Aer Lingus direct.... to car seat or not???

[pixiesprite]

Hi all, I've done lots of searches on the issue of carseats or not on the planes, it seems to be the done thing in the US but not so much here in Ireland. So I thought I would ask the UK/Ireland expert DISers!!

We are heading to Orlando in Oct 2013 (DUB-MCO direct with Aer Lingus - 9.5 hours), with our 7 year old DD and our DS who will be 2 years & 9 months. DS has not flown before so I don't know his flying form plus he's not even 2 yet so it's hard to predict anything

We're leaning towards bringing a suitable car seat for him for a few reasons.... he travels well in car seats, he will not be able to wriggle away and escape, he might even sleep!!! We flew a fair bit with DD at that age but only short trips to London and she kept trying to undo the buckle of the airplane lapbelt, it was a pain having to hold it for 1.5 hours. 9.5 hours holding a buckle to Orlando might be a tad too much for me!

So they are the reasons for bringing it.... obvious cons are awkwardness, extra stuff to drag around & having to store it in the hotel - we'll be in AOA so we can just stash it out of the way in the bedroom. We won't be renting a car.

Has anyone any experience of a long flight with a child about that age? And which option did you find best? Thank you kindly!! I'm so looking forward to this trip, it's over 10 YEARS since we've been there, can't wait to go back

 

[orangetiggs]

My girls we just under three when we flew out and back and we had the virgin infant car chair which is like a car seat for our girls as virgin wont allow your own seats.

One thing we didnt like was they didnt recline much but were good and the girls were higher to see tv and eat on the trays

 

[scottish mum]

When we took my dd when she was 22months we used the virgin seat. It was great as she knew that if she was in it she had to sit nice and stay in it. The next year she went she was 6 weeks of being 3 and was far too big for the virgin seat but she sat really well on her own seat and was old enough to understand to leave her belt alone.

I would check with your airline if they allow you to take your own seat, many don't.

 

[pixiesprite]

Thanks guys, those Virgin seats sound like a great idea. I checked with AL and they allow car seats as long as the measurements fit, which ours will