Toddler, Carseats, and Flying...

[LadyntheTramp]

I am looking for suggestions since our toddler now needs a ticket to fly and we are debating bringing a carseat on the plane...

Does your little one fly with a carseat? If so do you have a favorite seat for flying that can also be used in the car?

We are staying onsite so I'm not concerned about a rental but can carseats be used on the ME?


Thanks in advance.

 

[omniscientmommy]

How old? Last year our son was almost 3 when we flew and we took a carseat with us for flying. This year he was four and booster seats aren't allowed on the planes and for the ME you can't use carseats or boosters. On your carseat at home does it state on the seat itself if it can be used on a plane? Ours did. It was an Eddie Bauer one we got from target. Personally we found it a hindrance to go through security and lug the carseat through the airport. We also didn't bring our stroller through so we had to carry the carseat. Whatever you think we'll work for you.

 

[hoffj070]

When we traveled in December, we did not use a carseat on the plane with our 2-year-old. We are traveling again this month and will not use a carseat on the plane. Our carseat would be too large based on seat width (I think) on the planes, so we skipped it. We felt that since they weren't needed on ME it was more work than we wanted to bring one with.

 

[_Kristi_]

We didn't use a carseat on the plane. It's safer using one but we were already bringing our Bob stroller and the carseat would have just been too much to handle through the airport and on the bus. We only have a 2 hour flight to Orlando so you may consider it if you have a longer flight where you might want a real nap or just to be able to restrain your kiddo on a long flight.

 

[unrequited23]

We traveled a month before my son turned 3. We used ME and the buses for everything. We did not bring a car seat on the plane, but we did use a CARES harness. We sat the kids next to the window and the parents took the middle seat. My younger son and I sat in the row in front of my DH and older son--that way if the older one kicked the seat it would be in the family. Our flight was only 2 hrs and not at a time either kid was likely to fall asleep.

 

[scrapquitler]

We brought a carseat on the 3 trips that we took with our son when he was under 5. He used it on the plane and in the rental car.

ME and Disney buses do not allow carseats.

 

[pixiegoose]

We always have our kids use their harnessed car seats on planes, regardless of their age or our destination. It’s the safest way for them to fly, particularly when they’re under 40 lbs. Last summer was the first time my oldest (then almost 7) didn’t use her seat on the plane because she’s now in a booster (which we used as one of her carry ons). Neither of our girls will be in car seats on our December trip because they’ll be 5.5 and 8.5 and we’ll be using all Disney transportation (but we are packing a BubbleBum booster in case of an emergency). But any younger than 5, our kids use car seats on the plane.

Here’s a really good article on safe travel to/at Disney with kids- https://csftl.org/disney-trips-car-seats/

 

[lolomarie]

When people say "safest way to fly" what do they mean? In case of a crash? Turbulance? I don't fly all that much, but we will be traveling with myself, DH, DS3 and a lap infant. I think a car seat with 4 of us in a row will be very cumbersome.

 

[pixiegoose]

When people say "safest way to fly" what do they mean? In case of a crash? Turbulance? I don't fly all that much, but we will be traveling with myself, DH, DS3 and a lap infant. I think a car seat with 4 of us in a row will be very cumbersome.

All of the above. If the coffee pot and your laptop have to be secured during take off and landing (when there’s the greatest chance of an incident- aborted takeoff, aborted landing, blown tire, etc.), shouldn’t your baby? Also, plane seat belts don’t fit until roughly 40 lbs, which is roughly a 4-5 year old. Before that, the belt doesn’t fit properly and the child could submarine underneath it in the event of an incident. There’s also the maturity factor- most younger kids are going to quickly figure out how to unbuckle a plane belt and are going to want to be up and down, walking around. If they do that during preparation for takeoff and you can’t get them to stay buckled in their seat when the seat belt sign is on, you can be kicked off the plane as it’s a matter of safety.

Kids are used to sitting in their car seats and it’s the safest way to keep them contained. It’s a pain lugging car seats through the airport (been there, done that with 2 seats at a time) but it’s not safe to check seats (gate or with luggage) and is the safest (and most comfortable) way for kids to travel on planes.

Here’s a good link that goes into more depth on safe plane travel with littles- https://csftl.org/leaving-on-a-jet-plane-the-csftl-guide-to-safe-air-travel-with-children/ .

 

[lolomarie]

All of the above. If the coffee pot and your laptop have to be secured during take off and landing (when there’s the greatest chance of an incident- aborted takeoff, aborted landing, blown tire, etc.), shouldn’t your baby? Also, plane seat belts don’t fit until roughly 40 lbs, which is roughly a 4-5 year old. Before that, the belt doesn’t fit properly and the child could submarine underneath it in the event of an incident. There’s also the maturity factor- most younger kids are going to quickly figure out how to unbuckle a plane belt and are going to want to be up and down, walking around. If they do that during preparation for takeoff and you can’t get them to stay buckled in their seat when the seat belt sign is on, you can be kicked off the plane as it’s a matter of safety.

Kids are used to sitting in their car seats and it’s the safest way to keep them contained. It’s a pain lugging car seats through the airport (been there, done that with 2 seats at a time) but it’s not safe to check seats (gate or with luggage) and is the safest (and most comfortable) way for kids to travel on planes.

Here’s a good link that goes into more depth on safe plane travel with littles- https://csftl.org/leaving-on-a-jet-plane-the-csftl-guide-to-safe-air-travel-with-children/ .

Thanks so much for this great information! My next question is why then won't they let me keep lap infant in the baby carrier? Strapped to me seems like the next best thing, doesn't it?

 

[Lovingdisney63]

Don’t get me started on this one, I have had “discussions” with flight attendants about this. Apparently the FAA thinks it’s much safer for you to hold your infant so in the event of a crash or turbulence they could be tossed about the cabin like a projectile. This is much safer for them than you inadvertently squashing them in the event of a crash, this is what I’ve been told. I have even had a flight attendant be very rude to us and lean over my husband and I to “check” and pull on the straps on the car seat my son was buckled into while on the plane, she didn’t like the way they looked! All as we were going down the runway to take off. My brother is a flight attendant and he says they are never supposed to touch car seats or children, not even to help you if you need it, liability.

 

[SirDuff]

Thanks so much for this great information! My next question is why then won't they let me keep lap infant in the baby carrier? Strapped to me seems like the next best thing, doesn't it?

Strapped to you would be under the seat belt, essentially making your infant into your air bag.

For the first question, we always used a car seat (we also always bought a ticket, even when under two), until about 4-5 years or so when we switched to a CARES harness.

 

[mom25kiddos]

we have five kids, we always used car seats when it was age appropriate for two reasons-safety and containment. They are safer, but also, they are used to their car seats and know what to expect when sitting in it. Without it keeping a toddler in a seat with those lap belts can be impossible (never mind keeping three of them in there at once!).

 

[pixiegoose]

Thanks so much for this great information! My next question is why then won't they let me keep lap infant in the baby carrier? Strapped to me seems like the next best thing, doesn't it?

As others have said, the baby would then turn into your airbag should the worst happen. And carriers (Ergos, Tulas, etc.) aren’t crash tested and, depending on how bad an incident was, the force of the infant could destroy the structural integrity of the carrier causing it to fail and baby to be flung, thus making them a projectile that can injure themselves and other people on the plane (another reason why lap babies aren’t safe- not only can they be hurt, they can hurt other people by being a projectile).

 

[2019TripIdeas]

We have three little ones. For a good while we were traveling with 2 lap kids and one ticketed. We have rarely brought the infant bucket car seat onto the plane and typically just rent carseats wherever we're going. On occasion, when we've gone to check the baby seat at check in, they've mentioned that the flight wasn't full and we could go ahead and take it on. I don't think it helped that much and the bulkiness was kind of a downer.

We explain to our kids that they need to stay seated and buckled, and that's that. I think the hardest age to fly is like 14-18 months when they have trouble understanding whats going on but are big enough to know how to walk and move around. I wouldn't bring a car seat on for a 2 year old, but can see the safety advantage if that's your deal.

I do really like Ergos/carriers (we've used a soft carrier as well) and have usually only been asked to unbuckle it for takeoff, though a few flight attendants have wanted baby all the way out of it. For landing, they've tended not to say anything.

 

[lolomarie]

Thanks for all the great info. Buying a seat for our infant isn't a choice. In Canada, flying is very expensive. We are currently paying $700 each round trip to Florida, and that's a decent deal! We wouldn't be taking the trip at all if we didnt have one child flying for free. I guess I'll do what I've done in the past, hold for take off and landing, then into the baby carrier for the duration of the flight.

 

[JK World]

My son flew twice at age 2 (almost 3) without a car seat. He had no problem staying in his seat, but then following those types of rules are not an option in my house and fortunately he is good about that.

Flying again shortly before his 4th birthday, no carseat planned.

 

[tvsdisney]

I’ve never brought a car seat. For me it’s one of the joys of a Disney vacation-not having to strap anyone in and out a seat for a week! My almost 4 year old thinks that it’s pretty amazing to not have to sit in one either!!

 

[LYSE]

I haven't used one but I plan on it....consider a cares harness it's faa approved and you won't have to lug the car seat around.

If you go the car seat route buy a car seat cart, you can strap your kid in and cart them around the airport

 

[Poprivet]

When my DGD was 4 we "rented" the cares harness. we used it on the trip down but just used the regular buckle on the way back.
Think it was like $20 to "rent" then you mail it back for use by the next family...