Car seat on airplane? Thoughts?

[Torontogal]

Hi all,
We are travelling to Florida in March. We are taking my 2 kids and I am concerned about the 2 year old. I was thinking of taking a car seat for him. He is used to his car seat and this way he will know that he cannot run around the aisles. What are your thoughts on this? He is an absolute angel in the car but I am worried about the plane since it will be a new experience for him. What are your tips? We are flying on Westjet. How were your 2 year olds?
Thanks!

 

[waspnest]

I would absolutely recommend it. You'll have your own car seat when you get there - won't have to worry about what kind of seat you'll be able to rent. And, just as you said, it will serve to keep the 2 y.o. seated on the flight. I know dd (and my ds, at that age) would much rather be up and running, but if she's strapped in she won't put up a fuss. If I'm just trying to keep her on my lap or in a seat, she'll be screaming and bouncing off the walls - not a pleasant trip for her, me, or the other passengers.

 

[princessjv]

We went to WDW with our DS when he was 2 1/2. We brought the seat, and YES, we were glad we did! This was our DS' 1st trip on a plane and since he was used to sitting in his carseat, I thought it would be a familar thing for him. The family that sat directly infront of us was did not bring their DD's seat and they paid for it! They constantly were telling her to sit down and having to re-buckling her.

Also, in the event of a loss of cabin pressure (or worse), their carseat will protect them much better than the lap belt of the planes seat.

This time our DS is 4 and we will not be bringing his booster (he knows to stay seated), however we will be bringing the carseat for his little sister (10M).

Enjoy Your Trip!

 

[tlbwriter]

You're absolutely right. He'll be safer and more comfortable in his familiar seat.

 

[rchristiansen]

I agree--- bring the car seat. We brought ours for our three year old and will do so until she's out of it. It's much more familiar to them. Otherwise they will want to get out and look around.

 

[Brina]

I used carseats on the plane for every flight until my boys turned 4. Their first trip without the their seats were due to neccessiry - I broke my collarbone on the vacation and could not carry and install the seats. The next trip after that one I checked their seats and they were upset about it - they actually wanted them on the plane. My dd who is 2 always flies in her carseat.

 

[mouseaddictoldschool]

To help yourself through the airport(s), buy one of those cheap collapsable luggage carts(you know, the ones common before the apparent law passed regarding all luggage to come with wheels), bungy your car seat to it, and......Voila!! Instant airport stroller. Then, once on the plane, just disconnect it and hook the seat in.

This helped us through several trips.

ps, not my idea, a Delta Operator taught me that one.

 

[Embel]

I think a car seat works great for keeping them in their seat.

I have gone to DW with 2 yr olds a few times & learned quickly that my kids flew best in the late afternoon with a little bit of Benadryl. Mine are just too active to sit for a plane ride, especially early in the day.

 

[Tonyp2566]

We ran into 2 small problems with the carseats. Our 2yr DD was flying as a lap child so we didn't pay for a seat. The only way they would let us occupy a seat for the DD was if the flight wasn't full. And the other was lugging the carseat around the airports for transfers. But the pros far out weigh the cons of not bringing it with you.

 

[emmasmom]

Did you watch the emergency landing last night at LAX? All I could think of is...what if you had a child on that flight without a carseat? I, personally, would be kicking myself because I didn't pay the $$ to have everyone safe. It's worth it! Just make sure to ask about a discounted rate. Last time the airline told me that unless the tickets were over $200, they would not honor an infant rate.

 

[CleveRocks]

No flames, please. I'm not telling anyone what they should do, I'm just responding to the OP's request for info on our experiences. We just flew with our LITTLE 2.5 year old in May (she's on the small side for her age is what I mean) and she had her own seat WITHOUT a car seat. She did very well during both flights, no problems whatsoever. In fact, she was well behaved and she had a great time. We brought her favorite stuffed animal, lots of coloring supplies and snacks and drinks and stuff like that.

My wife and I are all about safety. She's a pediatrician and I'm a therapist working with people recovering from catastrophic injuries. We don't mess around with safety issues, ESPECIALLY with our two little ones. And we were fine with our 2.5 year old using the airline seat and the lap belt.

 

[KristiMc]

I haven't flown yet with my little ones but we bought a seat and will be taking a carseat for our almost 2 year old when we go in January. I know there is no way that I would be able to keep him on my lap for 2 hours.

Kristi

 

[tlbwriter]

No flames, please. I'm not telling anyone what they should do, I'm just responding to the OP's request for info on our experiences. We just flew with our LITTLE 2.5 year old in May (she's on the small side for her age is what I mean) and she had her own seat WITHOUT a car seat. She did very well during both flights, no problems whatsoever. In fact, she was well behaved and she had a great time. We brought her favorite stuffed animal, lots of coloring supplies and snacks and drinks and stuff like that.

My wife and I are all about safety. She's a pediatrician and I'm a therapist working with people recovering from catastrophic injuries. We don't mess around with safety issues, ESPECIALLY with our two little ones. And we were fine with our 2.5 year old using the airline seat and the lap belt.

Please don't take this as a flame, I'm just looking for information. I've seen plenty of info about the dangers of children using lap belts, and the fact that adult lap belts do not properly restrain children (in airplanes or cars). You and/or your wife must have found information that contradicts that research. Would you mind sharing? There's a grey area between "too small for the adult seatbelt" and "at no higher risk than an adult on an airplane wearing the seatbelt," so if you've been able to find research that helps pinpoint that age when a child is perfectly safe in the adult seatbelt (or at least as safe as any of us are, said the woman who is afraid to fly! ), I hope you don't mind passing it on.

 

[CleveRocks]

Please don't take this as a flame, I'm just looking for information. I've seen plenty of info about the dangers of children using lap belts, and the fact that adult lap belts do not properly restrain children (in airplanes or cars). You and/or your wife must have found information that contradicts that research. Would you mind sharing? There's a grey area between "too small for the adult seatbelt" and "at no higher risk than an adult on an airplane wearing the seatbelt," so if you've been able to find research that helps pinpoint that age when a child is perfectly safe in the adult seatbelt (or at least as safe as any of us are, said the woman who is afraid to fly! ), I hope you don't mind passing it on.

No unknown research findings to report. Call it a combination of common sense and fatalism.

Most of the reason for a car child safety seat is protection from impact. In an airliner, most "impacts" are likely to result in mass casualities, anyway, so we didn't feel compelled to protect our 2.5 year old from an impact that we could not functionally and effectively protect her from anyhow.

Most of the reason for anyone in an airliner to wear a lap belt is to prevent one from being tossed around the cabin during moderate to extreme turbulence. The physical forces upon the body are different in turbulence than they are in a car accident. Car child safety seats protect mainly against high velocity front end collisions (hence infant seats must face rearward, etc., due to the infants' lack of neck control). In an airliner, the forces that are the most concerning (i.e., the forces that can affect you but that you can LIVE through) are those that might send your airborne and allow your body to impact the ceiling. The hips must be held securely against the seat to protect this. Lap belts are sufficiently effective for this task, in a 2 year old or a 72 year old.

At least that's what we were thinking....

 

[deide71]

I vote for taking the carseat. We used ours for our son (age 18mo) and purchased a seat. He slept for the whole flight, and we also saved 40$ not having to rent one from the rental car company. It was a bit cumbersome carrying it through the airport though.

 

[tlbwriter]

The hips must be held securely against the seat to protect this. Lap belts are sufficiently effective for this task, in a 2 year old or a 72 year old.

At least that's what we were thinking....

Well, see, that was my question. I know at *some* point the lap belt becomes just as sufficient for the child as it does for the 72 year old. I just didn't know when. I thought maybe you knew something I didn't. I'm having a hard time finding research in this area - everyone agrees that children under 40 lb should be in a carseat, but after that, I can't really find any data.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

If your child loves his car seat by all means take it. My DD( 2 next week) hates her car seat. She is a night mare to travel with in a vehicle. She has already learned how to unbuckle the front of the harness on her carseat. She has her own seat for our flight, but I will not take her carseat. She would scream for the 2 hours she was buckled in it.

 

[NotUrsula]

Take a deep breath before diving in; there is a LOT of engineering jargon here, and quite a few links to other reports that must be read in order to make the whole thing clear:

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2005/August/Day-26/i16782.htm

(Typically for the Federal Govt., the link to the crash-test video is already broken; here is the correct link for the video: http://www.faa.gov/education_research/research/med_humanfacs/aeromedical/media/vc07.avi. The file is ENORMOUS, don't try to download it unless you have plenty of bandwidth.)

If you are curious, here is the page for the new FAA-approved, airline-provided harness system that is legal effective 9/26/05 for children who are over age 1. As far as I know, no airlines have formally announced plans to put them into service yet. Individuals will NOT be able to buy these; the airlines will have to not only supply them, but the FAA's will have to fasten them onto the seats for you: http://www.amsafeaviation.com/cares.htm

BTW, most impacts experienced onboard an aircraft are survivable, because most of them take place when the aircraft is on the ground. "Falling out of the sky" is very rare; the average flyer is much more likely to experience a hard landing, a runway overshoot, or an on-ground collision with another plane than a fall from cruising altitude. In an on-ground accident, the forces in play are exactly the same as those that would apply in an auto accident, with a much-increased risk of fire added to the situation. (Planes have a greater volume of flammable components and contents than cars do.)

 

[cruiserkaren]

I'm in the minority here but we just got back from WDW this month. Our DD was a week and a half shy of 2. We didn't take her car seat with us. We did buy her a seat. Like a post above DD is not a great traveler in the car. After about 30 minutes she wants OUT! We were using Disney transportation the whole time and didn't have a rental car so we would have only been using it on the plane. DD did so well. I'm still some-what in shock over it. Never even a whimper. Of course I had a whole backpack of things to keep her entertained on a 2 hour flight. She had plenty of room to play, move around a bit and lay her head in my lap while watching her DVD player. When we flew with her last year at 13 months we took her car seat and I can't help but wonder how much more smoothly things might have gone had we skipped the car seat.

 

[Parkerpooh]

We didn't take our ds's car seat when he was 20mths old and it was a nightmare with him screaming"down,down!". We'll definately be taking his seat this time. We have a carseat bag with wheels and backpack straps that work great for lugging through the airport. I think it's harder with boys as they don't sit much...ever My ds is either sleeping or running so 5 point restraint systems are wonderful!!