Car seat on airplane?

twinkletoes3126

We are taking my son on an airplane ride and I was curious if he should sit in his carseat during the flight? I was planning on doing this because of possible turbulence, hoping he would nap, and also he knows his carseat and that he has to sit there. Everyone I've talked to thinks I'm nuts for bringing his car seat and some even think it's not allowed. So I'm curious what you all have done or would do. Thanks!

abbyful

We are flying for vacation this summer, DS will be in a car seat. It's safer and I hope he sleeps on the plane.

If you buy a plane ticket for your kid, they are legally obligated to allow you to use a [FAA approved] car seat.

There's some good blog posts linked at the bottom here: https://carseatblog.com/18895/flying-with-kids-carseats-the-checked-carseat-controversy/

sdlaura

DD has been on probably 25+ flights, always in her carseat.  Really I see the safety thing as a bonus.  For me it is just more convenient to know that I have her in a seat and don't have to try to contain her on my lap and she sleeps much better in her carseat than on me (and I have my hands free while she's napping).  We've done a lot of long flights. We make sure that she's strapped in during take-off and landing, and any turbulence where they tell passengers to return to their seats and buckle up, but the rest of the time she can move around just like she were a lap child.

We bought a separate carseat just for air travel, because the ones in our cars are big and heavy.  Lucie's list recommends a few smaller/lighter weight convertibles.  We bought the Evenflo one.  It is so much easier to carry around than a heavier seat:

https://www.lucieslist.com/best-convertible-car-seats/#FLYING

Like @annieluvsjordan suggested, we also bought one of these, which works great for getting through the airport:

https://www.amazon.com/Go-Go-Babyz-QRKIDZ-Kidz-Travelmate/dp/B000JJK9EY

Our family all lives across the country, so for us it made sense to invest in a couple things that made long flights and time in airports easier on all of us.

twinkletoes3126

Thanks for all the suggestions. We have the peg perego convertible car seat so that is already pretty lightweight. I asked on my local online garage sale to see if anyone has one of those rolling things because they look super helpful, so we shall see. I don't think I could spend $75 for one flight so hopefully someone has a used one!

tumblefluff

DS was in his car seat on the plane when we flew in November. We also had the attachment for the car seat so we could roll him through the airport. It was worth every penny. We did gate check our stroller too but that was because our luggage was being sent directly to our hotel and we needed our stroller before the luggage would get there.

twinkletoes3126

I am so excited because I found a travelmate for $20! Am I allowed to just shove it under the seat in front of me?

sdlaura

Great!  It folds up and will fit in the overhead or underneath the seat.

acire86

@L12541‌ if you have an evenflo carseat check their website, there was just a recall on the buckles. I had to cut R out of her seat one day because the buckle got stuck. They sent me a new buckle but it was very inconvenient.

sdlaura

Thanks, @acire86 - I hadn't heard about that.  The Tribute that we use for flying isn't on the list.  We have an Evenflo Symphony in DH's car, but we got it before DD was born, and the ones with the recall started being manufactured in October 2012, so it doesn't apply to ours.  I still appreciate the tip!