Is there a flight attendant or pilot in the house?

[C.Ann]

I was just reading the thread about SW and the boarding passes and it got me to thinking about something..

For a child who has just turned 6 yrs. old, is it safer for that child to fly in a car seat - or is the seat belt that the airline provides adequate?

Seems there's a lot of grumbling about people holding up the line of passengers while fumbling with car seats and if it's not a safety issue for a 6 yr. old then maybe we could just check the car seat with the baggage..

[tjmw2727]

I am neither a pilot or FA but I travel lots with my kids so I will add my .02. Personally I stopped using the CSR when my girls were about 4 years old. Keep in mind that on SW a 6yo can not pre board even if you are using a CSR so that could be an issue. If your still using a traditional car seat with an integrated harness and it has an FAA approved sticker I imagine you could use it on the aircraft. By 6 my girls were using a booster seat in the car which would not be allowed on the aircraft.

Southwest has an entire page on the website regarding traveling with children and CSR's.

try
http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/infants.html

TJ

[NotUrsula]

The FAA recommendation is 40 lbs. That's it. Heavier than that and the aircraft seat lap-belt is deemed appropriate to restrain them.

There is no mention of height. However, from my experience, a child who is taller than 4 ft. in a carseat will be sitting up so high and forward that his ankles will be pushed up against the seat in front, and will be riding in some discomfort, if not outright pain. If the child is not quite 40 lbs but is tall, doing without may be more appropriate.

[mark & sandra]

Since the only purpose is to keep the child in the seat in the event of turbulence, I'd just use the planes seatbelt. Unlike in a car, the car seat is pretty much meaningless in the event of anything major.