3 year old & airplane, WWYD?

dewdrop1210

We are traveling later this year on a 3 hour non-stop flight for a wedding.  DD#1 will be 3 & DD#2 will be 1.  Do I need to take a carseat for DD#1 or can she sit in the regular airplane seat?  Also, should I get a seat for DD#2 or just hold her in my lap?  DH will be there to help too.  I am a total newbie at traveling by plane with my babies!

 

One more question - Should I get passports for the girls or just take birth certificates or is something else required?  TIA! 

ETA: The in-laws will have carseats waiting for us when we arrive for the wedding. 

Temp86398625009737

Our 3 (well, now 4) year old has sat well in a seat since she was 2 and needed her own seat.  We travel every 4-6 months and we have never had a problem, When she was a baby we never used a car seat, just held her since tickets were so expensive.  If you can afford an extra seat, it may be worth it to keep her in the seat, but I have seen this backfire and people be stuck with the car seat and still have to hold thier toddler who was screaming to get out of the car seat.  We never bought an extra seat and hoped there was an extra somewhere on the plane DH could move to, or we asked at the gate.  If that was the case, we would just spread out

jlw2505

It really depends on your kids.  My older DD always did better having her own seat.  We have the 5 point harnass CARES system for her that we have used for a few years now and she loves it and does great.  My younger DD is another story, she always did better in my lap and would still prefer at almost 3, to sit in my lap if she could.  I would always travel without a car seat whenever possible.  If you think your little one would sleep better on the long flight, get her a seat and bring her car seat but if you can avoid it, I would.

ilovemygirls

Given that you will have carseats waiting for you on the other side, I'd totally leave them at home.  You can play pass the baby, and bring a backpack full of new fun things for your 3yo, plus something for her to watch a movie(s) on.  We've not traveled much with ours either, but we just did recently when our youngest was 3- she did great! 

bls27

I would check out the CARES harness.  It's expensive but so worth it, in my opinion.  I wouldn't deal with the hassle of bringing a carseat if one will be waiting for you.

Where are you flying?  You don't need a passport unless you are flying outside the country.  We brought copies of the girls birth certificates both time we flew but the airlines never asked for them.

dewdrop1210

Thanks everyone! The wedding is in Florida, so I'll just take birth certificates for the girls. I'll get CARES for DD#1 & DD#2 will be a lap baby! You guys have been SO helpful!