Let your toddler ride your rolling carry-on luggage through the airport

Daniel demonstrates that wear-and-tear on luggage wheels is far less important than a happy toddler in an airport:

Be it the distractions, the fatigue or just the miles to whichever gate we are rushing to, our toddler never seems to be in the mood to walk on his own in the airport. With our hands full of tickets, passports and carry-ons, we've always struggled to get from one place to another. Until we realized that rolling carry-on suitcases make fun and efficient child carriers. Now the minute we get in the airport, our son jumps on the suitcase and holds onto the top handle. He can ride happily and quickly that way all the way to the gate, and even onto the plane, down the aisle right to our seat.

Related: Tote-a-Tot: savior or silly?
More: Family travel tips  

Comments

[Alisa]

If you are taking your toddler and their carseat on the airplane I would totally recommend the Traveling Toddler.

http://www.amazon.com/Traveling-Toddler-Seat-Travel-Accessory/dp/B000JHN3AS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1265395040&sr=8-1

It is used to attach the car seat to your roller bag. (They are also much cheaper than other similar products) We just moved to New Zealand with our 1 1/2 year old twins and there were a life saver. We wrote about dealing with our luggage here...http://rustedsun.blogspot.com/2010/01/luggage.html

[perceval]

I would only do that with really sturdy luggage, not with cheap plastic handles. Realistically, the Trunki is a much better solution.

[Asha Dornfest]

Of course! Trunki! How could I have forgotten?

http://www.parenthacks.com/2009/02/trunki-suitcase-keeps-toddlers-entertained-during-flight-delays.html

[MamaG]

We've done this successfully for years. The seventh grader even hauls the kindergartner to school on the top of her LL Bean wheelie backpack.

[Kelly L]

I LOVE our Trunki...my husband is currently deployed to Iraq, and with a 26 month old & a 5 month old to tote half way across the country to visit for the holidays, I needed to find a distraction for the always possible winter delays. I don't travel with strollers, opting for slings to keep the girls close, and the Trunki was just the thing to keep my eldest interested in staying close by when needed. She felt super important, too, having her own ladybug suitcase with her very own stuff inside!

[Kathleen Malda]

I love this idea, and have heard it before... but I'm suffering a brain fart and can't picture how this would work. Does the toddler straddle the pull handle and ride facing forward? Or lean back on it as a backrest, facing backward? Can someone give me a better mental picture than the one I currently have? [a terrified toddler clinging for dear life while trying not to fall off.]

[marci]

km, i think they're talking about the kind with wheels on the bottom like you used to carry them, not the kind with two wheels that you tip to the front & roll. look up trunki - that'll give you the mental image, just an adult's suitcase won't be that cute!