Car seats on airplane

[MomPlanner22]

I need some opinions please!

We are traveling by air to MCO with our children 4.5 and 2.5. We are staying offsite and renting a car and therefore, bringing out car seats. My 4.5 yo is in a booster and I know that cannot be used on the airplane as it would serve no safety purpose. We will check it or carry it on.

I am uncertain about what to do about our 2.5 yo. I worry that being in the car seat will lead to kicking the person's seat in front of her. However, my priority is for her safety, turbulence being my primary concern. I worry that the seat belt will have slack and won't be cinched tight since she is little.

I love the idea of checking her carseat as it is one less thing to lug through the airport. It is a Britax Roundabout so not small! Right now I picture us with her in the stroller, the car seat balanced on top and my husband dragging the other kids and stuff.

What are other's thoughts and or experiences with this? Thanks!

 

[Northeast Rose]

Hi,
We've done "the trip" to MCO several times with our kids (12,8 and 1.5). We've been there done that during the crawling, pre-walking and toddler-on-a-mission stages

I would bring the car seat. Your DD is already very well aware that her car seat means she gets strapped in and that's it - no funny business allowed. She might not accept the "seat belt" rule with the airplane seat - my kids didn't. The seat belt was easy for them to unbuckle and they didn't want to stay put. With their car seats, they knew the rules because it was their norm, kwim?

Just my two cents....

-Rose

 

[camdensmom]

We also have the Roundabout (love it by the way). What we ended up doing when we flew with it the first time was buy one of those luggage carts. We bought it at Kohls. It is collapsable and cost $14.99. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it, but you might know what I mean. It has wheels and a flat bottom and when extended almost looks like a handtruckl. Their intended purpose is to stack bags on it.

What we did was bring that along with a bungy cord (the kind with the metal hooks). When we got to the airport we put the car seat on it. Placed our carryons inside the carseat and bungied the whole thing to secure it. I pushed DS in his stroller. DH easily wheeled the car seat and our carryons.

When our plane was boarding I gate checked the stroller and after DH installed the car seat onto the aircraft seat he simply collapsed the cart and placed it in the overhead with our bags. It was 15.00 well spent and made for a VERY EASY airport trip. It was important to me that DS be strapped into the airplane for the reason you mentioned.

As for the seat kicking...is it close to naptime? I have found that the plane zonks them right out if they are in their car seat.

 

[Victoria J]

Good two cents, Rose. It almost made us change our minds about our upcoming trip with the almost 3 year old DS. We are planning to check the carseat this time. Momplanner22, I would say your decision lies in the personality of your child. Just after DS turned 2 we flew to the Virgin Islands and had his car seat on the plane. Several things occured. Even though his carseat was the norm, we were not in a car so to him those rules didn't apply. He is pretty small for his age, but he was already kicking the seat in front of him (and let me tell you, the person in front of us was pretty annoyed on a 7+ hour flight). We tried to control that the best we could, but it would happen even if he was trying to re-adjust in his seat. For him, because of the excitement he still did not sleep well on the plane, even with the carseat. He spent A LOT of time on our laps.

I completely agree with the safety concerns. Our thoughts are that my husband is a pretty big, strong guy and in the event of turbulence he will hopefully be able to keep DS safe.

Again, your decision completely depends on the demeanor of your child. If the carseat will keep her in her seat and comfortable, I would say it's definitely worth dragging it through the airport. For us it seems as if it would not be worth it. Of course I may have a completely different opinion after our upcoming trip without the carseat!!! And you definitely can't argue with the safety issues. Good luck with your decision!

 

[VickynMickey]

Victoria J, what is your middle name!!! I ask because my name is Victoria Jeanette, I just thought it was neat to find someone with my same initials!!!

 

[tjmw2727]

We did use a carseat on the aircraft until my dd's were about 3 1/2 ish. The FAA and AAP recommend using the seat until that 40lb mark so that's what we did. I also found my dd's were calmer and more apt to stay seated in the carseat as it was familiar.

As far as seat kicking just take off the toddlers shoes and hope for the best. What we did was separate so dh or I sat in front of the child in a carseat just in case she kicked. Sure it would have been nice to sit together but IMHO it was worth it, we would trade off on very long flights.

If your bringing the carseat anyway consider just getting a cheap foliding, luggage cart or a carseat bag (some are wheeled now!) or use the stroller to wheel the stuff and let the toddler walk to burn off steam if you can. It seems overwhelming but with two parents its not too bad and IMHO totally worth it.

Good luck and have a safe happy flight whatever you decide.
TJ

 

[twinmom2]

I do exactly what camdensmom does! it was like reading my own post. It is muuch easier pushing it on wheels and it folds down great.
I have twin girls and use it to carry both car seats- the bungy cords and all lol.
My girls are almost 2.5 and i would never consider not using the car seats. They know what it means to be in it and of course they can be a little crazy but we bring tons of activities and food. the one time i tried taking them out of the seat (we have flown 6 times) it was just AWFUL!
ANyway I also have two Britax seats and knew they were too big so I bought 2 Graco seats that we use for flying and DH puts them in his car if he takes one of the girls or both with him. I know it is expensive to buy new seats, but i bought them knowing that DH or grandparents could always use them and i wouldnt have to take mine out of the car.

 

[all4fun]

There's also the option of the new CARES harness. It's $75 and you can order it from www.kidsflysafe.com.

We are still using the car seat on the plane for our 3-1/2yr old ds - he is only about 32lbs now. We have a Britax seat he uses in our car but we take the Evenflo combo seat we bought for MIL to use in her car. It's lighter and it also sits lower so on some planes (not all though unfortunately) he can even use the tray table. Kicking the back of the seat is sometimes an issue for us as well but he's getting old enough to know better - or at least have a little more self control so when we tell him to stop he usually will.

As someone already mentioned you can buy an inexpensive set of luggage wheels to put the seat on, or there's a new contraption called the GoGo Kidz Cart which snaps on & off easily which I've heard really great reviews of. It was originally intended for use with Britax seats only but now they have made it compatible with most other brands as well. It's kind of spendy though $80-90 so if you will be traveling frequently by air, it might be a worthwhile investment.

HTH!

 

[Victoria J]

I am Victoria Lyn. Actually I was born Victoria Lynn on my birth certificate, but my Mom decided she didn't like it spelled that way so dropped one of the N's. I did not find this out until I had to get my passport last year and had her send me a copy of my birth certificate! Unbelievable (at least to me)! I was afraid they wouldn't give me my passport because of the discrepancy!

J is the 1st initial of my last name. When I signed up for this 2 years ago I never planned to be actively participating. Had I realized I might have chose a more interesting user ID. Anyway now that you know more than you ever wanted to.....

I have to say I think the responses to this thread may have changed my mind completely about bringing the carseat on the plane. There is just no substitute for safety. I guess I just had not really thought it through. Thanks to all!

 

[marybrat]

We took DD when she was 2 without carseat. Then we took DS when he was 4 with carseat. My experience is that when DS had the carseat, he knew he had to sit and be buckled in. Without the carseat, DD was like a jck-in-th-box... up down up down.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

I would bring the car seat. Your DD is already very well aware that her car seat means she gets strapped in and that's it - no funny business allowed. She might not accept the "seat belt" rule with the airplane seat - my kids didn't. The seat belt was easy for them to unbuckle and they didn't want to stay put. With their car seats, they knew the rules because it was their norm, kwim?

Yep, and I've had so many things ruined by checking them, I wouldn't check the carseat for fear of damage. So I'd bring the carseat for the reason stated above, but if that's not an issue for you, do you know you can usually rent a carseat along with the rental car?

 

[Ilovemyprincesses]

I have to bring a booster for my older DD. Anyone know if I can gate check it with my stroller?

 

[MomPlanner22]

When I talked with Northwest about the car seat thing, they said gate checking car/booster seats along with strollers was acceptable to them.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We had a marathon though. I posted here that we had terrible problems on our flight. We buckled DD in and then it took about 20 minutes to get the seat out. The buckle goes behind the seat and we could not get it out. I posted here and many others had the same problem. I found out here that the best things to do is to ask for an extender for the plane and that makes it so that the buckle is easier to reach. It will tighten up so you don't have to worry about it being loose. I have not tried this yet but I am going to since we had such a terrible time last time.

 

[lg3]

We recently traveled with our 3 yr old and are so glad we decided to take the car seat on the plane. She stayed in it the entire flight, and felt comfortable with her surroundings. We did take a portable DVD player too (never hurts). The only disadvantage was that if the person in the seat in front of her had their seat reclined, which they did, we couldn't put her tray table down. No way around it - just not enough room. I just put her food and DVD player on my tray table and it worked out fine. Also, if you are renting a car as we did the rental car company can't always guarantee a car seat, but you can request one. It was a bit of a hassle to carry around the airport, but well worth it overall.