Help! car seat, airplane, and 7 year old

[Starlight821]

This October my family is going on our first trip to Disneyland. Yay! We are also flying for the first time with our daughter. She is going to be turning seven on this trip, but is very small for her age. She is 43in tall and 37lbs. She just had a big growth spurt, so I don't expect her to grow much (if at all) before October.

I realize it's always safer to be in a car seat on a plane, but at what size would it seem acceptable to go without one? She has a Diono and it's heavy! I'm not too exited about having to carry it through the airports, but it can be done. We always follow car seat safety rules+ when driving. She was rear facing until she was 5 1/2 (she was the size of a 3 year old). So I'm all about safety, I just don't want to make things harder on us by being paranoid.

 

[taffy]

We also have the same seat and only took it the once when our first was just over two. Since then we have just put him in the seat as I honestly don't know how much safer on a plane they will be as even with heavy turbulence he is pretty secure in the lap restraint. The reason to bring it is if you want to strap them in so they can't escape

We are lucky as one he gets his plane iPad he dosnt really move. He is also very small for his age.

 

[wanderlust7]

Here's the FAA recommendation:
http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/#cares

If you do decide to bring the car seat, make sure the sticker saying it's approved for aircraft use is still on there. We bought a car seat once when DD was 1, we didn't realize the sticker had fallen off, the flight attendant wouldn't let us use it. For the flight back, we printed out the online manual, but then that flight attendant didn't even look.

Personally, I wouldn't bring it though.

 

[gladgirl]

I have a very skinny (although not short) child, and she's flown with just the seatbelt since her first non-lap child flight. I think you are fine checking whatever seat you have.
If you'd feel safer, they make harnesses for planes.

 

[bumbershoot]

We were carseat fanatics, but I stopped using one on the plane with DS when he was 2ish. He sat just fine with the lapbelt, didn't wriggle or try to get out of the seat. He was a proper little gentleman and didn't need the carseat on the airplane.

You WILL, however, need a seat or booster if you'll be in any vehicle but a coach bus in CA. So depending on how you're getting from and to the airport, you might need to work things out.

"As of January 1, 2012, all children must ride in car seat or booster seat until they are at least 8 years old or at least 4 feet 9 inches tall. In addition, all kids younger than 8 years old, must be secured in the back seat."

I'm sure that you won't find that to be excessive. Since she's older and therefore more mature, you might consider using the bubblebum inflatable booster for any car trips you might be taking during your travels. You can get it through their website or even amazon. We loved our bubblebum.

 

[Starlight821]

Thanks for the reply taffy! I don't think I will need to worry about her escaping. lol She's very mature. I just have zero experience flying with a child.

 

[Starlight821]

Here's the FAA recommendation:
http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/#cares

If you do decide to bring the car seat, make sure the sticker saying it's approved for aircraft use is still on there. We bought a car seat once when DD was 1, we didn't realize the sticker had fallen off, the flight attendant wouldn't let us use it. For the flight back, we printed out the online manual, but then that flight attendant didn't even look.

Personally, I wouldn't bring it though.

Thanks for the info and link.

 

[Starlight821]

We also have the same seat and only took it the once when our first was just over two. Since then we have just put him in the seat as I honestly don't know how much safer on a plane they will be as even with heavy turbulence he is pretty secure in the lap restraint. The reason to bring it is if you want to strap them in so they can't escape

We are lucky as one he gets his plane iPad he dosnt really move. He is also very small for his age.

Thanks for the reply! I don't think I will need to worry about her escaping. lol She's very mature. I just have zero experience flying with a child.

 

[Starlight821]

We were carseat fanatics, but I stopped using one on the plane with DS when he was 2ish. He sat just fine with the lapbelt, didn't wriggle or try to get out of the seat. He was a proper little gentleman and didn't need the carseat on the airplane.

You WILL, however, need a seat or booster if you'll be in any vehicle but a coach bus in CA. So depending on how you're getting from and to the airport, you might need to work things out.

"As of January 1, 2012, all children must ride in car seat or booster seat until they are at least 8 years old or at least 4 feet 9 inches tall. In addition, all kids younger than 8 years old, must be secured in the back seat."

I'm sure that you won't find that to be excessive. Since she's older and therefore more mature, you might consider using the bubblebum inflatable booster for any car trips you might be taking during your travels. You can get it through their website or even amazon. We loved our bubblebum.

Thanks for the recommendation. I will have to look into the bubblebum! I am planning on using a car service to get to and from the airport. I have been considering Lanskys and I know they do have car seats. However I'm a little nervous about using theirs, because there are some poor reviews online.

 

[sillybaer]

The FAA recommends children under 40lbs use a car seat on a plane. So even though you would be allowed to fly without one and other people frequently do, I would suggest you bring a car seat for her on the plane.

If you're on facebook you might also join the Car Seats for the Littles facebook group (run by certified child passenger safety technicians). If you post the same info you posted here in that group people can recommend methods for carting that seat through the airport or if you were interested in purchasing a seat easier for travel they could recommend one.

(more info from the FAA http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/
or the Car Seats for the Littles group http://csftl.org/leaving-on-a-jet-plane-the-csftl-guide-to-safe-air-travel-with-children/)

 

[taffy]

We always use the disneyland express as no car seat is required.

 

[Starlight821]

I have a very skinny (although not short) child, and she's flown with just the seatbelt since her first non-lap child flight. I think you are fine checking whatever seat you have.
If you'd feel safer, they make harnesses for planes.

So is the plane seatbelt tighter than a car seatbelt? I haven't flown in 10 years and can't remember what the belts are like. I ask because she would slide right out from under a car seatbelt.
I looked into the harness, but they are only approved for up to 40in.

 

[Starlight821]

I am just going to have to bring her car seat. It looks like the best choice for us.

 

[Starlight821]

The FAA recommends children under 40lbs use a car seat on a plane. So even though you would be allowed to fly without one and other people frequently do, I would suggest you bring a car seat for her on the plane.

If you're on facebook you might also join the Car Seats for the Littles facebook group (run by certified child passenger safety technicians). If you post the same info you posted here in that group people can recommend methods for carting that seat through the airport or if you were interested in purchasing a seat easier for travel they could recommend one.

(more info from the FAA http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/
or the Car Seats for the Littles group http://csftl.org/leaving-on-a-jet-plane-the-csftl-guide-to-safe-air-travel-with-children/)

Thanks for the links! I think we will just bring her car seat.

 

[Cats2]

I too, fall into the car seat fan group and try to follow best practice recommendations. (Well, maybe not fanatical though) My kids ride in a Sunshine Kids (prior to name change to Diono) Radian in our secondary car (outgrew rear facing by height for DS and DD by weight at age 4.75 y old) and Frontier 85's in our primary car. The sheer weight of the Radian and the bulk of the FR85 was enough for me to invest in a set of Ride Safer Travel Vests for our rental car when we had to fly just after their 5th birthday. Your DD height is similar to my kids heights at age 5. Airplane belt fit fine on them, and belts do adjust down quite a bit. If I recall, airplane flights are statistically safer than car rides in regards to crashes. The main issue is turbulence (which is why lap babies are vulnerable to injury). I think that the type of motion is different than say being rear ended or slamming on brakes, which might be why I haven't heard of issues with kids slipping under the belt (submarining) on a plane?
This yr we flew to WDW, and I carried 2 BubbleBums in my backpack on the day we spent at Animal Kingdom because I knew we'd be taking a taxi back to our resort after our dinner at AKL, and they worked fine.
I personally would not be comfortable with use of a rental car seat. Too many variables: proper installation, checking to make sure seat isn't expired, proper care/maintenance of the seat, etc. if you are taking the Diono, I hope you have a set of those carry straps so that you can wear it like a backpack in the airport!

 

[jlwhitney]

Don't do it. They are heavy and bulky and take up a ton of room on the plane. If the person in front reclines she will be even more smashed. If you do it the car seat HAS to go on the window seat and you must purchase the seat the next to it, which will make you all more cramped.

There really is no need for it and honestly you don't see many in car seats on planes pass age 2-3 and even then not that many do it for the younger.

We flew with my DD at 20 months and she had her own seat and no car seat and was fine.

It really is not that worth it.

 

[Meriweather]

We took a car seat in Dec. for DGD who was 17 months old. It was a PITA!
From now on she won't be using one.
I had actually never seen a car seat used on a plane before.....and we fly several times a year

 

[nikkislaght]

I Second the Bubblebum... if you are in the states they sell them at some walmarts
and at her age and size she should be well and truly ok on the plane..

 

[gladgirl]

So is the plane seatbelt tighter than a car seatbelt? I haven't flown in 10 years and can't remember what the belts are like. I ask because she would slide right out from under a car seatbelt.
I looked into the harness, but they are only approved for up to 40in.

You can tighten the belts quite a bit. Never had any trouble. If you encounter any turbulence, just use your arms to help hold her back--like you might on a city bus.

 

[bethy]

We always use a carseat on the plane and will again this October for our 4 year old. I would never check my child's nice and main carseat on a plane due to potential damage to the structure. For us we purchased a carseat especially for travel when she was born. It's lightweight, has a bag and FAA approved and has served us well. Also, if I ever do decide to check it now that she's older I won't need to worry as much about it getting damaged since it's not the one she uses every day.

To be honest, one of the main reasons I still use the seat on the plane at age 4 is because she DOES need to be restrained from escaping. She is a live wire. Plus I need one for the rental car at our destination anyway . . .

I seat my DD13 right in front of her so that I don't have to worry about her kicking the seat