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You can gate check both your stroller and carseat. Do they attach to each other? Would that make it easiest for you?

We have held M on every trip she has been on (at under 3 months and up to 16 months).

@Modern Daisy: I called ahead to Delta. Just flew 2 months ago.

@Modern Daisy: you can gate check. both.

@Modern Daisy: I would call ahead just to make yourself feel more comfortable with it but yes, we flew Delta (and Southwest) and both airlines were so great with helping us gate check the stroller and carseat! If you want to protect either, I would get a bag for them but it's not necessary, imo.

You don’t have to have anything special to hold your infant-in-arms on the plane.

We always checked the carseat, and never brought our stroller while traveling. Sometimes the airplane has provided a bag for the carseat, and sometimes not – but either way, the seat has always arrived in fine condition. Just a note that in some airports the carseats come out in “oversized baggage” area (like, with the golf clubs and skis and stuff like that) and not in the regular baggage claim area; so don’t freak if that’s the case where you’re traveling.

If you wear your LO through security, most places will have to swab your hands to test for bomb residue, in addition to walking through the metal detector. It’s no big deal, but a little odd if you’re not expecting it. They will also run your bottles of bm/formula through some machine that tests them to make sure they are not explosive; takes about a minute to test. At Boston-Logan, they also required my husband (“any member of our party”) to have a full pat down because I wore LO through security, but no other airport has required that. In WV, they didn’t even test our hands OR the formula!

Nursing/bottle/paci at takeoff and landing helps.

We always just checked her carseat at the main ticket counter because I don’t want to lug it all though the airport and I don’t feel right asking for an empty seat to be blocked next to me (and every flight but one has been full anyway, so wouldn’t have been a possibility anyway).

If you fly JetBlue, the upgrade to the “more room” seats is totally worth it, especially on long flights.

Here's the official delta info:www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/baggage/before-your-trip/special-items.html

I would definitely ask if there is an empty seat on the plane that can be used for the car seat. Checked carseats can be handled really roughly, and they're not strapped down in the cargo area the way they would be in the car - you know how you're supposed to replace your car seat if you get in an accident, because there can be unseen internal damage that makes it unsafe? That can happen during airline travel too - I know people whose car seats have come back to them totally messed up. They did end up getting reimbursed for it, but it would suck to have internal damage where your car seat isn't keeping your baby safe anymore and you have no idea it happened. I'd have it on the plane with you if at all possible - it's also safer for baby if there's any turbulence, which is another bonus.

@Modern Daisy: I've only flown with M once and we didn't bring our Cruz (I wore her most of the time instead), but if we had brought our Cruz I definitely would've bought the UB travel bag. You register it then if any damage is done to your stroller during the flight they will replace it. Most airlines allow you to check a car seat or stroller for free, so we checked our car seat (bought a travel bag for it) so we didn't have to worry about lugging it through the airport.