Flying with a 2 Year Old

[jeni16]

My DS will be 2 when we fly to Disney in October.

What do I all need to know about taking him on a plane?

Does he need to be in a car seat? I want him to be safe, of course, but I really don't want to haul it along with us.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If safety is important then you need to take the car seat. In order to do that you will also have to buy a airline ticket for him

Having him sit in your lap is just like sitting in your lap of a car - dangerous. If you hit turbulence he can fly out of your lap.

 

[jeni16]

If safety is important then you need to take the car seat. In order to do that you will also have to buy a airline ticket for him

Having him sit in your lap is just like sitting in your lap of a car - dangerous. If you hit turbulence he can fly out of your lap.

From what I've been researching, after the age of 2, they must have their own seat. They cannot ride on your lap. If I'm wrong on this, someone please let me know.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Yes you are right. a 3 yr old must have a ticket. Airlines will ask for proof of the age of a kid who 2 and does not have a ticket. I have seen SWA ask for birth certificates.

 

[Gracie09]

Yes you are right. a 3 yr old must have a ticket. Airlines will ask for proof of the age of a kid who 2 and does not have a ticket. I have seen SWA ask for birth certificates.

I think you mean a 2 year old must have a ticket. I personally bring a car seat. It makes it easier

 

[Alesia]

I would bring the car seat. If you're going to go without it, you need to be absolutely sure that he will stay in his seat with just the seat belt. Most young children feel more secure in their car seat.

If you're going to bring any kind of electronics to keep him occupied, you should go ahead and get him used to wearing headphones now.

 

[CarrieR]

Is he an older two, or a young two, and how much does he weigh? Will you be driving in Florida, or taking strictly DME/Disney transport?

If he will be an older two, and he's heavy, plus you won't be driving in FL, you might consider a CARES harness.

If he'll be a young two, he is petite for his age, or you will be renting a car in FL, I would absolutely take a carseat. What do you use on a day-to-day basis? If it is bulky, perhaps you could consider purchasing a travel/backup seat that would be easier to handle on the plane? You can also bungee it onto a piece of rolling luggage, or a folding luggage cart, so that it is easier to get through the airport.

In any event, if you are getting a rental car, bring your own carseat, and use it on the plane. Luggage handlers are notoriously rough with seats, and rented seats may not be safe. I am a child passenger safety technician and work in injury prevention so I like to see all of the kiddos safe!! LOL!

 

[bumbershoot]

I think you mean a 2 year old must have a ticket. I personally bring a car seat. It makes it easier

Yes. Once they turn 2 they need a ticket and cannot be a lap baby.

I liked having the carseat for the first few post-2 trips. Then when I figured he knew the routine we didn't bring it on the plane.

 

[jeni16]

Is he an older two, or a young two, and how much does he weigh? Will you be driving in Florida, or taking strictly DME/Disney transport?

If he will be an older two, and he's heavy, plus you won't be driving in FL, you might consider a CARES harness.

If he'll be a young two, he is petite for his age, or you will be renting a car in FL, I would absolutely take a carseat. What do you use on a day-to-day basis? If it is bulky, perhaps you could consider purchasing a travel/backup seat that would be easier to handle on the plane? You can also bungee it onto a piece of rolling luggage, or a folding luggage cart, so that it is easier to get through the airport.

In any event, if you are getting a rental car, bring your own carseat, and use it on the plane. Luggage handlers are notoriously rough with seats, and rented seats may not be safe. I am a child passenger safety technician and work in injury prevention so I like to see all of the kiddos safe!! LOL!

He will be a young 2 & is on the smaller side because he was a premie. We will not be renting a car, we would only be using it for the plane. The seats we have now are very bulky but I hate to purchase something else for just this one trip.

 

[CarrieR]

I totally understand. One thing to think about is that you might be able to use something for a few years - for travel, and later for backup (grandparents, friends, etc.) I don't know how he rides in your cars at home, but even if he still rear-faces, you might consider a forward-facing only seat for the plane ride. Something like an Evenflo Maestro might be something that will grow with him until he's five or six - if he's petite, it will last him a while with a harness and as a booster. Or even a Chase, which is the same shell, but only has a 40lb harness limit (instead of 50 on the Maestro.) The Chase runs around $50, the Maestro is more like $80 - but it lasts longer, so for some families it's money well spent. I have a Maestro that my nanny family borrowed for their trip to Florida last summer, for their 3yo, and it worked great on the plane.

Or, if you bungee one of his current seats to a rolling/folding luggage cart, it might not be too bad to roll them through the airport. I have known of families who check their strollers with their luggage, then use the luggage cart/carseat combo as their "airport stroller," retrieving their stroller at the destination. Perhaps that would be an option?

From a safety aspect, the airplane's lap belt just won't hold a petite two year old in a safe manner. If he's anything like the toddlers I know, he will be out of it and standing on the seat in an instant. The carseat might preserve his safety, but more importantly, it might preserve your sanity!! LOL!!

 

[PSULion]

I'll apparently be in the minority here, but...

My smallish DS turned two a few days before we flew, and we did not do a carseat. Like you, we would have only needed it on the plane, and I didn't think it was worth the aggravation. We had no problem at all with him just sitting on the seat with the seatbelt on. He had room to squirm around a bit, his tray came down easily for stickers, coloring, etc. and when it was possible and not interfering with the flight attendants, he could walk up and down the aisle once or twice.

No regrets, and in a few weeks we'll be doing it again with our younger DS who will be 2.5. Of course, we've also (gasp) flown with lap infants, who weren't buckled in at all.

 

[redrosesix]

I'll apparently be in the minority here, but...

My smallish DS turned two a few days before we flew, and we did not do a carseat. Like you, we would have only needed it on the plane, and I didn't think it was worth the aggravation. We had no problem at all with him just sitting on the seat with the seatbelt on. He had room to squirm around a bit, his tray came down easily for stickers, coloring, etc. and when it was possible and not interfering with the flight attendants, he could walk up and down the aisle once or twice.

No regrets, and in a few weeks we'll be doing it again with our younger DS who will be 2.5. Of course, we've also (gasp) flown with lap infants, who weren't buckled in at all.

This was us too. My DD was tiny at 2 (about 21 lbs) but she fit in the seat just fine. But I did bring a little suitcase of toys and things to keep her busy -- so I wouldn't have had enough hands for a car seat too. The seat was big enough for her that she was able to lay down in it, and that worked for us

 

[alaska8]

Yes two years olds need to have a purchased seat. From personal experience (im a flight attendant) kids that are screaming and refusing to sit in a seat with a seatbelt on (something Im legally required to have happen before we can depart) are the kids that do not have a car seat. I have never had this happen when the parent(s) have brought along their car seat. A child is used to the seat, they sit in probably on a daily basis with no complaint. On all night flights kids in car seats are almost always sound asleep for most of the flight. Its their comfort zone.

 

[alaska8]

If you're going to bring any kind of electronics to keep him occupied, you should go ahead and get him used to wearing headphones now.[/QUOTE]


Thank you thank you thank you for mentioning headphones...its a constant battle for us flight attendants. Most airline policies say that electronics require headphones but most parents think that this doesn't apply to them. I am apparently a horrible person for asking you to put headphones on your child (I even compromise saying can you just turn down the volume) Your child may enjoy the movie/music/sound that they are listening to but I can tellyou from the pleading looks of despair that I get from surrounding passengers that they are not enjoying it as much.

 

[jeni16]

Thanks for the information. We'll have to get him some headphones & start working with him on wearing them.

 

[CarrieR]

I'll apparently be in the minority here, but...

My smallish DS turned two a few days before we flew, and we did not do a carseat. Like you, we would have only needed it on the plane, and I didn't think it was worth the aggravation. We had no problem at all with him just sitting on the seat with the seatbelt on.

This was us too. My DD was tiny at 2 (about 21 lbs) but she fit in the seat just fine.

My concern is that in the case of severe turbulence, the lap belt is not going to restraint a petite two year old. Their little bodies have enough clearance to torque around the belt and - depending on the type of lurching the plane is doing - potentially hit the seat in front of them or the ceiling.

Obviously, on MOST flights, this is not going to be a problem. What I commonly hear from parents, though is, "Well, if the plane comes down, we're all dead, so why should I bother?" And, certainly, I can see that. But there are unforseen events - air pockets, turbulence, etc - where adults will be just fine, in their adult-sized seats and lapbelts. But a babe in arms or a toddler will not be kept safe in adult-sized restraints, and that is where a child restraint could be invaluable.

Again, most likely, not a problem. Then again, most of us could go 98% of our adult lives never buckling up, and we could be fine. It's that remaining small percentage - which, unfortunately, we don't know ahead of time is coming - that we have to be safe for, the rest of the time. Since the OP's original question was how to safely transport her child, the answer is to use a carseat. If the answer is how to do it easily and conveniently, then of course, just sitting the child on the seat makes life better.

I have seen some really creative setups for parents to get onto planes. Example: carseat attached to rolling luggage cart. Backpack or small duffel of toys and snacks in the carseat, strapped in with the (loosened out) harness. Child can walk ahead of the parent or ride in a baby carrier. Or ride in the carseat, with backpack of toys on the parent's back. Etc...

I am, unfortunately, the product of too many case studies, reading too many crash articles, etc, etc. There are a million, billion risks that we take on a day to day basis with our kids (like putting them in cars at all.) Everyone needs to decide for themselves where their risk tolerance lies. I personally cannot take the risk - especially when it is as simple as carrying a safety device that I already own onto an airplane. Part of the reason I do what I do, in terms of working in injury prevention, is to share with other parents all of the stuff I did wrong because I didn't know better. So I am dedicated to saying to parents, "Hey, there is a safer way to do this." Whether or not parents choose to listen is up to them, but at least they have been presented with the information. When you know better you do better, right?

 

[DisneynBison]

I understand the risks and when we fly on Saturday our two year old will not be in a car seat.

 

[amomma23]

We have used the CARES harness for our kids when they were little. You can rent one on eBay. Here is a link to one we have used, but there are many available. We found it to be exactly what we needed. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rent-a-CARE...830?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35d074a81e

 

[EskiLvr]

Keep in mind that my boys are only 14 months apart, so we had two toddlers to wrangle.. I agree with the earlier poster who said that toddlers will feel more comfortable in their carseats - it really does help.

We flew from the middle of the country to the East Coast three times when the boys were in the infant/toddler stage. We always brought their car seats and used them on the plane. The boys were used to riding for 3.5 hour car rides to their grandparents house one state over, so they knew that if you were buckled into the car seat, there were certain behaviors (yelling, kicking, screaming) that weren't going to be tolerated.

As far as entertainment: we made sure to have something little but *new* to entertain the kiddos for each leg of the trip. Coloring books, little Duplo sets, etc.

Good luck!

 

[jeni16]

I'll have to check out the CARES hardness. I think this option would work much better for us.

We've got several months to see how things go before we have to decide for sure. Right now he hates being confined to his car seat for any longer than 20 minutes. But with toddlers or even kids in general, give it even a day & that will change.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts & options, we will take them all into consideration.