Flying w/ children HELP

[ryanshana]

I put this over here cause I come to the board more and it's about my kids so that's more family than transportation.

Wanna see a poll.....

DSs are 38 months & 22 months (or will be at travel)

Would you bring a carseat for both?
Carseat for the youngest and C.A.R.E.S. for the older one
Carseat/C.A.R.E.S. for youngest nothing for older.
C.A.R.E.S. for both

I am just trying to figure out what is best and am curious it is going to be a large pain to get the carseat to the plane.

Also I loved to hear feeback from people that have used C.A.R.E.S.

Thanks

 

[3_disprincesses]

Well our preferred method wasn't even listed. My youngest has been flying since she was 6 months old. Never used any type of restraint for her on planes. She rode in laps until she was over the age of 2 and then she just started flying in her own seat. Don't know if that was an option for you but it worked fine for her. She sat fine in the seat with just a lapbelt.

 

[anotherdisneygal]

Ｉ’ｍ　ｔｈｅ　ｓａｍｅ　ａｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｒｅｖｉｏｕｓ　ｐｏｓｔｅｒ．　　Ｍｙ　　４　１／２　ｙｅａｒ　ｏｌｄ　ｈａｓ　ｂｅｅｎ　ｏｎ　ｏｖｅｒ　４０　ｆｌｉｇｈｔｓ　ａｎｄ　ｗｅ’ｖｅ　ｎｅｖｅｒ　ｕｓｅｄ　ａ　ｃａｒｓｅａｔ．　He was a lap child until 2 and then just sat in the seat with a belt.

My baby has flown in the infant carseat only because the flight had extra room, he was supposed to be a lap child. He'll be flying in his own seat without a carseat when we go down next month (DH decided that since the airfare was much cheaper than we thought it would be we should buy him a seat.)

 

[ryanshana]

Well our preferred method wasn't even listed. My youngest has been flying since she was 6 months old. Never used any type of restraint for her on planes. She rode in laps until she was over the age of 2 and then she just started flying in her own seat. Don't know if that was an option for you but it worked fine for her. She sat fine in the seat with just a lapbelt.

Ｉ’ｍ　ｔｈｅ　ｓａｍｅ　ａｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｒｅｖｉｏｕｓ　ｐｏｓｔｅｒ．　　Ｍｙ　　４　１／２　ｙｅａｒ　ｏｌｄ　ｈａｓ　ｂｅｅｎ　ｏｎ　ｏｖｅｒ　４０　ｆｌｉｇｈｔｓ　ａｎｄ　ｗｅ’ｖｅ　ｎｅｖｅｒ　ｕｓｅｄ　ａ　ｃａｒｓｅａｔ．　He was a lap child until 2 and then just sat in the seat with a belt.

My baby has flown in the infant carseat only because the flight had extra room, he was supposed to be a lap child. He'll be flying in his own seat without a carseat when we go down next month (DH decided that since the airfare was much cheaper than we thought it would be we should buy him a seat.)

Well at this point I'd only get a credit cause I already bought him a seat plus over just the last month he's gotten to the point where he doesn't like to be held for long periods of time...We tried to go see a movie, didn't work!

 

[brockash]

Well our preferred method wasn't even listed. My youngest has been flying since she was 6 months old. Never used any type of restraint for her on planes. She rode in laps until she was over the age of 2 and then she just started flying in her own seat. Don't know if that was an option for you but it worked fine for her. She sat fine in the seat with just a lapbelt.

ITA. This is what we have done for our 2, and it's worked just fine.

 

[all4fun]

I vote for both in car seats... or two others not listed: use the CARES for the older child/car seat for younger or CARES for both. I've read that the CARES is not very comfy for smaller kids though, so it may depend on how big your Younger dc is. Also, if you need a car seat when you're there anyway, then I'd just skip the CARES and use your car seats on the plane. This way, you know they won't get damaged in transit, plus using a car seat is strongly recommended by the FAA (their words). Obviously, the lap baby thing is out, since your younger child will have his own seat. I don't blame you personally, my ds never would have tolerated being held that long either. He slept beautifully for at least a couple of hours in his car seat on our flights at that age though.

You could get the car seats through the airport by stacking them on the stroller, or using a car seat bag, or stacking them on a cheap metal luggage cart found at Walmart or Target. If one of you could board first with the seat/seats and install them and then the other could bring the children on board a little later. This is what dh and I always did, so that our little family didn't clog the whole aisle while I got the car seat installed.

Installing the seat is easy if you know a few tricks:
* recline airplane seat after placing car seat on it
* w/car seat facing the direction you would normally have it in the car, thread the airplane lap belt through the appropriate belt path and buckle it.
* tighten airplane seat belt as much as possible, then put the airplane seat upright, which will take any slack left out of the seat belt and snug up the install.
A few other tips:
* When installing a Britax seat fwd facing, make sure you flip the airplane buckle over once, so the latchplate is facing away from the car seat, otherwise, it will be hard to undo at the other end.
*If you have a Britax seat, and you forget the last step, pull the airplane cushion out from under the car seat to get it uninstalled. Really it's ok, it's a floatation device, remember? It's just velcroed on.
*I personally found that I could get the seat down the airplane aisle much easier by holding it upside down, with the seat resting on my forearm. Not sure how this would work if I had to carry two seats though. Definitely inlist the help of an FA to carry to your seat, if they seem willing.

hth and hope you have a smooth flight!

 

[ryanshana]

You could get the car seats through the airport by stacking them on the stroller, or using a car seat bag, or stacking them on a cheap metal luggage cart found at Walmart or Target. If one of you could board first with the seat/seats and install them and then the other could bring the children on board a little later. This is what dh and I always did, so that our little family didn't clog the whole aisle while I got the car seat installed.

Installing the seat is easy if you know a few tricks:
* recline airplane seat after placing car seat on it
* w/car seat facing the direction you would normally have it in the car, thread the airplane lap belt through the appropriate belt path and buckle it.
* tighten airplane seat belt as much as possible, then put the airplane seat upright, which will take any slack left out of the seat belt and snug up the install.
A few other tips:
* When installing a Britax seat fwd facing, make sure you flip the airplane buckle over once, so the latchplate is facing away from the car seat, otherwise, it will be hard to undo at the other end.
*If you have a Britax seat, and you forget the last step, pull the airplane cushion out from under the car seat to get it uninstalled. Really it's ok, it's a floatation device, remember? It's just velcroed on.
*I personally found that I could get the seat down the airplane aisle much easier by holding it upside down, with the seat resting on my forearm. Not sure how this would work if I had to carry two seats though. Definitely inlist the help of an FA to carry to your seat, if they seem willing.

hth and hope you have a smooth flight!

Thank you SOOO much

 

[Desiree1972]

I have traveled with the CARES as well as with our Britax -
one more tip for the Britax - much easier to install if you have a seat belt extender (the flight attendant will happily give you one)

I also lug the car seat through the airport upside down and backwards on this
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12480725

I have also seen people wear their carseats on their backs by using the straps as backpack straps

If you are bringing your carseats and not using them on the flight - have the attendant check them in on the plane - then you won't subject your seat to mishandling down under

good luck and enjoy your flight

 

[Momof4girls]

We have a carseat carrying bag that has one long strap. I put the seats in there (yes seatS) and it gets slung across a chest while holding kids' hands.

I usually bring our radian (and lowback boosters for when we land), but my kids are older now. I've fit two convertible seats in the bags before, too. The radian is awesome because the seat flips up and it becomes a compact rectangle. (And it's as safe as a britax - which we also have for our older kids. We just needed more torso height). Works great and we just stash the bag in the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of us on the plane.

 

[MrsJD]

MY DD is three now. We have flown four times at ages 9mo, 18 mo, 27mo, and her 3rd birthday. She was on my lap until she was 2 and since then she just gets her own seat and uses the regular lap belt. I think distraction is the key. Have lots of entertainment...I suggest TV shows on the ipod if possible! Also a playlist of Disney songs goes a long way. As for the younger child, books.

One trick I learned on the last flight was that she would listen to anything I told her if I said "the captain says....". that helped with sitting still in the seat and keeping seatbelts on. Have them watch Wall-E and they can relate to "the captain" idea better.

Luckily I am blessed with a great flyer! Hope all goes well for you.

 

[MM_Bound]

I voted carseat for the youngest and CARES for the older but honestly we just did lapchild for our boy untill he was over two. He sleeps most of the way and we would do online checkin and see if we can get a row of three together, then we hope we can put his seat between us. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes not. Not that I think it is safe for a child to be on your lap and if we were to do it all again I think we would do it different.
In the case for Disney trips, we stay on site and take the Magical Express so we don't even take the car seat.
I had replied to another thread about CARES, here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2063831
I love the CARES.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well only the 22 month old could be a lap baby. And my experience with a 17 month old lap baby was NOT pleasant, b/c he was wriggly and wiggly and my arms were so so so sore (and I'm a strong person!) for days after, and it was only a flight from Seattle to San Diego. You dont' know if baby is going to be wriggly and difficult until you're in the midst of it, so I say get the seat and bring the carseat for both.

I assume it's their first flight? After the 17 month old flight, we used carseats until DS was 3.5 and I realized he was a seasoned enough traveler to just use the seatbelt (there were exhaustion reasons too...we were getting onto a 3/4 full connection and I couldn't deal with carrying it down the aisle without hitting anyone, the gate agent asked ONE more time if I wanted to gatecheck it, and I gave in). But with a first time traveler? Carseat, not lap belt.

 

[Momof4girls]

Just had another thing pop into my head and wanted to mention it...

When we looked into CARES a few years back, I called the airline and they said it was not approved for use on *their* aircrafts.

You might want to call and check before you buy it.

 

[ryanshana]

Well only the 22 month old could be a lap baby. And my experience with a 17 month old lap baby was NOT pleasant, b/c he was wriggly and wiggly and my arms were so so so sore (and I'm a strong person!) for days after, and it was only a flight from Seattle to San Diego. You dont' know if baby is going to be wriggly and difficult until you're in the midst of it, so I say get the seat and bring the carseat for both.

I assume it's their first flight? After the 17 month old flight, we used carseats until DS was 3.5 and I realized he was a seasoned enough traveler to just use the seatbelt (there were exhaustion reasons too...we were getting onto a 3/4 full connection and I couldn't deal with carrying it down the aisle without hitting anyone, the gate agent asked ONE more time if I wanted to gatecheck it, and I gave in). But with a first time traveler? Carseat, not lap belt.

Thank goodness....I was starting to thinking my younger DS was the only wiggler LOL. There is no way it would be a calm flight even with distraction, I could almost guarentee he'd feel my tension.

This is actually only thier second flight. The older DS was actually just in the lap belt and the other DS was a lap baby. They were 26 months and 10 months at the time. 10 month wasn't too bad. 26 mo was a pain. He wanted up and down, would slide underneath the belt, then he tried to crawl under the seat, it was horrible. I mean I know he is older now, or at least will be when we go. I think he could handle it but why chance it. Younger DS doesn't like to sit still other than in his car seat that's it. I was thinking about CARES for older and carseat for the other because I figures DS 3 would be ok w/ just the CARES would feel like a car seat so maybe he'd do well with it. But then again on CARES there is not 'belt' that goes between the legs right? Anyone know?

 

[stacy6552]

Carseat for the younger one for sure.

That Cares thing is a joke and its FAA approval is in question. As for the older one, its a question of height. Unless he/she is a peanut, he should be tall enough to ride in the seat straight up with the seatbelt. Airplane seats are shallower than most carseats so younger children ride with legs appropriately hanging at 90 degrees.

 

[KteaRN]

We leave in a few days, and here's what we're doing:

DS (4.5) will just sit with the lap belt, we will gate check his booster (just bringing the bottom part).

DD (3) will sit in her carseat.

We are renting a car, and will need their carseats in FL, and I think DD will actually fall asleep if she's in her car seat. (SHe's very active, never stops, therefore needs to be restrained - in the kindest of ways of course!)

DS is quieter and will sit still.

I'm also bringing their neck pillows for better sleep. Our flight down is at 6:30 am, and we are leaving the house at 3am, so I'm praying they sleep a good chunk of the flight!