Car Seat on Plane

[RedSoxMom]

Here is what I am planning on doing for our upcoming trip...let me know if you see any potential problems:

My DS is 20 months old and around 30+ pounds. I plan on bringing our Cosco Scenera seat with us in the airport and gatechecking it for our first flight which is on a regional jet. That flight is only one hour. Then, I plan on using the car seat on the second leg which will be a 2.5 hour flight. My reasoning is that (1) the regional jet is so much smaller and it will be difficult to maneuver a bulky car seat, (2) I think I can keep our son busy for 1 hour but he may want to sleep during the longer flight, (3) I'm worried about him kicking the seat in front of us and have heard that is easier when in a car seat.

I guess if he does really well in the regular seat, we may just gate check the car seat on the second leg as well.

Any advice is appreciated...however, I am already aware that the car seat on all flights is the SAFEST option. But, I also know that he will be much safer in either a car seat or lap belt than he would have been as a lap baby, so I guess that is how I am justifying my choice.

 

[BellaPhotos]

Here is what I am planning on doing for our upcoming trip...let me know if you see any potential problems:

My DS is 20 months old and around 30+ pounds. I plan on bringing our Cosco Scenera seat with us in the airport and gatechecking it for our first flight which is on a regional jet. That flight is only one hour. Then, I plan on using the car seat on the second leg which will be a 2.5 hour flight. My reasoning is that (1) the regional jet is so much smaller and it will be difficult to maneuver a bulky car seat, (2) I think I can keep our son busy for 1 hour but he may want to sleep during the longer flight, (3) I'm worried about him kicking the seat in front of us and have heard that is easier when in a car seat.

I guess if he does really well in the regular seat, we may just gate check the car seat on the second leg as well.

Any advice is appreciated...however, I am already aware that the car seat on all flights is the SAFEST option. But, I also know that he will be much safer in either a car seat or lap belt than he would have been as a lap baby, so I guess that is how I am justifying my choice.

I flew to Florida last year on a US Airways Boeing 737 at that time my youngest was in an infant carrier and it was a tight squeeze. On the flight back, I checked the carrier and put her in the seat with the lap belt and she was MUCH happier. Unless your flying first class, you may opt to check the carseat with your regular bagage and not have to worry about lugging it around the airport. Have a GREAT trip!

 

[susykt4]

DS was a little older (27 months) but I HATED using the carseat on the plane!!!!! We had a 2 1/2 hour flight and I spent 2 1/2 hours trying to keep him from kicking the seat in front of us and trying to keep him happy. It was incredibly stressful and we both hated that flight.

On the way home we either gate checked it or just checked it with baggage and he was waaayyyyyyyy happier and better behaved. He actually slept a little on that flight!

The plane seats are so tiny and the carseats so huge you barely have enough room to hold your child if you have to take them out of the carseat. Never again!

 

[amarberry]

I'll be the dissenting voice on this one. My DD is 29 months old and is about 34 pounds. I just brought her carseat on the flight we took last month and I plan to bring it with when we travel in February. Since we've flown a lot to Orlando, I've been on planes with a lot of kids and my personal experience on those flights has been that toddlers seem to do better when they are in their carseats. It's what they are used to and they know that they are expected to stay put. When we flew in Sept., there was a little girl about the same age as my DD (26 months at the time) sitting in front of us. She did not have her carseat and she did not want to stay put, keep her seatbelt on, or take a nap. My DD, on the other hand, was very content and comfortable in her carseat and ended up sleeping most of the flight. At the end of the flight, the mom in front of us commented that she wished she brought her carseat after seeing how well my DD did, but one of her friends told her not to bother.

Of course, it really depends on your child, but our air travel experiences have been very positive by buying a seat (when not buying a seat was an option) and bringing the carseat. It is worth the hassle of dragging it through the airport, and I even thought so after traveling alone with my DD last month.

 

[all4fun]

ITA with Amarberry.

The Scenera has a 35lb r/fing weight limit and can be used r/fing on the plane so that is another option. This would take care of the seat kicking issue altogether. This Site has information on r/fing past 1yr on airplanes.

Since ds outgrew his Scenera by height I now use a fwd-facing only (combination booster) seat when we fly. I remove his shoes just after take off which reduces the seat kicking a lot.

hth.

 

[RedSoxMom]

Thanks for all the great advice! All4fun, I didn't even think about rearfacing, but that might be a great thing to try...it would eliminate kicking and we could also talk to our DS easier if we were facing him.

Does rear facing interfere with the person in front of you being able to recline??

 

[snubie]

I am assuming you bought him a seat, yes? If so, then I think he must be in a car seat if he is under 2 years old. It is only once he is older than 2 that he can sit in the big seat.

And try rearfacing, it worked like a charm for us. We were facing each other and she was much easier to entertain this way.

 

[KristinU]

Another vote for carseat here. There was only one time that I traveled with DS as a lap child (business travel to the city that my parents lived in - so the fare was pretty expensive)...it was a nightmare. Not great, but not awful on the way there, but on the way home I checked his seat with the luggage and it got lost. I know that is not very common, but I'd never check a seat again. It did finally turn up and they sent a courier to our house several days later to swap it for the loaner they gave us. Just not my best travel experience...but I digress.

I also feel that DS just stays put better in his seat, since he knows he has to stay buckled in for car rides. As far as kicking goes - I've shared this here before: we tell him the person in front of him doesn't feel good and needs to rest. He usually only needs to be reminded once or twice per flight

 

[all4fun]

Does rear facing interfere with the person in front of you being able to recline??

Yes, it will unfortunately. In the past, I advised the person in front of us that they would not be able to put their seat back and it wasn't an issue for them. If it was, then either dh or I would have offered to switch seats, or they could have found another free seat on the plane if they needed to (and one was available of course). It's absolutely your right to put the seat rear-facing though as you are using the seat according to mfg instructions.

hth.

 

[eemiles03]

Traveling alone with a 3 year old from STL to dallas ft. worth was an absolute nightmare....mainly because the car seat gets heavy and I ended up bruising my leg all up...and it was a very tight squeeze trying to get her carseat to the seat once inside the plane...I'd suggest gate checking it....but that is just me...

 

[becca011906]

if it was me i would take it and use it on both flights, if you don't use it on the first flight then it's like letting your child not use a car seat one time in a car... then they might protest the next time they are getting in the car seat... they aren't very hard to install rfing at all, if the person is rude explain that by turning them that way it will eliminate a childing kicking the back of thier seat, but i've never run into the person carring on a short flight at all... defintly take and use it, it will make your flight so much easier!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

I am assuming you bought him a seat, yes? If so, then I think he must be in a car seat if he is under 2 years old. It is only once he is older than 2 that he can sit in the big seat.

And try rearfacing, it worked like a charm for us. We were facing each other and she was much easier to entertain this way.

Actually, that is incorrect. The airlines do not enforce car seat laws. Children under 2 are not required to be in a car seat. Children over 2, however, must have their own seat. (ie: no 2 yo lap babies).

We traveled from Los Angeles to Orlando with DS2 without the car seat. He did wonderfully on the arrival and return flight. He was able to stretch out and sleep comfortably, sit in my lap and look out of the window. In fact, he slept 4 of 5 hour flight. I was really apprehensive about not having him in a car seat, but we kept him belted at all required times.

 

[fakereadhed]

We were concerned about our huge Britax Marathon on the plane, but it was no problem. I had a problem with DS kicking the seat, but took his shoes off and explained that there was a lady sitting in front of him- don't kick her. I let him take a peek at her, and he stopped kicking.

The biggest life saver on the plane, was a portable dvd player with Thomas and the Telletubbies. DS totally freaked out when he realized we were off the ground(shaking like a leaf) and watching the dvds snug in his carseat from home really helped.

 

[justhat]

Actually, that is incorrect. The airlines do not enforce car seat laws. Children under 2 are not required to be in a car seat. Children over 2, however, must have their own seat. (ie: no 2 yo lap babies).

We traveled from Los Angeles to Orlando with DS2 without the car seat. He did wonderfully on the arrival and return flight. He was able to stretch out and sleep comfortably, sit in my lap and look out of the window. In fact, he slept 4 of 5 hour flight. I was really apprehensive about not having him in a car seat, but we kept him belted at all required times.

Some do. We were told that our daughter must fly in her carseat since she was under 2 and we bought her a seat. I had the carseat installed but we were detained on the tarmac forever so I took her out to nurse her and was reminded by a flight attendant that she needed to be in the carseat whenever the seatbelt light was on. I asked about lap babies and she said since you have to sign some form for them they're exempt from that. Not sure exactly what she meant since our daughter was never a lap baby, but anyway, she said all ticketed under 2s needed to be in a carseat.

I'm sure many don't enforce that, but in the event that they do you should be prepared.

And we kept our daughter rfing on planes till at least 19 months. Around that time though she'd push her feet against the seatback, thereby "kicking" the seat in front of her by pushing her carseat into it. At that point we turned her ffacing and removed her shoes. Also, a dvd player works well to distract my daughter from kicking the seat in front of her.

 

[drivencrazy]

This is interesting and I was just asking around about it as well... We will be flying in May, I think the flight is going to be about 4.5 hours... My little one will be 2.5 and I wanted to know if she had to be in a car seat or not. I figured when we decided on who we are flying with I would call them and see what they said. My thought was that the car seat is big and heavy and since we are staying on site at Disney we wouldn't be using it there and it would just be wasted space in the room. I would think that she would be safe in the plane seat without her seat, if it were not safe would they let children travel w/out their seats?

Maybe my mind will be made up before we book the flight!

 

[all4fun]

This is interesting and I was just asking around about it as well... We will be flying in May, I think the flight is going to be about 4.5 hours... My little one will be 2.5 and I wanted to know if she had to be in a car seat or not. I figured when we decided on who we are flying with I would call them and see what they said. My thought was that the car seat is big and heavy and since we are staying on site at Disney we wouldn't be using it there and it would just be wasted space in the room. I would think that she would be safe in the plane seat without her seat, if it were not safe would they let children travel w/out their seats?

Maybe my mind will be made up before we book the flight!

My thought has always been that airline seatbelts are designed for adults, not small children. The lap only belt can be easily removed by a child and during times of turbulence, take off, and landing, it's really important to have the seatbelt on. For us, hauling the CRS thru the airport is the "lesser of the two evils" because I can see us having a constant battle trying to keep ds seated w/the airline seatbelt on for a 6hr flight...not fun.

Also, the FAA site (here) says:

The FAA strongly urges parents and guardians to secure children in an appropriate restraint based on weight and size. Keeping a child in a CRS or device during the flight is the smart and right thing to do

FYI, another approved device is CARES which is approved for kids from 22-44lbs.

In the end, it's a personal decision. Airline travel is safer than auto travel....but using a CRS on the plane is safer than not using one.

Hth.

 

[justhat]

I agree with All4fun and unless I'm flying alone to WDW with both kids, we also take the carseat into the plane for my daughter. The only reason I didn't take it when I flew alone to WDW with her was, the first time, I was 17 weeks pregnant and sick and didn't think I could lug it around on my back with the other gear and her. She stayed in the seat fine but could not get comfortable and was up the whole flight and then exhausted when we arrived. The 2nd time was 2 weeks ago and I had to bring my son's carseat (he's 4 months so no choice there), and after having brought both when I flew to Phoenix alone with them I thought I'd just make my life easier. This time she did sleep on the plane, laying against my body, which made it hard to nurse my son during the flight. Oh, and she's almost 3 and 29 lbs.

My thought on if it's safe to fly without a carseat-Yes, I think so or I wouldn't have taken the risk a couple of times myself. But I agree that the car seat is safer so I'd rather use it. But I don't put much faith in that it's safe cause the airlines allow it cause why do they allow lap babies but adults need to wear a seatbelt? Are lap babies somehow exempt to dangers that we as adults are not? Why can we not just sit in our seats without the seatbelt then?

And I'm not knocking lap babies at all, just the airlines (or FAA) who say ticketed passengers need a seatbelt but that babies are fine to just bounce around.

 

[sgmom]

I had this same debate when we recently flew to WDW. I thought about not taking a carseat for DD 2.5, but then realized, she is used to riding in a carseat in the car and is perfectly content, why not put her in the carseat on the plane - the same rules apply. I think she was happier in her carseat and am so glad we used it! FYI, carseats have to go in the window seat - that helped resolved the issue of who got to sit by the window and she was able to see better out the window. If we would not have taken the carseat, I could have imagined a constant battle over getting her to stay seated and in her seatbelt.

There was another family that did not bring a carseat for a younger child than my daughter. Well, they sat the child on the aisle seat - which couldn't be done either and immediately, the child started screaming and crying when they moved her. Since there was a delay on the runway, the entire plane was getting irritated. The woman ended up switching her child back to the aisle seat! I couldn't believe it!!

On the flight back, our DD fell asleep and we propped blankets around her head so she wouldn't drop her head.

I don't think many people recline their seatbacks as much anymore, so I wouldn't worry about that. Besides, the flights to Orlando are usually full of families/kids and most people are in the same situation and just want to get through the flight.

The biggest problem is being able to install a carseat on the plane without affecting other passengers. The carseats are wide for the seats, so there isn't much room to wiggle around with the belts. The flights are usually full and no where to stand while the seat is being installed and the flight crew is more concerned about getting everyone on the plane. I would recommend if you can, having someone from your party go on ahead of you and install the carseat. That way, there is room once you get on and you aren't blocking up the aisle - wish I had thought about that before!

 

[justhat]

There was another family that did not bring a carseat for a younger child than my daughter. Well, they sat the child on the aisle seat - which couldn't be done either and immediately, the child started screaming and crying when they moved her. Since there was a delay on the runway, the entire plane was getting irritated. The woman ended up switching her child back to the aisle seat! I couldn't believe it!!

I was just wondering if you knew why they wouldn't let the kid sit in the aisle seat? I ask cause when I fly alone with my kids, my son sits in his infant seat next to the window, I sit in the middle seat, and my daughter sits in the aisle seat (and with the carseat too as the FA told me it was okay since it didn't extend past the actual plane seat then it was okay to not be next to the window). Anyway, I'll be flying alone with them again in May and that's why I would like to know the reason kids can't sit in the aisle as sitting my daughter next to my son with me on the aisle is less than convenient. Of course I'd comply if told, but just wondering why that is.

 

[NotUrsula]

Airlines that use beverage carts do not like small children to be seated on the aisle because they can be hurt by the carts -- finger injuries, especially, are a hazard.