- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Babies: 6 - 9 Months
AndromedaEclipse
member
Are we crazy? Flying with baby
AndromedaEclipse
member
DH and I have an opportunity to go to England for two weeks in January. DD will be 7 months when we go, and she will be coming with us. She can fly in our laps for a greatly reduced charge ($100). It would save us $1000. Are we crazy to even consider doing this? Or should we (painfully) shell out the extra money for her own seat? We can technically afford it, but it would be a hardship.
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Are we crazy? Flying with baby
I flew with my first DD dozens of times with her in my lap. We didn't pay for a separate seat for her until we had to (age 2). The longest flight was a flight to Greece, which was about 10 hours, plus several shorter connections. We also did a flight to Australia but we had first class seats which allows for a lot more room to share a seat.
Honestly, it wasn't the best, and it sucked not having my hands free most of the time, but it saved us so much money and she was the type of baby who hated her carseat, didn't sleep in it, and would have wanted to be held most of the time anyways (i.e. she was a high maintenance little gal!).
Many of the flights ended up with empty seats and the airlines were often good about putting us close to an empty seat if we asked, so we could use that to let her stretch out or play, or just to have your hands to yourself for a few minutes!
We flew when DD2 was 5 months. We checked her carseat (with the base attached). Then we gate checked the stroller. We use our Chicco Liteway for traveling. It has been gate checked several times with only very minor damage.
Yup, this is what we did exactly :-) And from what I can remember, neither the carseat nor the stroller count towards your usual baggage limit, so no worries in the regard.
I wouldn't pay for the extra seat either. DS gets fussy in car seat for 4 hour car rides...I can't imagine how unhappy he would be on plane. He slept lots on the plane ride (the longest flight we have taken was 5.5hours) but when he was awake I had cartoons, baby einstein movies on my laptop...iPad for baby games and interactive books....snacks...bottles. And he just liked to look out the window and people watched, so I walked up and down the isle a little. Between MIL and I we switch off carrying him, and our flight was not full, so we were able to have extra seat in the middle.
We checked car seat with base at baggage check and gate checked stroller. It was so much easier than I imagined it would be. The hotel had pack n play available...and they were the normal size ones..some hotels have mini PnP..so small; so i did not have to travel with that, which was nice.
Definitely not crazy and since you and DH are going, it will be fine
This is us exactly! We're going MD to UK though. Thanks for the tip, I'll call to book instead of doing it online.
I just got back from Hawaii with my DD. 6 hour flight. We did opt to buy her a seat, but she doesn't mind sitting in her car seat. It also made it easier to sit, play, etc. The extra carry on luggage option was nice too. I was able to bring stuff for me, her and DH on the plane as opposed to having to pack only stuff for her.
After flying with a separate seat - I would HIGHLY recommend getting her a seat if it is possible to swing it and her personality allows for it. (i.e. She doesn't need you to hold her to fall asleep.) That said, I have a not so snuggy baby, (sometimes makes me sad because I wanna snuggle,) who likes some autonomy, loves everyone she meets, no stranger danger - at this point - or separation anxiety, pretty low maintenance, all confidence. I think the child's personality comes into play a lot during this decision. My DD would have been LIVID if she had to sit in my or DH's lap for 6 hours.
Having the extra seat gave me free hands to prepare food, entertain myself when she slept, eat, etc. It was just wonderful. I attribute the space and extra baggage (therefore extra supplies,) with her not crying the entire flight, coming or going. People marveled at her as they got off the plane. "I didn't even know she was here!", "What a doll!"
We also hit some wicked turbulence both directions and I was so happy she was safely secured.