Flying with a 1 yr old

[mcgrawfan]

Do most people really take a car seat? I have never noticed one on an airplane. We have a Britax Marathon and it is huge. I think it would be a hassle to carry around. DD can just sit on our laps and then we wouldn't need to purchase her a ticket. Right??

 

[tjmw2727]

I don't know about most people but we did as do my sister and sil and most people we know do purchase a seat and use a CRS for their children.

I never found it a hassle to bring the carseat - they make very nice duffle bags now that can be wheeled or worn like a back pack. Even before we had one we just carried it or hung it on the back of the stroller.

Yes - children under 2 can fly on a parents lap free of charge.

FWIW, Both the FAA and AAP recommend using a CRS for children just as you would in an auto.

Here is what the American Academy of Pediatrics says on children and air travel.

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/5/1218

HTH
TJ

 

[MKFan-PR]

You are right. If she seats on your lap, then you won't need a ticket. Many people bring in the car seats for safety (in an emergency, she's way more protected there than in your lap). But that requires you to buy a seat (thus, a ticket). The airlines do not require car seats for children, although the FAA recommends them (see the previous post). The decision is up to you.

 

[pwwtp@earthlink.net]

We are taking our 2 year olds booster seat with us. But we are renting a van when we get there and we need one anyway. Our travel agent told us we had to buy a ticket for everyone, even the 2 year old.

 

[tjmw2727]

We are taking our 2 year olds booster seat with us. But we are renting a van when we get there and we need one anyway. Our travel agent told us we had to buy a ticket for everyone, even the 2 year old.

Yes the TA was correct children 2 and over must have a ticketed seat. The op was asking about a 1yo, children under two may fly free on a parents lap.

FWIW - make sure your seat is FAA approved, it will have a sticker on the back that says it is approved for use in aircraft. I mention this due to your use of the description "booster seat". True booster seats are not allowed for use on aircraft as they don't have an integrated harness. I expect that a 2yo would be in a traditional CRS with an integrated harness that can be converted into a booster when the child is over 40lbs. Just wanted to give you the heads up.

TJ

 

[AnaheimGirl]

We have a Britax Marathon, too, and yes, it's huge, but worth it to bring along for the safety factor. A lap baby is not seat-belted in, and is at risk for being thrown about the cabin in heavy turbulence. Now, this doesn't happen often, but my personal opinion is that it's a risk I wouldn't take, any more than I'd drive her to the grocery store without being strapped into her car seat.

Anyway, we flew with the Marathon when dd was under one, and we could not fit it in the airplane seat rear-facing, we had to install it front-facing, but it fits fine that way.

Most airlines will sell you a ticket for an under-2yo for half price, so it's not as expensive as it would be if the child were 2 and needed a regular ticket.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[pwwtp@earthlink.net]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know that. The airlines don't require car seats on the plane do they? I don't have a car seat anymore, just the booster. The main reason we were told to take it was for the rental van when we get there. If we are not allow to use the booster seat on the plane should we just leave it with our bags? I don't see any point of carrying it around if we don't need it until we land.

 

[CEDmom]

I would really recommend buying a seat for your 1yo. It's not much fun holding a squirming baby in a small seat for a few hours. The carseat bags are great. You can put the seat in it and a lot of carry on stuff. We've taken DD's seat on many flights and it's not a problem. We'll be taking it until she's 40 lb and out of the 5 pt harness.

 

[tbelfonti]

Most airlines will charge you 1/2 price for a child's ticket under the age of two. At least we've found that to be the case with Delta and now with Song.

Any car seat or booster is allowed as long as it is FAA approved AND you are using the harness - 3pt, 5pt or whatever. When it's not allowed is when the booster is being used with the seat belt itself since airlines do not have shoulder seatbelts, if that makes sense.

We have always brought along our car seats for the girls. This trip we did not bring along anything for our almost 5 year old but had Tiffany Towncar bring a booster for her to use in the limo.

 

[justhat]

I can't speak for everyone either, but we always buy a ticket for for daughter (she's now 15 months, and flying since almost 3 months) and use her carseat. We encountered bad turbulence twice, once at 3 months and the 2nd time at 4 months, and I was so relieved to have her in her carseat. Both times landing was aborted and in one case we had to circle and the 2nd time we had to land at an alternate airport, but until we did those things, we were in very bumpy air. Luckily, we were all fine, but it was so reassuring that she was safely strapped into her seat, instead of trusting myself to hold onto her in rough conditions.

Oh, and we also have a Britax Marathon, but we also have a Roundabout and use that on the place since it's smaller and easier to carry around and fit in the seats. She just made it over 20 lbs. at 15 months, so before that we installed the seat rearfacing (including to Disney at 13/14 months). Next time we fly at the end of this month we can put it in forward facing, but the Roundabout fits fine rearfacing (on Independence Air, AirTran, USAirways, Continental, Southwest, and Delta).

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

Ours sat in our lap and slept almost the whole time. The other babies on the way there and back were not in car seats either which surprised me because after I booked the flight and started reading these boards I figured I'd be the only one with a lap baby!

 

[tjmw2727]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know that. The airlines don't require car seats on the plane do they? I don't have a car seat anymore, just the booster. The main reason we were told to take it was for the rental van when we get there. If we are not allow to use the booster seat on the plane should we just leave it with our bags? I don't see any point of carrying it around if we don't need it until we land.

No - you will not be required to use a CRS on the airplane.

Please let me clarify as I didn't state things clearly in my first post. Most seats you would safely use for a 2yo will be ok for the airplane. You say "booster seat" but if your are using the harness, which you should be with a 2yo, it should be ok. Look on the back and see if it has a sticker stating it is approved for use in aircraft, if so then you can use it.

When the airlines refer to a booster seat they mean a "belt positioning booster" one that uses clips to adjust the shoulder belt to fit the chld. Most booster seats use the harnes to 40 or 50lbs then you remove the harness and use the belt positioning clips. The latter is not allowed on aircraft.

HTH and sorry to be confusing.
TJ

 

[grlpwrd]

We just got back from a trip from Virginia to Hawaii on Northwest Airlines and
I saw a few people with Britax Marathon or Roundabout seats on our connecting flights out of Detroit and Los Angeles. Some parents carried the carseat onto the plane for their ticketed child or they had it tagged and placed as luggage. Yes, there are special carseat bags you can buy to protect it if it travels as luggage.

My almost 2yo's ticket was about 1/3rd the price of a regular ticket we bought so you might want to check with your airline.

We have a Sit n Stroll carseat/stroller which is travel stroller that compacts into a carseat. We have 4 kids and though it is pricey it is very convenient and easy to use.

We've had experiences with turbulence, too, and I am glad we used a carseat for our child.

GL!

 

[hipmaman]

Do most people really take a car seat? I have never noticed one on an airplane. We have a Britax Marathon and it is huge. I think it would be a hassle to carry around. DD can just sit on our laps and then we wouldn't need to purchase her a ticket. Right??

We always buy seats for the kids and cart around two carseats (Britax Marathon and Wizard). Kids are much safer in carseats, even airplane. There is no law saying you must use carseat on board an aircraft. But it is recommended as there can be strong turbulence and your lap-baby can be injured or in turn becomes a injuring risks to other passengers.

If you have a stroller, you can put the carseat on the stroller and wheel it them through the airport. The other option is actually use a luggage cart, like the Samsonite MicroMover luggage cart http://store.yahoo.com/airline/sammicmovfol.html for the carseat. Much easier than the carrying bag.

For your info, here are a few quotes and sites to browse for additional info on the safety issue of air travel...

From the American Academy of Pediatric (AAP)
Q: Can I use a car safety seat on an airplane?
A: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the AAP recommend that when flying, children be securely fastened in car safety seats until 4 years of age, then be secured with the airplane seat belts. This will help keep them safe during takeoff and landing or in case of turbulence. Most infant, convertible, and forward-facing seats are certified to be used on air planes. Booster seats and travel vests are not. Check the label on your car safety seat and call the airline before you travel to be sure your seat meets current FAA regulations

From the CPS safety website (http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/airplanetravel.aspx)
Safety: Turbulence, sudden stops and emergency landings present a huge risk to the lap child. First, in severe turbulence, it is unlikely that the parent would be able to hold on to their child. It is very likely that the child would be tossed around the passenger cabin and sustain serious injuries or even be killed. Second, in emergency landings, parents of lap children are instructed to wrap their child in blankets and place the child at their feet. Children have died in survivable landings when they were thrown through the cabin. Unrestrained children also pose a hazard to other passengers - when a 20 lb child is thrown through the cabin in an accident, he would have a force of 1000 lbs (at only 50 mph, much more at higher speeds) when striking another person or object. Third, parents who are able to hold on to their children in a sudden stop or collision will very likely end up using that child as a "human air bag". Children have actually been "crushed to death" by the parent on whose lap they were sitting

 

[cinjam]

I trick someone once told me was to pull out the straps from the car seat all the way and to put the car seat on your back, like a backpack. Works great for getting through the airport!

 

[mcgrawfan]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I hadn't really thought about take off and landing. Does anyone know how much the bags run to carry the seat in? And where to get one? Does this count as a carryon or can you still take another bag?

 

[hipmaman]

I trick someone once told me was to pull out the straps from the car seat all the way and to put the car seat on your back, like a backpack. Works great for getting through the airport!

I believe Britax advise against putting stress on the harness that way. I think it might be written somewhere on the Britax website

 

[WDWorBUST]

We flew when DD was 13 months. We bought her a seat and took her carseat (britax marathon) with us - mostly because I was paranoid about turbulence and the fact that I had read on here that in severe turbulence, etc airlines will sometimes require you to put the child on the floor because your body can become a weapon against that child (crush factor). BUT - that aside I am so glad she had her own seat with her own carseat that she was used to. She did great and I feel like a lot of it was because she was familiar with her seat and comfortable in it. I would not have wanted to have to hold her the entire flight and it was 100% full so with out a paid seat that's exactly what I would have had to do.

 

[justhat]

We got our carseat bags at Babies R Us, I think around $30 or so. Some were cheaper, but we opted to get a more expensive one as we're hoping it will last a few kids.

I just got to my mom's house, taking a train from DC-NJ, which took almost 3 hours. There's no option of a seat for babies on trains (if you're not familiar with them) and it was a very, very long 3 hours for me. My daughter did not want to stay in my lap at all (she thinks she's way too 'big girl' for that!) and did not do much better staying in her own seat. She kept throwing things at the woman sitting across from us, standing up in her seat to peek at the man behind us (who fortunately liked playing with her), trying to squirm onto the floor, etc. She finally fell asleep 5 minutes before I got off the train, at 9:45pm. Very long, tiring trip.

If that doesn't make someone want to get a seat for their toddler, and bring their carseat as they'll unbuckle a regular airplane seat very quickly, then I don't know what will. If for no other reason than it is pure torture to myself to hold her, I will bring a carseat on the plane. She would have fallen asleep very quickly had she been in her own seat. We actually had her carseat on the train since I needed it for my mom's car when I got here and I was very tempted to strap her into it, in the carrying bag on the floor! Yes, it's a bit easier with my husband (he couldn't come with us tonight), but we did that same train ride with him along when Madison was 10 months old (she's 15 months now) and it was not much better, and she was barely walking then so much less of a challenge than she is now!

 

[swincha]

Do most people really take a car seat? I have never noticed one on an airplane. We have a Britax Marathon and it is huge. I think it would be a hassle to carry around. DD can just sit on our laps and then we wouldn't need to purchase her a ticket. Right??

your child really will not be safe in your lap if there is any turbulance. the safest way for your child is in a carseat with his own seat in the plane.