did you start buying your baby/toddler their own airplane seat before 2? (lap child free under 2 years old)

[Princess2R]

I am flying (alone but with a friend) with a 21 month old as my lap toddler.
I am getting a bit of anxiety, but the cost of the flight is about the same as what we will end up spending in food on the trip and lets face it, i like saving money despite the trade off of a few hours of uncomfortable hell

I'll have the entire series of Booba downloaded , snacks, but part of me feels crazy when there is just an easy fix when you just *throw*money at it!

What do guys think about lap toddlers?!

Of course , when it is not longer an option for her to fly free - it seems like a totally dream to have a little human only taking up part of the space next to me. hahah

 

[FlyingBelle]

While lap children are allowed, it's always safer to have children in their own seat. I'll admit to holding my daughter in my lap once, but she was so squirmy! Fortunately it wasn't a bumpy flight, but I was stressed trying to keep her on my lap, keep her occupied, and manage all our stuff! After that it was car seats for both, until they could sit in the seat buckled the entire flight.

 

[DisLiss]

I chose to get their own seat. I figure the reason we have car seats for children is to keep them safe in case of an accident. Now, while having an accident on a plane is far, far less likely than having one in a car, the same principle applies. The car seats will still help keep them safer in the event of something going wrong. (And it's probably more comfortable for everyone, too. My son was used to sleeping in his seat in the car, so he slept in his seat on the plane. I doubt he would have slept as well on my lap.)

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I remember my mom telling me she took me at the age of one back at the age of one but that was back in 1986 i am sure a lot has changed since then

 

[DLgal]

Yup. Did a short flight with my son as a lap baby when he was 6 months old and it was sheer torture. We started buying seats after that nightmare.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

We flew Calgary, Alberta to Kauai, Hawaii when my son was 21 months and took him as a lap baby. It was fine

 

[Amberj2288]

I do prefer to have my toddler in their own seat. However, I have held them a few times and depending on the child it was not that bad. I enjoyed cuddling them and I can sing in their ear if they are scared or sad. All of my children have flown since they were 3 months and multiple times a year. If you can keep them busy and have plenty of snack you should be fine. Also if there is an extra seat, Jetblue has always let us sit next to it. You still hold them for take off and landing but then can have some extra space for them to move around.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

Well, it depends. Is your friend sitting beside you and would he/she be willing to help you out by holding/playing with your child for a little to give you a break? I flew with an 8 month old lap baby but dh was sitting beside me and between the 2 of us we managed but it was not fun and the flight was only 3 hours. I could not imagine a baby a year older than that on my lap and no help.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We took many flights before both kids were 2 and I didn’t buy either of them their own seat until I needed to. We (purposely) always had very early morning or very late evening flights so they’d be sleepy. On most of the flights they just fell asleep on me.

 

[stephk1981]

We have done 2 flights with DD21 months on my lap, and 3 overseas flights not on my lap.....honestly she wouldn't stay in her car seat on the plane for long, and since the car seat was in her seat.....no extra room. If I could have had a seat for her without a car seat in it, the extra room would have been nice. However having her in my lap all 5 trips whether we purchased a seat or not ......waste of money! I worked for an airline for 4 years....not an incredibly long time, but there are SO many lap children, safety wise, I think it's perfectly fine....IMHO. Good luck!

 

[PollyannaMom]

My DS flew as a lap baby at a year and half, and it went fine. But I only have that one experience to go by, as he was three the next time we flew. And at that point, he could use the seat belt, so I never had to deal with carrying a car seat through the airport. - I expect it would be tough while also wrangling a kid, luggage, etc.

 

[LilyWDW]

Car seat... simply because it is way safer and safety is #1.

 

[bigredbeta]

Depends on your kid and the length of flight.

My relatively calm, easily redirectable daughter at 21 months was a nightmare on planes at that age (we've flown with her tons). Not so much screaming but just being very active and not wanting to sit on laps and having a lot of attitude. But she was also one who never slept in her car seat as an infant, and while she would sit at a table and chairs and paint for hour at that age, the plane was just not conducive for her.

Maybe your child is a great napper on the go, and so if you time it right, everything would work out and they would just sleep. Maybe you have a child who is clingy and even at that age, still is content to be close to Mama.

I think if you can afford it, then buy the seat, it's unlikely you'll regret it (maybe if your child sits on your lap the entire time despite the open and available seat). Don't bring your carseat on board unless they'll stay in it the whole time readily and easily.

 

[saraheliz]

Yes, I always had my kid on my lap before two, up until a solo flight when my oldest was about to turn 4 and my second was about 3 weeks from turning 2. That last flight was a little tough only because we were stuck on the runway for almost 2 hours before we finally took off and I was wrangling the two kids, one of whom was on my lap, but other than that glitch it always went fine!

 

[NYCgrrl]

When my children were younger a separate seat wasn't required so if it was a short flight (1-3 hours) on the lap they went but longer flights I paid for an extra seat. When sitting on my lap I tried to make sure the fllight selected coincided with their nap time.

 

[Specter]

No current first hand experience here but in March of 2020 we will be taking DD, 10 months at time of travel, to WDW for the first time and DW and I struggled with this decision for a bit before deciding that for safety reasons we would rather pay for DD to have her own seat. Plus, this way we get the entire row and nobody has to be next to us with the baby in our lap trying to juggle everything if/when they need to get up.

 

[westie55]

I never had an issue flying with my sons as lap children, but I can see why they cut it off at 2... My older son was getting quite big when he flew at 21 months. My youngest flew the week of his 2nd birthday as a lap child but he is a little pipsqueak and his size was less of an issue. I don't know that I would ever do it if I had a stranger in the seat next to me because I would feel terrible about my child squirming and disturbing someone else, but with another travelling companion as a buffer, it always worked for us.

 

[nycdisneygal]

I preferred to buy a seat and then put her in her carseat. Safer and more comfortable for everyone.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We only flew once with a little one, but we bought him his own seat at 15 months old. We felt he was much safer in his carseat.

 

[Starwind]

While lap children are allowed, it's always safer to have children in their own seat. I'll admit to holding my daughter in my lap once, but she was so squirmy! Fortunately it wasn't a bumpy flight, but I was stressed trying to keep her on my lap, keep her occupied, and manage all our stuff! After that it was car seats for both, until they could sit in the seat buckled the entire flight.

I don't have kids. But I have been in three airplanes that have had emergency landings where there was a real risk we were going to have an actual crash landing. For one of those flights, I was seated behind a woman with a lap infant. After everyone was shown and practicing the brace position, one of the flight attendants came and spoke with her and showed her how to properly hold her child. She also quietly explained that if we did crash, that the forces would be so strong that she would not be able to keep holding on to the child, and she needed to know that. Fortunately we landed without crashing. I vowed then that if I did have kids [at the time I was planning to], they would fly in their own seat. I know how stressful those last minutes were for me; I cannot even imagine how they must have been for her. I know crashes are rare, and emergency landings uncommon, but they aren't the only risk -- turbulence is also an issue.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/investig...or-Fights-for-Lap-Children-Ban-267443051.html