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Northern California Babies
WDYT? Carseats for plane
We're taking our first big vacay with N (Italy, yay!) but the flight is going to be looong (14 hours, boo...) She has her own seat for the entire trip and we were planning on bringing a carseat. I'm debating which seat:
Option 1: I was thinking of bringing her infant seat - we have the Graco snugride 35 that we literally just transferred her out of this past weekend so we know she still fits (she's 23lbs, maybe 31 inches and still has 1 inch above her head). The pros: we get one more use out of it and we won't care if it gets beat up a bit on this trip (we plan on using it in the rental car as well), its lightweight and smallish, and its familiar for her: Cons: She is pretty squished widthwise and it may not be all that comfy esp for such a long plane ride though she hasn't been complaining in the car, maybe its not the safest since she's almost outgrown it, it can only be installed RF I think and I'm just worried it may be an issue on the flights (?) we're flying Lufthansa.
Option 2: getting a cheapo - like the Cosco Scenera. I read that its light weight too, but I'm guessing its also going to be very barebones. The con's is spending money on another carseat that we won't be using after the trip (we already have convertible seats for her in our cars)
Also, for those bumpies who have flown on long hauls; when they weren't sleeping did you entertain them in their seats or on your laps? I was thinking that if they're buckled in their seats, it kind of limits their ability to "sit upright" and do stuff like look at books or eat...
Sorry this is so long.. thanks for reading this far!
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Re: WDYT? Carseats for plane
We took our Cosco Scenera on our trip last year. It is light weight and bonus, most come with it's own carseat bag with a handle. We had our since it was already in DH's car.
As for entertainment, it was hard. He wanted to be in my lap for a good chunk of the flight. We had books, a DVD player, food, etc. It's a long long flight and you just have to do whatever you can to get through it.
We've been to Sweden with the little guy a few times.
1) call the airline and see if the have bassinets at the bulk head seats and if so beg and plead for one. If they have it, it's a bed that attached to the wall and your kiddo can lay or play in it.
2) even if no bassinet, try for a bulkhead seat. then you have floor space! We've sat on the floor and played, we even (after being told by the stewardess that we did not ask b/c if we did they would have to say no) let the baby sleep on the floor on blankets with pillows.
3) make the hubs get up and walk little one around the plane so you get a break.
good luck!
We're heading back to Sweden next week with a 3yo and about 15 hours total in the air. not looking forward to it, but I think it'll be good
I purposefully bought a Scenera for our EU trip last year. G was 18? months old and he did great it in. Yes it's a barebones seat, but it was $50 (thank you, Target) and if it got beat up it was only $50
We also used it on each car-ride we were in. There was only one (small) airline which did not allow us to use it, because it was too wide for their tiny-arse seats. I pitched a fit, but it was either no seat or no-fly, and I wanted to get home. Now that G is older we will be getting him a CARES restraint.
On the long flight G sat in his seat. He did awesome, and I expected to be tearing my hair out because he's such an active kid otherwise. Seats are so tight these days, that with a tray down there's no way you can have a kid in your lap. Whenever he was in his seat he was buckled into the Scenera and it did NOT impede his ability to watch DVDs, play, draw or anything. Actually I think it helped because it provided him more support than not using a car seat.
If you choose not to get a seat, at least, please get the CARES harness. It's FAA approved.
Photo by Zemya Photography
After reading Ava's post I wanted to clarify, DS was buckled for about 70% of the 20+ hour flight we took last summer. In his Scenera. The other 30% he was in my lap, clinging to me like a monkey. I wasn't entertaining him with anything but mama hugs and boobs. On the return we actually checked the seat and DS sat in the regular seat for the vast majority of the return flight. It wasn't what I intended when planning the trip but I didn't want to hold him for the whole return either. It was nice to have my own seat and he was asleep but I barely rested because I was so anxious about him. He was buckled but it wouldn't have kept him safe given how loose it was and he was totally slumped over in a way that did not look healthy. So I nudged and readjusted him often. I hope you have better luck!
They've pretty much covered it, but I wanted to add that we put our convertible seat in RF and it made a little "bucket" for him to play in. You have to put all carseats in the window seat, and so he had the window to look out of and that alone was entertaining for a lot of the flight.
Our longest trip has been a two-hop flight to the east coast.
Good luck!
Most international airlines will NOT let you use a car seat for take-off and landing. Even if it is certified, it is legally left to the discretion of the flight attendant(s) and usually they will just stow it in their attendants' closet (and then get it out once they level off.) We always do a little bit of everything. In seat, up walking, standing in the seat looking around. Your flight might also have a built in entertainment unit. (movies, music, games).
Why wouldn't you just take a convertible seat you already have? We always take a convertible seat (and just attach it to wheels; like to a carry on or a go-go-kidz travelmate.)
Huh. I've flown United and Virgin Atlantic to/from the UK and they were both fine with it and didn't say a peep.
But A brings up a good point. Call your airlines to confirm. Sadly this is an airline by airline policy. It sucks.
Photo by Zemya Photography