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Birth certificate for flying with a toddler?

Mrs.RamMrs.Ram
in D.C. Area Babies
We'll be flying for the first time with DD in June, and when I called the airline to report my "lap child" (not sure why I'm offended by this title), they said I have to bring her original birth certificate to check in. Is that normal? Is that just because she doesn't have another form of ID? I guess I'm paranoid because we keep that locked away with all of our other important documents, and am nervous about travelling with it.
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Re: Birth certificate for flying with a toddler?

  • clarajclaraj
    I have never had to do this, not when DD was a lap child or when we've bought her a seat.
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  • QueSrahQueSrah member
    I still haven't needed it for DD - we've flown with her 3 or 4 times - but occasionally I hear that people are asked for the birth certificate as ID.  I do have a spare birth certificate for her, just like I ordered a spare marriage license for when I had to produce that a lot for name changes.
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  • WinesNotWhinesWinesNotWhines
    Some airlines require a birth certificate to prove that your child is under 2 years old, especially if they're close to the age limit (i.e. it might not be an issue if you're traveling with a 3 month old, but it might be an issue for an 18 month old). I didn't know it needed to be an original though. It seems a copy should suffice.
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  • victoria1212victoria1212 member

    on the flights we have taken- we have been asked for one so I would take it just in case.

    Random FYI- friends of ours took their 14 month old to Europe and they had a passport for him but because she has never changed her name, she was asked for his BC to prove she was his mother. Luckily, they had it with them.

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  • SofkaSofka
    you should fly w/ the certificate, you may or may not be asked for it but it's a good idea to have it; when the kids were born we paid for 2 ($12e in VA), if you only have 1, you may want to order another one
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  • jenndreierjenndreier
    I always bring DDs birth certificate but have never been asked for it. 
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  • DCtoLowcountryDCtoLowcountry
    We've only flown with DS once, but we were asked to bring his birth certificate to check in. We did bring an original since we ordered multiple copies.
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  • hokies94hokies94 member

    Is it Southwest?  They're notorious for asking for the birth certificate or making you buy a seat if you don't have it.

    In 8 years of flying, we've never been asked for a birth certificate for our kids, but we've never taken them on Southwest.

    Technically they can ask for it but realistically not many of them do.  

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  • Mrs.RamMrs.Ram

    We'll actually be on United.

    I am thinking I should order another BC just to have, then I won't be so nervous to bring an original with me.

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  • maddmaskmaddmask member
    I didn't want to bring DS's birth certificate either.  A copy of vaccine records also works so that's what I brought instead. 
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  • ak1234ak1234
    They always recommend you bring it if you have an older toddler.  We have two copies...a home copy and a traveling copy.  I have flown on United, US Air, Delta and Southwest and have never had to show it.  The gate agent at Southwest did recommend that I carry it, though.
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  • smacbsmacb
    We've flown 8 times with DS.  I brought his birth certificate once.  No one has ever asked for one.
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  • suecadencesuecadence

    imagegtown_bride:
    Some airlines require a birth certificate to prove that your child is under 2 years old

    Yes, this has been our experience.

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  • kbalbkbalb
    SW and Airtran both told me just to bring a copy.  In fact one agent said not to bring the original.  I've never had to show it though.
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  • santo614santo614

    TSA can actually deny you access without the original (or another acceptable original). DS is a frequent flyer (30+ flights)  and we've not been asked for it a lot, but we've certainly had times when we would have ran into trouble without it.  

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  • UseonfireUseonfire
    We just flew Us Airways last week and while we had his BC with us, no one asked us for it.  DS even sort of looks older than 17 months, so I was surprised they didn't check to make sure he was under 2...
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