Car seats - argh

[TheyCallMeStacey]

Its been ages since I flew with my son (and he was in his infant seat) so car seats/travel seemed more clear. Now he's in a booster and add on my little miss who will be in a rear facing convertible car seat (she'll be about 21 months when we go).

We're flying with one connection to Orlando and I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by all the crap we'll need to be taking. Can you all weigh in on what to expect/do/best practices for flying with a booster seat and convertible car seat.

I'm guessing that if I want to put little miss in her car seat while on the plane, I'll have to buy a new one...because her current cadillac of a seat will be too wide. What's a good (and economical) seat to buy? We don't travel very often, so I don't want to sink too much into a seat we might not use much.

Am I completely horrible to consider not putting the little one in a car seat on the plane? If we don't, is it better to gate check a car seat or check it with our bags?

sorry for the long message - ADRs are done, and apparently this is the next thing to obsess over. Thanks for any help you travel experts can offer!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

A good, low priced car seat for air travel is the Costco Scenera. Gate check the car seat and put it in a bag (even a trash bag will work). You can carry a booster seat on the plane and put it in the overheard, if it will fit. A great travel booster seat is a Bubble Bum, which is an inflatable booster with a great safety rating. You can just carry this in a bag or suitcase.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

a booster seat that uses seatbelts can not be used of planes. if your booster uses a harness and just uses seatbelt to attach to seat you might be able to use if airplane rated. if it does not fit in overhead bin and not able to use on plane it will have to be checked. checked carseats or boosters are not handled any different that suitcases. have seen more than one fall off belt that are being loaded on plane, just to be tossed in. that includes gate checked as well. not sure you can gate check stroller, carseat and booster seat all at the same time

 

[TheyCallMeStacey]

Yea, i don't think we'll be able to use his booster on the plane, because it does use the shoulder strap seat belt. His has the back on it yet too, and i don't think we can get away with just the bottom part yet. If we check our car seat and our luggage gets lost...is there anything the airline does? I don't want to land in Orlando and not have car seats for our rental car...

 

[ParrotBill]

Gate check the car seat to reduce the chance of lost luggage, but if you bought her a seat then install it and her in it. Can the booster back be removed? Take the booster without the back as carry-on and put in overhead. If it cannot be removed then gate check that too.

 

[bumbershoot]

Definitely GATE check any seat you bring and don't use. You take it through the airport to the gate, you leave it at the end of the ramp. They take them down and put them on the plane. Tell them you want it to checked to the gate of the end airport (NOT the carousel). Then take your time getting off the plane and by the time you're in the ramp the seats should be there.

If you think the little one can deal with the lap belt and staying seated and NOT sliding under it or needing to be out of it all the time, try it without the seat. On a plane you wear the belt to keep you stationary should turbulence occur. You're not preparing for the same forces you're preparing for in a car. So it's not awful to consider, but DO consider it carefully.

The Cosco Scenera remains a great travel seat. Lightweight and simple and not expensive.

And the bubble bum booster is terrific, so if you don't want to deal with taking the heavier plastic booster, check out the bubble bum. It's a pound and comes in its own pouch so it can even be carried by the child who will be sitting in it.

 

[CourtneyL]

What are the age/height/weight of the kids? You should definitely use a seat on the plane for your daughter. What convertible do you have? Some are manageable on the plane, but most are a pain. Like others have said, the cosco scenera is a great travel seat. It's $39 at Walmart and rear faces to 35lbs/36". It forward faces to 40lbs/43" and has 15" top slots.
For your son, you have a few options. You could take a high back booster with you, and pack the back in a checked suitcase and carry on the bottom. The thought being that even if your luggage was delayed, you still have the backless booster. OR, again depending on his size, Walmart has the Harmony Folding Travel Booster for $33. It's a high back booster that folds to the size of a carry on. You can store in in the overhead bin on your flight.
Please don't check or gate check seats. You run the risk of damaging a safety device for your child.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Yea, i don't think we'll be able to use his booster on the plane, because it does use the shoulder strap seat belt. His has the back on it yet too, and i don't think we can get away with just the bottom part yet. If we check our car seat and our luggage gets lost...is there anything the airline does? I don't want to land in Orlando and not have car seats for our rental car...

You are correct, you cannot use any booster seat on the plane.

 

[bumbershoot]

Please don't check or gate check seats. You run the risk of damaging a safety device for your child.

Some of us use proper seats for the kids LONG after they would be OK in use in the plane. Gate checking is something that happens once that point is reached. I fully planned to use the Nautilus to the end of the weight limit as a 5 point harness, but I would NEVER have used that in a plane for him once he was a certain age*. And I doubt I would have been allowed to do that. Silly kid outgrew it by HEIGHT first (same as he outgrew his Snugride before 4 months because of his height, I shuold have known) so we went to highback before I'd intended so all that was moot.

But gate checking is something that happens. A not-too-tall 64 pound kid will be in the *car* in the Nautilus as a 5 point harnessed kid, but that's likely not going to be allowed in a plane.



*As it was, we stopped using the carseat in the plane at some point before he was 3. He was just too big and it put him too close to the seat in front of him and was super-awkward for him (and note, I rearfaced him until he outgrew the at-the-time rearfacing limit of the Roundabout, so I've seen awkward!) and he was totally cognizant of the rules on the plane. Even now at 11 (well, 10 the last time we flew) he will buckle up the instant he's in the seat and will bug us about it even if we're 40 minutes from door-closing.

 

[Baklava]

Some of us use proper seats for the kids LONG after they would be OK in use in the plane. Gate checking is something that happens once that point is reached. I fully planned to use the Nautilus to the end of the weight limit as a 5 point harness, but I would NEVER have used that in a plane for him once he was a certain age*. And I doubt I would have been allowed to do that. Silly kid outgrew it by HEIGHT first (same as he outgrew his Snugride before 4 months because of his height, I shuold have known) so we went to highback before I'd intended so all that was moot.

But gate checking is something that happens. A not-too-tall 64 pound kid will be in the *car* in the Nautilus as a 5 point harnessed kid, but that's likely not going to be allowed in a plane.



*As it was, we stopped using the carseat in the plane at some point before he was 3. He was just too big and it put him too close to the seat in front of him and was super-awkward for him (and note, I rearfaced him until he outgrew the at-the-time rearfacing limit of the Roundabout, so I've seen awkward!) and he was totally cognizant of the rules on the plane. Even now at 11 (well, 10 the last time we flew) he will buckle up the instant he's in the seat and will bug us about it even if we're 40 minutes from door-closing.

I'm waffling on the carseat. My girl (5 years and 44") is in a 5-pt harnessed Nautilus in the car. I'm trying to decide if borrowing a plane friendly seat from a friend (who is a car seat tech- she wouldn't loan me one that wasn't safe) is overkill. I mean... safety first, but is that overkill? We're taking the DME to and from the airport.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

Since you can't use the seat on DME or the Disney bus transportation, I would say, there is really no point in taking a seat just for the plane. At 5 yo, your daughter likely won't fit comfortably with the seat, it will be very crowded for her legs. She is plenty big enough to use the plane seat belt. As a previous poster said, the airplane seat belt is meant to keep you in your seat during turbulence and once a child is big enough to sit up and keep the belt in place, the airplane belt is adequate.

My 6 yo is still in a 5 pt. and my 8 yo in a booster and we stopped using the seats on the plane at around 3 with them both. We aren't using DME, my parents will be picking us up the day before we check in and we'll spend 1 night pre-resort and 1 night post-resort at their winter home in FL so we will bring seats but if we were just doing DME and not using anything but the Disney resort transportation we would leave them at home.