WWYD? Air travel; LO in lap, or own seat?

Gftf7 · November 2014

I just got invited to a wedding on 12-13-14 (cool date!) and am checking to see if I can use frequent flier points to get short-notice free tickets.

The only other time LO was on a plane was *last* Labor Day, and we got super lucky. Both flights were not very full and we were able to use the bucket seat on the plane, even though we only paid for 2 adult tickets. LO did great on the plane.

Anyone have recent experience keeping an active toddler confined to 2 laps (mine and my H's) on a 4+ hour flight? While LO is obviously more active now, all the noise and activity involved with travel will be very interesting. I'd plan to bring books and toys, etcetera for entertainment.

From a safety perspective, I know LO is much better off in a car seat. But the frugal side of me knows that soon I'll *have* to buy a seat for LO, so want to take advantage of the savings while I still can.

What would you do?

kelly321 · November 2014

Yes. I have experience. We have flown on 9+ hour flights with a lap child /lap children at the following ages: 8 months, 9 months, 1 year, 1.5 years.

My motto now is: Once they're mobile, they get their own seat. It is absolutely awful trying to constrain a mobile toddler to your lap on a longer flight. Anything less than 2-3 hours, I'd say - meh, you'll survive. But longer than that? Awful. At the 1 year mark with DD1, DH and I took one-hour shifts (9 hour flight) walking laps with her around the plane. She had just learned how to walk, and nothing on earth was going to stop her. We were so thankful there was no turbulence on that flight.

I really suggest getting a separate seat for your LO - you'll arrive much less stressed. We're flying back to the US over xmas and have a seat for DD2, even though I thought the same as you - last chance for savings!

Gftf7 · November 2014

@kelly321 thanks for the input.

Last week, LO was in the car seat for over 5 hours straight (my dad was with me and stayed in the car while I stopped at 7 different places). Granted, there were 2 car naps, but I was surprised, almost amazed, at how well the road trip went. On the other hand, when we go to church, LO won't stay seated for very long.

Ugh, your flight experience sounds like it felt much longer than it actually was, and even a *good* 9-hour flight is a long one.

I'm thinking along the same lines as you, that I think *I'll* do much better on the flight knowing that LO is safely contained.

kelly321 · November 2014

Gftf7 said:

@kelly321 thanks for the input. Last week, LO was in the car seat for over 5 hours straight (my dad was with me and stayed in the car while I stopped at 7 different places). Granted, there were 2 car naps, but I was surprised, almost amazed, at how well the road trip went.

My girls also stay seated longer in the car without complaining than they will somewhere else or on a plane. My guess is that in a car, they can watch the scenery and feel like something's happening. When they're sitting in church or on a plane, there's no scenery passing them by, so let's MOVE!!

cinnasugar · November 2014

For us, we had DS as a lap child a few months ago and he did okay. One of the flights wasn't full so he got his own seat (not with a car seat) but he kept unbuckling the seat belt so I had to keep him on my lap anyway for takeoff and landing. So if you plan to get him his own seat, you may want to consider using the car seat on the plane as well to keep him more contained/familiar. For us, it wasn't worth the extra $400 to get him his own seat. And either way, snacks, SNACKS, SNACKS!

colinsfebmommy · November 2014

Just flew wed on a 3 1/2 hr flight.... I know my son would not sit on me for that long. He got his own seat and it went great! Snacks, books videos w headphones and coloring was what got us by. I will say I made a cheerio necklace and that took a lot of time and was a big hit

wineandcake · November 2014

I flew alone with DS last month. It was a 1.5hr flight followed by a ferry, bus, train, and car ride. I didn't get him his own seat because it just wasn't worth it. He was an absolute terror on the way there, I was ready to rip my hair out and vowed to never fly with him again. The way home he was absolutely perfect and slept on me from the second we got on the plane until we landed. I flew at an off time from a small town airport that not too many travel from so the planes are rarely full. Ask when you check in to try and put you in a row with no other passengers so you have the space. I brought him toys, 1700000 different snacks, a bottle, sippy, and the iPad. He watched some Mickey Mouse but was still a terror - we had such a long travel day and he didn't sleep the night before so that's probably why.

Once we have to buy his own seat, we likely won't be doing as much travelling and I am 100% okay with that.

MommyAndHerLatte · November 2014

We recently took DS on a 6 hour flight and bought him a carseat. He sat in the seat for about an hour, and wanted to be on our laps the rest of the time. But we were still glad we bought him his own seat, because an hour of rest is better than nothing! Plus, having the whole row to ourselves gave us a little extra room to take out the million snacks/toys we had prepared. If it's not too cost-prohibitive, I would get the extra seat (and pack lots of treats, snacks, and toys). Good luck!

MommyAndHerLatte · November 2014

colinsfebmommy said:
I made a cheerio necklace and that took a lot of time and was a big hit

What an awesome idea! I'm definitely using that for our next flight!

colinsfebmommy · November 2014

MommyAndHerLatte said:

colinsfebmommy said:
I made a cheerio necklace and that took a lot of time and was a big hit
What an awesome idea! I'm definitely using that for our next flight!

I'm telling you it was a huge hit and took a lot of time lol doooooo it

ericalee27 · November 2014

kelly321 said:

My motto now is: Once they're mobile, they get their own seat. It is absolutely awful trying to constrain a mobile toddler to your lap on a longer flight. Anything less than 2-3 hours, I'd say - meh, you'll survive. But longer than that? Awful.

**Stuck in a box***

Yep, @kelly321 speaks the truth!

draeray · November 2014

I flew to Mexico with DS on my lap which was almost 4 hours; he was 16 months. He was pretty good on the flight there but did start to lose it towards the end. However, on the way home, he had HFM which made him incredibly angry and inconsolable. He was an absolute terror and nothing we did made him any better. I swear I'll never do it again!

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WWYD? Air travel; LO in lap, or own seat?

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