Installing Car Seat on Ariplane

The only reason they are supposed to be rear facing until age 1 is because there are more rear end collisions compared to any other accidents. Rear facing protects rear end collisions. In a plane there is really not rear end collisions, Forward facing on an airplane is the safest!!! (My brother in law does "crash test dummies")

Call the airline and ask them what is best on their plane. They let parents with small children board first so you will have a little time to get the seat in before the rest of the people board the plane.

You can do it rear facing, there's enough room. But it's all up to your preference. Have a good trip!

I think it depends on the length of the flight. If its longer or spans his nap time, I suggest rear facing so you can recline the seat more so he can sleep better. For Safely purposes, I really don't know if it matters.
We traveled to Hawaii with our boys when they were 6 and 7 mos old and our big guy went to Italy at 10 months. We put them rear for the Hawaii trips and forward for the Italy trip. I just found it easier to put them down once they were asleep in the rear facing.
Have a good trip!

I'd check with your airline but once you get to the plane, the flight attendants know these things better than we do, it's their job to keepyou and your baby safe. Have a good trip.

I frequently traveled with my daughter when she needed to be in a rear-facing car seat, and it always fit. Just bring your owner's manual with you if you can, because I had at least one flight attendant on every flight question the rear facing seat. I usually got a lot of sour looks and "well, I'll have to check.." So I just whipped out the owner's manual and let them go check their stuff and they always came back and said it was ok. Oh, and ask at the gate if you can board early since most don't ask anymore. They might roll their eyes at you when you ask, but just do it since it takes a bit of mommy-gymnastics to get the seat locked in while trying to wrangle a young child at the same time.

Have fun.
J.

I would do it forward facing. I'd be afraid that having it rear facing might give a problem to the person in front of him if they want to recline their seat.

Its doesnt matter. You dont even need a car seat on the plane. We just flew and put ours forward facing...Have fun!!

I have always installed forward facing. They make you put the car seat against the window. Tip - move the arm between the seats up so you can get to the back of the car seat to move the strap through. I once removed the car seat cover to access it better as it was easy to put back on. Take a thin blanket or small towel with you just in case you need to use it as padding. The large airline seat buckle hit right in the middle of the back of the car seat so I padded it for my daughter. Good luck and enjoy your trip!

You would hook it in the same way you do in a car. So at that age I would say forward facing so he can see around. have a great trip

You don't have to necessarily put him in a car seat but I do have a safe alternative for you (carrying that car seat can be bulky) - there's a harness that is FAA approved and I've traveled with my toddler using it. You can find it at kidsflysafe.com. Truly a life saver! That way you can just check your car seat for your destination. Good luck!

We took my son at 10 1/2 months on a 3 1/2 hour trip. We put the car seat rear-facing since it's safest. It can be done. The person in front just won't be able to recline as much. He'll have to have the window seat.

One tip, take a carrier of some sort, like the Bjorn or Ergo, and once the fasten seatbelt sign goes off, stand in between 1st class and regular and bounce him to sleep. My son slept almost the entire trip because of all the white noise and movement.

Check your owners manual to make sure your seat is qualified for air travel, I think most are these days. It will fit rear facing without a problem for you. Ask for a seat belt extender from the flight attendant because it will make it much, much, much easier to remove the buckle when the flight is over. The attendant will probably say it will buckle without it and it will but I am telling you it will be easier on you with the extender.

Check your owner's manual. =) It will usually tell you how to do it.

In my experience car seats are easier to install rear facing and if that's how he's sitting now in the car then that's what he's used to. Yes, the person in front of him won't be able to recline but oh well. Good for you for getting your son a seat - we flew one time with my son on our laps and I will never do it again. It's so much easier to have that extra seat and space to put everything. Beware if you're on Southwest, they don't let families pre-board anymore regardless of how hard you plead. If you don't have an A boarding pass you board between groups A & B. But if one of you has an A pass, you can all board in the A group. Ridiculous policy IMO. Have fun!!!

The manual for your car seat will indicate how you should install on an airplane. We flew with our son at 9 months and brought the car seat base and did it rear facing. It was also a convenience for us, since we needed to use his car seat once we got to our destination, so we already had the base attached and ready to go.