On the Go > Baby Travel > By Air > For the Airport > Proceeding Through Security
Proceeding Through Security
Take care to ready you and your infant while you’re still waiting on the security line to avoid unnecessary delays for yourself as well as the passengers behind you. We usually began our unbuckle-unroll-unclip-zip-up-break-down process when we were about 3-4 minutes from presenting our tickets and identification. This is where we had to wake up Sydney if she had remained asleep in her car seat or if she had fallen asleep in her umbrella stroller.
The security process can be unusually cumbersome (but still worth the effort) for those who wish to limit baggage handling of car seats or have purchased a separate passenger seat for their infant — the latter of which requires a CRS on the flight. The car seat should be placed facedown on the conveyor belt of the X-ray machine. If baby has remained sleeping in the car seat until this point, germaphobic parents might wish to unroll the car seat travel bag and zip up the car seat before laying it on the belt.
If checking the car seat at the gate (and not using it inflight), it won’t be needed again until the final destination, and it’s much easier to carry the car seat through terminals (especially between connections) as a backpack. If baby was awake upon arrival at the airport, the best time to get this step out of the way was at curbside. However, for those using the car seat in-flight, just click it back onto the umbrella stroller after clearing security.
The umbrella stroller must be collapsed and likewise placed on the conveyor belt for screening. Parent and baby are permitted to walk through the standard X-ray machine, and are typically exempt from the full-body scanner. This entire process can be expedited by completing the application and approval process for TSA Pre-Check. Take it one step further with Global Entry if you often travel internationally. What’s the difference? #This.
Once through security, we reopened our umbrella stroller for Sydney. When we were lucky, she was still groggy enough to go right back to sleep. The car seat travel bag was hauled onto Carlyle’s back, I grabbed the diaper bag, and we headed to our departure gate.
Go, Team!
MOMganized 