carseat on the airplane

[disfan07]

is it required for a 2 (almost 3) year old to have a car seat on the plane?
He has his own seat but does he need to bor can he just be in a car seat or can he just be in the seat belt?

we're just hoping to get away with no carseats at all. we were already able to ditch having to take teh carseat adn booster for the 5 and 7 year olds since we're not driving and we really dont want to have to drag anything with us that is not absolutely nececssary.
With 3 adults and 4 kids we are already goign to have too much luggage

 

[kevschickee]

nope they don't need one. I amnot bringing any for my girls too much of a pain

 

[Erica09M]

They are not required, but I strongly suggest your put your 2 (almost 3) year old in a car seat. It's so much safer in the event that you run into bad turbulance or a rough landing. If you want more information, please PM me.

 

[lilmissie]

I would say to check with your airline. I know I am traveling with United Airline in October with my twin 2 year olds (they will turn 3 on the trip) and our baby who will be 2 at the time of trip. And they are all required to be either in a car seat or using CARES strapes as they will all be under 40lbs. For United as well as many other airlines we checked, they stated that all children under 40lbs must be in a carseat or CARES strapes.

***Note: If your little one is over 40lbs this may not affect you.

 

[Mayhem1976]

I would check with the airlines, I didn't think that any required you to use them, but I could be wrong. Under 2 you don't even need to have a seat for them so....
That being said I'm looking into the CARES for DS for our trip, he'll be just under 3. We have used the carseat before and it worked out great, but since we aren't renting a car I don't want to have to deal with the seat, I think that you can rent the CARES harness..

 

[natnelliesmom]

We never bring a car seat on planes. TOO much work. Especially when you don't need one in WDW for anything. You can't use them on the Magic Express. They take up so much room in the resort room too!

Car seats are never required on planes. People say you need them in case of turbulence, but even at two we always buckled our kids into their plane seats. They didn't move out of them and were in there pretty secure.

-Sarah

 

[pooh4evr]

I agree DD#3 will be almost 3 when we go in Dec. she will also have her own seat and we will not be taking a carseat for her- she will be buckled in and stay there. Mant wil disagree and say a carseat is a must but we haven't ever taken one, and for us at least everything has worked out great.

 

[jerenaud]

It really surprises me how many of you say that your 2 year olds were buckled in well by the airplane's seatbelt. On my last flight the crew decided that I wasn't allowed to use 2 carseats in the same row (the pp who is travelling with 3 small children should look into this!) so my 2 year old was just in the belt. She's around 30 pounds, and had a good 6 inches of extra room in the belt - meaning that at its tightest, she could move 6 inches away from the back of the seat. And honestly, CARES didn't help much - if the lapbelt isn't snug, all the CARES does is prevent them from going up (like in turbulance). Now that I have 3 under 40 pounds, I really *miss* being able to use all the carseats!

Erica

 

[Mayhem1976]

yes, the carseat has to be at the window so that the other people in the row can get out, or if there is a middle row, it has to be in center. I have a friend who has used CARES and she liked it, she said her DD couldn't slide as much and couldn't undo the buckles like with the plane belt.

 

[AuroraBeauty]

I think what you are asking is actually two different questions:

1. Does my airline or the FAA require, either by law or by their own policy, that my child be in some form of vehicle safety restraint?

2. If my airline or the FAA does NOT mandate a child safety restraint, should I feel bad if I don't use one.

If the airline or FAA require it, then you have no choice but to use something -- carseat which is FAA approved or CARES.

The FAA does not mandate the use of child restraint systems (CRS) but does encourage use of CRS.

You will find both sides here on the DIS -- those that say you should and those that say it doesn't matter. It's the same debate that goes on when the child is old enough/weighs enough/tall enough not to be in a booster any longer according to the law. It then becomes a personal choice.

You'll find plenty of people who say that they didn't use one and even in turbulence it wasn't a problem not having one. You'll then find those who will say that having the child in a child safety restraint kept their child from becoming injured. If there are flight attendants on the DIS, you'll get their perspective from having seen all kinds of events in the thousands of hours of flight time.

Best Wishes!

 

[disfan07]

this is defiinitely something we'll have to think about.

we're planning on flying southwest or jetblue. depends on who is cheaper.
If we bring the carseat, the carseat has to be by the window right?

originially this wasnt a problem b/c we were going to stay off site so we were going to need all teh carseats adn booster seats b/c we were going to rent a car. but we switched to staying onsite so no car and we were hoping no car seats.
we're already going to have 4 checked bags, 6 carryons, and a double stroller....our minds are all spinning wiht the thought of that much luggage...lol

 

[pilotwife_02]

No, you do not need a carseat for a child over 2.

We're going to use it for our 2 yr old though since there is no way he would sit still on an airplane for the 2 hour flight. To him car seat = sitting still, so it will just be easier for us.

And yes, the car seat has to be installed in the window seat so in the event of an emergency no one gets stuck by the car seat being in the middle of window seat.

 

[MariDisney]

I have never heard of any child of any age being required to have a carseat, although it is recommended. Lap babies, for example, although possibly not safe, are not required to have a seat.

 

[boltfans]

My son is almost 3yo and until last month, he used a carseat on the plane. Having had him in just the seat, I can say life was easier with the carseat. He's now 30 lbs and we have a CARES harness, so we gate-checked the carseats on the last flight, but he was so antsy, didn't sleep at all on any of the flights, kept sliding down in is seat, etc. In the carseat he'd fall asleep at takeoff and sleep till we landed.

Regarding it being a requirement, the only time I flew where I was told my child 100% needed a seat was when my daughter was under 2yo and we had purchased a seat for her. I was told that if we did not bring an FAA approved carseat for her that she would have to be a lap baby and not permitted to use the seat with just the plane seatbelt. I don't know what would have happened as we were using her carseat anyway, but that is what they told us.

 

[disfan07]

so i just checked on both southwest adn jetblues websites and they both recommend that a child under 40lbs be in a carseat. Hes not a big kid but he does have some height to him so i think it will be something that we'll have to think about when we get closer to leaving adn tha nwe'll see how big he is when we're supposed to travel

 

[Hoosier Mom]

We've done both ways.....once in a carseat when he was 2. It was a pain. I went on the plane first carrying the carseat and I secured it to the seat. Then we buckled him in it. I will say this....he fell asleep just like he does in the car. So in that respect it was easier. But it was a pain to lug it around, especially while pulling rolling luggage. I tried to put it on top of the suitcase while rolling it, but it would fall off.

Then the next year when he was 3, we just used the seatbelt and he was also fine.

 

[limace]

I definitely recommend bringing the seat, both for safety and becaue our daughter will also behave and sleep much better in the car seat than in just a lap belt. YMMV.

The coolest thing we've discovered it an attachment that turns the carseat into a stroller. It was a lifesaver in the airport, and we could also use it at our destination, if we wanted to. I don't remember what it's called-we borrowed it from a friend-but it was basically a handle with wheels that bolted on to the back of the seat. We'd put her in it, she'd hold her backpack, and we could even balance a small carryon on top of the seat. It's a lifesaver, especially if you're trying to book across the airport to make a connecting flight and you don't want your kiddo to walk. (Though I guess you'll have the stroller).

 

[Parksfamily5]

We used the carseat when we flew. It is more of a pain to drag around but to me it was well worth it. I felt better for safety reasons but it was really nice for the kids. My son was up higher and also could sleep comfortably while we were flying. I thought it was definitely worth lugging around. That is just my experience.

They make different devices to carry them through the airport. One is like a back pack that allows you to carry the carseat like a back pack. They also make a bag that has wheels so you can wheel it through the airport. We used this when we went on our disney cruise. There wasn't a lot of extra room in our cabin since there were 5 of us so we put the seat in the bag and stored it outside in the corner of our balcony.

 

[nytimez]

I have and use CARES. It's a great alternative to lugging the car seat, I find it works well... although you sometimes have to apologize to the person behind you as the strap for it goes completely around the seat, and behind the tray table (or above/below the television, depending on what's back there). It doesn't interfere with anything, but it is a (minor, in my opinion) visual intrusion into the space behind you.

 

[Krissy Marissy]

After traveling with two under 2 and lugging car seats around three times in two months. I am done. We never used the seats on the plane, just for the rental car. They were more than fine, even when the flight got rough.