Carseats on airplane opinion, please

[TinkTitans]

We will be flying for the first time with our 10 month old - we bought him a seat and will use a car seat for him. We needed one for my MILs car so we had to buy one anyway. We bought the orange gate check bag and will carry the seat in there as we go around in the airport and then it stays clean and easy to see in the Magic Express luggage bays.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Just wanted to add our solution for managing car seats in the airport:The Pacback

We like it because it keeps your hands free. Its a bit of a hassle, but our two are/were squirmers, and car seats were a necessity when flying.

 

[PlutosMommy]

We used the Cares Harness for our 3 yr old a couple months ago on a flight, and I'd definitely recommend it. We rented a carseat at our final destination (unfortunately not WDW that time!), but the convenience of not traveling with the carseat through the airport was great. He was comfy, it was lightweight & easy to use.

 

[Lolsmum]

The lack of the crotch belt is annoying on the CARES I agree, I figure out an easy fix though. I got some of that rubbery like foam drawer liner stuff from the dollar store and put a pad of it under his bum. It worked perfectly he couldn't slip around.

Hmm...it's not an issue now (she's 6 and flies very nicely now) but I do wonder if that would have worked. I have a feeling that over a 10 hour flight she would have gotten out anyway. This is the girl who climbed out of her crib by 14 months even in a sleeping bag, scaled baby gates, routinely climbed on the kitchen table before she could walk and could slip her arms out of just about any car seat, no matter how tight. Her brother did none of that.

 

[AmyBWV99]

We always take car seats on with our toddlers once they are in boosters at home we don't on the plane. We use a strap it's >$20 that uses the latch hooks to attach it to a wheeled carryon case it's genius. We use britax Pavilions at home and got Cosco seats for travel, they are a ton lighter and if they get trashed getting tossed around.

 

[Cptnkirky]

We haven't done the CS thing yet, but will in a couple months when my DD will be 20 months. We got a Cosco seat from walmart, since it is very light and just a spare for the plane. I would hate to drag along my monsterous Britax! We looked into the cares harness, but decided that would only be best when she is closer to 3.
It would be tough taking so many car seats, but I can say that holding a 1 year old on your lap is the LONGEST flight. I did that when she was 13 months and was a wiggle worm the entire time. We tried everything. That is why this time we went for the seat. I can't imagine holding the 1 YO and still having the other 2 kids to handle. I would say to save yourself and put the small ones in their own seat/carseat if you can.
We plan on carrying ours in a gate check bag for ease of transport, but you might like to have something that can carry 2 at a time.
Good luck!!!

 

[MatoMany]

Ive done three carseats before. I practiced at home and got a great way of stacking them on a luggage cart. So my husband pulled the luggage cart and wore the baby in an baby carrier and I pushed the stroller. I could have easily done the luggage cart myself but I was only 2 months PP and was still healing so my OB said to try to do as little as possible (international move with three young kids, yeap thats sure relaxing). My husband didn't complain so it couldn't have been to bad.

Most Ive done solo is two. Again using a luggage cart. Honestly it wasn't bad. Only hard part was loading/unloading since we went through a small airport with no gate bridge things.. Thankfully a couple nice men carried the carseats up the stairs for me so I could carry the children up.

 

[crazydaisy00]

Q for the parents using Cares Harness, what do you use of Magic Express to Hotel? My DS will almost be 3 when we go to WDW I want him to be safe during the trip and trying to decide car seat or Cares Harness any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

Q for the parents using Cares Harness, what do you use of Magic Express to Hotel? My DS will almost be 3 when we go to WDW I want him to be safe during the trip and trying to decide car seat or Cares Harness any suggestions are appreciated!

You can't use a car seat on the ME. Our DS2 say perfectly on the bus. I am sure you could use the CARES also, but we did not need it for the bus just the plane.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

You can't use a car seat on the ME. Our DS2 say perfectly on the bus. I am sure you could use the CARES also, but we did not need it for the bus just the plane.

This may have changed in the past 2 years, but not all the ME busses had seat belts the last time I was there. But I know more and more were getting them so that may have changed.

Car seats and booster seats are not allowed on ME.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Q for the parents using Cares Harness, what do you use of Magic Express to Hotel? My DS will almost be 3 when we go to WDW I want him to be safe during the trip and trying to decide car seat or Cares Harness any suggestions are appreciated!

Only a few of the Magical Express vehicles have seat belts. I think they started using them the last couple of years maybe. I remember the one we took back to the airport in 2012 had seat belts. You still can't take a car seat on though as far as I know. Although I didn't have mine anyway because I used the CARES harness that year and you can only use the CARES harness on an airplane. My son sat great on the bus both ways in 2010 and 2012watching the video and talking/interacting to my daughter. In 2012, they both napped on the way back to the airport.

 

[crazydaisy00]

Sounds like for his age the Cares Harness is the best way to go. He doesn't like his car seat at all so this might make traveling much better for him! My main concern is safety so sounds like I need to make something for the bottom so he can't slip out?

 

[Gracie09]

We put down some of that cabinet liner, the nonslip stuff. I cut a piece about a foot square and they sat on that

 

[nadira36]

Q for the parents using Cares Harness, what do you use of Magic Express to Hotel? My DS will almost be 3 when we go to WDW I want him to be safe during the trip and trying to decide car seat or Cares Harness any suggestions are appreciated!

The CARES harness is not rated for a motor vehicle. However given that it's the only restraining device available,w e've used it on ME. the Seatbelts are more dangerous than good for smaller children. So we've used the cares harness. Though I didn't realize some ME busses don't have seat belts. So far we've always had them on the busses we traveled on.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Last time we flew, we had two 4 yr olds and did not use carseats on the airplane. This time we will have a 5, 2 and 1 yr old. This is only our 2 nd time flying. What are the rules and recommendations for carseats? How do we get kids, bags and carseats through the airport?

I would definitely have carseats for the 2 and 1 y/o. As long as your carseats are FAA approved, you can use them on the plane. We have a Britax Marathon, and we use the Britax Travel Cart to wheel the car seat through the airport. There are other off-brand versions of the same thing that may be cheaper.

I only have one DD (almost 2), but when we fly I usually wear her in a carrier (a Beco Gemini, like an Ergo) on my back. This way my hands are free to do whatever I need, DD is safe and sound and close, and we don't have to bring the stroller through the airport. (We generally rent a City Mini from an offsite company when we go to Disney).

As for dealing with luggage - we use curbside check-in. With DD being worn, I can help roll the luggage over to curbside and wait with it there while DH gets the rest of the bags over. The skycaps take our checked luggage from there - so it's dealt with pretty quickly.

As for carry-on luggage, we try to limit ourselves as much as possible. On previous trips, I was EPing, so to fit what we needed, we brought 1 rolling suitcase, 1 laptop bag (that fit over the handle of the rolling suitcase, so they could be rolled together by 1 person), and the diaper bag (which was a backpack that DH wore). The diaper bag has also been put into the car seat on the travel cart on past trips. On our last trip, DH rolled the car seat and the diaper bag (it's a bit more unwieldy) while I rolled the rolling suitcase/laptop bag combo and wore DD in a back carry.

Also, with boarding the plane, we always made sure DH boarded before DD and I (with as much of the carry-on luggage as he was allowed to take). This allowed him to get the luggage stowed and the car seat installed before DD and I were on the plane. Then when DD and I got on the plane, she could go in the car seat immediately and I could get situated without impeding the flow of other boarding passengers.

Another tip for flying - try to plan flights around naptime, and have something for your youngest 2 to drink/suck on while taking off. We've done this each time, and DD has always slept on the plane (almost the whole flight!). The sucking/drinking also helps keep her ears from popping/feeling painful.

 

[maxiesmom]

If you use car seats, try and have another family member sit in front of that child. That way if they start kicking, you don't have to stress about another passenger getting angry. Or have to spend the whole flight holding your child's legs down.

 

[TJAinNE]

We flew with our son right around his first birthday. Our son was still rear facing in the car seat. We kept him rear facing on the plane. There is no kicking seats of other passengers that way.

I agree about practicing with a seat belt before you get on the plane. Some car seats can be a tough fit, so it's good to know what your doing beforehand.

 

[DBDiz]

For those of you that have used car seats, our DD will be 17 months when we fly in July. Would you recommend forward or rear facing the seat on the plane?

 

[luvmy2babies]

My son rear-faced at 10 months because he was still bottle-fed and I figured it would be easier. I had him forward facing at 21 months. The seat we had at 21 months was a bit flatter so it was harder for him to kick the seat in front of him.

 

[DopeyDame]

For those of you that have used car seats, our DD will be 17 months when we fly in July. Would you recommend forward or rear facing the seat on the plane?

Good for you for buying a seat and using a carseat!

On most planes, if you rear-face, the person in front of you can't recline their seat. So out of consideration, I'd probably forward face in your case (assuming he's over 22 pounds) Of course, then you have to deal with kicking legs, which can be fun too.