Flying with baby

john5111 · January 2014

My cousin is getting married this fall and I am debating whether or not to take LO with. It will be just under 3 hours to fly and he can fly free. Just wondering for those that have flown is it worth bringing him or better to leave him at home w the inlaws?

--I think the hotel has pack and plays to rent
--What did you do about a carseat? We would just be riding the hotel shuttle from the airport and back...(do you rent a carseat?) I highly doubt theyd just let him sit on my lap for that short of time?
--When booking do you just add in that they are coming with?--was wondering if I could book now saying he will be coming even if we decide to leave him at home.
--I think it would be fun to have him there to see some of the relatives etc but wondering if its worth the hassel. We only plan to stay till Sunday and then head back.

SaguaroBlossmom · January 2014

I would just bring your car seat. You can check it at the gate or the front desk.

When it comes to booking it will usually ask how many children. And ask for their birthday. Bring something that can verify their age. copy of birth certificate or something with the date from the hospital. If it doesn't ask about lap children online , just call and verify that they will be on board.

Are you planning on taking him to the wedding? or will someone watch him while you are there.. BC it might be kind of inconvenient to bring him if you are planning on getting shmammered. staying out late at the reception.

SaguaroBlossmom · January 2014

Ehh.. I've flown with DD1 several times when she was around this age and never put her in a seat. She was fine. She loved being held the entire time and i just brought books, a couple small toys and some bottles. It's a short flight so you should be good. If it was a long flight I too would second buying him a seat, but i just dont think the cost is justified if its barely 3 hours.

bumpuser8130818 · January 2014

DS would be a lot more pissed off to be in his car seat for 3 hours than he would in my lap, that's for sure.

drhibbard · January 2014

My nephew just flew roundtrip philly/Chicago with his 6/4/13 baby without a seat. He said the baby was fine being held both ways taking off and landing. For a short trip, I wouldn't want to spend the money on a seat.

If my inlaws offered to watch the baby and let me enjoy the wedding? kloveyoubabyseeyousoonbegoodforgrandmamommyisgonnadrinkherweightinwine

john5111 · January 2014

Ok thanks for the advice!! Yeah Im still on the fence about bringing him, I think it may be more of a pain then anything. No we wouldn't have anyone to watch him besides my mom may but I doubt shed want to leave the wedding early to watch him either!

I def would not buy a seat for him for that short of a flight.

stephzrn · January 2014

We just flew with our LO and it was fine. We have a travel system with car seat and we checked it at the gate. I did see the video that PP posted but if there is a plane crash do you really think anyone is safe?? Commercial air travel and flying is by far safer then riding in a car.

MOMama987 · January 2014

missk0411 said:

We held A on a 2.5 hour flight when she was 6 months, and she did fine. If you fly Southwest, and they have empty seats, they'll let you carry on the carseat and use it for free. I'm not sure how other airlines handle it--it works on Southwest because of their unassigned seats.
We gate-checked the seat and it was fine. It still gets manhandled a bit, but not as bad as checked bags.

Was about to post this, pretty much exactly. We gate-checked our stroller (in a gate-check bag that we bought on Amazon) and it was fine. We planned to gate-check our carseat, too, but the flight wasn't full, and we were able to bring it on the plane.

LaxMOM44 · January 2014

YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ THIS COMMENT IF YOU HAVE A FEAR OF FLYING. I AM GOING TO REFERENCE SITUATIONS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN MY CAREER THAT SOUND DANGEROUS, HOWEVER I MUST REITERATE THAT AIRPLANE TRAVEL IS VERY SAFE AND THESE INCIDENTS ARE VERY FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. FOR THE NUMBER OF HOURS I HAVE FLOWN IN MY LIFE, THEY REPRESENT LESS THAN 1/100TH OF MY FLIGHT HOURS.

I'm a flight attendant with 7 years flying experience. I fly for the oldest and most highly regulated airline in Canada. We have an impeccable safety record and undergo some of the most extensive and through training in the world. I can assure you holding your child is safe. There are pros and cons to both a carseat and lap held infants. There are safety issues with a carseat that arise just like there are issues with holding your child. If held in a proper bracing position there is absolutely no way the child could "become your airbag" quite the opposite really, you in fact will be protecting your child with your body. Although the video was pretty, it was produced by a maker of a child restraint system and therefore used to sell their product. I have seen actual footage from the NTSB, FAA and Transport Canada running tests on actual aircraft with and without child restraint devices. The bracing position for a lap held infant was not the one in the video. In Canada you should hold your child facing the rear of the aircraft in the burping position, supporting their head. Tuck forward as if to grasp your ankles or with one arm on the seat in front of you if you are unable to tuck all the way forward. Thus the child is protected between your upper torso and lap. If your airline provides a seat belt for the child the bracing position is different. Whatever position the flight attendant explains to you, you should in fact be holding your child in that position for taxi, take off until 10,000 ft., descent below 10,000 ft and landing. As eel as anytime there is turbulence.

I have been in Severe turbulence which is the worst kind most airplanes will ever see and I can assure you that a baby held in someones arms would absolutely be safe. Similarly I have had an emergency landing where our speed upon landing was twice that of a normal landing. we blew six tires when the pilots applied the brakes. Yes quite a few objects became projectiles, however the babies on board, held in their parents arms were absolutely fine. Ultimately airlines in north america would not allow you to bring a baby on board and expose them to an unsafe situation. AN INFANT IN THEIR PARENTS ARMS IS ABSOLUTELY SAFE. please do not feel that certain comments made on this board are grounded in fact, if you pm me I can explain further, but I prefer not to talk about the safety of airline travel on open forums where people with a fear of flying might misinterpret the frequency of some of the situations I could uses examples.

that being said, i understand why you would be reticent to check you car seat. I recommend asking for a gate check tag and a fragile sticker. The objects checked gate side are carried down to the tarmac, loaded onto a conveyor belt and then secured in a separate mesh net tin. They are require by national transport authorities tone secured in such a way as not to move around ( an object loose in the cargo hold would cause damage to the structure and even a small dent must investigated by a specialists airlines are very particular about this). Where damage occurs to check objects is as they pass from the checkin counters through a series of baggage belts and are dropped and thrown into containers that are then loaded into the cargo hold. Obviously this only applies to large aircraft, smaller aircraft the baggage is usually all loaded by hand since the cargo holds cannot accommodate the containers. Also if you bring you carseat gate said and ask nicely the FA's may let you bring it on the plane anyways. That will free up your hands if you want to eat or read.

Now that the safety has been addressed.

I definitely recommend you take your LO. I took DD to australia (20+ hours of flying in total) and it was totally worth it. It may be uncomfortable but it's not for very long and when its over you will get to see the joy of all the relatives at meeting LO. Happy travels and feel free to PM if you still have concerns.

watuzzigal · January 2014

LaxMOM44 · January 2014

now can we pin this MF'er so i don't have to say it again?

watuzzigal · January 2014

Only if you include a video of how to safely hold an infant during a takeoff and landing.

With wine.

LaxMOM44 · January 2014

My solution to babies that won't let their parents drink wine?

https://youtu.be/HS1Eii8Ce_8

amps09 · January 2014

Plus if baby gets fussy you can walk the aisle or hang out with the flight attendants if the seat belt sign is off. We just did a three hour flight and one of the attendants actually walked LO up and down for a few minutes to give us a break. It was very sweet and only mildly unnerving at the same time

CuriousGirl 0429 · January 2014

We are flying in October from NY to FL! This post is so helpful! Thank you!

*edited typo

kcwnc · January 2014

We've flown NC to WA, alone at 5mo, and NC to MO, with my H at 9mo. None of the flights were full so we gate checked our click it stroller and brought the car seat on. He slept in it for a couple of flights and hung out with us for the rest. No need for nursing or a paci for take off or landing. The hardest part of travel is sleeping in the same room with LO. He goes to bed like a champ but we wake him up when we come to bed later. I had to have my husband sleep in the living room- he snores and shifts around waking LO up and then demands to know what's going b/c he has no idea where he is or what woke him up for the first 2 seconds.

rebaann · January 2014

We are flying in three weeks (only 1.75 hours). Thank you for this. I feel better and will look into a stroller bag for gate checking.

DiFazette · January 2014

Owen just took his 10th flight... We've kept him in our lap every trip - he normally sleeps. I'm not a 'worst-case-scenario' person in the least so I don't usually bother worrying about things that are incredibly unlikely to happen. We bring his car seat, car seat base and stroller. At the gate we attach the car seat to the base as 1 item, and the stroller as item 2. This has worked incredibly well for us, or we wouldn't fly as often as we have. We've got security down to a well oiled machine and lots of snacks/toys/distractions. Owen is happy to just look out the window most flights, or flirt with the ladies on the plane ;-). Regarding having a shuttlebus for transportation, you may be able to skip the car seat base. Many bases can be secured with a seatbelt rather than a base. The shuttle may not have seats that accommodate a car seat base, in either size for the base, or space for the car seat. Good luck, it'll be easier than you think.

MommaG123 · January 2014

The FAA recommends that all children use a child restraint on board an aircraft from birth to 40 pounds.

https://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/

The issue isn't with a massive crash, it is with turbulence and runway accidents. As far as gate checking a car seat goes that gives it an unknown history and is therefore unknown whether it will still perform as the manufacturer intended it in the case of an accident.

LaxMOM44 · January 2014

Of course the FAA recommends having your child in a child restraint system. However that doesn't mean that lap held infants are unsafe or will automatically become projectiles or airbags.

ETA: It is also the FAA that permits children to travel lap held

LaxMOM44 · January 2014

Actually you know what Nevermind. Airline travel is terribly unsafe and unless your child remains strapped into an approved safety device for the entire duration of the flight from pushback to brakes on then you might as well stay home in a bubble.

I assume none of you bedshare or took your child out before 6 weeks, and everyone here breastfeeds. I mean that's what's recommended and that means anything else will kill your child. Even if a safety agency determines that the alternative is safe, albeit not the most safe, but still safe, we should still try and frighten and shame each other into doing the recommended thing. Cause you are a bad mom if you hold you child on your lap. Hope you can remove your child from their car seat and get to your nearest exit in 90 seconds.

Alright rant over.

MommaG123 · January 2014

No need for rants.

The reason it isn't required is because that would cause more people to travel by car than air thus creating more children in accidents. That doesn't mean you shouldn't practice the safest thing. It is a risk and parenting is all about weighing the risks and deciding where you are going to take them.

That doesn't mean someone can't point out the facts.

MommaG123 · January 2014

I get it. Seats are expensive and everyone makes their own decisions.

If you were to bring your child as a lap baby though I would not check my seat. I wouldn't feel comfortable using a seat with an unknown history.

jedimindtrick · January 2014

Wow. Are we really arguing airline safety with a flight attendant. That's her JOB. She's not an in air waitress. I think she knows more than any of us do about safety on an aircraft. But that's right... We're mommies now. So we are experts on everything baby related.

MommaG123 · January 2014

NJAZgirl said:
Wow. Are we really arguing airline safety with a flight attendant. That's her JOB. She's not an in air waitress. I think she knows more than any of us do about safety on an aircraft.

But that's right... We're mommies now. So we are experts on everything baby related.

Uh, maybe if she were a physicist. I actually know plenty of flight attendants who haven't known what the heck they were talking about. Not that Lax doesn't. But even she said it is the safest practice to buy them a seat and use a car seat on the plane, because it is.

watuzzigal · January 2014

@laxMOM44 seriously? You had one rec for lap with a special kind of hold, one rec for overhead compartment, and one rec for shaming.

What do I do with my wine?

watuzzigal · January 2014

@NJAZgirl if my baby was surgically extracted, where does that leave me?

jedimindtrick · January 2014

watuzzigal said:
@NJAZgirl if my baby was surgically extracted, where does that leave me?

Master's degree? Mine was too, and I don't know shit.

jedimindtrick · January 2014

MommaG123 said:

NJAZgirl said:
Wow. Are we really arguing airline safety with a flight attendant. That's her JOB. She's not an in air waitress. I think she knows more than any of us do about safety on an aircraft.

But that's right... We're mommies now. So we are experts on everything baby related.

Uh, maybe if she were a physicist. I actually know plenty of flight attendants who haven't known what the heck they were talking about. Not that Lax doesn't. But even she said it is the safest practice to buy them a seat and use a car seat on the plane, because it is.

We'll then maybe I won't fly anymore myself. Because I always assumed the airlines and FAA or whoever would consult with physicists in designing safety features for their aircrafts. As well as training for their flight attendances who are in charge of our safety. And if they are training them that, and showing footage of children staying safe in the parents arms, I'm assuming it's been researched. But who knows, maybe not.

MrsM1111 · January 2014

I just figured I'd check the baby...

Lolalipsy · January 2014

NJAZgirl said:

watuzzigal said:
@NJAZgirl if my baby was surgically extracted, where does that leave me?
Master's degree? Mine was too, and I don't know shit.

Ha ha love it.

Lolalipsy · January 2014

@laxMOM44 you crack me up.

LaxMOM44 · January 2014

MrsM1111 said:

I just figured I'd check the baby...

you laugh but Etihad has sky nannies!!!! a dedicated flight attendant that takes cares of your child/baby on long haul flights.

fancefpp · January 2014

I'm late to this game - I agree that a car seat is probably the safest way to fly, but having a lap baby isn't totally unsafe, like a lot of people will have you think it is. I'm willing to bet more people have lap babies than buy seats for them and if there were really a ton of problems than the airlines would change their policies to avoid being sued. This is even coming from a mother who still has her 2.5 year old rear facing in the car, even with all the strange looks I get from people. We are flying to the Bahamas soon and DS2 will be in my lap. He'd end up there anyway.

watuzzigal · January 2014

MrsM1111 said:
I just figured I'd check the baby...

You just solved all my problems.

pace_leah@yahoo.com · January 2014

I have flown with my LO 3 times since she was born. Most recently, a three hour flight. If the flight is not full they will move people around to get you next to an open seat so you can bring the car seat on with you. If the flight is full they will gate check the seat. I held her on my lap the way out and it sucked mainly because she slept the entire flight and I could move. My arm was going numb and so on. On the way home we did get an an available empty seat so she was able to be in her car seat. We were both much more comfortable.

I did not read all of the responses so maybe someone already mentioned this. I just thought I would share my experience.

Schell2013 · January 2014

pace_leah@yahoo.com said:
I have flown with my LO 3 times since she was born. Most recently, a three hour flight. If the flight is not full they will move people around to get you next to an open seat so you can bring the car seat on with you. If the flight is full they will gate check the seat. I held her on my lap the way out and it sucked mainly because she slept the entire flight and I could move. My arm was going numb and so on. On the way home we did get an an available empty seat so she was able to be in her car seat. We were both much more comfortable.
I did not read all of the responses so maybe someone already mentioned this. I just thought I would share my experience.

You might want to change your SN it's your email address and if you've been on the board lately you probably don't want that info just out there like that. Not being snarky just letting you know.
You can email community@thebump.com and have them change it for you.

jedimindtrick · January 2014

LaxMOM44 said:

MrsM1111 said:

I just figured I'd check the baby...

you laugh but Etihad has sky nannies!!!! a dedicated flight attendant that takes cares of your child/baby on long haul flights.

Sweet!! lol

Want a personalized experience?

Flying with baby

Re: Flying with baby

Choose Another Board

Search Boards