Question about car seat/tray on plane

[nemomama]

Hi! I have kind of a weird question. If you use a regular full sized car seat on an airplane, when you pull down the food tray on the back of the seat in front of you does it "reach" so that the child in the car seat can eat/play etc...
Thanks in advance for your help. I'm just wondering if I really need to buy one of those trays that attaches to the car seat for DD.
Thanks!

 

[Annette_VA]

No, you most likely will not be able to use the tray

 

[AnaheimGirl]

For my kids, the car seat has been too high, the tray hits the front of the seat (next to their knees) and slopes toward the back of the seat in front of us. Not good for eating, drawing, or anything.

 

[long4disney]

We used our Britax Marathon car seat and we could not use the tray in front of her. Plus our dd's feet were constantly kicking the seat in front of us, so for our next flight we will not be using a car seat. My dd will be 3 years old, so we feel she will do fine with the lap belt.

 

[hipmaman]

Hi! I have kind of a weird question. If you use a regular full sized car seat on an airplane, when you pull down the food tray on the back of the seat in front of you does it "reach" so that the child in the car seat can eat/play etc...
Thanks in advance for your help. I'm just wondering if I really need to buy one of those trays that attaches to the car seat for DD.
Thanks!

The trays cannot be used with the carseats. So my kids would just eat 'from their laps' No difference than in the car for us.

 

[ptslp]

We have a Graco that turns from harness seat to booster seat that we used on our last two flights and my son was able to use the tray (American and Northwest) on both flights. It depends on how tall your seat is. The one we have was perfect for the tray. I think my dd's Evenflo seat wouldn't work- it is taller and has a different shape than ds's seat.

 

[Patsfan7]

For my kids, the car seat has been too high, the tray hits the front of the seat (next to their knees) and slopes toward the back of the seat in front of us. Not good for eating, drawing, or anything.

On Song we had the same experience. BUT there is a tv in the headrest, so it was okay. DD just ate off of our trays on either side of her. Good Luck.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

We used our Britax Marathon car seat and we could not use the tray in front of her. Plus our dd's feet were constantly kicking the seat in front of us, so for our next flight we will not be using a car seat. My dd will be 3 years old, so we feel she will do fine with the lap belt.

Just FYI --

We were told by the airline that the airplane lap belts are not designed to fit kids under 4 yrs old or under 40 pounds. They sit too high up on the abdomen of a small child and can actually injure the child internally in case of turbulence, rough landing, etc. Additionally, even after tightening, a child will have relatively more dead air space between the sides of his body and the lap belt, leaving him vulnerable to sliding out of the belt completely.

It's your decision what to do with your child, but I wasn't sure if you were aware of the safety issue, so I just wanted to let you know.

Have a great trip.

 

[quiltymom]

I have found out that it all depends upon which plane you take. Some planes/airlines have less space between rows than others, which will make the table hit the seat. But, since I give them their drinks in sippy cups to keep spills down, I can still use the tray. I just figure that it's part of flying and I've learned to adapt. With me, it's always the kid's safety first above anything else!

I always use a car seat for my kids if they still need one in the car. It is so much safer for them, especially when bad turbulence hits. It made them feel more secure being strapped in them!

 

[nemomama]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I think I'll buy one of those trays...it'll probably come in handy for coloring and stuff long after the trip.
Thanks again!

 

[cwnhokie]

We also have a Graco seat and the tray just fit. I was nervous with drinks because if he moved his legs it would move, but for coloring it was fine. We flew SW and took carseat for both boys. For us, we wanted to be able to have them strapped in and in a familiar seat.

 

[all4fun]

We use a Cosco Touriva when flying and ds sits up too high to use the tray when in that seat. I think the reason it may work for combo-booster type seats (the harnessed ones that turn into belt-positioning boosters when your dc gets older) is because booster type seats tend to sit lower than a convertible (rear-facing/front-facing) car seat does.

hth!
Cheryl