Car Seat on plane, should I bother?

[allonte]

We flew with DD (at age 6m) with her carseat. We didn't have to pay for an extra seat because there were open seats on the plane. We absolutely HATED having that car seat with us. It was heavy lugging it around the airport and it took up 1 1/2 seats on the plane. It was nice not having to hold DD but arm was cramped anyway from squshing next to the seat.

We're flying to Disney next month (she's 1 now) and I'm wondering if I should bother dealing with this car seat again. She is a busy body but I know I could keep her still with some books and food. Should I bother brining the seat on board or just check it.

 

[PiperPizzaz]

I have no idea how my carseat would fit in those tiny airplane seats either. I think I will bring ours though because what happens if they get sick or something and you have to call a cab to take you somewhere. That would be the only thing I would worry about.

 

[allonte]

Yeah, I know. We're taking it regardless, I just don't know if I want to deal with lugging it too and from the gate. I'll already have enough bags because I reallly really do not know how to pack lightly! What kind do you have? I have an Evenflo Triumph that I love to death when I don't cart it back and forth!

 

[tjmw2727]

The airlines don't require it so its your decision.

Take into consideration that the FAA and the AAP recommend that children use a carseat on aircraft until 40lbs just as in the car.

Here are some links if you would like to research your decision further:

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/airplanetravel.aspx

http://aappolicy.aappublications.or...cs;108/5/1218

Personally, never checked my dd's carseats though as baggage due to the way the bags are tossed around. I never wanted to compromise the integrity of the carseat. The alternative is gate check so its just another few steps to bring it onboard.

Have a great trip
TJ

 

[snickerboo]

We skychecked ours so we didn't have to pay extra for car seats in the rental car. My ds is 3 but small and very active-he was okay without his car seat on the plane. He loved playing with the plane's seatbelt.

 

[belle&beast]

We took DS2 and DD4 in January and would not be without the carseats for the plane ride. DD could have sat easily, but she could see out the window in her carseat (she is tiny and still in a 5 pt harness seat- bbosters are not allowed on planes). My DS knows that when he is in his carseat he has to sit, so we had no battles about climbing on the seats or running around on the plane- he is very active! Also I read on this board about the safety issue of turbulence. Little kids are not as safe in the adult seatbelt, but the carseat will keep them from being tossed around if you do experience turbulence on the flight. Have a wonderful trip- I say use the seat if you are taking it!

 

[dznyfanatic]

On our last trip, we put DS(2) in his carseat. I figured it would give him a sense of comfort because it was his first trip on a plane. I also knew that for my sense of mind (and for the others around me) it would be better to keep him contained. My only complaint was the cramp I got in my arm, because I was squished into the middle seat and his carseat took up a little of my space.

 

[SueRS]

I would take it for safety reasons.

However, here is our story. (Sorry so long)

We took our dd2 for a red eye, it took her a while to settle down and she kept saying the car seat wasn't comfortable. When we switch planes I had them put the car seat underneath and due to lack of sleep, she had a fit. I am sure the people on the plane wanted to know why we could control our child. One flight attendant basically threw peanuts at us to shut her up. Another flight attendant asked her (my dd) if she want to help and get a drink. My dd was thrilled and stopped screamming and went with her.

I think what upset me the most was my dh and ds5 were asleep before we even took off.

My dd is now 5 and will be 6 when we go and we are not taking car seats.

Booster are not allowed on the plane so I felt it was a waste of energy but ds5 was safe in the car.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

We have taken DD to Florida at 8 months. Didn't plan to take the carseat on but the plane wasn't full so we got to. I was so glad because it helped a lot. She was able to sleep and sit still while playing with her toys. After we landed passengers commented to me that they didn't even realize a baby was on the plane. I am sure that if I had to have held her this would not of been the case, she was wiggly!!

We also flew to Germany with her and took her carseat. I agree, MAJOR pain to carry around but so worth it on the flight.

Both our car seats fit in the seat just fine without cramping us. I am not familiar with your seat, is it larger than most? Will it be the same one you took when she was 6 months?

 

[scouthawkk]

My ds is now 3.5, and in a bpbooster. But last August, we took his car seat with us on our flight down. Had him sit in it on the way down (had to have it so grandpa could drive him around while he was visiting him). Went without it on the plane for the flight back home. What made us decide to check it going home had nothing to do with not wanting to lug it on to the plane (we have one of those rolling cases for it, and just rolled it behind, couldn't be easier). And it didn't really cramp us, either. We always put the arms up between us anyway. What did make up our mind not to have it for the return flight is that his seat was so bulky that he couldn't use the tray in front of him to color on (and other activities to keep him busy) on the flight down. In addition, when the person in front of him put his seat back, ds's legs were nearly crushed, and he was hurt a little...and the person was not considerate enough to put it up, even a little, when we explained that ds was being hurt. What made it worse was that it was a full flight, and no one wanted to change seats with us to help out. The flight attendant tried to get the guy to move his seat, even just a slight bit, and tried to find two people willing to switch seats (we were willing to separate dh and i if needed) nothing worked. So for ds's comfort (and non-crushed leg safety) we chose to check the seat for the flight home. He was much happier, and so were we!

 

[santonucci]

1.) Will you have a car? If yes, then take your car seat.

2.) If not, then don't.

Lapriding has been our MO for the airlines until they require tickets, but I have a 2 hr flight from NJ. I don't know where you are coming from, but 2 hrs trading back and forth is easy. When we go in August, my wife and I will have our 6 mo twins with us, along with DD5 and DS8. We will stroller them to the aircraft, and lapride down. Only one small carry-on that my son can help out.

DME will transport us to the hotel, so we won't use a car seat, and lapride the bus. Once on property, we use the bus/boat/monorail...

Hopefully, this explains my logic for car seats. If you are off property and will have a car, or on property with a car, bring your seat. Otherwise leave it home.

Steve

 

[allonte]

Both our car seats fit in the seat just fine without cramping us. I am not familiar with your seat, is it larger than most? Will it be the same one you took when she was 6 months?

It's the Evenflo Triumph. It has a rounded back so I think it makes it take up a little more space than others. It's the same seat we took with us before. Do you think if I check the seat and put the fragile stickers on the bag, they'll be careful with it? You don't think they sling around car seats like they do suitcases do you?

 

[mrsltg]

My ds is now 3.5, and in a bpbooster. But last August, we took his car seat with us on our flight down. Had him sit in it on the way down (had to have it so grandpa could drive him around while he was visiting him). Went without it on the plane for the flight back home. What made us decide to check it going home had nothing to do with not wanting to lug it on to the plane (we have one of those rolling cases for it, and just rolled it behind, couldn't be easier). And it didn't really cramp us, either. We always put the arms up between us anyway. What did make up our mind not to have it for the return flight is that his seat was so bulky that he couldn't use the tray in front of him to color on (and other activities to keep him busy) on the flight down. In addition, when the person in front of him put his seat back, ds's legs were nearly crushed, and he was hurt a little...and the person was not considerate enough to put it up, even a little, when we explained that ds was being hurt. What made it worse was that it was a full flight, and no one wanted to change seats with us to help out. The flight attendant tried to get the guy to move his seat, even just a slight bit, and tried to find two people willing to switch seats (we were willing to separate dh and i if needed) nothing worked. So for ds's comfort (and non-crushed leg safety) we chose to check the seat for the flight home. He was much happier, and so were we!

OT... what a jerk!!!! He was told he was hurting someone and did nothing about it? That may have resulted in some accidental spillage of a drink or some good kicks to the back of the seat.... Sometimes I really dislike people .

 

[tjmw2727]

It's the Evenflo Triumph. It has a rounded back so I think it makes it take up a little more space than others. It's the same seat we took with us before. Do you think if I check the seat and put the fragile stickers on the bag, they'll be careful with it? You don't think they sling around car seats like they do suitcases do you?

Yes I do - they treat all the luggage the same. Have you ever been in the gate watching out the window as the baggage handlers "throw" the luggage from the cart onto the conveyer and then into the hold?

I personally would not take the chance.

TJ

 

[codyvt]

Here's my 2 cents on this - my DS is now 13 months old. We live in Alaska and have traveled a bit since his birth. The first time we took him anywhere, he was 5 weeks old and we flew from Fairbanks to Juneau - this doesn't seem long but with the way Alaska works, it took about 8 hours to get home. He was wonderful. We brough the car seat on the plane and ended up asking the flight crew to check it as it took up more than one seat and could only go in the middle seat which minimzed space for my DH and me. We also have flown with him (at 5 months) from Alaska to NYC. This time we checked the car seat and the stroller at the gate so that we would have them both at layovers and as soon as we exited the plane. This seemed to work very well with a 5 month old. DS is now 13 months and we are headed to WDW in June. I'm VERY worried about flying with him this time as he is walking and hates sitting still but we still plan to go sans car seat and just check the stroller at the gate so that we have that as soon as we get to WDW. I hope DWE will let us take the stroller as carry-on? does anyone know the answer to that?

THANKS!!

 

[all4fun]

It's the Evenflo Triumph. It has a rounded back so I think it makes it take up a little more space than others. It's the same seat we took with us before. Do you think if I check the seat and put the fragile stickers on the bag, they'll be careful with it? You don't think they sling around car seats like they do suitcases do you?

Yes, the Triumph's are wide. If you'll be traveling frequently or need a spare seat anyway, you might consider buying a Cosco Scenera 5-pt. This is what we used for travel. It's light, fairly narrow, and easy to install on planes & in cars. We used in in Grandma's car (she babysits for us) when we weren't traveling. This seat is fairly economical too, $40-50 at Target/Walmart/Kmart.

Just thought I'd mention it!

 

[golden1]

I am planning on bringing our Britax Roundabout on the plane even though we are not renting a car. I am just bringing it so that ds will actually sit through the plane ride. Like pps have said, that is the one place where he knows he MUST sit. If I try to get him to sit in the seat, I know he will just want to get up and run around the plane. As much as I hate to have to bring it just for the flight, I think it is necessary. I am thinking of getting those backpack straps that you can attach to the car seat to make carrying it around the airport easier for DH.

 

[Dizneydaz]

My DD was 2-3/4 on our first trip with her to WDW. She's small for her age. Even now, at 6-1/2 she's 43# and 43". I elected not to take the car seat in the cabin (we baggage checked it). There were many reasons-car seat is huge and bulky. She wouldn't be able to use the tray table for coloring, stickering, and drawing (which she did alot on the plane), and I figured she would be more comfortable lying across my lap to sleep than upright in the car seat (her head always flops over to the side).

It worked great for us. She did sleep a little on both flights. She used the tray table. I didn't have to carry the seat around.

The one interesting thing that I discovered was that other passengers had no problem sitting next to her on the flights. We were traveling as a party of four so we sat 2 and 2. On both flights, single passengers sat next to us (next to the window). Personally, (and I Love kids) I would not sit next to a 2 year old for a lengthy flight! My DD was very well behaved but she did talk their ears off! If we had the car seat I don't think someone would have sat next to us but it was fine with me, having someone new to talk to was interesting for her.

Also, not having the car seat allowed her to move between our seats and my mom and niece's seats. This also kept her interested. Our total time in the air was about 5-1/2 hrs. (and a change of planes).

This is how it was for us.

 

[Alice clones]

Yes I do - they treat all the luggage the same. Have you ever been in the gate watching out the window as the baggage handlers "throw" the luggage from the cart onto the conveyer and then into the hold?

I personally would not take the chance.

TJ

me neither! especially since some of that banging around can compromise the intgertiy of the car seat itself! we will need to take a car seat for our DD2, but we will be gate checking it since she will be happier sitting on level with her sisters. using a car seat on a plane or not is really up to the parents. what do you think will be the best for your child? i know that if our dd2 had to be in her car seat, and her sisters didn't that she would throw a royal fit! that is why she gets to sit "like a big girl"

 

[katerkat]

I've done it several ways, with the bucket seat, with the Evenflo Triumph and without a carseat.

I've flown with him as a lapbaby, no carseat and no guaranteed seat, at 13 months old. He was hard to handle on the flight there, just bouncy but not too terrible, but I thought it was bad because I had no idea how much worse a toddler could be. The way home, we had an extra seat by us and Russ stretched out and napped the whole way. Sweet angel.

Angel became a toddler. The Triumph, well, sucked. One flight, I measured that Russ had exactly five inches for his legs between the carseat and the reclined seat in front of him. Moving his legs meant his knees bumped the tray table. And yes, it's wide and cut into my space when planes are already small in space! I started booking him a seat at 16 months because I thought having the carseat would help. Well, maybe. For the first couple of flights after that. But he knew he could get out of it - all he had to do was poop and Mom would let him walk to the back of the plane and change him.

When he was 20-22 months old, travel became a nightmare. Our flight back from Disney, he sobbed and screamed until the flight attendant asked me to take him out and hold him. He never went back in for the rest of the flight so I ended up next to an oversized paid for carseat and a clingy toddler on me. At 22 months, we unbuckled the carseat and turned it to face me so at least his legs were touching me instead of the seat back in front of him. (That was the five inches flight.) Oh, how I longed for the days when my biggest worry was how long I could play bounce up/bounce down on my lap!

When he was two, I bit the bullet and checked his carseat. And...it made no difference. This flight, he wanted to sit on the floor and use the seat to play cars. Or unbuckle so he could get close enough to the tray table to play cars. Or just unbuckle and jump on the seat. Or unbuckle and try to reach the "call flight attendant" button. I was pretty much near tears by the end of that flight.

(I want to add, normally I'm a pretty good parent. I know it sounds like Russ is a hellion, but he's actually pretty good outside of an airplane environment. I think it's because his daddy flies planes and he thinks it's his God-given right to sit in the cockpit - it's the way he heads every time we get on a plane. And yes, I do the "right" things like bring plenty to do, new toys and old favorites, a DVD player, snacks, etc.)

I'm buying a smaller carseat - I do know I won't fly with the Triumph anymore - for our upcoming trip, and I booked Frontier just for the in-seat TVs. And I'm praying that it'll work.

So basically, I have no idea which will work for the OP. Every option sucks.