How uncomfortable is flying with a lap infant?

[Carol_]

Buy the extra ticket. If I had the $$, I’d buy two extra tickets so we could all spread out. We always carried our baby in the car seat (balancing precariously on the stroller down the gangplank, then ditching the stroller at the plane door, and picking it up on the way out.) The car seat keeps the kid comfy, and Mom comfy. Well worth the money. Let me say it louder for the Moms in back: WELL WORTH THE MONEY.

 

[WingandPrayer]

Buy the extra ticket. If I had the $$, I’d buy two extra tickets so we could all spread out. We always carried our baby in the car seat (balancing precariously on the stroller down the gangplank, then ditching the stroller at the plane door, and picking it up on the way out.) The car seat keeps the kid comfy, and Mom comfy. Well worth the money. Let me say it louder for the Mom’s in back: WELL WORTH THE MONEY

We've done longer (international) trips with a lap infant and then purchased a seat for him when he was still eligible for a free flight. The thing about a 4-6 hour flight is whether they're good sleepers or whether they'll be bored/squirmy in your arms. (Mine was awake for most of an overnight flight, ugh. Putting him in the carseat when we got him his own seat was MAGIC. It was also $900, so, not cheap and not doable all the time.)

 

[bakerr6]

Baby wearing is not allowed for takeoff and landing, (and should not be done at all) and please don't do this even if the FA doesn't notice. I don't want to post the why's here as it's hard to do without being graphic but look it up and I doubt you will continue to do this.

Thank you for the heads up. I was not aware this was an issue!

 

[sam_gordon]

OP, if you REALLY want to test this, move the car seat to the middle of the back seat in your car. Put the baby in your lap and sit in one of the window seats. Sit there for 6 hours. This will cost nothing but your time. You can even set up a radio to "white noise" to simulate the noise of the engines. Can you (and the toddler) make it through the entire time?

 

[KristaZ]

So I have a 9 month old and just flew New York to London and back with him (and we did have a bassinet seat, which he got a few hours use out of going there on an overnight flight, but we were never given the bassinet for the way home, so had to hold him). We've also flown NY to FL with him twice as a lap infant. It entirely depends on your child. My son would NOT sit in a car seat for that long. He wants to be held at all times, so honestly, for us, we'd be holding him anyway even if he did have a seat. He's also a good sleeper, so to and from Florida he's slept the entire time both trips. Going to London he slept most of the trip, and coming back he probably slept about 3 out of the almost 8 hours, so that definitely makes it easier.

 

[Nicoleclaw]

14 years ago we flew 2.5 hours with my then 14 month old on my lap. Our entire family was scattered all over the plane (9 traveling together) because my husband insisted we didn't need to pay for seats because "they wouldn't split families up". My 5 year old was sat by herself. In any case, LOL, the 14 month old wiggled the entire flight, and upon our aborted landing (never found out why), his foot got stuck in my buckle as we took back off or should I say rocketed back into the sky right before we were going to touch down, which unbuckled my seatbelt, and in a panic I threw him on the 16 year old boy that was sitting next to me, and said, hold him please while I buckle myself! I should mention I am also a very nervous flier......
Get the kid a seat and make sure to pay to choose seats while you are at it

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Help, I keep going back and forth on whether I should buy a seat for my 1-year-old for our November trip to WDW or if I should just keep her as a lap infant! How uncomfortable is a longish flight with an average-sized 1YO on your lap? We're flying from LA, so it's about 5 hours. Aside from cost, the other reason I wanted to keep her on my lap is because that way the 4 of us will have one row to ourselves, as opposed to splitting into two rows and sitting next to others outside our group- I figure that will be safer for avoiding Covid exposure on the plane. But if it's really hard to keep little ones contained and calm in a shared seat for that long, should I spring for the extra seats and split our party into 2 rows? What would you do? Thanks in advance for the advice!!

Lap children are know as cabin missiles. In any type of hard landing or hard stopping you ability to hold your child is highly compromised….. Turbulence is no different. Yes, it is legal but when it comes to the faa legal and safe are not usually synonymous.

if you are one of those parents that puts the seat belt around you and the child you not doing the child any favors either….

if you have the ability and means to buy the child a seat please do it and use an approved car seat.

 

[lilmc]

Yes, holding a child has its own issues, but for my child it was a moot point. There was no way she was going to stay in her car seat for that long. Everyone one would have been miserable if we had tried. If you need the extra room for them to crawl around on the seat a bit and just have more space, then go for it. We just held her and walked the aisle when we could. We used some of the vests when allowed.

 

[DLgal]

Yes, holding a child has its own issues, but for my child it was a moot point. There was no way she was going to stay in her car seat for that long.

How do you know that? Did your child never take a car trip that was as long as the flight? In a car, kids learn they have to stay in the seat. Bringing the seat onto the airplane signals the same expectation. The car seat is familiar. They know what they have to do.

 

[auralia]

Depends on the child my daughter screamed when she was in a car seat until she was almost 2. Driving was a nightmare. So she was a lap baby. We always bought a cheap Board book and lots of pretty cheep stickers at a craft store…. And she just loved putting the stickers on and off the book. My son was a chill car seat baby so he got his own seat

 

[WishUponAStar3]

Oh my goodness, THANK YOU all SO SO MUCH for talking sense into me!! Especially after the mentions of safety issues, now I can't believe I was so strongly considering having her in my lap- clearly I hadn't thought it through. Saved by The Dis once again! I am buying her seats asap!

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Yes, holding a child has its own issues, but for my child it was a moot point. There was no way she was going to stay in her car seat for that long. Everyone one would have been miserable if we had tried. If you need the extra room for them to crawl around on the seat a bit and just have more space, then go for it. We just held her and walked the aisle when we could. We used some of the vests when allowed.

It’s never a moot point.

 

[sam_gordon]

Yes, holding a child has its own issues, but for my child it was a moot point. There was no way she was going to stay in her car seat for that long. Everyone one would have been miserable if we had tried. If you need the extra room for them to crawl around on the seat a bit and just have more space, then go for it. We just held her and walked the aisle when we could. We used some of the vests when allowed.

Here's the thing though... IF you have a seat for the child, they don't have to spend the entire flight in it. It would be a good idea to have them in the seat as much as possible, but if you need to take them out and hold them, you can.

However, if you DON'T have a seat for the child, then they MUST spend 100% in someone's lap.

 

[GoingSince1990]

It’s never a moot point.

Agreed. Back in the nineties when my sister-in-law had a baby she used to say “he won’t stay in the car seat” and, to my horror, would hold him on her lap in the back seat during car rides. Of course when people say “he won’t stay in the car seat”, what they really mean is “he doesn’t like being in the car seat”, and they prefer to risk their child’s safety to listening to him cry about being in the car seat. And when our own kids came along, they would ALWAYS go in the car seat, and when they cried about it, too bad, safety is nonnegotiable. Eventually they all got used to it, and of course this served us well for plane trips, too.

 

[easyas123]

Buy a ticket. Having your own row is not going to help with COVID exposure at all. Just put an adult across the aisle. That is too long of a flight with someone on laps.

Buy the seat.

Buy the seat.

Buy the seat.

Did I mention to buy the seat?

Buy the seat.

And finally....

WELL WORTH THE MONEY.

 

[Mle8308]

Thank you OP!!! From someone who often travels solo and has had the "pleasure" of sitting next to a lap baby....

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Oh my goodness, THANK YOU all SO SO MUCH for talking sense into me!! Especially after the mentions of safety issues, now I can't believe I was so strongly considering having her in my lap- clearly I hadn't thought it through. Saved by The Dis once again! I am buying her seats asap!

guessing she is your first. also bet this is not the first time in her life you have had to rethink something. bet she was in a carseat for her first car ride