Child seats

[LdnCpl]

Our little one will be 5 when we fly out of Detroit in January. Right now he uses a booster seat in the car. My question is, do I have to take it on the plane or is is optional? I'd rather not as I know he'll be fine in the plane seat but if it's required then I will

 

[stefanospops]

Car seats are not required on a plane for any age, as far as I know. I prefer to use car seats for the younger ones since it is more comfortable for them. My oldest is 4 (and will be a day before his 5th birthday when we go to WDW next) and we do not plan on bringing his booster seat on the plane. We will pack it though since we are renting a car. My 3 and 1 year olds will have their car seats though.

 

[encinc]

Booster seats cannot be used on planes because they require a lap and shoulder belt and planes only have a lap belt. If you're taking ME and not renting a car at all, you won't need a booster. If you're renting a car, you'll need to bring a booster.

 

[sejeta]

do I need to bring my booster for that. I'm taking DME on the way down but the way back I may take a town car. My son is 5 and my daughter is 8 but under 80 pounds. Do I need to take both?

I hope not. Can you gate check them?

Thanks and sorry for butting in on your post.

 

[Macduffy]

PP are right but if you are worried about safety take a look at CARES systems to either rent or buy It is good for kids up to 44 lbs!

 

[Tiggs14]

We have a 4 and a 5 year old and we packed their booster chairs but didn't use them on the plane or on DME.

We had a rental car which is why we packed the booster chairs. Florida laws are different. They don't require children 4 years and 40 pounds to use booster chairs. We felt more comfortable using them and the boys were much happier being able to see out the car windows.

 

[encinc]

do I need to bring my booster for that. I'm taking DME on the way down but the way back I may take a town car. My son is 5 and my daughter is 8 but under 80 pounds. Do I need to take both?

I hope not. Can you gate check them?

By law, no you don't need to take them, because your kids are over 4 and 40 lbs. But, it is much safer for your kids to have boosters in the towncar just like they do at home. If you choose to take them, you can gate check them, or if you have backless boosters your kids could take them as their carryons. That's actually the safest thing to do because they'll always be with them and you don't have to worry about them getting abused.

You might also check with the towncar company to see if they have boosters available.

 

[tbdharma]

We don't use booster seats on the plane for our little ones, and we just rent them with the rental car. That way it is one less item to carry or pack. It just works better for us. It is usually $10/day to rent to a maximum of $50. One thing we were thinking of doing for our next trip as we will be taking DME before renting a car is buying two boosters at Walmart in Orlando and then donating them when we leave. You can usually get them at Walmart for less than $50 and it might help someone out.

 

[sudwel]

Just got back from Orlando with our 4 year old DD and 7 year old DS. DD isn't quite big enough for a booster, so we bought a new car seat for her a month or so ago that goes up to 50 lbs - and I did all my research and she actually flew in her carseat. I was VERY leery about checking her carseat, as I've read and heard horror stories about how they are treated. AirTran initially gave me a bit of an issue, but I firmly stated that her seat was approved for use on airplanes, and being a Cdn seat wouldn't have the US sticker they were looking for... so they agreed to let her fly in it. For DS, we bought him a backless booster around the same time, and we packed it in our luggage.

It was great because as soon as we got our rental car, we were ready to go!

Darlene

 

[jennine]

We just returned from a trip to DLR. We have 3 yr old twins and so need carseats. We just checked our carseats(with no problems at connections or customs) and rented CARES seatbelt systems from a company in Calgary called Little Traveler for the plane ride.

I highly recommend this system. Basically you slide the main belt over the back of your plane seat and there are two straps that hang down from it. The airplane belt goes through a loop at the bottom of each strap and connects as usual. The shoulder straps then have a chest clip. This was a life saver for us as it made them feel as they usually do in their carseats and not free to wiggle around too much!

It cost us a total of $60 for the rental and shipping costs for 2 systems

 

[monkey30]

We just gate checked out care seats and booster seats. It was much easier, and then when the kids wanted to sleep they could streach out a bit and get more comfy.

 

[snickerboo]

Nope, not required. You can gate check it or check it as luggage. In Florida, the law is that they don't need one (their law is only under four! That just doesn't make sene to me! ) but we always take one anyway. Never, ever had a problem with a car seat or booster being damaged.