No carseat?

[PatricenPete]

We are travelling to WDW in October. Originally we were flying with DS as a lap child, but in the end decided to buy him a seat, knowing full well that he will most likely end up in our laps anyway, but we figured it would be nice to have the extra room.

We are flying Song and were told that we did not have to bring a carseat for DS....

How many of you have flown without a carseat? Do we REALLY need one? This is our first time flying with an infant, so I welcome all advice.

 

[DisneyPhD]

How old will DS be at that time? That does make a differnce (sitting up etc..) You will also have an easier time getting him to stay in the seat if you have him in the car seat, after all you don't take him out of the seat and hold him on your lap during a car ride, so he is used to being in the seat.

Also, are you going to need the car seat once you get there?

 

[PatricenPete]

DS will be 1 at the time of travel - we won't need the carseat for anything else once we get there so I HATE the thought of having to lug it around unless it is absolutely necessary.....we are staying onsite, no rental car, etc.........

 

[DisneyPhD]

You will get a lot of pro's for car seats on airplanes on this board. I will get flamed for saying this, but I have never brought my car seat on the plane or even bought DD a seat when she was a baby. We have packed the infant seat and checked it before, but we rent or use a town car that has one once getting there.

We have been ok.

You and your child will be more comfortable with it on the plane. It will not be more comfortable lugging it around the airport and getting it on the plane and hooking it up. If you do make sure you bring one that travels well (ours has a arm rest that flaps over it and I wouldn't bring it on a plane no matter what, it is very uncomfortalbe to sit next to.) and most importantly make sure it is aproved for air flight. Not all car seats are.


On all the flight I have been on, there has always been many babies. I have never seen one with their car seat.

 

[KerriMc]

It is entirely up to you what you decide to do We just travelled in March and our youngest was 19 mos at the time and we bought a seat for her and used her car seat. We were the only ones on the plane that did that. As much as I am sure she would have sat in the seat herself, for a very short amount of time!, I didn't want to take the chance that something could have happened. Plus we were going to be using the seat as we were offsite and had a rental. She is good in her seat and knows that when she is in it she has to sit there ... not run around, which is what she would have wanted to do. I didnt' find it a big hassle with the seat because we either sat it in the stroller when we got off of the plane as she needed to run a bit then and once we had the luggage it just sat nicely on top of the pile on our cart. It was never a big deal to carry it along. It just all depends on how many adult hands there are (we had four sets to the two kids).

Good luck whatever you decide! Have a great trip!

Kerri
(me) (dh) (dd4) (dd20mos)

 

[TinkerbellMama]

We are travelling to WDW in October. Originally we were flying with DS as a lap child, but in the end decided to buy him a seat, knowing full well that he will most likely end up in our laps anyway, but we figured it would be nice to have the extra room.

We are flying Song and were told that we did not have to bring a carseat for DS....

How many of you have flown without a carseat? Do we REALLY need one? This is our first time flying with an infant, so I welcome all advice.

We flew to Orlando when ds was 2 months old and checked his car seat. We bought a Baby B'Air travel vest and that worked great! I was able to nurse him on the plane and we heard not a peep from him on 4 flights! (except for giggling) IMO a car seat is not necessary if you don't want to take it, but in that case I'd have the flight vest. I personally would not buy an extra seat and then not use it, though, either...but I'm not sure if the lap belts are really designed for a baby. So in other words, buying the seat but not taking the car seat is not an option I would have gone with...I'd do no extra seat and the flight vest, or extra seat and the car seat. Good luck with your decision!

 

[*Susan*]

I think a lot depends on how comfortable your DS is in the car seat, and that might be something you won't be able to determine this early. I do second the PP who said that since you already bought the seat, you might as well use it.

Hey, I just noticed that my DD was born just 3 days (10/25/04) before your little guy

 

[JennsBabySky]

Adding my 2 cents worth here. I've done both. Lately, I've only been comfortable flying with the carseat for my now 15 month old. My main reason for using the carseat is turbulence or problematic landings/take offs. In these cases, if an accident were to happen, it could potentially be survivable, but it would decrease if the baby were in your lap. Chances are, you won't need it, but I'm super cautious, so I can't function with the idea that my child isn't in the carseat (literally, I obsess until I buy the silly seat and then curse the carseat while I'm tripping over it in the airport, then I repeat all over for our next flight). It is really another of those fun parental decisions that only you can make. Will you need the seat? Probably not. What if you do need the seat? The thing that pushed me over the edge is that if you are having an emergency landing, you will need to stow your BABY under the seat like a piece of luggage. Yuck! They are simply not safe in your arms. With crash forces, they are likely to be ripped out of your arms. If they are not, they will become your airbag (you'll be pushed forward and your baby becomes the airbag). I can not live with either of these scenerios, so I buy the seat and drag the dreaded carseat with me. Yes, it is a pain. I seriously considered the Baby B'air, but you can't use it during taxi and landing. So, you still have nothing for the times when you need it most (a survivable crash would likely occur during these times). It would definitely help during turbulence, but it doesn't solve that pesky airbag issue (they are still your airbag since they are in front of you).

Basically, no one will know if you'll need the carseat. You probably won't, so it is probably fine not to bring it. But, you might, and unless someone has a functioning crystal ball, all we can do is tell you what we did and whether or not it was necessary. Afterall, personally I've never needed mine in my car, but I still consistently use it for every trip.

On the plus side for bringing a carseat is that both of my children have spent almost all of their flight time asleep in the carseat. I was afraid to bring mine, thinking that I would have an empty carseat next to me taking up space. But since our kids are used to the carseat in the car, they seem to sit quite happily in it (especially with milk, food, crayons, etc). Usually mine have been asleep within 30 minutes and sleep for most of the flight! Yeah! I guarantee that mine would not have slept so well on my lap (especially my little one, he never sleeps in my lap -- just more fun to explore and jump around).

Sorry this has turned so long. This seems to be a heated subject that has no true answer. I completely understand why my friends and family do not fly with a carseat, it is just not the same choice that I make.

Have a wonderful trip,
Jennifer

 

[tjmw2727]

Here is a link to the delta/song website on traveling with infants and young children:

http://www.delta.com/travel/special_services/services_for_children/infant_seating/index.jsp

I prefered to have the CSR until my dd's were about 3ish and to big to be comfortable in the CSR on the aircraft.

Just FYI the Baby B Air is on the list of non approved devices. You can verify this on the link above.

TJ

 

[EthansMom]

In order for your son to sit in his own seat, he will need a car seat for at least the takeoff and landing. I would imagine that once the seatbelt light goes off, he could sit in his own seat without the carseat. If your son was 2 or over, they would let him sit in his own seat for takeoff and landing without a car seat (at least that has been my experience traveling with my son).

Personally, I have found the inconvenience of hauling the carseat to/from the airport to be well worth the convenience of having my child securely belted into the seat. The lap belts aren't really made to strap in a young squirming child -- my son was able to wriggle out and to figure out how to unlatch the belt. If you place your son alone in a seat, don't expect him to be sitting quietly on his own five minutes later.

Either go with your son as a lap baby or take the carseat for his own seat.

 

[homedad]

we have flown with our DS4 and DD2 close to a dozen times and have done it both ways, i agree with other posters that dragging them down the isle of the plane is a pain, however my children are very busy and they know once in a car seat its time to sit until "we get there"...my son has always loved his car seat so we still use it now..good luck

 

[LauraAnn630]

We were totally SHOCKED by our 1 yr olds behavior on the plane!!!

He was a disturbance to EVERYONE for the 2 hour and 10 min flight!!

He was scard, he was screaming, hitting and kicking! Not like our DS at all!!!

Thank God we had a carseat with us!!

On the way home we had to give him sudafed to make him sleep, thats how bad it was!

I would take the carseat, better to have it and not need it!

He was sooooooo good the rest of the trip. He didnt like the plane AT ALL!!

We are going again this June, sorry to anyone who is on the plane with us!!
Hopfully this year will be better!

 

[Jacksmom99]

I agree with Ethansmom. We flew with DS when we was 2 weeks shy of his 3rd b-day. We did not use the car seat for our comfort reasons. I was 6mo pregant, and HUGE. I wanted all the extra space I could get. However, DS was really too little to sit comfortably in the airline seat. He slouched, his little legs dangled at odd angles, and he wouldn't leave the seat belt alone once he figured out it was so easy to undo. I would definately bring the carseat. If you aren't going to use it after the airplane, get a bag for it and transport it with your luggage when you get off the plane. I've heard they have a great bag at Babies'RUs that's only $20. I'm getting one for our August trip since we will be renting a car, but DD will be 3 1/2 and too big to use it on the plane.

 

[NBFUN]

When my DS was 10 mths. we got him his own seat and took his car seat on the plane (we rented a car so we needed it for the car, even though we never used it again until the way back to the airport). However, DS was much more comfortable in his own seat. Then last Sept. when he was 2 yrs. old we flew to Disney and checked his seat for the car ride to Disney. He sat on the plane without it and it worked really well.

Either way I think is fine, it is just a personal choice. I just felt that DS would be more comfortable in his own seat for the ride there and back, but he probably would have been fine either way. We are going again in 9 days and we are again checking his car seat. We have a carrier for it, so it does not bother us much to take it.

 

[MichaelsMickey]

This is from the Song website with regards to children under 2 and flying with or without a seat of there own.

Infants under 2 years of age
A paying adult passenger may travel with an infant free of charge if you hold the infant for take-off and landing. Please call 800-FLY-SONG (800-359-7664), and ask them to note on your reservation that you will be traveling with a non-fare paying infant. You'll be asked to present written approval from a physician if the infant is less than 7 days old.

If you need a separate seat for the infant, you'll need to purchase an extra ticket. Reduced infant fares may be available by calling 800-FLY-SONG (800-359-7664). If you do use a separate seat, plan to bring a car seat that meets federally approved standards to use during taxi, takeoff and landing

I have flown with my son 5 times he is still under the age of two and I always take a car seat for him--It gives him space and allows for a place to strap him in during take off/landing and during turbulance.

 

[PatricenPete]

So if I DON'T bring the car seat, I will have to hold him for take off and landing? When I called Song - they told me on two seperate occassions that I did NOT need a car seat for him - I am SO confused.

 

[tjmw2727]

So if I DON'T bring the car seat, I will have to hold him for take off and landing? When I called Song - they told me on two seperate occassions that I did NOT need a car seat for him - I am SO confused.

Since you are not required to even have a seat for him then you are not required to use a CSR. Honestly I can't imagine a 6mo sitting in an airline seat so I assume you will have to hold him for at least take off and landing. Can you imagine having him "sit" in the seat, buckled or not, when you hit some turbulcance? I personally feel safest with the CSR but I imagine you would want someone to at least be holding your dear one just in case.

Honestly since you have already purchased the seat I see no reason not to bring the CSR.

Or maybe I am not understanding your question because I still can't picture a baby strapped into an airline seat with just the lap belt?

TJ

 

[Nicks2Angels]

No, you don't NEED a carseat for him, by law anyway on the flight unless you buy him a seperate seat on the airplane. In that case, you will need to out him in a car seat that is approved for air travel. If you choose not to buy him his own seat on the plane, you will need to hold him-well for the whole plane ride-what else would you do with a 1 year old?

It just depends on what you feel most comfy doing. Personally, my son (who is 1) is so active, he would never sit on my lap for a long amount of time-especially not with all the cool stuff to explore around him. I would but him a seat & strap him in. You will probably get a cheaper rate for him anyway.

 

[PatricenPete]

I did buy him a seat on the plane. He will be 1 at the time of travel, not 6 months.

 

[aidansmom]

I would bring the car seat. We flew with ds when he was 14 mos. without purchasing him a seat and he did fine. However, we were fortunate enough to be sitting next to people on both flights who did not mind his presence at all (he was pretty well behaved). This past December, when he was 22 months, we also flew without purchasing him a seat. It is because of our experience on this trip, that I would definitely advise you to bring the car seat. On the way down, he was somewhat squirmy, so it was a little hectic, but alright (though I realized at the time it would have been easier to get him his own seat). On the trip home, the gentleman sitting next to us was visibly irritated from the get-go to have a baby sitting next to him. Ds was fairly well behaved, but my awareness of this man's feelings made me extremely uncomfortable. As our children so often do, ds made the situation all the more exciting when he decided to throw up. Needless to say, had I been in posession of a parachute, myself, dh, and ds would have all three "deplaned" immediately! The point being, though there is no reason to believe that this could happen to you, I learned my lesson to make sure that my family always has a row to ourselves. Therefore, I think you are wise to have bought your child a seat. I think that having the car seat will be more comfortable for him, as it is something familiar and secure in an unfamiliar situation. There is always the good chance that kids can sleep through the flight and I think the odds of this are better when they're in their own carseat. Good lucK! He's awfully cute!