Hi moms! I travel semi-frequently with my daughter (26 months) and husband. We just got back from Hawaii, and she did awesome on the flights. The only thing that is not awesome is how cumbersome it is to travel with a toddler and her car seat. My husband and I make it work...but I am looking into taking a solo trip with her in the winter. I already have the go-go kids car seat attachment, but physically I can not lift the car seat into the plane, with my daughter and our carry-ons. I am looking for some feedback on what you do with your toddlers. Does anyone just use the airplane seat for them? I hate to do that b/c I know she is so comfy in her car seat, and more importantly, she is much safer.(I heard a terrible news story where there was a plane crash, and the only survivor was a 3 year old b/c she was in her car seat) I just really want to take her for a 2 week visit to see my parents, in VT, and the only way I can see doing it is to leave the car seat at home (my parents would have one in their car, of course). I feel like my knowing that the car seat is safest, that I am being kind of negligent to not use it. I would love your opinions. Thanks!
Dear God NO!
Sorry to the moms who do but my toddler and I fly a lot and I flew once with it and it took up like a seat and a half. Go without, just check it (it's free) and you will have much more room while up in the friendly skies.
First off, that story about the toddler surviving a plane crash was in a Cessna, hardly comparable to a jumbo jet liner. Anyways, do what you can do without killing yourself. I have gone both ways. I found that when I had my boys in the carseat, it made them better able to kick the seat in front of them and I didn't want to be "that person" with "that kid" behind someone, so I found future flights to go a bit easier without the seat (I just checked it at the gate because I don't trust it going through baggage - i just didn't know what kind of unseen damage could occur).
I would judge by her size. If you think she is too small to be secure enough with the standard seat belt, then take the car seat.
I can completely sympathize with you on this matter - they need to make a fold up, compact car seat!!!
If you go on ebay you can rent a CARES harness which is approved by the FAA for use in an airplane. The straps are much like a carseat. You just slide it down around the seat and put the seatbelt through the loops and buckle them in. My 12 month old did really well with one when we had a 5 hour plane trip in July. (We rented a carseat at our destination). I thik I paid $15 for the week. Since I couldnt bring my self to spend 80 on a new one because we dont fly often enough.
Hi A.,
My son's been on several flights since he was 10 months old and we've never used a seat on the plane. It's just too much hassle, and it's not like a car where there's always a decent chance of getting hit by someone else even if you drive safely. On an airliner, the possibility of anything worse than turbulence is so minuscule as to not be worth worrying about, and at 26 months your daughter should be protected from that by the regular seat belt, especially if she enjoys flying and is well-behaved. Just enjoy yourselves!
http://www.kidsflysafe.com/
This is a child restraint system that I have heard a lot of good things about.
I traveled with my 14 month old alone with my go-go babyz attachment and the car seat while I was 5 months preganant. What I did was board the plane early, took my son out of the car seat when we got on the plane and asked him to walk to our seats in the last row of the plane and asked a flight attendent to carry my car seat for me while I carried my carry-on bag which is a back pack. It really helped by picking the last row and board early because I had plenty of time to install the car seat without holding up other people. I hope this helps!
