2yo on plane - Car Seat??

NandP

Nick D DIS Veteran DVC-BCV
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Jan 26, 2001
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HAS ANYONE HAD EXPERIENCE WITH HOW YOU CAN PROPERLY TRAVEL WITH A 2YO ON A PLANE?
Is it neccessary or actually safer to bring a car seat?
What are the FAA regulations on that age?
Are the lap harnesses safe?

Any place i can get more info online?

Thanks for the input....
 
A car seat is not required. But I strongly encourage you to bring one anyway! Heaven forbid, but if there is some kind of emergency situation, the 2 year old just in a regular airline seat with a lap belt is NOT going to make it. Any child on your lap will be in danger as well. You'd never travel in a car with out a car seat, an airplane is no differant. Bring the seat and keep your child belted in it as much as possible. Flight attendents have gotten severaly injured by major turbulance, an un-belted child doesn't have a chance. And while pilots will try to give warning, they aren't always able to before hand. I don't mean to frighten you, chances are you'll have a smooth flight, but if you don't, the car seat could be a life saver!

As for requirements, I beleive the car seat must meet FAA regulations. The sticker on your car seat should indicate if it meets the requirements. The FAA link the previous poster gave you is a great source of info.

Good luck!
 
My kids are small so we always bring the car seat on board. They are safer and WAY more comfortable to boot.

It's a hassle to drag around the airport but on the few times we've checked or gate checked our car seat, we've had problems. (Lost once, broken once)

The time United lost our seats and we had to rent them from Hertz (at the unreasonable $8 a day, I could have BOUGHT a new one for that $56) it was SKANKY gross.

(Can you tell I have strong opinions here?)

Amy
 

We bring our carseat too. A great tip that I got from these boards -- we try to get DH in the seat in front of DS. Since the carseat brings DS' feet even closer to the seat in front of him (in already cramped quarters!), I worry about him kicking. He's not that bad about it, but hey, I worry anyway. So we try to get DH to sit in the seat in front of DS, with me right next to DS. It has worked great so far!
 
I am in aggreement with all of you... I DO want to use one, I was looking for suggestions on what type of car seat? is there a "stroller attachment" that i can plop the car seat on for moving around?

Mostly i found out from the FAA site, to look for the label !

Thanks to all !
 
There are 2 schools of thought on how to move the carseat through the terminal. I prefer the backback-style satchel that leaves my hands free; the satchel is available at BRUS. There's an Eddie Bauer branded model, and one from Prince Lionheart; they are very similar. The trick to wearing it correctly is to flip the straps over and under the back side, so that you can wear the satchel with the "seat" of the carseat next to your back. It's higher that way, and won't bang against your legs.

There is also a school of thought that prefers rolling it through the terminal bungeed to a rollaboard carryon, or to the stroller. If your child is little and tends to fall asleep on planes, you can also just prop the seat with the child in it onto the fully-reclined stroller, and then bungee them both on to secure it while you roll it through the terminal to leave the airport. Run the bungee in a fig-8, under the seat of the stroller, cross over the carseat, and then hook it behind the reclined back of the stroller. Warning about bungee cords: try to get the kind with plastic end-hooks, b/c officious TSA agents will sometimes hassle you about bungee cords with metal hooks. (Bungees are not on the prohibited list, but sometimes these folks get a bit ahead of themselves, and they don't like it when you argue with them, however politely.)

Note that if your airport uses sizing templates on the x-ray machines, most carseats will not fit through. If this happens, the carseat will have to be manually checked by a TSA agent. It is OK if it does not fit through; carseats being used on board are NOT subject to the carryon size limitations.
 
javaj said:
We bring our carseat too. A great tip that I got from these boards -- we try to get DH in the seat in front of DS. Since the carseat brings DS' feet even closer to the seat in front of him (in already cramped quarters!), I worry about him kicking. He's not that bad about it, but hey, I worry anyway. So we try to get DH to sit in the seat in front of DS, with me right next to DS. It has worked great so far!
I haven't seen that tip before but it's great! Thank you!
 
NotUrsula said:
There is also a school of thought that prefers rolling it through the terminal bungeed to a rollaboard carryon, or to the stroller.

I did that with my car seat. I bought a cheap luggage cart and bungied the car seat onto the cart and dragged it though the airport. My DD sat in her car seat on the plane until she was tall enough to kick the seat in front of her. That last car seat flight was horrible! We still use the cart with the car seat even though we now check the car seat. The cart gets used for our carry-ons after the car seat gets checked.
 
NandP said:
I am in aggreement with all of you... I DO want to use one, I was looking for suggestions on what type of car seat? is there a "stroller attachment" that i can plop the car seat on for moving around?

Mostly i found out from the FAA site, to look for the label !

Thanks to all !

Most recently made 5 point harness seats are FAA approved.

I have a car seat bag that has wheels that we use to carry it thru the terminal. Sometimes we'll just pile it in the regular stroller since after a long flight my kids would rather walk anyway. Personally I wouldn't invest in a stroller attachment.
 
Just fyi I saw a new option (at least new to me!) for carseat bags at BRU today while shopping for my neice and nephew. They had a carseat bag that was a backpack with wheels. From what I could tell you can either wear or roll the bag. The packaging said it also serves as a cover to keep the seat cool in the sun - perfect for a FL vacation!

HTH
TJ
 
I highly recommend the sit n stroll car seat/stroller combination. I have used it for three years and it has been a lifesaver. We have always used a car seat on planes, as much for the safety benefits as for my sanity! At two, my daughter thought she should be allowed to wander up and down the aisles. But with her car seat, she was strapped in and understood that the rules were the same as when she was in the car--"we can't go, until everyone has their seat belts on." It saved me a lot of arguing with her!
 
Well we broke down and bought the Sit 'n' Stroll (Model 4001) 5–in–1 Travel System made by TriplePlay... I got a decent deal for $178 free shipping so I think i made out.. It looks very well made, and even if we get 2-3 trips out of it, it will be worth it, then I can sell it on EBAY, they go for $150 used, so I hope I can get my $$ back sort of...

Thanks to all of you in helping make my decision...

This is what we got:
sns_combopic_lg.gif
 
Just be aware that the Sit n' Stroll is very bulky to transport on mass transit. If you plan on using the WDW bus system at all, you are going to find it awkward to get that S n' S onto the bus.
 
We traveld with our 2 1/2 year old last April... The car seat was a blessing.. DD knows we must be buckled up when traveling, so as soon as we got her buckled in she never questioned it! IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! OUr car seat was very light and pretty easy to carry so with the 2 of us and dd in her balloon stroller (which we gate checked) it was pretty painless! :flower1:
 
OK, I never seem to tire of telling this experience because I wished at the time that I had known what would happen in an emergency: Flying from LA to Chicago when DS was 5 mos old (he's almost 16 now, so this is a while ago, but I don't believe that procedures have changed). There was a problem with the landing gear and the plane went into emergency landing procedure. I was lap carrying DS and had brought along a front baby carrier - I was NOT allowed to hold my son, but was forced to place him on the floor between my feet and try to hold him in place while I assumed crash position with my arms folded against the seat in front of me and my head down. Ever imagine trying to hold onto a squirming 5 mos old with your feet in the middle of an emergency?? and you know how hard it is to reach down to the floor in front of you! - there were a lot of frantic moms and dads!! Now I know first hand how infants end up being found in the luggage compartments, etc, in air tragedies. We had a very rough landing, but everyone was OK! If I can't afford seats (and, of course, I bring car seats!!) for my kids and now my grandkids, I don't fly! - not worth the risk to me ! Like I said, at the time I would have given anything to know what I would have been required to do with my baby - I'm so happy to read that all you mom's are using car seats! :smooth:
 
Several years ago we traveled with triplet 3 1/2 yo's. We brought our own car seats we checked 2 as baggage one of the kids was small for his age, so we used his car seat on the plane. We (DH & I ) agree would use car seats any time. I think it may give a sense of comfort to the child to have something he/she is familiar with. The other 2 were well behaved as well as the one in the car seat, but they didn't nap. Just my 2 cents worth.
 














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