Help with baby on board/SWA

[lizardqueen]

Well, my in-laws decided that DS is just too squirmy for one of us (there will be 4 adults) to hold him for the 2 1/2 hour flight, so they paid for him to get a seat on the flight. Now, I have to think about taking his carseat, worrying if it will be too big to fit in the seats properly, having enough time to make sure that the seat is fastened properly (it took DH and DFIL 1/2 hour to get it in the car the first time) and the like. I know that usually you get to preboard with young ones, will we definitely get to preboard if we have to strap in a carseat? And before it's said, I realize that there will be alot of families with small children on our flight and that I am not "entitled" to preboard, etc., etc. I'm just not sure how the procedure works. The last time we flew with him, he was 7 weeks and we just held him during the flight. TIA.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

If you are flying SOutwest and your child is under 4, it is a courtesy that they allow you to preboard. However, they allow handicapped persons and people with medical issues (they are given a blue preboard pass) to preboard first. Anyone with children under 4 can wait in the preboard aisle, however whoever gets in the preboard aisle before you will board before you. It doesn't matter if you have a car seat or not. So get there early.

 

[Goofy22]

Yes! No matter what you will preboard they may only let you your ds and your hubby the others may have to wait in the reg line depending on if there is alot of preboarders or not they did this on our flight last october! so make sure you print youre passes and hopefully get a's ! Is your carseat airplane certified you should check and make sure they don't require that! I don't know if they do or they don't to be perfectly honest just a thought! Have a great trip!

 

[QueenGoblin]

Your carseat should say somewhere on it if it approved for airline travel. I think most are. We had no trouble with our Britax Roundabout last year on a SW flight. Everytime we have flown with DD we have been allowed to preboard, but sometimes they only allow one or two adults to preboard with the child, so if you are with a larger group you might have to split up. As another poster pointed out, a flight to MCO will probably have lots of kids on it, so if you are nervous about that kind of stuff you might want to get on line early. We never had trouble though. Also, when we flew SW they required that the carseat be put in the window seat. I'm a pro at getting my seat in and out of places, so it only took me a minute or two, but if yours hasn't moved since you installed it, you might want to pull it out of the car and practice before you go. We found the biggest hassel with bringing the seat was lugging it around the airport. I actually liked having it on the plane because DD was used to the concept that she had to stay in this seat, plus it was comfy and secure for her.

 

[kda]

What thoughtful in-laws to be so considerate of their grandchild's safety!!

 

[NotUrsula]

Not only does the carseat have to go in a window seat, but it cannot be placed in the row directly in front of or directly behind the exit row (the exit row itself should go without saying.)

Though normal family preboarding is sometimes suspended at MCO, at least 2 in your party will still get to preboard if you have a carseat to install, because of the placement restrictions.

Installing a carseat on a plane isn't too difficult. First off, DO IT YOURSELF; don't give it to one of the men. This is because you will not have much room to maneuver, and being short with smaller hands is a distinct advantage. (It's an advantage in a car, too -- it never fails to amaze me that most people think installing a carseat is a man's job; women almost always can do it more easily unless they are heavily pregnant or unusually tall.) Rear-facing you just do it the way you normally would, but front-facing can be a little tricky:

Recline the window-position aircraft seat, then lift the armrest. Next, extend the aircraft seatbelt as long as it will go. Thread the seatbelt through the carseat back, putting a 1/2 twist in the buckle end before you buckle it. (The twist turns the buckle backward, which will make it easier to open to get the seat out.) Now, put the carseat properly in position, and pull the loose end of the seatbelt until it seems tight (the buckle will slide behind the carseat as you pull.) You don't have to kneel in the carseat the way you would when installing it in a car. The final step is to push the recline button and pull the back of the aircraft seat upright again, which will make the fit nice and tight. Lower the armrest if you can.

The trickiest part tends to be getting the seat removed, since on a plane the buckle will end up behind the carseat. Recline the seatback, and if you can reach in and undo the buckle, do that. If you can't get your hand back there from the side, wait for the folks behind you to leave, then go around to the row behind, and reach up between the bottom and back of the seat to open the buckle.

 

[KristinU]

The trickiest part tends to be getting the seat removed, since on a plane the buckle will end up behind the carseat. Recline the seatback, and if you can reach in and undo the buckle, do that. If you can't get your hand back there from the side, wait for the folks behind you to leave, then go around to the row behind, and reach up between the bottom and back of the seat to open the buckle.

I wonder if this depends on the seat...we travel with a Graco Comfort Sport and the buckle always ends up in the seatbelt "track" within the seat - it is easy to get to through the side - if my hands weren't small I'd be able to pull the fabric cover away from the seat and have access to the track as well.

Good point, NotUrsula, on women doing the install. It is always easier for me to do it than DH.

OP, I'd do a few practice runs installing and uninstalling sometime before your trip so you can feel comfortable doing it when you travel. Have you thought of getting a spare seat to use for traveling? Folks seem to love the inexpensive Cosco Touriva for travel. The Graco ComfortSport works great for us - we bought a low-end one for about $65 just for travel. It is nice to not have to install once we get back home...and it is nice to have a spare for when we want to do something with our friends/neighbors who also have a little guy.

Good luck!

 

[lizardqueen]

Thanks for your replies everyone. That is a great idea for me, doing some "practice runs" uninstalling and installing the carseat. I'll have to try that. I'll bring up buying an extra carseat just for travel to DH.