Flying with 2 year old question

[TakeMe2Disney]

Our next trip will be the first flying with our son in his own seat. Is there a special safety belt I need for him? If so has anyone purchased one and where from? Thanks.

 

[disneymurtagh]

Your best bet is to bring your son's car seat. They allow you to put in on the plane seat. We did that and it worked out great, then if you rent a car when your down there you have it.
They don't really make supplemental seat belts for planes

 

[smiths02]

Your best bet is to bring your son's car seat. They allow you to put in on the plane seat. We did that and it worked out great, then if you rent a car when your down there you have it.
They don't really make supplemental seat belts for planes

Agreed. But you need to make sure that your car seat has a sticker that it is approved for this and that it isn't one of the HUGE ones that won't fit.

This is also a good plan if you would be taking the car seat anyhow, b/c it is MUCH better to have the car seat with you on the plane then to let it go through baggage and risk it being damaged and you NOT knowing about it.

They make little handles that you can put on the car seat for going through the airport (so it is more like a wheeled suitcase).

 

[EthansMom]

Trust me.... take the carseat. He, and you, will be so much more comfortable.

I've flown several times with my kids as they've aged. It was a far more relaxing trip when I could safely strap them into their carseats on the plane. In the one case where I forgot the carseat, DD3 was able to easily slide right out of the latched belt of her aircraft seat. Most carseats have a sticker on the side that says "approved for use on airplanes" or some such... just make sure yours has that sticker!

We also take a bag with lots of different things to keep the kids occupied. At 2 years old, it was usually snacks, crayons and coloring book, a couple favorite reading books, a few cars, some small action figures, etc...

 

[mom2meiko]

we are buying a CARES harness from babiesrus.com - it mimics the harness of the carseat and yet is just a belt type that connects to the airplane seatbelt and back of the seat. it's much easier to carry (can just go in your carryon) and your lo isn't restricted to a window seat as is the case for most airlines when using a carseat.

good luck!

 

[Binnie]

I would recommend that you seriously consider the CARES, especially if you're planning to stay on-site and won't need the car seat on the other end. I used it for DD in November, and it worked out great! Such a relief after all those trips with the carseat!

 

[stacy6552]

Airplane seats are more shallow than the seats in cars. So a tall 2 year old could be able to sit in the seat with his legs hanging over at 90degrees, which is the fit you are going for. If he can't, then just use the carseat.

 

[Krissy Marissy]

I agree. For my little ones we use CARES. Such a hassle to bring that big bulky seat! Plus my 2 yr old liked that he was sitting in the seat just like mommy and daddy! We have to bring our car seats to DLR in june and I am NOT looking forward to it

 

[Dannielle_1]

I used CARES as well for my son. I purchased it directly from their website (google CARES).

It worked really well for us. The one thing we did, which we had read about, is to place shelf liner on the seat, under the child so they don't slide down on the slippery airliner seats. Works great. The CARES belt is a "four point" restraint.

The other thing that I did was to get my son excited about his special seatbelt for the airplane. We attached it to a chair at home for him and his pooh to test out before hand too. Pooh was hanging out all day in our pretend airplane

I had debated taking the carseat, but decided since we wouldn't be needing it in Florida I didn't want to be lugging it around the airport and having it take up space in the hotel room. Not to mention having to take it out and reinstall in our car when we returned.

 

[mamamac]

I also agree with the CARES. You can rent them from a few people on Ebay for $15. I used them for the first time this past month. It was so nice to walk through the airport without the kids carseats. Plus when we used the carseats, we couldn't put the trays down, and if the person in front of us reclined, there went the leg room. In my opinion the carseats position the kids to far forward if that makes sense. Definitely check out the CARES. We will use those from here on out.

 

[Wendybird55]

When we traveled with our son last year (he was a couple of weeks shy of 2 years) I debated on bringing his car seat and then found the CARES harness.
I decided to go with that and it was great. He had plenty of room in his seat and the harness fit safely around and helped to keep him still in his seat.

I rented mine from online as it is much cheaper then buying. Unless you travel by plane alot I recommend renting. I believe I rented from sweetpea,com or something like that. Just search CARES online.

We're going again this year and my son will almost be three. He is tall for his age and based on how he traveled last year (he fell asleep as soon as the plan took off both coming and going) I am considering not using CARES and just the plane seat belt, but am still not sure - we're not going until September and I'm guessing the the closer I get the more I will opt for CARES again.

 

[Disneymama09]

Another vote for CARES, if you are not renting a car, why lug around a big CAR SEAT, you cant just bring any car seat, it has to be FAA Approved..