flying with or without carseat?

jani7

We are going to Hawaii in March and DS will be 7 1/2 months.  The flight is pretty long 7ish hours and we also have one layover. He has his own seat so i'm sure it would be nice to have it but i don't know about carrying it through the airport.  Also DS is a pretty big boy so I'm also afraid he will have outgrown the height limit for his infant carseat.

Thoughts or experiences?

I know its still a few months out but I was thinking if we did take his infant carseat then I might buy a stroller that we can use to carry the car seat through the airport and then use without while on vacation.

LoCarb

How are you transferring from the airport to hotel?  If you need the car seat and will be traveling off the hotel premises, then bring it. Most car rentals allow you to rent a car seat.  I have rented several times.

Otherwise, you're right they're a PITA to travel with.  At that age, we still held onto DD most of the time and allowed her to lay down in the seat to nap.  There is a harness most ppl used called CARES that may be helpful.  As far as a stroller, purchase an umbrella stroller.  They are cheaper and more compact.  Ours even fits in the suitcase.  It definitely will fit in the overhead bin, however, one time we flew the airline made us check it in at the gate. The stroller was waiting for us when we departed the flight w/ no down time. 

Have a fantastic vacay-sounds fun!

molisar

kcarbonell:

How are you transferring from the airport to hotel?  If you need the car seat and will be traveling off the hotel premises, then bring it. Most car rentals allow you to rent a car seat.  I have rented several times.

Otherwise, you're right they're a PITA to travel with.  At that age, we still held onto DD most of the time and allowed her to lay down in the seat to nap.  There is a harness most ppl used called CARES that may be helpful.  As far as a stroller, purchase an umbrella stroller.  They are cheaper and more compact.  Ours even fits in the suitcase.  It definitely will fit in the overhead bin, however, one time we flew the airline made us check it in at the gate. The stroller was waiting for us when we departed the flight w/ no down time. 

Have a fantastic vacay-sounds fun!

This.  Once we traveled without it when we didn't need a car seat at our destination.  The most recent trip we needed it.  I also agree with PP, they are a MAJOR PITA the lug around.  At one point DH put it on the ground and said, let's just leave this POS here and buy a new one when we get there.  LOL.

If you can find a way to get one at your destination, I'd recommend doing that.  I much preferred traveling without a car seat.

EDIT: DS has also always been big.  Our last trip he was 7.5 months and we needed the convertible car seat.  The bucket was way too small.

amywoods824

If you're planning on carrying on luggage, they make a strap that hooks a convertible carseat onto a rolling suitcase.  I think it's called a tote-a-tot.  We're traveling with LO this weekend and plan on just using that in the airport since we'll need the carseat at our destination and we're not bringing a stroller.  We plan on just gate checking the suitcase and carseat. 

 

vigurl

just check it with your luggage it is free.  that way you do not have to lug it around.

Nechie122

He has his own seat on the plane?  Wouldn't you be required to bring a car seat then?

DD still uses her infant seat, but I saw people at the airport last week who were rolling their convertible car seats on wheels.  That might be something to look into.  

rjveldman

We had ours on our lap for the flight and then checked his car seat and stroller (that snap together) at the gate. He needed to have something to sit in when we were being taxied to our destination.

jani7

Nechie122:

He has his own seat on the plane?  Wouldn't you be required to bring a car seat then?

DD still uses her infant seat, but I saw people at the airport last week who were rolling their convertible car seats on wheels.  That might be something to look into.  

I'm not sure that because he has own seat you are required to bring a car seat?  I could be wrong though!  And just because he has his own seat we'll still hold him much of the time.   

jani7

Thanks ladies for all the comments!  We will be able to get a car seat at our destination with our rental car for those who mentioned that. 

molisar - funny story about DH wanting to leave the car seat behind!  

Nechie122

jani7:

Nechie122:

He has his own seat on the plane?  Wouldn't you be required to bring a car seat then?

DD still uses her infant seat, but I saw people at the airport last week who were rolling their convertible car seats on wheels.  That might be something to look into.  

I'm not sure that because he has own seat you are required to bring a car seat?  I could be wrong though!  And just because he has his own seat we'll still hold him much of the time.   

I would check with your airline for sure.  It could be dangerous for a seven month old to be belted just with a lap belt on an aircraft, and it might be required during take-off and landing (unless you're holding him then.)

vigurl

Nechie122:

jani7:

Nechie122:

He has his own seat on the plane?  Wouldn't you be required to bring a car seat then?

DD still uses her infant seat, but I saw people at the airport last week who were rolling their convertible car seats on wheels.  That might be something to look into.  

I'm not sure that because he has own seat you are required to bring a car seat?  I could be wrong though!  And just because he has his own seat we'll still hold him much of the time.   

I would check with your airline for sure.  It could be dangerous for a seven month old to be belted just with a lap belt on an aircraft, and it might be required during take-off and landing (unless you're holding him then.)

I just flew with a 6 month old.  I did not get him his own seat.  On take off and landing you must put the infant on your lap or a FAA approved car seat.   During mid flight if there is an empty seat you can put your LO in the empty seat w/o a car seat and unbleted.  That way you can check the car seat. 

jani7

Nechie122:

jani7:

Nechie122:

He has his own seat on the plane?  Wouldn't you be required to bring a car seat then?

DD still uses her infant seat, but I saw people at the airport last week who were rolling their convertible car seats on wheels.  That might be something to look into.  

I'm not sure that because he has own seat you are required to bring a car seat?  I could be wrong though!  And just because he has his own seat we'll still hold him much of the time.   

I would check with your airline for sure.  It could be dangerous for a seven month old to be belted just with a lap belt on an aircraft, and it might be required during take-off and landing (unless you're holding him then.)

Right - if we do not take a car seat  then of course we will hold him during take off and landing. 

frlcb

You are not required to bring a car seat on board, but you will have to hold your child on take off and landing since they are too small to be belted in. The CARES harness is no good, you have to be 1 to use it and a certain weight. We use it with our ds all the time but a 7.5 month old is too small.

We just flew from the US to the UK, and are flying back in a few days. I wish we had a seat for dd. Bring the car seat. You will want a place to put them down and let them sleep. You can get a car seat bag that has wheels. 

JM712

I actually would vote for bringing the carseat.  We flew to FL with DD when she was 7.5 months old and brought the infant car seat and the snap and go stroller and it was great!  Since we didn't buy a seat for her, we gate checked the car seat and stroller and they were ready for us when we got to our destination.  It was so convenient to have DD in a stroller throughout the airport and it was really nice to have our own carseat that we were comfortable with when we were driving places in Florida.  I was originally planning to not bring the carseat and then rent one from the car rental company until I looked it up online and read TONS of horror stories about disgusting carseats with food and vomit all over them, out of date carseats and rental companies that just handed you a carseat with no owner's manual and basically told you good luck installing it in the car.  I didn't want to chance any of that happening, so I felt much better bringing our own seat that we could bring the owner's manual for and know exactly how to properly install it into the car.  Have fun in Hawaii!

RunningGal900

I would not rent a car seat for a few reasons. A) they probably will not be able to help you install it and I would not want to be installing a seat for the first time on vacation. you don't know the history of the seat. We brought our infant seat on vacation and plan to get a convertible specifically for travel. When possible I bring the seat on board. It's safest and it is so nice to have a place to put LO. With the infant seat we just used the snap n go and with a convertible we will either get a bag to carry it or get something with wheels to drag it. I personally don't like to check mine with the luggage bc of the way they toss those bags around. They have broken two of my strollers...I don't want the damage to my car seat.

Jill070707

We checked ours when we flew a few months ago.  I was sent on a work trip with very little notice, so I wasn't able to find a place to rent one. We only brought it to use in the cabs to get to/from the airport and around town.  We checked the umbrella stroller at the gate and used that around the airport.

laurakaz13

We've flown 4 times with LO and have bought a seat for her 3 1/2 times.  We tried once to do the lap thing and were miserable.  Highly recommend bringing the carseat so your LO can sleep in it on the flight. 

Do you have a converable carseat and stroller that attach?  We don't just drag our carseat.  We attach it to the stroller, gate check the stroller, and have LO sit in her seat. 

We plan to travel a ton nationally/internationally with LO as we're huge travelers, and we will NEVER not buy her a seat again. 

kristennd

The one time that we've flown with LO, we used his car seat with the snap and go stroller and that made getting through the airports very easy. Brought the seat on board and gate checked the stroller.

But that only works up to a certain size, of course.