2 year old on a plane - what do you use?

[BfloChick]

We use the carseat. My 2 1/2 year old is very active, and it sends an unambiguous signal that he must sit along with everyone else on the plane.

Like the pp, I also have had problems with him kicking the seat ahead of him. I solve this by seating my DS5 directly in front of him. That way, it serves two functions: (1) Some poor stranger won't have him kicking the seat the whole time, and (2) It is sweet revenge for all of those times when DS5 kicked the back of my seat in the car over the course of the year. Bwa ha ha ha ha!!!!

 

[2binak]

In Nov we planned to fly w/DD on our laps, but there was an empty row in front of us on the flight there and back, so she got her own seat. We just used the lapbelt and she was fine. It fit nice and snug on her.

 

[Melissa&Shawn]

We bought a CARES harness when my daughter turned 18 months instead of bringing the car seat. Good and bad. Good was that she had much more room. Bad was that she wanted to squirm around. We made the mistake of putting her in the harness for takeoff but then taking it off when the seat belt sign went off....bad idea! She took off on us...but she was in the stage (and still is!). I liked that she had a lot of freedom, but because she wouldn't sit and doesn't understand that she needs to sit, we won't use it for another year. Our next trip she will be one week shy of 2 years and we are bringing the car seat...as painful as it is. At least she knows she HAS to stay in the car seat.

I did get 20% off the harness at Buy Buy Baby. You can use non-expired Bed Bath and Beyond coupons!

we will be taking our 2 year old on the plane next month to wdw. trying to decide between a CARES harness (pricey), a carseat (no $$ but hassle) and just letting her use the lapbelt on the plane. she's a good kid who isn't likely to do anything but sit so i'm not so worried about her squirming and getting out of her seat. it's more about her safety than anything else... what do you use?