Flying with infant with no seat...

[Melcatfish]

Hi All,

We are travelling in August with myself, DH, DD1 who will be 4 by then and DD2 who is 19 months. A lot of saving went into this holiday (as i am sure it does for most people) and things were tight so as DD2 is under 2 we have not booked her a seat - we booked with Virgin Holidays and the difference was more than £600.

Our eldest DD will, Ik am fairly sure, sit ok and watch TV but the youngest is such a wriggler I am starting to worry. Virgins website talks about their new infant \ child seat. The age limit of 6 - 36 months has gone and there is now a height \ weight restriction. Our eldest DD is still inside the limits of both these.

If I booked a child seat for the seat purchased for DD1 I know during seatbelt wearing times she HAS to sit in that seat and DD2 HAS to be on our laps, but the rest of the time do you think it would be ok for us to put us the arm rest and share two seats, sofa style with me DH and DD1 and let DD2 use the child seat - that way she may actually sleep for some of the flight!

Any thoughts much appreciated!
Mel
x

PS I did think of asking at check in if there were any spare seats available to purchase but as it is August I imagine that the plane is going to be packed full.

 

[orangetiggs]

we dont travelling with kids but alwayy put the armrest up and use the two seats as one

Not sure a seat will be cheaper at check in but worth and ask

 

[jockey]

We have in the past booked seats for kids but we dont go at peak season so dont have to pay a fortune for them. I would say its fine if they are around 1 but over that you will spend time doing laps of the aircraft! I think you will be fine sharing seats with your other child. VA are very helpful when travelling with kids

 

[Cinderella2006]

We are in the same situation! There is my husband, myself and our three sons 11, 5 and 18 months, I did not purchase the youngest a seat ... I saw a great price, booked in a rush then thought about it later! At that point the seat prices shot up again, doh! We paid £1488 for 2a 2c 1i flying with virgin 16th - 30th august, it wouldn't of been much more to add the baby but i was more concerned about reserving any seats!
Husband thinks he is going to keep the baby up all night so he will sleep on the flight! We are going on the 13.00 flight and by that point Charlie will be ready for a nap, hoping he will have a few hours! If it saves a few pounds ill manage somehow! We are sat four in a row but i was wondering if it would be better to have two and two so he is not disturbing the people behind us (he likes peek a boo!)

 

[kevin harrison]

9 hours on a plane with an infant in your lap, your must be off your rocker !!

My wife was going to do the same with our youngest, I persuaded her that it's not wise, it's difficult as there isn't that much space, then think about food time.

I agree that the saving is tempting though!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

We first took DD to WDW when she was 14 months - we didn't have a seat. DD must have been small for her age as at check in Virgin offered a baby cot & we ended up on bulk head seats.

It was fine & I don't recall it been too bad - we've been plenty since so it must have been ok!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

When my son first went to WDW he was 18 months, I purchased a seat for him with VA, its a long flight, you can get away with it, on a short flight but 9 hours to Orlando is difficult.

In the end its up to you, your decision, on the cost comfort issues, remember if there is turbulence you will have to have toddler on your lap buckled up, and we do not know if and for how long that will be.

 

[Clare D]

We have had the same dilemma. DS 1 will be 6 and we know from previous flights that he will sit in his seat watching the TV (the first time we went to Florida he had just turned 2) however DS 2 will be 15 months. We have decided against a seat as I know he probably won't sit in it for long if I am sat next to him.
On the way out we are flying into Chicago so I am hoping there maybe spare seats. If not, oh well, we'll have to put up with it.

 

[Dimplenose]

OK, I think I understand - you have 3 seats booked but want to get a "child seat" to put in one of them for your youngest to use when the eldest doesn't have to be strapped in - is that right?

I've not used a child-seat on a plane but I imagine they are similar to car-seats and take up more room than a child without a car-seat, therefore it might not give you enough room for the two children to share. Also what will you do with the seat when you need to have the seat belts on - will it fit under a seat or in a locker?

Personally I think it will be just one more item to fill up your already "cosy" space on the plane.

 

[mushumadness]

we didnt buy a seat for Morgan when we went for xmas 2008 he was just fine, but was only 8 weeks old

we go again soon and he hasnt got a seat then either, but im sure we will be fine, he will be 7 months then

but i must admit we have bought a seat for both him and the new baby for our march 2010 trip as it will make it easier with us having an infant and a toddler

i must be mad

 

[Elise79]

We took DD at 9 mths as lap infant and she JUST fit in the skycot but we still had to have her on our laps for take off and landing. We were in PE and had bulkhead seats (for the skycot) so we had more room than Economy.

She was very good but we said there and then that she was not going without her own seat again! 9 hours is a long time when stuck in a confined space! I am sorry but I would find a way to pay the extra and know you have a seat.

 

[karengr]

I was not looking forward to having my daughter who was 8months on my lap in 2003 . Our day flight was delayed by 9 hours so ended up being a night flight so worked out ok . Meals times were a little tough but we just took it in turns then our son who was four wanted a cuddle so my daughter lay down on the seat. She slept almost all the way, same comming back again that was anight flight.
Not sure i would have anyone on my lap any older than a 8-9month old though but that is just my thoughts.

 

[Miss Mo]

Argh - not liking the sound of this - our 15 month old will be on our laps!! Eek!! My brother did it to Minnieapolis (spelling??) with his son a similar age and said it was ok - ish!! LOL!! He said coming home was fine as it was a night flight and he slept most of the way.

mo x

 

[T16GEM]

Last January was DS2's second trip and he was 2 the day after we flew back, he sat on my lap for both of his trips, he is a very cuddly little boy and was quite happy to snuggle up and chill for the flight, we are lucky that he is placid. His sister who is 3 had her own seat and didn't sit in it much apart from when she was colouring and play dohing.

I can understand why people are saying that you are better off with a seat for the infant, but in our case we didn't want to spend that extra nearly £400 on a seat for him when we didn't really need to, yes a 9 hour flight is a long time but it passes pretty quickly and it's really not that bad!

 

[Melcatfish]

OK, I think I understand - you have 3 seats booked but want to get a "child seat" to put in one of them for your youngest to use when the eldest doesn't have to be strapped in - is that right?

I've not used a child-seat on a plane but I imagine they are similar to car-seats and take up more room than a child without a car-seat, therefore it might not give you enough room for the two children to share. Also what will you do with the seat when you need to have the seat belts on - will it fit under a seat or in a locker?

Personally I think it will be just one more item to fill up your already "cosy" space on the plane.

OK, yes you have got it - 3 seats booked, eldest DD is within the weight \ height limit for the seat so when seatbelt signs are on she will sit in the seat, when they are off the youngest and wriggliest DD can sit STRAPPED IN the seat LOL. I know that won't leave much room for me DH and elder DD but I think I would rather be squashed than wrestling a wriggly baby.

When we booked she was so much smaller and I just didn't anticipate how wriggly she would get! Plus we just didn't have the spare cash to buy the seat that wasn't absolutely essential - we figured we would only have the chance to make the saving \ mistake once so we would give it a try!

Thanks for the input everyone, I can imagine we are in for an interesting trip on the plane but we will do our best to get through the flight in tact!

Mel
x