Questions about a child under 1 flying on a plane

Childs1stTime2Disney · Sep 28, 2016

I have never flown with my child when under 3. So what do you do when flying with a 9 month old? Regarding seat, safety, etc. What are the options?

Thanks!

HarleenQ · Sep 28, 2016

You can purchase them a seat and use their car seat (safer option) or mark them as a "lap child" and hold them for the flight without purchasing a seat.

monorailsilver · Sep 28, 2016

I would purchase a seat. The youngest kid I flew with was 15 mo and I am glad she had a seat.

When we flew home in April, there was a mom and a dad with boy/girl twins. They were around 1, not much older. Each parent held a kid. They each had an aisle. The mom was struggling with the girl. The girl kept dropping things. My dh kept picking them up since he was the aisle opposite her. That baby finally fell asleep and I threatened my kids to not accidentally touch the baby on their bathroom trips.

Anyways, there is not a lot of room between your lap and the seat in front of you. If you think your 9month old won't squirm because they never do at home, think again. I swear I don't miss those baby days when they become completely straight and it makes it so difficult to pick them up.

If you have a seat then you know they are safely buckled in and it is more room between their feet and the seat in front of them which can be like a fun toy.

Gracie09 · Sep 28, 2016

We always purchased a seat a used a faa approved car seat for our children under three. It is the safest and most comfortable way for them to fly

Childs1stTime2Disney · Sep 28, 2016

Thank you all, yes I will purchase a seat. I know DH or I won't want to hold the baby on our laps for the entire time. What is an approved seat to fly? Can you just use the car seat and adapter?

Queen of the WDW Scene · Sep 28, 2016

Basically your options are to hold them on your lap (you'd have to indicate that you'll have a lap child when you book), purchase a ticket and have them sit in the plane seat, or purchase a ticket and bring your FAA approved car seat.
Obviously the last option is the most safe but also the most inconvenient since you would be paying for a ticket plus the hassle of bringing a car seat.
Many people do just hold their infant and it works out just fine for them.
If you're really looking to save money then hold your child.

Gracie09 · Sep 28, 2016

Childs1stTime2Disney said:
Thank you all, yes I will purchase a seat. I know DH or I won't want to hold the baby on our laps for the entire time. What is an approved seat to fly? Can you just use the car seat and adapter?

most car seats are approved for airtravel. Check on the seat. There should be an FAA sticker. It may be hard to find. Also if you have the instruction book it came with, it will be in there. If you can't find the sticker, bring the book with you. Some flight attendants will ask to verify that the seat is FAA approved. You don't use the adapter just the seat. You should become familiar with just using the belt to secure it. If you want to rear face, that is permitted, however, you may make more friends if you seat another member of your party in front of that seat. Remember carseats have to be next to the window.

Angel Ariel · Sep 28, 2016

I would also suggest bringing separate proof that you've booked the child a seat of their own, as you'll surrender the boarding pass when you board. We've had flight attendants question us (and not believe us) once on board about whether or not we'd purchased our DD a seat before she was 2 because the plane was fully booked and they needed all the seats. They asked us for her ticket/proof that we booked her a seat, and I just looked at her and said "they took all of our tickets when we boarded, but we bought her a seat."

Thankfully they verified it some other way, but it was frustrating at the time. I now carry an extra copy of her ticket (even though she's clearly over 2 now, it's just habit).

You may be interested in reading this "Before you Fly, Know Your Rights" also.

Childs1stTime2Disney · Sep 28, 2016

Angel Ariel said:
I would also suggest bringing separate proof that you've booked the child a seat of their own, as you'll surrender the boarding pass when you board. We've had flight attendants question us (and not believe us) once on board about whether or not we'd purchased our DD a seat before she was 2 because the plane was fully booked and they needed all the seats. They asked us for her ticket/proof that we booked her a seat, and I just looked at her and said "they took all of our tickets when we boarded, but we bought her a seat."

Thankfully they verified it some other way, but it was frustrating at the time. I now carry an extra copy of her ticket (even though she's clearly over 2 now, it's just habit).

You may be interested in reading this "Before you Fly, Know Your Rights" also.

Great point, I can see that happening! Thank you

Childs1stTime2Disney · Sep 28, 2016

Gracie09 said:
If you want to rear face, that is permitted, however, you may make more friends if you seat another member of your party in front of that seat. Remember carseats have to be next to the window.

aha…I can see that….

Mousemommy1 · Sep 28, 2016

With our son, we have flown with him at 3 months and 15 months. At 3 months, we had him as a "lap-child" and it just wasn't comfortable. We have a 3 hour flight to WDW and we did hit some turbulence and I was picturing him flying out of my hands. At 15 months, we bought him a seat and brought his car seat. Much better, but the car seat we had at the time was sooooo bulky & cumbersome.

We will fly to WDW next year and DS will be 2.5. We purchased a CARES harness for him to use for that trip. I think it will make all of us happy, lol.

For a 9 month old, I'd go with own seat and car seat.

Becca1007 · Sep 28, 2016

If you have a big bulky carseat, I recommend buying a Cosco Scenera Next from Walmart. For less than $40, it is a great lightweight travel seat.

lost*in*cyberspace · Sep 28, 2016

Angel Ariel said:
I would also suggest bringing separate proof that you've booked the child a seat of their own, as you'll surrender the boarding pass when you board....

What? You must not be remembering things correctly. Your boarding pass is scanned and returned to you, not collected by the gate agent. Even if it were, you are free to print as many copies of your boarding pass as you please, so you can always carry extras. Also, the flight crew has a passenger manifest they could easily check to see if a child is a lap baby.

HeatherL1985 · Sep 28, 2016

FWIW - Southwest will take your boarding pass. I use their digital ticketing, though, so I have the ticketing media on my phone.

Angel Ariel · Sep 28, 2016

lost*in*cyberspace said:
What? You must not be remembering things correctly. Your boarding pass is scanned and returned to you, not collected by the gate agent. Even if it were, you are free to print as many copies of your boarding pass as you please, so you can always carry extras. Also, the flight crew has a passenger manifest they could easily check to see if a child is a lap baby.

I assure you, I am absolutely remembering things correctly. We fly Southwest. They take our boarding pass at the jetway entrance. Every single time we've flown Southwest, this is what has happened.

As for the bolded - that's exactly what I have done ever since, and precisely what I suggested to the OP.

The flight attendant who did not believe us did not have a flight manifest in her hand at the time. I assume that is what she eventually checked and verified that we did have a seat for DD. But she did not believe us at first, and it was quite an awkward moment, which is why I remember it so clearly.

ETA: The incident I wrote about was, IIRC, our second trip with DD (so her 3rd flight). She was 15 months old (and was..still is...small for her age). We had no issues the first time we flew with her, so didn't think to expect any on the second trip, and didn't print an extra boarding pass. We have never flown with her as a lap baby, we always purchased seats.

Bob Dolewhip · Sep 28, 2016

I did not fly with my kids under 1, but I did take both as lap babies at 1 1/2.(separate trips)
Both slept in the sling almost the entire way.

My darling son of course chose the best possible time to poop. We had just settled into our seats in the back of the plane when I heard that telltale sound coming from his tushie. Where can I change him? Only the bathroom way in the front of the plane, up that skinny aisle filled with the other passengers boarding the plane.

Childs1stTime2Disney · Sep 29, 2016

Angel Ariel said:
I assure you, I am absolutely remembering things correctly. We fly Southwest. They take our boarding pass at the jetway entrance. Every single time we've flown Southwest, this is what has happened.

As for the bolded - that's exactly what I have done ever since, and precisely what I suggested to the OP.

The flight attendant who did not believe us did not have a flight manifest in her hand at the time. I assume that is what she eventually checked and verified that we did have a seat for DD. But she did not believe us at first, and it was quite an awkward moment, which is why I remember it so clearly.

ETA: The incident I wrote about was, IIRC, our second trip with DD (so her 3rd flight). She was 15 months old (and was..still is...small for her age). We had no issues the first time we flew with her, so didn't think to expect any on the second trip, and didn't print an extra boarding pass. We have never flown with her as a lap baby, we always purchased seats.

I had a feeling it was Southwest. We fly that also and they do things a bit differently. Thank you for the heads up. We would be flying Southwest again since they are the main ones with a direct flight from our local airport.

scrapquitler · Sep 29, 2016

Childs1stTime2Disney said:
I have never flown with my child when under 3. So what do you do when flying with a 9 month old? Regarding seat, safety, etc. What are the options?

Thanks!

If you do purchase a seat for your child (which I suggest doing for safety and comfort reasons), just be aware that you are not going to be able to choose to sit in an exit row, and you need to install the car seat only in window seat, per FAA regulations.

kwdw · Oct 1, 2016

How long is your flight? I fly a two hour flight to Orlando a few times each year and while I see a ton of infants and toddlers, I've see a kid in a car seat like once. Yes, I've traveled with a lap child and while yes, we had to entertain her most of the flight, we definitely didn't wish we'd had a seat. She just would have wanted to be on our laps anyway.

If it's a long flight and you think the kid will nap, then maybe it's worth it.

Childs1stTime2Disney · Oct 1, 2016

kwdw said:
How long is your flight? I fly a two hour flight to Orlando a few times each year and while I see a ton of infants and toddlers, I've see a kid in a car seat like once. Yes, I've traveled with a lap child and while yes, we had to entertain her most of the flight, we definitely didn't wish we'd had a seat. She just would have wanted to be on our laps anyway.

If it's a long flight and you think the kid will nap, then maybe it's worth it.

Good point, it's a 2:15 or so flight. Maybe it's not worth it to bring?

Questions about a child under 1 flying on a plane

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