How do you do it?? toddler/SW

[Missyma919]

Ok so we will be flying with my ds who will be 1 month shy of 3 in Sept. I want to take his car seat as i hope it will help contain his energy lol. I just can't see fighting to keep him to stay sitting and lap belt buckled for a 4+ hour flight.

I want to be able to sit with our family (7 of us all together with aunt and uncle) and we plan to pay for EBCI but if I get on first and then we wait and wait while everyone boards, it is a good 30 min I'd say.

Has anyone ever had spouse get on and buckle in the seat and then save that a middle seat (he'd be on the isle) Everyone else would load early (as in where our EBCI) as well. I could load after all the groups have loaded and that would alleviate the huge wait for take off. At least he could walk around the terminal where as be strapped in on the plane. I just thought it might be easier but not sure if it is ok or frowned upon?

 

[Tara]

Ok so we will be flying with my ds who will be 1 month shy of 3 in Sept. I want to take his car seat as i hope it will help contain his energy lol. I just can't see fighting to keep him to stay sitting and lap belt buckled for a 4+ hour flight.

I want to be able to sit with our family (7 of us all together with aunt and uncle) and we plan to pay for EBCI but if I get on first and then we wait and wait while everyone boards, it is a good 30 min I'd say.

Has anyone ever had spouse get on and buckle in the seat and then save that a middle seat (he'd be on the isle) Everyone else would load early (as in where our EBCI) as well. I could load after all the groups have loaded and that would alleviate the huge wait for take off. At least he could walk around the terminal where as be strapped in on the plane. I just thought it might be easier but not sure if it is ok or frowned upon?

This is a good plan IME. But I would advise that you don't wait until everyone has boarded because you don't want to feel rushed getting the baby settled in, and IME by the time all the groups have boarded, the FAs are hustling around getting everyone to sit down so they can depart on time.

 

[Jestocost]

It sounds like you think you and your child will be able to board before the party that has received boarding numbers through EBCI, which is not the case. Unless something really unusual happens, EBCI will generate boarding numbers in the A group--and probably in the earlier part of the group. Boarding with small children occurs after the A group and before the B's. As a result, if all of you have A boarding numbers you all will be boarding together.

 

[Tara]

It sounds like you think you and your child will be able to board before the party that has received boarding numbers through EBCI, which is not the case. Unless something really unusual happens, EBCI will generate boarding numbers in the A group--and probably in the earlier part of the group. Boarding with small children occurs after the A group and before the B's. As a result, if all of you have A boarding numbers you all will be boarding together.

I read the OP's post to mean that the family would board "early" as in before her and the baby...she says "as in where our ECBI," meaning that she's paid for ECBI for everyone and expects the group to be in the As, or "earlier" in the boarding process than she'd prefer to board with the baby.

 

[Tara]

Coincidentally, Southwest just posted this to their blog this morning:

Tips for Traveling with Toddlers

 

[Donaldswife]

Just an FYI, the car seat must be an FAA approved seat, not all car seats are FAA approved. Also, the car seat would have to be buckled into the seat by the window, so in case of emergency it would not impede others exiting the aircraft. I think your plan would be fine, my hubbie saved a seat for DD and I on a SW flight once while I was changing her diaper. IMO, noone will want to choose the empty seat next to a carseat anyway. Also, I would caution not to wait too long, SW moves people in fast. If your party is in the A;s, I would board before the C group got going......it can get hairy moving down the aisle with a toddler when there are very few seats left in the aircraft and people are trying to find any overhead storage since a lot of it will be gone.

 

[penjen]

We have flown with DS every year since he was born and I would say no to the car seat on the airplane. It really isn't necessary and just more to lug around. Your child will be fine in the seat with the seat belt. I would also just board with the rest of your party.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I think the OP was just worried about the wait on the plane before everybody got loaded and pulled away from the gate. You could certainly have your family board with your boarding passes and then board between the A and B boarders so there wouldn't be so much of a wait and you wouldn't feel rushed either.

 

[SnackyStacky]

We have flown with DS every year since he was born and I would say no to the car seat on the airplane. It really isn't necessary and just more to lug around. Your child will be fine in the seat with the seat belt. I would also just board with the rest of your party.

My daughter is 3 and we've been flying with her since she was 11 months - and we've been taking the car seat.

She likes to have the security of her actual seat. Much easier to just throw it in the stroller and take it on than to fight with her. Thank god we've finally passed that stage though! Our last trip, in September, she flew without it and was okay with not having it.

That said - it truly is a self-soothing/security kind of thing. I don't think the seat provides any sort of safety protection since it's so loosely held to the seat.

 

[ccgirl]

I'm curious why you wouldn't just all get on together. The immediate family anyway. When I have preboarded it was both parents and siblings that got to board together. Are you saying you don't want your toddler to sit on the plane for long? That I can understand. I always serve my toddler a snack while we're waiting for everyone to board. If you have ECBI, there should be no problem getting the seats together.

 

[Tara]

I'm curious why you wouldn't just all get on together. The immediate family anyway. When I have preboarded it was both parents and siblings that got to board together. Are you saying you don't want your toddler to sit on the plane for long? That I can understand. I always serve my toddler a snack while we're waiting for everyone to board. If you have ECBI, there should be no problem getting the seats together.

Yes, that's what she's saying - that boarding at the beginning makes for a bit of a wait for a small child, so the rest of the family would board and she'd board later with the child.

 

[Missyma919]

Thank you all for you responses. Yes, I was just trying to figure out a way to shorten the time on the plane waiting for take off. Sorry that wasn't clearer. Also I plan to take the car seat because this little guy is WILD! We drive a lot and he does fine in his seat. I truly worry that without it he would be all over the place, trying to get up off the seat and move from person to person. Now my girls at 35 months would have been just fine with no restraint. I don't really want to risk it on a 4 hour flight I know it will be a pain to lug around the airport but there will be 4 adults to help.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Have you considered a CARES harness? It's not a car seat so it's not bulky, but it's a five-point restraint that buckles onto the seatbelt and - ideally, anyway - keeps your child in the seat. Especially if you're not going to need the carseat at your destination, it's worth investigating. If you don't want to buy one, apparently there are people on Ebay who rent them out?

Also, Southwest tries for a pretty quick turnaround - ideally, twenty minutes or so on the ground, so you may want to consider just boarding at your turn. If not, you should board between letters, not in the middle of a boarding group.

 

[DebbieB]

Just to be clear - SW does not assign specific seats. If you board later, you may not get seats together with your family. Technically you are not allowed to save seats, even though most people get away with it, if you are thinking your family will board first and save seats for you and your son.

 

[Tara]

Just to be clear - SW does not assign specific seats. If you board later, you may not get seats together with your family. Technically you are not allowed to save seats, even though most people get away with it, if you are thinking your family will board first and save seats for you and your son.

Her son's seat will have a car seat installed and waiting in it. I think the OP is clear about the seating and boarding process. And if we're talking technicalities, Southwest does NOT have a policy on saving seats one or the other and they have said explicitly that they will not intervene in seat saving situations.