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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
JWSchwarz
member
Car seat on flight?
JWSchwarz
member
We are taking a 5 hour flight on Friday. DH is almost 18 months and extremely active- he can't sit still for 30 seconds and especially not 5 hours. We got him his own seat. Question is...should we put his car seat in his seat or just let him sit in the airplane chair? He does okay in his seat in the car for about 20-40minutes, max. He will sit in my lap quietly for approximately 2 minutes so at this point I'm thinking the car seat sounds better.
Any other advice welcome! Not excited for this flight!!!
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Re: Car seat on flight?
Definately have him in a carseat. We are traveling next month and I started researching it and came up with this article so we bought LO a seat so we can put him in a carseat....................
Traveling with children can be a fun and exciting time. Many parents dread flights they might take with their children. The long confinement, tight quarters for diaper changes, or unwanted bathroom needs at inconvenient times. But most parents don't think of the safety aspect of flying. They assume that since the FAA doesn't require seats for children under two that their most precious cargo is perfectly safe while flying.
They're not. There's nothing magical about two years old that makes a child suddenly need a restraint. The FAA recommends that all children use a restraint on board from birth to 40 pounds.
Most parents when asked will say that a carseat won't save their child if the plane drops out of the sky. I will concede that fact. Two hundred dollars of plastic and harness will not likely help at the stop of a six mile vertical drop. However, crashes from cruising altitudes are remarkably rare, thank goodness.
Far more likely are runway emergencies or turbulence during flight.
Runway emergencies are just like car crashes, except at 150 mph rather than 30 mph. And most parents would pale at the thought of having their child on their laps going to the store at 30 mph, but think nothing of having their child on their lap on the plane at 150 mph.
At 150 mph your child would be your airbag, or they would go flying inside the cabin. A 20 pound child in a 150 mph crash would have 3,000 pounds of force to them. That's enough to be fatal to themselves, and whomever they impact.
Even if baby is fine after being a projectile, and no one has been injured, if you have ten seconds to get off the plane due to toxic gasses or smoke filling the cabin, you'll want your baby to be next to you to easily go. An infant can be six rows up and under the seats and easily overlooked during an emergency evacuation. If your child is next to you in a carseat, they'll still be there after the crash. Remove baby and go.
Turbulence can happen at any time, and it can be violent enough to throw people into the ceiling or several rows away. While it can be unpredictable, if you are seated you should at least fasten your belt, and your children's harnesses, snugly enough so that they do not have to worry about unexpected turbulence. Just as the pilot and flight crew suggests.
Remember, on the flight the only things not restrained during taxi, takeoff, and landing are children under two. Children and adults over two, the flight attendants, all carry on baggage, books, computers, soap in the lav, coffeepots, and snacks are secured. But a lap baby is not. For some reason they're not given the same priority as the peanuts.
In addition to the lack of safety for a child and the people nearby, there is a risk to checking a carseat. If you must check a carseat, put it in its original packaging with padding in the box. Or maybe another box with padding. And then gate check it (it's far more convenient to use the seat on board than to drag a big box to the gate). All too often I see parents check their carseats at the ticket counter, wrapped in nothing but a plastic bag to keep the cover clean. The cover being clean at the other end is the least of the concerns. The worst thing that can happen is that a carseat arrives at the other end with damage that cannot be seen. The only way to find out that there's damage is during or after a crash when the seat has failed.
The second to worst thing that can happen is that the seat is lost. Either it didn't come on your flight with you, or it's been sent to an alternative destination. Once you check it, it's baggage, and everyone has either had baggage lost, or knows someone who has. This is fairly common, and not something the airline guarantees against. They will get you your bags, or money enough to replace what was lost, but when it comes to a carseat, that won't help in the here and now when you're picking up your rental car or getting picked up by friends or family. Someone will have to go to the nearest store and buy whatever is in stock to work for the trip. Sometimes airlines have seats you can borrow, or rental car companies do. These should not be used. You don't know their history, if they've been treated well, cleaned properly, peed in, puked in, pooped in, eaten in (especially worrying if your child has allergies), recalled, expired. They are not to be trusted.
The third worst thing would be that the seat is obviously broken when you pick it up. This is at least an obvious replacement, and so again, someone will have to go to a store and buy a new seat, but at least it's known that the seat is broken and should not be used.
Disregarding the safety aspects for both the carseat and child, it's far saner to travel with the carseat than without. Yes, it's something extra to bring through the airport and install, but that's not the bulk of travel, generally.
They only need to be strapped in while the fasten seatbelt sign is on. So take off, landing, and turbulance.
I haven't bought a seat for LO yet, 3 of 4 times we traveled we lucked out and there was an open seat for us. For my LO sitting in her seat is 100% easier than sitting on my lap. Since you already bought the seat, bring the car seat on the plane. You need it when you get to the other side anyways & you won't have to worry about it getting damaged if you gate check it.
Yeah since you've bought the seat I would bring the car seat for sure. I wouldn't think the belt straps on the airplane would sit right on him.
My LO slept the entire way on both there and back when we traveled with him a few months ago. He wouldn't have done that if we'd just had him sitting in the seat or in our lap. But that's just how he is in his car seat most of the time anyway.
We traveled with our LO when she was 20 months old. Just like your situation, she is very active and won't sit on our laps for more than 2 minutes.
So we bought her a seat and brought the carseat....a britax boulevard. OMG what a mistake! We were on a big United plane but the carseat was way too big for the seat. LO had absolutely no room for her feet...the carseat was literally pressed against the seat in front. She constantly pushed on that seat...luckily my Mom was with us and traded seats with a guy who was sitting there. It would have been awful if she was kicking a strangers chair the whole flight.
On the way home we didn't bring the carseat on the plane and it worked out so much better. LO mostly sat on our laps, but spent some time in her own seat. Maybe it just depends on the size or your carseat and if it will fit in the plane seat.
I've seen that happen with the Britax's on the small seated planes. I didn't have any issues when LO was in the Britax infant carrier but I saw others struggle with their convertible britax seat. Due to their size and weight to lug around I leave ours at home in the car and purchased a $40 cosco seat for traveling. I forgot to mention that- it fits onto a luggage cart with easy and rolls down the aisle too. it has a better chance of going through the Xray machine and not needing a hand wand. i've always flown alone with LO. Plus then when I land I don't have to worry about installing a car seat in my car. I just put the cheap seat in the trunk and drive home.