car seat on plane?

[miche73ak]

Has anyone ever not brought a car seat on the plane for a 1 yr old? We bought her a seat but we bought it with the thought of holding her(we have a belt built for lap children) and just using the other seat to have extra room. We have a very long flight. I also thought about bringing the car seat but what if once we are in the air we don't need it? I have traveled with my other daughter as a lap child and it was not fun not to have the ability to put the tray down to eat, trying to get to her toys , bothering the person next to us. Thats why we decided to buy he seat. Put her in the seat (buckled) to eat, play. And then hold her when she sleeps. She likes to be held. Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?

 

[Jenn Lynn]

We have flown twice with DD (2 years) and we have brought her car seat both times. I could not imagine holding a one year old for that long! She does great in it, plus it is her seat so she is familiar with it.

I, personally, am leary of checking a car seat because they could get cracked or damaged.

We have a Britax Roundabout and it is pretty heavy to lug across the airport. So what we did was buy one of those suitcase pullers that has 2 bungie cords. We just strapped the car seat and all of our carry-ons onto it. It worked great! I managed it by myself with DD. You do have to unstrap everything to put it throught the scanners, including your car seat.

 

[ChiTownZee]

I believe if you have paid for her to have a seat then she must have a FAA approved car seat. Not sure though, but I don't think they let one year olds sit with just a lap belt, particularly for take off and landings.

 

[beattyfamily]

I would use the car seat. Our DD both felt comfortable in the car seat and took good naps. I think they felt like they were in the car and the rule is you stay in the carseat so they weren't complaining and crying to walk around.

Under 2 can be a lap child but if you buy them a seat, I wonder if the rules change? Will they force you then to use that bought seat with a car seat? Don't know.

Good luck!

 

[lovesdumbo]

My DD was 3 1/2 last year for just a 2 1/2 hour flight and I can't imagine not having her carseat. She would have wanted to be running around otherwise. The carseat did not interfer with the tray and made it easier for her to comfortably reach the tray. I had purchased a carry bag with backpack straps for around $20. It worked great.

 

[Disneyolic]

We took our son last year w/o a carseat. He was 1½ at the time. We didn't even buy him a seat. I know a lot of people think that is wrong. Now, hindsight, I would definitely buy a seat for him but not bother with the carseat. We were lucky enough that on all legs of our flights, except 1, we had an extra seat for him. He preferred to be on our laps most of the time or cuddled. He was actually off his routine on the first leg so we ended up having to hold onto him while standing in the aisle because he was so cranky and I believe the ear pressure got to him just a bit. He ended up throwing up and I was thankful we didn't have the carseat then. Also thankful I had grabbed a blanket at the start of the flight. It caught the "ook". The other passengers on the flight were very understanding of our son crying and we were very grateful for that.

This year our sons will be 4 and 2½ and we are still not bringing carseats. I have much too much to carry, let alone 2 more carseats. I hope they will definitely learn to stay buckled in their seats.

~DawnMaree

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

Our 5 yo has flown 3 times (at 14 mo, 2 yo, 3yo) and our 3 yo twice (at 5 mo, 13 mo) and we have always bought them seats and brought their car seats. Yes, it is a bit of a pain to haul a car seat through the airport, on to a plane, etc but I feel so much safer. I use the same rules we have in the car on the plane, they must stay in thier car seat. Of course we have a shorter flight than you will.

What are you planning on doing with your 1 yo once you get to Florida? You will need a car seat, won't you?

 

[miche73ak]

I plan on packing the car seats for my 1 and 2 1/2 year old in a box with good padding around it and checking it in. I guess my whole feeling is I got the extra seat for the extra room for the kids, if I didn't buy the seat for her I would be holding her anyways. What if I wouldn't of bought her seat on the plane and we get on the plane and the seat next to me is open? Would I of been expected to carry on her car seat with hopes we would have an extra seat? I'm just a little confused. I have a 6,2 1/2, and 1yr old each with their own carryon, a double stroller, my carryon, and a 10 hr flt (yes by myself, will be meeting DM and MIL at Mco) Please forgive me if I sound like a terrible parent. My kids do wear their seatbelt at all times in the car.

 

[Disneyolic]

The carseat issue is a big debate. I do think it is the safest way to go but doesn't always work for everyone. As far as being the same rules for the car as the airplane doesn't make sense here because I tell my kids that even we adults cannot unbuckle our seatbelts and get up when we drive in the car. On the plane, people are getting up all the time so they would not understand why they would have to be buckled in their carseats. I plan to make sure they stay buckled with the seat buckle.

As far as when we get there, we have arranged for FL Tours to provide carseats for our transportation and then use Disney transportions through our stay. That is why I don't find the need to bring extra baggage when we really don't need them.

miche73ak You do not sound like a terrible parent. You sound like me and I am certainly not a terrible parent. I am actually the safer parent between my husband and I (sometimes overly so). I will be traveling on the flight down without my husband (he joining us later in the day) so I don't want the extra carryons. I'm worried enough about the stroller, carryon bag and watching my boys when we're changing planes in Atlanta. I can't imagine carrying 2 more carseats! You do what you have to do and do your best to keep your kids safe in your own measures.

~DawnMaree

 

[Jenn Lynn]

If you are worried about carrying extra luggage you can request a cart at security. My sister did this when she traveled alone with her 2 children and their carseats.

For me personally, not taking carseats would not be an option. I would not want to be holding onto my child during turbulance.

 

[stacy6552]

Put your child in a FAA approved car seat on the flight.

Experts equate holding a child on your lap, during turbulence in flight to trying to hold a 200lbs sack of grain on a roller coaster.

When the souix city crash happened, 3 children were on thier parents laps. All three were ripped from their parents arms during the crash. One was pulled from the plane by a stranger. One was killed on impact and one flew into an overhead compartment and died from smoke before it was found.

Please please please bring the seat and use it.

 

[Disneyolic]

But you are comparing putting a child in a carseat to holding a child in laps. I am not doing either. I am putting my child in their own airplane seat and buckling them in. I agree that holding your child in laps is not very safe (though I was guilty of that before) but I believe they should be safe as long as they are buckled in the airplane seat. If they aren't then none of us are.

~DawnMaree

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by miche73ak
I plan on packing the car seats for my 1 and 2 1/2 year old in a box with good padding around it and checking it in. I guess my whole feeling is I got the extra seat for the extra room for the kids, if I didn't buy the seat for her I would be holding her anyways. What if I wouldn't of bought her seat on the plane and we get on the plane and the seat next to me is open? Would I of been expected to carry on her car seat with hopes we would have an extra seat? I'm just a little confused. I have a 6,2 1/2, and 1yr old each with their own carryon, a double stroller, my carryon, and a 10 hr flt (yes by myself, will be meeting DM and MIL at Mco) Please forgive me if I sound like a terrible parent. My kids do wear their seatbelt at all times in the car.

It's simple, if your child is under 2 and you do NOT buy a seat then you are NOT expected to bring a carseat on the plane as you didn't buy a seat to put it in. You are expected to hold your child.

You just have more room if you are lucky enough to have an empty seat next to you.

I cannot stand it when I hear of parents who do NOT buy their child a seat but still bring the carseat in hopes of a 'free' seat! They're trying to get something for nothing and then the flight attendant has to try and find a place for that carseat that cannot be used because the flight is full.

If you did buy a seat then it's totally up to you whether or not to bring/use a carseat. I prefer a carseat for my children till they are 4 years old as it makes them behave better, like in the car. The one time I did not use the carseat on the plane (to Paris as we wouldn't need one in Paris!) our 2 1/2 year old drove us crazy wanting to take her seatbelt off, sit with mommy, sit with daddy, stand etc...She was an angel all other times with a carseat. Not to mention safer to!

At age 4, I check the booster seats.

 

[JennsBabySky]

I've flown both with and without the carseat. For safety reasons (turbulence), the last time we flew, we brought my daughter's carseat. I agree, it was a pain to drag through the airport. But, I attached the carseat to a luggage cart with bungee straps. It was secure enough that I felt comfortable having my daughter sit in the seat while I rolled the carseat. It made transporting her around the airport much easier (of course, I only have one child for the next 2 months -- so that wouldn't have worked with two or more!) On the plane, I was really happy I had the carseat because she sat down and fell asleep within 1 hour on both the flight there and the flight home. Our flight was about 5 hours and she woke up during descent (her ears felt "funny"). We never needed the carseat for safety reasons -- thank goodness, but I was really happy to have her in the carseat because she was really comfortable during the flight. She is very small for her age, so I think the plane seat would have been uncomfortable for her for a long period of time. Besides, I felt in my gut that because of her small size that she would not be secure in the lap belt only portion of the adult sized seat. For me, I decided that I had to bring her carseat in case of turbulence. However, I do completely understand that this is a huge pain and not always very practical. I definitely think it is a parental decision at this point and I wish the airlines would take some responsibility in this arena and either supply seats that will fit a child when necessary or at least arrange to have your carseat brought to the airplane for you. I would think many more people would be willing to bring carseats if they could drop off their carseat with their luggage and have it waiting to be installed on the plane when it is time to board. It is a pain to go through security with a carseat and I would imagine near impossible for a single parent to try to keep control of two or more kids, carryon luggage and multiple carseats. I can't imagine how difficult that would be!

On a side note, we had a rental car in Orlando and I was really happy to have my carseat with me. I can install my carseat very securely and very quickly in most any car. The last time we flew without our carseat, we rented one with the rental car -- yuck -- it was gross, outdated and expensive. That's how I convinced my husband to bring the carseat.

Good luck with your trip,
Jennifer

 

[NotUrsula]

The FAA recommendation for a child using the aircraft seat belt is 40 lbs. minimum weight. If a child obviously weighs much less than that, and is occupying a seat without a carseat, the accompanying adult will usually be told to hold the child in his/her lap during takeoff and landing, and at any time that the fasten seat belt sign is on.

Kids under 40 lbs. can submarine under the lap belt on a plane; submarining can cause extremely nasty internal injuries. I can remember hearing other passengers told to hold their children even though the children were over 2 yrs. old; because the kids were so small in build.

If you need assistance getting through the airport with children, ask at checkin; they will call someone to help you. Leave extra time for this; it sometimes takes awhile for the assistance people to be available.

 

[Disneyolic]

If you need assistance getting through the airport with children, ask at checkin; they will call someone to help you. Leave extra time for this; it sometimes takes awhile for the assistance people to be available.

That being said, when you have just under 1 hour layover time you usually don't have time to wait for people to help you out. I remember last year we had 50 minutes layover in Charlotte and our plane got in late leaving us 15 minutes to get from one end of the airport to the other! You should have seen me and my husband and kids booking through the airport. Can't imagine having to lug any more than we did then.

I didn't know about holding the kids in our laps even though they were in their own seats. I will definitely be asking about that. Both our boys are under 40 pounds. I think that during turbulence I would prefer to keep them in their seat buckles and hold onto them. It would seem safer to me than on my lap where I only have my arms around them.

We all have to make our own decisions and live with them with the outcome. I feel good about our decision not to bring their car seats.

~DawnMaree

 

[NotUrsula]

You'll notice that I suggested asking at checkin; the idea being that the toughest part is getting through security and to your initial gate.

You can actually ask for help if your connecting flight is late and you are going to really have to book it from one gate to another, especially when it is a situation where one adult is travellilng with multiple small children. The trick to that is that you have to ask an FA aboard your flight. They can call ahead and ask for an assistance cart to be waiting at the gate for you. It isn't guaranteed, but then, very little in life is.

I've done the gate run many times with a carseat. If you are committed to bringing them, you deal with setting up efficient ways to carry them. I'm expert at it by this time. The trick is that you stop carrying the junk that you really don't need, and you learn that money is for getting what you do need. One thing I learned right away as a travelling mom is that you don't embark on any trip without $20 in singles in the outer pocket of your purse; tips can solve an enormous number of problems.

 

[dijid]

Call the airline. Ask about not using a carseat. We were not allowed to put our DD in a seat with a seatbelt when she was less than 2 (tried it once). We had to hold her.

Another question to ask is whether you have the option of paying an escort fee. A friend of mine did this when she traveled alone with two young kids. For a $50 fee (kinda steep) she had an airline employee with her from checkin to boarding and another one who met her when exiting the plane. IT's the same fee you pay for an unescorted child. They'll carry stuff, help you install carseats, etc. She said it was worth the money for that one time she needed it.

Personally, if it were me, I would actually find a way to bring the carseat so I could leave the baby if I had to go to the bathroom, or had to escort another child to the bathroom. On a 10 hour flight, someone is going to have to go LOL!

 

[Disneyolic]

Personally, if it were me, I would actually find a way to bring the carseat so I could leave the baby if I had to go to the bathroom, or had to escort another child to the bathroom.

I still think I would bring both kids to go to the bathroom. I would never leave one of my boys alone - and my boys are 2 and 4. I would probably just not close the door all the way to the bathroom so I could attend to both. We have 2 legs on our flights and they aren't all that long. I think the longest is 2½ hours plus add on time before/after takeoff.

I remember when one of my boys was under 2 and we flew that we did have to hold him in our lap when the plane was taking off. Otherwise, he was allowed to stay in an unoccupied seat next to us the rest of the way.

~DawnMaree

 

[mom-2greatkids]

We've flown with DD when she was 2, 3 and 4. We have always used her car seat--more for our convenience than anything else. She stayed happily buckled in her carset for the duration of each flight. To her it was no different than riding in the car (except mom and dad were on each side of her to keep her entertained). If we didn't have the carseat I'm sure she would have been on and off our laps, in and out of the aisle, and just generally wild. It worked great for us!