car seat on airplane only, wwyd?

[nancy drew]

we are taking dd2 and ds(will be 8mo) to disney in may. we have seats for both of them on the plane, and we are using magical express and resort transportation the whole time we are there, we are not renting a car. both kids have britax marathons, and originally we planned on bringing them for the plane, since the kids have their own seats. then i started thinking about how much gear we have, and i was wondering how necessary dd2's car seat is. i definitely want to have her in something with a 5pt harness, since she *just* turned 2 in feb. but is there another option besides lugging that marathon with us just for the plane ride? ds could possibly use his infant seat, which he technically cant use in the car since he is too long, but i was just wondering if there is some sort of lightweight seat or booster we could get for dd that we can use for other things, too, like grandmas car, or something.

any suggestions? what would you do? what have you done?

 

[Disnicole]

We have the marathon as well, for our DS 2 we brought a Cosco seat that we use only for grandma's car. The marathon is a bear to carry plus we use latch in my car so it's a pain to get in and out, I would def. not carry two. We also got a bag for it, with backpack straps which helped out a lot.

 

[shelly3girls]

We purchased a lighter carseat/booster specifically for travel. We personally like the Graco but I forget the name. There are a couple different price levels but they are all the same basic seat. It comes as a five point harness and converts to a booster seat. We use it as our extra seat since we now have other children in our car quite often for playdates. We completely agree that the Britax is just too big and heavy especially to carry two.

 

[stacy6552]

There are great carseat duffle bags out there that are priceless when it comes to travelling.

 

[Shagley]

I have seen these portable five point harness systems in a store before, but I don't have kids, so I have never had reason to use one. Someone else might have a better idea if these are worth it or not...

http://www.kidsurplus.com/cos22-909jrm.html

 

[linda_loo]

I may get flamed for this... but I don't think I'm taking anything for our 2.5 and 4 year olds.

 

[mom2alix]

WE have a Britax Roundabout and (thanks to another Dis'er) I found this:

http://www.gogobabyz.com/products/gogo_kids.html

Sure makes hauling the carseat and the baby seem a lot easier.

 

[nancy drew]

I have seen these portable five point harness systems in a store before, but I don't have kids, so I have never had reason to use one. Someone else might have a better idea if these are worth it or not...

http://www.kidsurplus.com/cos22-909jrm.html

oh man, that would have been absolutely perfect, but i double checked on babies r us website and it said it wasnt FAA approved for airline use.

WE have a Britax Roundabout and (thanks to another Dis'er) I found this:

http://www.gogobabyz.com/products/gogo_kids.html

Sure makes hauling the carseat and the baby seem a lot easier.

that seems good, but im not sure how it would work with 2 strollers, 2 kids, and 2 carseats. i think it would be easier to wear the car seat like a backpack and push a stroller.

 

[mamacatnv]

My kids are now 16 & 7 so understand that carseat safety and awareness has changed tremendously since DS was little. I am a car seat warrior, my DD is still currently in a booster as she is under 80#'s. NV law is only 60#'s but safety is 80 therefore at the rate she is going her date will have to use her booster seat to take her to the prom.

We only took our car seat with us for our older child as we knew it was the only way we were going to keep his active little hiney in a seat for the flight. He was used to his car seat and didn't give us grief when he was in it, but a big airplane seat without the car seat was a little bit trickier.

Prior to age 2/3 we never bought him a ticket, if the flight had room they let us bring the seat and if it didn't we gate checked it and put up with him on our laps. We always needed it at our destination.

Along comes DD, we didn't buy her a seat when she was a baby either same scenario as above. Although the ratio is now 3 adult types to 1 infant, we had a few more hands.

Now, since you have 2 little ones and only so many hands and no need for the seats at your destination I would consider leaving the seats at home if you will be able to keep your munchkins in their seats on the plane.

The convertible 5 point seats that go to boosters is another good idea. We have one and it is great for moving to different vehicles and is fairly light weight.

Just my 2 cents - MamacatNV

 

[mom2alix]

oh man, that would have been absolutely perfect, but i double checked on babies r us website and it said it wasnt FAA approved for airline use.



that seems good, but im not sure how it would work with 2 strollers, 2 kids, and 2 carseats. i think it would be easier to wear the car seat like a backpack and push a stroller.

I was planning on just checking the stroller and using this through the airport with DS already strapped in his seat. Don't know if that might work for you too.

 

[Bird-Mom]

oh man, that would have been absolutely perfect, but i double checked on babies r us website and it said it wasnt FAA approved for airline use.

I know that it looks cool, but we tried one and hated it! We didn't use it on the plane (my dd was 3.5), but we bought it for the rental car and couldn't buckle it in. We ended up having to rent a seat for her.

For a just-turned 2, I think she would need her carseat on the plane. I have a 20 month old, and she has ants in her pants. She cannot sit still unless she is buckled in.

I would buy a lighter, inexpensive seat for travel.

 

[redhotpepper]

I've used a Cosco Touriva for travel and they are inexpensive, lightweight and fit nicely in most vehicles. The Touriva has been discontinued and replaced with the Scenara and the base is a lot wider on it. I'm sure you could still find the Touriva though since it hasn't been that long since they've discontinued. This is the car seat my mom has for her car and it's worked out great for her. The Graco Cargo would be a good choice too and it converts to a booster.

We used to have Britax Roundabouts and I only took those when my dh was with so he could lug them. I have a decathlon now and there's no way I could hike that thing through the airport!

If you have a stroller with a napper bar, you most likely will be able to wedge the car seat on the stroller in some manner a la travel system. I've done this lots of times.

It's much, much easier to have your kiddo in a car seat on the airplane. It's what they are used to and you can actually have a hand free to eat or other necessary things! I used to have this nifty thing that was basically a belt with velcro and "leashes" for lack of a better word, that you could hook toys, bottles, etc to so you didn't constantly have to bend over and pick toys up from the nonexistant space between seats.

I took a business trip to Orlando when my daughter was about 18 months old and we took a taxi to WDW and so we had to take her seat with us. They let us check the seat where you rent strollers and wheelchairs.

I'm a child passenger safety technician so I'm pretty darned conservative when it comes to car seats.

Annie