Flying with infant?????

[Jon99]

This will be our first trip with what will be a 7 month old..

Do we need to buy a ticket for her or can she sit in our laps????

Whats the best option for putting a car seat on the plane???? Check it in or carry it on????

 

[ducklite]

The FAA strongly urges parents to purchase tickets for all children for safety and comfort issues.

If you don't purcahse a ticket for your child you will have to check the car seat, you generally can't take it on the plane with you. (If there is an empty seat in your row you will be able to use it, but if not and you carry the seat on, you'll then have to turn around and check it, and you wo'nt know if there's an empty seat until the plane is pretty much ready to pull away from the gate.) If you do purchase a ticket, you must have a car seat for the child.

Many carriers offer substantially discounted tickets for children, especially infants--I'd take that into consideration when booking.

Anne

 

[jel0511]

I strongly suggest buying a seat for your infant. As someone who flew ONE LEG of a flight holding an infant, I can tell it can be a complete NIGHTMARE!! We decided that we were going to "save" money and not buy our first child a seat on her first flight. The flight was fine and no air turbulance, but from my 8 month old DD, YIKES!!! She constantly was squirming, and wanted down. She wouldn't sit with us, and DH and I kept passing her back and forth. Our only saving grace was that our plane has only 2 seats together, so luckily no one was sitting next to us, or I would have felt VERY sorry for them!! On the flight home, we actually bought her a seat at check-in since I wasn't going through that again. This flight was completely different. Since she was strapped into her carseat, she sat quietly, we were able to play with a couple of toys, and she even NAPPED!!! An infant fare is 50% off the cheapest adult fare, so it's a pretty good deal. Since then, my children (I know have 2) have always occupied a seat regardless of age. It's usually only $100 for the infant fare, and it's worth for my sanity, other passengers sanity, and for my child's safety!!!! You have start paying for a ticket when they're 2, so what's the real difference??

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

If you choose to have your child ride on your lap, I would advise bringing your carseat to the gate. At the check in counter, you can ask how full the flight is and whether or not there are some empty seats. Most airlines will give you and DH the aisle and window seat leaving the center seat open. Also, your reservation should note you are travelling with a lapped infant as most reservation agents will wait to fill the center seat next to a lapped infant until the very end. This has worked for DH and I several times! By having the carseat with you, you can quickly install it in the aircraft, and all is well.

If for some reason that does not work, you can gate-check the carseat. Just tell them at the checkin counter that you need to gate check your carseat (and stroller if you are taking it). The gate agent will give you a ticket for your carseat/stroller. If you have connections, tell the gate agent that you want to pick up your carseat at each stop and carry it to the new flight yourself.

Even though I buy ticket for my DDs now (too old to lap anymore), I still gate check their car seats. My theory is that if the airline loses my luggage, I can continue to my destination, but if they lose my carseat, I am stuck at the airport until they find it or a replacement. It may be a pain to lug through the airport, but it is worth it to me! The only carry-on I have anyway is the diaper bag full of stuff to keep the girls occupied. The only thing in the carryon that is mine is my wallet and a change of clothes! The things we do for our kids.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by ducklite
The FAA strongly urges parents to purchase tickets for all children for safety and comfort issues.

If you don't purcahse a ticket for your child you will have to check the car seat, you generally can't take it on the plane with you. (If there is an empty seat in your row you will be able to use it, but if not and you carry the seat on, you'll then have to turn around and check it, and you wo'nt know if there's an empty seat until the plane is pretty much ready to pull away from the gate.) If you do purchase a ticket, you must have a car seat for the child.

Many carriers offer substantially discounted tickets for children, especially infants--I'd take that into consideration when booking.

Anne

Anne,
I don't think it is a rule that you have to have the child in a car seat, I think it is a strong suggestion.

 

[jel0511]

Finally some answers from the FAA about safety seats. Now I for one wouldn't fly with an infant WITHOUT using their seat, but it looks like if you buy an infant a seat, you are NOT required to bring the car seat. Also, states the limitations on the placement of a safety seat.

949. AIR CARRIER OPERATIONS BULLETIN NO. 8-76-48

USE OF CHILD/INFANT RESTRAINT
SYSTEMS IN AIRCRAFT

a. Recently, the FAA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have agreed upon a single government performance standard that will satisfy both aviation and highway safety requirements for child/infant restraint systems. Child/infant restraint systems which have the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) label of the NHTSA, an FAA label, or both, are approved for use in all aircraft provided they are listed on a “FACT SHEET” issued by the FAA.

b. FAR 121.311 requires that “during takeoff and landing of an airplane, each person on board shall occupy an approved seat or berth with a separate safety belt properly secured about him/her. However, a person who has not reached his/her second birthday may be held by an adult who is occupying a seat or berth.”

c. A person under the age of two may continue to be held in an adult’s lap or placed in a regular passenger seat for takeoff and landing. The FAA does not require but, because of the safety benefits thereof, does encourage the use of approved child/infant seats aboard aircraft. An air traveler should check with the certificate holder providing the transportation to determine if it will accept an approved seat’s use and whether it will require the purchase of a ticket for an approved seat’s use.

d. To improve emergency evacuation capabilities, the following precautions are recommended:

(1) The certificate holder’s training program should cover the use of child restraint systems.

(2) The child/infant seat should be secured to a regular passenger seat at all times or, if not in use, stowed as carry-on baggage.

(3) The child/infant seat should not be located in an aisle seat or in a row of seats immediately forward of, aft of, or in the same row as an emergency exit.

(4) During an emergency evacuation the child/infant seat should remain attached to the passenger seat, and only the child should be removed from the aircraft.

(5) No other passenger may occupy the same passenger seat with a child/infant seat.

(6) Child/infant seats are not approved for use in sideward facing passenger seats.

(7) While in use, all child/infant seat straps, especially shoulder straps, should always be in place per instructions provided by the seat’s manufacturer whenever other passengers are required to have their safety belts fastened.

e. Principal operations inspectors are requested to bring the contents of this bulletin to the attention of their assigned certificate holders.

 

[ducklite]

Thanks for the update--I thought I had recently read something on CNN or someplace saying you did.

Anne

 

[stacy6552]

There is no question, here. Buy the ticket and put your child in a FAA approved carseat.

 

[CarolA]

Planes are flying VERY full lately. I would not plan on an empty seat for your infant unless you buy the seat.

 

[EthansMom]

Flying with my son in his own seat (with carseat) is a much more pleasant experience than flying with him in our laps. I highly recommend finding somewhere else to save money and spending the extra to give your child her own seat. You and she will be much more comfortable.

Many (not all) of the airlines offer infant tickets at 50% off -- but you have to book through the phone to get this.

Also, don't forget to give your infant a pacifier or bottle or something to suck on during takeoffs and landings -- vastly helps reduce ear pressure pain.

EthansMom

 

[mcnuss]

Without question, you should buy a seat for your child. It amazes and appalls me that the FAA does not, bc of poilitics, require this. The risk of injury is far too great. Turbulence, even just a little, can pull your child from your arms and into harms way in a micro-second. When I see unrestrained children on airplanes, I just want to cry. Furthermore, for your comfort, and the comfort of people around you, and for your child's comfort, a carseat is a must. Most babies are very happy in their seats, and they implicitly understand that once they are strapped in, they're not getting out, since we put them in their seats for every other kind of travel. My DD and I had an incredibly unpleasant flight home from our Disney cruise last December when a woman got in the row behind us with her nearly 2 yo who kicked us for 2+ hours straight. Mom absolutely could not control the child, but I bet dollars to donuts that if the child had been in her own seat, she would have been fine.

Please, don't economize here. Buy a seat.

 

[jadyson]

We flew last October with our then 4 month old. I could not imagine him not having his own seat. We are concerned that our bags are secure under our feet, over our heads, that our trays are upright and that we are all buckled in. Hello, what about these hand held infants? Especially the babies over 6 months that are wiggly and want to move around.
When we boarded the plane, he was awake and we heard the typical "Oh great, a baby on the plane, in front/behind me, I may as well take tylenol now" comments, but...I stongly believe because we planned ahead and he had his own familiar car seat he was able to fall asleep right away. Not a peep out of him and when we landed he woke up and everyone was saying what a wonderful baby, he was so quiet, we didn't even remember he was on the plane. It was a great first experience for us and we are taking him again in October at 16 months, hopefully the same will happen again. Fingers crossed.
And yes, the seats for infants are deeply discounted. I think his ticket from Cleveland to Orlando was $109.
BTW, don't forget to get the wings from the flight attendant (if this is his/her first flight) they make great scrapbook memories.

 

[jfulcer]

Ok, I admit it - for our December trip, we held DD#2 (7 months at the time) in our laps and it turned out fine. As a matter of fact, she slept most of the way.

The funny part about it is just as we got off the plane, the couple that was in front of us was complaining to each other and actually pointed at us and said "their child screamed the whole flight, it was horrible". So of course, I went and politely explained that it was not our child but one 3 rows behind us that was screaming the whole time. I offered to point out the parents so they could correctly chastise the parents of the 'screamer'. They declined.

 

[smart cookie]

Originally posted by mcnuss
When I see unrestrained children on airplanes, I just want to cry. since we put them in their seats for every other kind of travel. .

There are other forms of travel (AMTRAK, school busses) where children are not restrained, because seat belts are not available to use, nor are they required.

You will put your child at much more risk on a school bus then they will ever be on a plane restrained or not. (There have been over 2,000 school bus accidents every year for the last eleven years.)

That said, I have personally flown in some bone-jarring turbulance (unexpected) and would certainly want a child of mine secured in a seat--but that decision should be left up to each person to make for themselves.

 

[sgtdisney]

Originally posted by Jon99
Do we need to buy a ticket for her or can she sit in our laps????

Children up to the age of 2 can legally sit on your lap for the flight and you do not have to buy a ticket. Some people prefer to buy their Infant children a seat, others do not. The choice is entirely up to you and what you feel comfortable with.

 

[Disneydenise]

I have flown alot recently and I think I would advise that you purchase a seat for your child. They seem to make the flights full lately and it will be much nicer for you and your child if you have a seat where they can relax as well as you.