2 Year Old on Airplane - Car Seat or Not?

[Skwinkles]

Just curious in light of the lap child discussion...

We'll be traveling in 2 weeks with our daughter who just turned 2. Obviously, she will have her own seat and I wasn't planning on bringing her car seat since we'll be using Magical Express and don't need one while we are at Disney.

So, my question is - if you travel with a 2 or 3 year old, do you strap them into their car seat the plane?

 

[stacy6552]

Airplane seats are shallower than most car seats, so your child might fit ok without a carseat. Is your child tall or short? The question of fit is whether she can sit in the seat with her bottom all the way back with her knees bent over the edge at 90 degrees.

 

[cmaee]

My DD was 2 and 1 month when we flew with her last. We didn't take her car seat, but it would have been helpful. I flew with my 3 kids by myself, so I didn't have any extra hands to cart a car seat along with me. If I had help and had a direct flight, I would have brought the car seat. I think she would have realized it was more like a car and wouldn't have struggled to get down as much. I also think there would have been a good chance she would have went to sleep.

 

[pktbMouse]

just grab a couple of those little pillows that are scattered about the plane and put them under her bum...thats what we did and our 2yr old was fine. Or a coat, blanket...anything that just raises her up a little bit plus she will be able to see out the window and will love it!

 

[sritter78]

Yes, we use a car seat on the plane. Your child is used to sitting in her car seat and won't be as likely to want to get up and move around. It is also the safest.

We will have 2 car seats when we fly on May 6.

Just curious in light of the lap child discussion...

We'll be traveling in 2 weeks with our daughter who just turned 2. Obviously, she will have her own seat and I wasn't planning on bringing her car seat since we'll be using Magical Express and don't need one while we are at Disney.

So, my question is - if you travel with a 2 or 3 year old, do you strap them into their car seat the plane?

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

Make sure if you do use your car seat (which is really the safest), that it is approved for use in flight. On our last flight, a woman was told she could not use the car seats she had as they were not approved. She had to check them at the gate and she was mad. I wan't even aware of an approved list, but when I asked the flight attendant, they said that airlines were really cracking down.

 

[GoinToDisney]

I've done both, and it was much easier to bring it. She was much more comfy in the car seat. There was too much room on either side of her in the seat belt when we went without.

 

[Wendybird55]

When we went last year my son was a few weeks shy of being 2. We didn't bring a carseat, but we did rent a CARES harness for safety. I guess my son is on the talker side for his age - he seemed comfortable in the seat without the car seat. In fact he slept most of the way coming and going. The CARES harness is lightweight and easy to use - it adds shoulder straps to the wait strap of the seatbelt. You can purchase one (they're around $80) or rent one on Ebay (I went to a wbsite called sweetpea).

 

[JAM3]

We also used the CARES and love it. We have used it twice. We decided to just buy one instead of renting. We figured that we can always sell it once we are done with it and think we will get our money back--especially once you figure in all the renting charges. It was sooo nice not to have to carry the carseat through the airport, or have her legs hitting the seat in front of us, and she could use the tray in front her (a big plus in her opinion even though she just barely reached it!)

 

[AmyMama2AvaNtheo]

I just bought the CARES harness for my son .. for our May trip. He is 2.

On previous trips I brought the carseats for my 2yr old and 4yr old. This trip, since we are using DME I am bring the CARES

 

[tinkerlisa]

OK now I thought you HAD to use a car seat on the plane unless your child was under 2 and sat on your lap?

If thats the case, I'll buy the CARES harness. I hate lugging around DS's car seat.

 

[rrobin3051]

How long is your flight? I used it and have not used it. Im glad I had it for our 3 hour plane ride. He slept like it was a long car ride. I didnt take it once, but a short flight...about an hour. He did fine but was tired and would not fall asleep. And no you dont have to use a carseat on a plane. Its all about what you think is best. I will be using our seat again and he is almost 3, but then again we are renting a car, so we need it.

 

[dougsmom98]

As others have said, it is safer to use a car seat. That being said, we tried it once with our twins when they were two and it was a pain in the neck. The car seats take up so much room. You can't use the tray table. My kids were up high and they kept kicking the seat in front of them. We used them on the trip to Florida, but checked them on the way back and had a much nicer flight. Quite honestly, at that age, my twins were terrors. I was worried that without a car seat that they would want to run around. They didn't, they were great. They had room to stretch out. They loved the tray table. They were like little gentlemen. My DD has never had a car seat on the plane. We always check it because we need it to rent a car. She likes to sit, strapped in her seatbelt, and snuggle up close to her dad. Her dad who is 6'5" tall loves sitting next to her because he gets more leg room and can sit sideways. If a toy drops on the floor, we can retrieve it. When we had the car seats that one time, we had no room to bend over and get things off the floor.

 

[rrobin3051]

ohhh..now you have me thinking about the leg room...thats right last time we flew i remeber having to keep holding down his legs, so he wouldnt kick the guy in front of us...Now you have me thinking...i need to bring it...but might just gate check it...hmmmmm

 

[GoinToDisney]

We brought a scenera used mostly as a back-up and for travel, and my daughter was able to use the tray table no problem. I like the scenera for travel because it is really lightweight and only $40 or so. We brought a triumph the first time we flew and that was a pain to lug around. The scenera was a breeze.

I had the same experience the one time we flew without the carseat as another poster. She was so tired and could not get comfortable enough to sleep.

 

[5 for WDW]

All three kids of my kids used a car seat while flying until they turned 4. Not only is it safer, they know they can't get out of their seats in the car so, they didn't ask to get out during the flight either. We had no problem putting down the tray table.

I say bring the car seat.

 

[dimimi]

Airplane seats are shallower than most car seats, so your child might fit ok without a carseat. Is your child tall or short? The question of fit is whether she can sit in the seat with her bottom all the way back with her knees bent over the edge at 90 degrees.

My kids are big and were about 8 before they could bend their leg around the seat like you and I. The reason we liked the carseat is the child was used to sitting in it and traveled comfortably.

 

[mb1976]

The last time we went my daughter who will be three in June has flown three times already. We haven't used a car seat anytime for her because we didn't want to purchase a seat. She just sat on either my lap or my wifes lap. At one point we even buckled he into the same seat as my son who is 3 years older than her. We put down the tray and they colored. No problems at all. In one bad mishap we got stuck on the tarmac in Witchita for 3 hours in a little regional jet. She colored until she got tired then slept in her mothers lap. When we go this fall again we will have to purhcase a seat but, she won't have a car seat. We just don't want to spend the money on a car seat. We may look into the strap but I'm not really sure at this point. Are they safer in a car seat? Probably but at this point I'm comfortable with just the seat lap belt as I'm more concerned with turbulance than crashing.

 

[lilmissie]

Check with your flight as some companies require children under 40lbs to be in an approved air carseat or CARES. For us when we go we are taking two CARES and our True Fit Car Seat. We will be traveling with three two year olds. The older two will be using the CARES and turning three while we are in WDW