also, stroller bags that are made of canvas will protect from scratches, but not a drop from the cargo hold onto the tarmac.
• Some people have gotten around the problem of the stroller bag by wrapping their strollers in bubble wrap and adding “fragile” stickers throughout. You’ve got an instant affordable means of protection and airport personnel will feel more assured knowing what’s underneath the packaging. Plus, baggage handlers who know it’s indeed a stroller underneath the wrap may handle the item with more care.

Helpful Hint: One way around the stroller dilemma is to use a car seat attachment like the one by GoGo Babyz or the car seat stroller by Sit N Stroll by Triple Play Products.