Carseats on airplane opinion, please

[nadira36]

For those of you that have used car seats, our DD will be 17 months when we fly in July. Would you recommend forward or rear facing the seat on the plane?

We've done rear-facing before, but have found it was only possible in a bulk head (extra leg room) seat b/c otherwise I couldn't install the carseat at the right angle, let alone allow the person in front to recline.

If you can choose a seat, then get the extra leg room, otherwise be prepared to FF on the flight.

 

[twodogs]

We've done rear-facing before, but have found it was only possible in a bulk head (extra leg room) seat b/c otherwise I couldn't install the carseat at the right angle, let alone allow the person in front to recline.

If you can choose a seat, then get the extra leg room, otherwise be prepared to FF on the flight.

Do check the width of your car seat and the internal dimensions of the bulk head row seats (In think www.seatguru.com has this for all domestic airlines if you know the plane model you'll be on, which is available online when you reserve it). Most bulk head seats have fixed arm rests which are solid because they house the tray tables. In regular airplane seats, you can usually lift the arm rest and jimmy the seat in, get it belted and then put the arm rest back down. No such luck in bulk head, though I did like it because you can avoid the rear-facing issue with the person in front of you being unable to recline or the kicking the seat in front of you issue. We tried to get seats 2 on one row (older child, parent) and 2 on the row directly behind (child in car seat, other parent) so kicking would only bother us! Check your airline too because some will not allow a carseat to be in rows close to the exit row (obviously none allow car seats in the exit row). I think on AA, it was no car seats 2 rows in front of or two rows behind the exit rows.

 

[DBDiz]

We bought a Cosco Scenera specifically to fly with. It's very narrow and has a small footprint when reclined, too. I guess I'm more concerned with ease of installation and whether or not I should try rear-facing. I doubt she could kick the seat in front of her in this seat. But I hadn't considered the person in front of her reclining. I'll double-check our seats, we're flying in a party of 14.

 

[Angel Ariel]

For those of you that have used car seats, our DD will be 17 months when we fly in July. Would you recommend forward or rear facing the seat on the plane?

We have only ever rear faced Dd...she's 21 months and not over 22 lbs yet. Personally, I'll probably rear face her on our next trip too, because its what she knows and I don't want to introduce new variables on a flight.

If the person in front of her seat is a worry, and you have others traveling with you, I'd have one member of your family sit in front of her so the lack of recline isn't bothering a random person. I've never had anyone say anything to us, though, about not being able to recline. It's the safest way for her to fly, and that's what matters most to me.

 

[luvmy2babies]

I rear-faced with a Scenera and the person in front of us didn't say anything either going or coming home. I think they still reclined the seat, not sure. It was 3.5 years ago.

 

[DBDiz]

I rear-faced with a Scenera and the person in front of us didn't say anything either going or coming home. I think they still reclined the seat, not sure. It was 3.5 years ago.

Any difficulty setting it up?

 

[AZMermaid]

I rear faced my Graco Snugride infant seat on a few flights when my son was under 18 months. After that, I brought the Britax Marathon and forward faced it. You can not recline with the Graco. The man in front of my son was slightly annoyed by this (I could tell by his repeated attempts to do so), but he didn't say anything. I mean, what could he say- "how dare you properly restrain your baby in that seat you paid for?" Well.... having worked enough customer service.... I know many people may have said something, but he did not

 

[luvmy2babies]

Any difficulty setting it up?

None and I was alone with the children. I had ds in an Ergo and I sat him in the middle seat (dd in the aisle seat) and put the car seat in the window seat and ran the seatbelt through and tightened it. Took about a minute. We had EBCI with Southwest and we went to the back of the plane.

I bought the seat specifically for the trip, then gave it to the Godparents, but the space the seatbelt goes through is pretty easy to get to. I practiced a couple of days before.

The Scenera is great for travel, really lightweight. My mistake was not getting a bag with wheels since I was alone. I waited too late to order one but figured my local Babies R Us would have one but they didn't.

Note: Unless they have updated the travelmate or the Scenera, the Scenera is one of the few seats that is not compatible with the Kidz Go Travel Mate.

I thought I could sit my carry-on inside the car seat bag and carry it, but it was too heavy wearing ds up front. I ended up dragging it around and the bag had 2 big holes in it by the time we got home.

 

[maxiesmom]

I rear faced my Graco Snugride infant seat on a few flights when my son was under 18 months. After that, I brought the Britax Marathon and forward faced it. You can not recline with the Graco. The man in front of my son was slightly annoyed by this (I could tell by his repeated attempts to do so), but he didn't say anything. I mean, what could he say- "how dare you properly restrain your baby in that seat you paid for?" Well.... having worked enough customer service.... I know many people may have said something, but he did not

He could have said something too as he paid for a seat that could recline. Glad he didn't push the matter and cause a scene, but that is why it is always nice to sit another family member in front of the car seat baby if you can.

 

[AZMermaid]

He could have said something too as he paid for a seat that could recline. Glad he didn't push the matter and cause a scene, but that is why it is always nice to sit another family member in front of the car seat baby if you can.

You are right... I guess he could have asked to have been moved. But unless the baby sat alone... There would be no way to do so on that flight.

Does your ticket guarantee a reclining seat? I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm really just asking. I didn't realize that if so! My son was 3 months at the time so there was no way to fly him without the car seat.

 

[OnThisMagicNight]

We have flown twice with DS (at 14 months and again at 19 months) and purchased a Cosco Scenera specifically to use for travel (our regular carseat - the Graco Smartseat - is not FAA approved.) We rear faced both times. I did a lot of research ahead of time and you should NOT be asked to forward face your child just so someone can recline their seat. If you can have a family member sit in front of the child with the seat, that is obviously the best solution, but if not, I wouldn't forward face my child for that specific reason alone. I think there is a lack of knowledge about when to forward face/rear face when flying though, so I printed out the regulations and had them handy in case I got questioned (I flew Southwest both times and the flight attendants didn't have any issue with me rear facing.) If a passenger complained, I think the flight attendants should do their best to reseat them if possible. You shouldn't be asked to jeopardize your child's safety though. I had read somewhere in my research that you are technically not paying for the right to recline your seat as sometimes there are seats on the plane that don't even recline (like the row in the back of the plane.)

We will be flying again in less than 2 weeks and I may forward face DS (now 2) this time. He has a well visit before we leave where I'll confirm how tall he is - I think he's within an inch of the height limit for rear facing on the Scenera now.

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/airplaneRF.aspx

http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/60d70126cf679d5a8625723b007841e7/$FILE/AC%20120-87A.pdf

 

[Gracie09]

It's not about a right to a seat that reclines but common courtesy and people often choose a seat based on location including if it reclines. The person in front of you may have a back injury or some other physical impairment that makes it much more comfortable to sit at a slight recline. If the way your child is sitting makes it impossible for the person in front of you to recline their seat at all you should make an effort to seat another member of your party there. Like I said its courtesy like someone helping you with a bag while you're juggling the baby, car seat and carry ons.

 

[Angel Ariel]

It's not about a right to a seat that reclines but common courtesy and people often choose a seat based on location including if it reclines. The person in front of you may have a back injury or some other physical impairment that makes it much more comfortable to sit at a slight recline. If the way your child is sitting makes it impossible for the person in front of you to recline their seat at all you should make an effort to seat another member of your party there. Like I said its courtesy like someone helping you with a bag while you're juggling the baby, car seat and carry ons.

Courtesy is important, absolutely. And I agree another party member should be seated in front if possible. If it is not possible, though, then courtesy doesn't trump safety.

 

[Gracie09]

Courtesy is important, absolutely. And I agree another party member should be seated in front if possible. If it is not possible, though, then courtesy doesn't trump safety.

Not saying it does but if like the pp said the person in front of her child was annoyed because he attempted to recline the seat the courteous thing to do would be to apologize to him for inconveniencing him instead of just letting him try to recline the seat over and over, and I probably would have bought him a drink just like if my kid couldn't settle and was crying or acting up on a plane I would apologize to those around me and offer to buy them a drink or a movie (if that was an option).

 

[maxiesmom]

You are right... I guess he could have asked to have been moved. But unless the baby sat alone... There would be no way to do so on that flight.

Does your ticket guarantee a reclining seat? I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm really just asking. I didn't realize that if so! My son was 3 months at the time so there was no way to fly him without the car seat.

If you look on Seat Guru they have seat maps that tell you every seat that doesn't recline. And many people who fly a lot know which seats don't recline. Most seats are designed to recline as part of their function.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You are right... I guess he could have asked to have been moved. But unless the baby sat alone... There would be no way to do so on that flight.

Does your ticket guarantee a reclining seat? I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm really just asking. I didn't realize that if so! My son was 3 months at the time so there was no way to fly him without the car seat.

You can fly with a three month old without a car seat by flying as a lap baby. I'm not saying that is ideal, but it is possible.

I'm not a big seat recliner, but I would be very annoyed if someone installed a rear facing car seat behind me which prevented me from reclining. Yes, if you are in a seat which reclines (some seats don't, or have limited recline, such as the row in front of exit row seats), you have the right to recline. There are devices you can use to prevent seats from reclining (knee defender) and many airlines do not allow their use.

It's my opinion that it is ridiculous to insist on installing a car seat rear facing on a plane for "safety" reasons if it's a large seat which interferes with the seat in front.

 

[Angel Ariel]

In this situation - where we are talking about not being able to have a family member sit in front of the seat w/the car seat - I think pretty much anything the parent does has the potential to annoy someone.

Rear-face has the obvious potential to annoy the person in front of you if they can't recline.

Forward Facing (if the child is old enough - I would never FF a 3 month old, regardless) has the potential to annoy that same person if the child ends up kicking the seat.

Doing something outside of the child's norm (like FFing if the child regularly RFs) could potentially end up annoying the entire plane if the child ends up crying or fussing because they are not used to what they are experiencing.

As the parent, my primary concern is keeping DD safe and calm. As Gracie mentioned, I would apologize to someone who was inconvenienced or annoyed and do everything I could to be courteous to them, but in the end DD is my main priority.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

one thing to be prepared for is a preboard for medical reasons in seat ahead of you already reclining in seat in front of you. I always recline my seat because of back issues until take off then again after takeoff. so seat in front could already be reclined.

 

[AZMermaid]

You can fly with a three month old without a car seat by flying as a lap baby. I'm not saying that is ideal, but it is possible.


It's my opinion that it is ridiculous to insist on installing a car seat rear facing on a plane for "safety" reasons if it's a large seat which interferes with the seat in front.

You can not forward face a 3 month old. I guess I looked at it like I could lap sit him- putting him in danger at the (small) chance of extreme turbulence- which is unlikely. Or more likely- he cries the 2-3 hours. My son was not a kid who would sit nicely on my lap, even at 3 months. If he is in his seat, he will (and did) sleep the whole way. I did apologize to the man trying to recline his seat. But, in the end, I still think the small inconvenience of the recline for one person is better than 20 people listening to a crying baby for 2 hours. If there was a medical issue, I would think someone could be reseated- even just switching to the middle seat in front of me. The car seat has to be on the window according to every flight attendant we have encountered.

I have been complemented on every single flight I have taken my children on. My son (now 3.5) has been on about 12 flight segments, 4 with no car seat. My 2 year old daughter, 4 flights, all with car seat. My son was in his infant seat for 2 RT flights, and only the once did someone even seem to notice the recline issue. I have never had a child cry and only fussed for 5 minutes or so on a handful of those flights. I really truly think it is because I use their car seats when they are under 2.

The only other huffy man I have encountered was when we flew to Vancouver first class. There was a college recruiting coach that my husband guessed was used to getting a free upgrade into first. When he boarded and saw my family (my kids were 17 months and almost 3) he gave us a super dirty look and huffed "Are you kidding me?" He also was sitting in the first row of coach, so maybe he though we would be annoying- not sure. The rest of first class was an extended family with pretty rowdy school aged kids. They settled down once the flight got started, but they came on with a bang! But, they weren't on yet when we boarded, so our act of sitting nicely was definitely the cause on his annoyance. That flight was a longer one, 3-4 hours, and even the flight attendants commented on how well we prepared for a successful flight.

So.... we do try to be considerate, but any mass transportation has the potential to be uncomfortable for someone.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I did make a mother unhappy on a flight where I was preboarded with medical issues and when she got there I was already reclined in my seat and she could not fit her rearfacing carseat. she ended up front facing seat unhappily as that was only option FA give as it was full plane. it was a young one not sure how young. FA would not try to reseat all 3, offered for mom and baby but not the whole row