If you use a car seat on the plane, please come in

[pixiegoose]

Hi - my child is 13 months. Weight is just at the beginning for the Cares harness. But she is staying rear facing until 2 years...

We won't have a television (southwest) and our flight is around 2.20 hrs. I also agree, I have no plans to unleash the beast unless I have to! That would be serious trouble.

Since she’s under 2, she’ll definitely need to be rear facing. The Cosco Scenera Next is a great choice for a travel seat (just be aware that it is often outgrown forward facing before it’s outgrown rear facing, so it won’t be the perfect travel seat forever) and can easily be bungeed to a wheelie cart/luggage cart or stroller. Be sure to know where the FAA approval sticker is and it must always be installed in a window seat.

I’ve posted this link on one of your other threads but I’m posting it again because it should answer most questions you have about flying with a little- https://csftl.org/leaving-on-a-jet-plane-the-csftl-guide-to-safe-air-travel-with-children/

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We are flying with our 2 1/2 year old and are also bringing our car seat along with us, but now I'm afraid the one we were planning on using might not fit in the seat. We are flying SW and have a cosco apt 50 car seat. The SW website says that the widest seats they have are 17.35 inches, but the width of my carseat is 22 inches. Does anyone have this carseat and have trouble fitting it in an airplane seat? I don't want to bank on using this carseat and end up not being able to use it on our flight, my very active 2 year old will be bouncing off the walls without being restrained somehow haha!

I am guessing your seat will not fit. how do you plan to widen the seat that much. also check your seat for the FAA approved seat tag as your seat will need that

 

[pixiegoose]

We are flying with our 2 1/2 year old and are also bringing our car seat along with us, but now I'm afraid the one we were planning on using might not fit in the seat. We are flying SW and have a cosco apt 50 car seat. The SW website says that the widest seats they have are 17.35 inches, but the width of my carseat is 22 inches. Does anyone have this carseat and have trouble fitting it in an airplane seat? I don't want to bank on using this carseat and end up not being able to use it on our flight, my very active 2 year old will be bouncing off the walls without being restrained somehow haha!

Your seat should be fine, you’ll just need to put up the armrest and you (or whoever is sitting next to the car seat) will be sharing arm space with the car seat. There are very few seats that are actually too wide to fit- most will fit just fine with the armrest up.

 

[DizneyMommy]

The Cosco Apt 50 is FAA approved however 22” wide at its widest point might be a problem in Economy. On AA and JB at least the seats are about 17.5-18” wide. If your child is in a window seat (which is where they are usually required to be, a car seat cannot block an adult in), the person next to them is going to be awfully smushed, if it even fits at all. I wouldn’t take the chance that it won’t fit and then have no seat if your child is under 3, I would go pick up a $40 Cosco Scenera Next at Walmart and then sell it on Craig’s List after your trip!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Your seat should be fine, you’ll just need to put up the armrest and you (or whoever is sitting next to the car seat) will be sharing arm space with the car seat. There are very few seats that are actually too wide to fit- most will fit just fine with the armrest up.

yes might fit in space with arm rest up but will the belt be long enough as there are no latch to hold carseat as in cars. and I have had them require arm rest down for take off and landing

 

[pixiegoose]

yes might fit in space with arm rest up but will the belt be long enough as there are no latch to hold carseat as in cars. and I have had them require arm rest down for take off and landing

I’ve never heard of a belt not being long enough, though there are a few seats that require seatbelt extenders based on how the buckle ends up in the belt path (I believe it was classic Britax convertibles and rear facing Dionos)- without extenders, it was impossible to unbuckle and the plane seat had to be taken apart to get the seatbelt undone. Regardless, every plane has seatbelt extenders on board (those belts the flight attendants use in the safety demonstration), if needed. As for armrests, I’ve never had them require armrests down, only seatbacks and tray tables upright and in their locked positions.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I’ve never heard of a belt not being long enough, though there are a few seats that require seatbelt extenders based on how the buckle ends up in the belt path (I believe it was classic Britax convertibles and rear facing Dionos)- without extenders, it was impossible to unbuckle and the plane seat had to be taken apart to get the seatbelt undone. Regardless, every plane has seatbelt extenders on board (those belts the flight attendants use in the safety demonstration), if needed. As for armrests, I’ve never had them require armrests down, only seatbacks and tray tables upright and in their locked positions.

I had a sleeping child leaning on me when i was required to put arm rest down for landing which of course woke child up screaming

 

[Jessirip]

We flew with our 1 1/2 year old in a car seat on SW in Oct 2016 and it worked great. We did buy him a ticket so there was no worry about getting bumped and we could easily reply he was allowed to take up a seat. If there are more than one of you... divide and conquer by placing one adult in front of him if you are worried about kicking. That way at least you are used to it. I also highly recommend getting the thing that you can wheel the seat through the airport. We did that instead of a stroller and people thought it was hilarious a sleeping kid was being toted around like a carryon.

Also, the majority of people are going to be understanding. I was very worried about inconveniencing anyone, but you have to get it over and do your best as a parent.

In about a month we're flying SW to Orlando again but trying a Cares harness this time. I'll be in the seat behind him this time since it has to hook around the seat and under that person's tray table.

 

[riversend22]

We flew with our 1 1/2 year old in a car seat on SW in Oct 2016 and it worked great. We did buy him a ticket so there was no worry about getting bumped and we could easily reply he was allowed to take up a seat.

We will probably be flying on Southwest as well. Do you remember if you had to buy a full priced ticket, or was there an infant fare that was a bit cheaper? Thanks!

 

[Minniemouse07]

We will probably be flying on Southwest as well. Do you remember if you had to buy a full priced ticket, or was there an infant fare that was a bit cheaper? Thanks!

No, they don't usually have an infant fare.

 

[Jessirip]

We will probably be flying on Southwest as well. Do you remember if you had to buy a full priced ticket, or was there an infant fare that was a bit cheaper? Thanks!

We usually book the "wanna get away" fares as soon as we know our dates, but I'm not sure SW has infant rates. We also got the early bird check in which I think was really worth it. Even though you can board with small children between groups a & b, I just liked not having to worry about it.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

No, they don't usually have an infant fare.

Actually Southwest DOES have an infant fare. It you read on their website, they do. But I did not know when I booked it. Apparently you cannot book an infant fare online you need to call. So by the time I called to see if they would adjust our seat price, their infant seats were "sold out". They only sell a portion of each flight as an infant seat. FYI

I purchased a full price Business Select seat for my infant. I wanted to be able to get a refund at any point and to be able to be surely boarded first.

 

[omniscientmommy]

Hauling the car seat around the airport sucked big time! It was so cumbersome especially when you've got to worry about carry-ons and 2 kids going through security. Use a cart to wheel that bad boy around! Also let them know ahead of time that you have a car seat so you can pre-board. We didn't and it was a pain trying to get that thing put in while worrying about the people behind you. Our little guy was mostly good in the seat w/ the tablet to keep him busy, we only had a 2 hr flight though. So glad we don't have to lug one around for this upcoming trip.

 

[abinormal]

SW does have infant fares but they’re nothing to write home about. Only a bit cheaper and you have to call to get it. Online prices are usually cheaper.

 

[jliucci]

This has been very insightful for me as we will be taking our daughter (2.5yo) to Disney in Novemeber and we have never flown with her before. I honestly hadn't even thought about taking a carseat as we wont be renting a car onsite. What do you do on the ME? Do you install the carseat again for your toddler?

 

[DizneyMommy]

This has been very insightful for me as we will be taking our daughter (2.5yo) to Disney in Novemeber and we have never flown with her before. I honestly hadn't even thought about taking a carseat as we wont be renting a car onsite. What do you do on the ME? Do you install the carseat again for your toddler?

You cannot install car seats on busses typically. We did not us it on ME, we just stored it underneath and I wore her in a carrier last time.

She’s old enough to use the CARES harness on the plane, you might want to look into that!

 

[jliucci]

You cannot install car seats on busses typically. We did not us it on ME, we just stored it underneath and I wore her in a carrier last time.

She’s old enough to use the CARES harness on the plane, you might want to look into that!

Thank you for the info! I was just doing my research on the CARES harness. However do you find it to be more of a pain? Can the person sitting behind you still use their tray table or does it block their tv screen if the plane has them. I am just afraid with my luck i would get stuck with someone behind us who makes a big deal about it.

 

[omniscientmommy]

We didn't use it on ME. Literally only for the plane ride bc on the buses to and from the park you don't either.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Thank you for the info! I was just doing my research on the CARES harness. However do you find it to be more of a pain? Can the person sitting behind you still use their tray table or does it block their tv screen if the plane has them. I am just afraid with my luck i would get stuck with someone behind us who makes a big deal about it.

I haven’t yet but I think we are going to in June. Everyone I’ve spoken to says it’s not a hassle at all for the person n behind.

 

[dalmatian7]

Get some kind of cart that wheels the car seat around. We have a Go-Go Babyz that makes it easy to get car seats around.

We got a great luggage cart at Target for $20 and a small bungee cord to strap the car seat to the cart. You will also want some heavy duty rubber bands to "clean up" the excess straps and to tuck the LATCH tethers in.

Both of our kids used car seats on planes until they were about 4yo or so.

Before you leave for the airport, make sure that you practice installing your car seat w/ a seat belt (there aren’t any lower anchors on airplanes) and that you can locate the red text on one of the labels stating that the seat is approved for use on aircraft. The flight attendant may ask to see the text and it will be smoother if you know exactly where to point!

I agree with this 100%. Especially with the CARES harness. I practiced on a kitchen chair. I have never had an airline that the belt caused a problem for the person behind us other then I had to put the tray down when installing it, but was able to get it back up once installed.

[/QUOTE]I highly recommend rear facing as long as you can as it prevents the heavily discussed kicking issues. Once we had two kids traveling, we placed the older kid in the seat in front of the younger kid. Having your little one facing you also helps you be able to interact with them easier.[/QUOTE] Our DD first flew at 11 months. Only one of our Britax had the FAA sticker at the time. Her seat never would have fit rear facing (smaller jets from a regional airport) even though she still rode that way in the car, so she faced forward. This was not a carrier type car seat but a convertible booster car seat. Again this was where practice using a seat belt to install not the LATCH tethers came in handy

[/QUOTE] Good luck! With a little preparation, I found using the car seat on board actually made our flights easier. Our kids were secure in a familiar seat and they knew they had to stay in it just like they do in the car. [/QUOTE] Agreed! My daughter was used to a 20-25 minute commute each way everyday so knew that staying in the seat was the only way.

Also here is the info directly from the FAA https://www.faa.gov/travelers/fly_children/
Always check you airline's information.

I have always had good luck flying with a kid. We always explained what we were doing when installing the CARES if my DH wasn't behind us. Most people didn't care or were intrigued by the device. I only ever had one FA ask to see the label on the car seat..... and was then cranky about the fact that it was approved and we knew what we were doing installing it.