Magical Express with 2 Car seats and a big stroller?

[NotUrsula]

have you ever heard of a airplane crash where someone said.... you know if the child had been in a car seat they would have been saved? Not to sound morbid but the fact is that on a plane your either coming off from a safe flight or a crash and a car seat doesnt make the difference.

With all due respect, that is completely untrue. I personally use my carseat in my car to prevent both death *and* injury, so I expect it to serve the same purposes on an aircraft. While it is true that commercial air travel is exponentially safer all-round than travel in personal automobiles (even with a carseat taken into account), there is still a risk of injury on commercial aircraft. When passengers onboard aircraft get injured, it most often is caused by turbulence, hard landings/overruns, or ground incursions on the runways. It isn't always about falling out of the sky.

I've been in situations where people ended up with concussions due to turbulence, from slamming their heads against the bulkhead or the bottom of an overhead bin. A woman seated next to me once suffered a broken nose when the pilot had to unexpectedly abort takeoff -- she didn't brace quickly enough on the armrests and slammed into the seat in front face first.

I have no issue whatsoever with a reasoned decision to lap-carry a baby on a commercial aircraft, but I think that people who make that decision should consider all the possible disadvantages and risks when they do so.

 

[izzyBandlivismom]

We did not use a carseat for our almost 3 year old last summer. She was just fine. She actually slept on the way home. Whoo hoo!!! That being said we are debating buying a cheap carseat for our trip this year. Our youngest will be 2, we are going the day after her birthday will not sit to save anything! All she wants to do is run. She was a lap baby for the last trip and did just fine but she was not mobile then.

I hate this decision....can someone just make it for me.


Good luck with your decision and have a great trip!

 

[CleveRocks]

DS falls asleep in the car seat sometimes, but DD does not. Lugging two monster car seats through the airport is not something I want to do! So we may forego them. DH is all for it. The twins will be 2 1/4 at the time of our trip. They sit up fine and are good on long car trips.

Do the airlines frown upon NOT using / or using a car seat?

I'm OK with no car seats on the bus. It will be strange, but it's good to hear that people here on DIS have done it many times before and are OK with it.

My very-petite-for-her-age daughter was 2.5 during our first trip, and she did great on the airplane in both directions.

The airline really couldn't care less what you do as long as you aren't breaking any government laws or airline rules.

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> that's why they are called car seats

It is true that the "car" seat has to be FAA approved for use on the airplane otherwise the flight attendant may also insist that the seat go down under. There are many models of seats suitable for both car and plane use.

Mears' vans do have seat belts so a car seat can be strapped in place.