Everyday, I witness travelers with an infant and/or small children bring HUGE strollers to the gate. As a gate agent, I wanted to give parents some advise on what works best.
1.) Under 20lbs small umbrella stroller, maybe there will be room to hang it up in a closet.
2.) Foldable strollers (many on the market now) that fit in the overhead bin.
These are so great because you do not have to wait on the other end for it to come up the jet bridge from the checked bag compartment.
3.) Do not bring your car seat, unless your child has a seat and will be using it on the flight. CHECK IT AT THE ticket counter. There is no charge for car seats and/or strollers!
4.) DO NOT bring huge strollers or double strollers to the gate. We drop them down a shoot and they DO get damaged! The airlines DO NOT reimburse for damage to strollers.
I meet inbound flights every day. I see customers wait a long time to get gate checked strollers and almost miss a flight. On international or any really large airplane you may wait a long time.....so if you can keep in in the cabin, that is so much better.
Enjoy the journey!