question regarding child safety seats on airplanes

[debbiebones]

We'll be taking our 2 and 4 year old on a a DLC in January... Does anyone know what the exact rules are for kids of those ages? Do they both HAVE to be in child safety seats or do they leave it up to the passengers' discretions? It's been awhile since we've flown with children (my daughter was 1 back then).

Thanks,

Deb

 

[mcnuss]

Sadly, there is no requirement at all for any child to be in a safety seat on a plane. However, if you have purchased tickets for both children, you are entitled to bring your seat on board. I got hassled some times by flight attendants who were clueless, but it is your right. However, booster seats are not allowed (although I have seen them on board) because for a booster to work properly, it is supposed to be attached with a lap/shoulder belt, and of course, there are no shoulder belts on the plane.

For thos of you reading this thread who have not purchased a seat for your infant or toddler, please know that most airlines will let you take the seat on board. DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THE CHECK-IN AGENTS. Tell them that if there is no room for it, that you'll "gate check" it. (Same with your stroller....don't check it unless you want to.) Ask them if they can "soft hold" a seat in your row; this means that they will not fill that seat until the last moment. Some will be nice & cooperate; others will look at you like you are nuts. When you get to the gate, check at the last minute if there is an empty seat in your row. If not, ask for a gate check and then you will be allowed to carry the seat (or stroller) all the way to the end of the jetway & leave it there. It will be taken off the plane at your destination and left on the jetway for you to pick up. It is soooo convenient!

FYI -- these tips were given to me by a kind & wonderful agent at British Airways 8 years ago when we traveled to London with DD who was then 10 mos. old. I used these tips for at least 20 trips when she was a toddler and only once did I have to hold her on my lap. That trip terrified me so much that from that moment on, even though technically I did not have to until she was 2, I bought her a seat. DD rode in her car seat on airplanes until she was about 4 when she went into a booster.
Good luck!

 

[ducklite]

Neither HAS to be in one, but I would strongly urge you to put the two year old in one. The lap belt will not properly secure a child that young in case of turbulence.

Check the tag and make sure it's FAA approved.

Anne

 

[Mike Bartenhagen]

Mcnuss,

Like you we always buy our kids seats. We would never think of having them ride on our lap in the car or riding without a car seat so to let them do it on an airplane doesen't make much sence to me. Anyone who flys very often knows that sometimes it can get bumpy. The way I look at it if my kids aren't worth a two or three hundred dollar ticket than I probably don't need to take them on an airplane.

I also agree with you that some airline employees can be really stupid. We were asked one time while in flight if we had purchased a ticket for our one and a half year old. The flight attendant was not going to give her a drink if we had not.

Deb, if you do take the car seats make sure you pay attention when they start to board the plane as most all airlines will let passangers with kids get on first. This will give you a chance to get the car seat situated. Also make sure you put it against the window or they will make you move it.

 

[mcnuss]

One last thought, and thanks Mike for reminding me.

When you put the car seat in the plane seat, make sure you put up the armrest between the seats. Then you will need to sit in the car seat (you look like a moron, but it's necessary) to make sure that it's squished in the seat good & tight so that when you buckle it in, there is no movement at all.

One last frequent flyer tip: if you are traveling as a family, do not automatically reserve seats all together. What we do is reserve Window, Aisle, Window for the 3 of us. That way, we roll the dice on having an empty seat between us. If, however, someone gets assigned that middle seat, you should see the glee when we offer them our "extra" aisle seat!!

 

[debbiebones]

Thanks so much for your quick replies. We did indeed purchase tickets for both of the kids and while it seems like a burden to have to lug two extra things, it's well worth it to keep them safe. I'll keep in mind that we should be able to board ahead of everyone so as to position the carseats.

Thanks again!

Deb

 

[TootyJane]

Originally posted by mcnuss
....However, booster seats are not allowed (although I have seen them on board) because for a booster to work properly, it is supposed to be attached with a lap/shoulder belt, and of course, there are no shoulder belts on the plane....

FYI,
Not all booster seats require lap/shoulder harnesses to work effectively. As long as you bring a "locking clip" your booster seat can be secured safely with the regular lap belt. HTH

 

[pagemaker]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us!

Maybe we will meet on board. I have finally spilled the beans to the kids about our Thanksgiving cruise. DD10 has not stopped asking questions about it! She is so excited!

deb
11/23/02 Magic 7 Day - out first cruise ever!

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

Ask your airline if they give discount tickets if you're buying tickets for your kids so they can use their carseats. When our twins were 18 months old we went to Orlando for my parents 40th anniversary. UAL only charged us 1/2 price for their tickets. And, make sure your seats are approved for air travel-don't just assume. On our flight home last year we couldn't take off because a man wanted his 1 year old to use the car seat he says he's used many times for flights, but the attendant said it wasn't FAA certified and wouldn't let him use it and wouldn't allow the child in it. They wouldn't allow the plane to take off until the child was removed. There was one heck of a fight in the back of the plane!

 

[mcnuss]

And, make sure your seats are approved for air travel-don't just assume.

So right! Most of them have stickers on them, but if yours does not, see if you can find the info in the owner's manual or on the Web. The flight attendants tend to be pretty ill-informed, but have the ultimate say in what stays or goes.

Not all booster seats require lap/shoulder harnesses to work effectively. As long as you bring a "locking clip" your booster seat can be secured safely with the regular lap belt. HTH

This may be true, but in my recollection, those are the ones with the "shield" across the lap? If so, these are not FAA approved. The only boosters I have seen approved are the ones that have their own shoulder straps and that use a lapbelt to stay attached.

 

[romeo&juliet]

At the risk of sounding really stupid, what do you do with the car seats once you land? Do you have to lug it around and on to the ship with you? I'm flying from Minneapolis to Orlando on Sept 6 for the Sept 7 magic cruise and had wondered about that myself. The only child I have to be concerned about is my 3 year old. (the others are older)... With all the baggage we will already be carrying (my daughter has some medical problems so we also are carrying on some medical equipment) as well as just our carryons it seems like it would be very difficult to lag around a car seat also. Any ideas?

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

Bringing carseats on the plane can be such a pain but it is just the price I choose to pay for the increased safety of my child. I know many others will forego this option as they feel differently.

We use a backpack carrier to hold our carseat while in the airport. You put the carseat in the bag and zip it up and then put the shoulder straps on the bag on your back. You can then carry the carseat like a backpack. It is very bulky but it is much easier than trying to carry it or pile it on top of a luggage cart. There are various brands of these carriers out there so you should be able to find a reasonably priced one.

Happy cruising!

 

[jlima]

We travelled with a 16 mo old. We spent 4 days in Orlando, then the 7-day cruise. We rented a car in Orlando & the seat was used in there for the first few days; on the cruise we checked it with our bags (we had to ask for an extra luggage tag) & it was delivered to our cabin & it sat in a closet all week. For the bus ride back to the airport they let us take it on the bus & sit him in it; it wasn't secured as the bus doesn't have seat belts. We lugged it through the airport & he used in on the flight home.

Funny thing happened - on the day we left Las Vegas we valet parked at the airport and FORGOT it in the car!! I admired DH for fitting all our bags onto one cart . . . no wonder, we didn't have the carseat! We had checked our bags & were almost to security & DH had to go back to the valet area; they hadn't parked the car yet and he grabbed it & we were off.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by akasleepingbeauty
Bringing carseats on the plane can be such a pain but it is just the price I choose to pay for the increased safety of my child. I know many others will forego this option as they feel differently.
Happy cruising!

I TOTALLY agree...I would never let my child ride without a car seat in a car so why should a plane be any different...turbulance can fling a child all over the plane!!! One sudden drop and the child slips out of the seat belt and is flung in the air. I think airlines should be required to secure every young child in a car sea!

 

[kmoore]

A couple of comments to add:

Definitely be sure your seat is FAA approved, and that it has it's own harness (i.e., doesn't use the car seat belt as a restraint) - otherwise, it's a good bet the cabin crew won't let you use it.

Bear in mind that on a lot of domestic flights these days, the seats are pretty narrow - some car seats won't fit. One poster pointed out about lifting the arm rests - make sure your seats have arm rests that lift - some don't.

For a young child (up to two, I think), there is a special air travel system called, I think, "Baby B'air" or something similar - believe you can find it at babycenter.com which works as a safe harness when a child is seated on your lap. It's soft and so also eliminates the "what to do after the flight" question. This seems a very good option for little ones - and much safer than the crappy infant belt they give you that attaches to the parent belt!

When boarding, the best is for one parent to go on first with the car seat and diaper bag and get it installed and everything stowed away and ready, and for the other parent to wait with the kid(s) to board last - I never understood why families board first - just puts kids into a confined space for even longer and at a point where there are lots of crowds and confusion!

Lugging car seats is inconvenient, but we always do it, because it really is a "safety first" question - and it's only a couple of years of hassle, in the long run.


Good luck.

Karen

 

[shellgoodman]

Keep in mind that a childs carseat has to go against a window. For my family of 4, I put my 4 yr old in the seat without a carseat and I bring a carseat on board for my 2 yr old. My 4 yr old is too big to seat in a car seat in a plane that has no leg room to big with. There would be much crying about the lack of leg room. I am not just talking about the kids. It would be the longest trip for me if I put her in a carseat with all the complaining.

 

[mcnuss]

At the risk of sounding really stupid, what do you do with the car seats once you land? Do you have to lug it around and on to the ship with you?

You do not sound stupid! On the cruise, I guess you have to put them in a closet or on another thread I heard that DCL will store it for you if you ask. I think it's going to depend how you are getting to/from the port, too. I have stored my booster with my car service here in NH while we traveled (we did not need it on the other end, and I could not use it on the plane). It was great as it was all buckled into the car when they picked us up on our return.

As for carrying them around, I devised 3 solutions over the years. One was to use one of those handles you can buy to go around a parcel - you loop it thru the straps and voila, you have a handle! The other way, which I used a lot, was to buy a cheapo folding luggage trolley with bungees to attach the seat. My DD could actually pull that for me (we were often alone together on our travels) when she was not in her stroller. I also used the top canapy of the stroller to carry it - hooked it up with the bungees. It looked pretty wild but it worked!

 

[PiperG]

Originally posted by romeo&juliet
I'm flying from Minneapolis to Orlando on Sept 6 for the Sept 7 magic cruise

I was reading through old posts and saw that you are from the Twin Cities! We live in Maple Grove (the other end of the earth from St. Paul) but maybe we will hook up at the Megamall sometime. LOL!!!

 

[romeo&juliet]

Thanks for all the info about the carseat issue. I suppose I really never considered turbulance being an issue...and of course if we crash, a carseat sure isn't going to be much help (what a nasty thought, ouch)...anyway, we will need it in Orlando since we will be there a day early and renting a car, so I guess I'd have to bring it either way, might as well have it on the plane and not take any chances...

Oh, and PiperG...I'm actually in Cottage Grove...so yeah, the other side of the cities, but not too far. Maple Grove is nice...took my preschool class on a field trip to Maple Maze last summer. As for the Mega Mall...anytime except a weekend...I HATE that place on the weekends...parking is so exhausting that I'm ready to leave by the time I get out of the car...lol...My husband has been on to me to go pick up a movie he has on hold there for a few weeks but I just can't bare the thought yet...I work really close to there thou. I can see the mall from my desk. So maybe I'll see you there early some morning before work when the crowds are not unbareable...lol...