Car Seat on Airplanes Post Reply

[Muddlemoo]

Hi

We are flying to Oman for the Christmas period with Oman Air. Our son is 13 months and VERY active!! We've booked a seat for him but wondered whether we could take a forward facing car seat so we can strap him in for his sleep (it's a night flight).

I've never thought of doing this before but somebody said you can - does anybody have any ideas if a) you can do it and b) which car seat you can use? thanks so much.

[lemonzest]

I'd contact the airline. I vaguely remember looking into this before and It seemed somewhat airline-specific.

[ladyofacertainage]

We have done it in the past, but my kids are now 14 and 16 so it's a while ago. We had a britax seat that you could secure with just a lap belt, the only problems we had were in Australia as it wasn't a model they recognised but they called the technical guys down and they approved it. You have to either use it in a middle seat of the middle rows or a window seat, otherwise it is a danger to others when evacuating an aircraft. I'd call your airline but be prepared to be persistent as the first people to answer normally don't have a clue!

[MissV]

HI there - I can give you some up to date advice having travelled to New Zealand and taken 8 flights in one trip with a 20 month old in the last 6 months.

We did quite a bit of research and it is recommended that you use a car seat for your toddler for safety reasons over and above anything else. A lap belt is used for take off and landing, and during turbulence, and you will find that each flight has different rules on what they expect you to do. We found that it is not even airline specific, but more on the expectations of the staff on board, although if you feel something is incorrect then you need to tell them, as they are often out of date.

You will find that an adult seat and seatbelt are not comfortable for a baby / toddler to sit in for long periods, and sleeping is even more difficult as they slide down. A car seat is really the best way to go as they are more than used to falling asleep in a car seat, and the noise and movement on a plane is actually very similar to them being in a car, which helps. It also places them at the perfect height to watch the tv useful for when you are trying to eat or have a little time to yourself.

We didn't find any restrictions on where the seat needed to be placed, which I did find unusual as for safety reasons I would assume a car seat shouldn't block anyone's exit, but we didn't come across anyone telling us where to place the car seat.

Okay, you need to buy a car seat that is narrow enough to fit into any plane seat but still gives your little one enough comfort. The best one we found, and also incredibly good value, is the Britax Eclipse. It fit the seat easily on all of our flights, and there were several different aircraft we flew on. It is available at Halfords and is approx. £80. We got a bag to carry it in, which helps when you're travelling through the airport.

By the way, you have to carry it all the way to the airport, and when you get on you need to put it into the hold, much the same as you do with your buggy. Sometimes the seat ends up in outsize baggage when you collect it, but that is easier in a way as you then collect it when you pick your luggage up, rather than having to carry it from the airplane. The seat is also useful when you get to the other end, as you know you have a car seat that is safe

[MrsKP]

We took our 18 month old in a forward facing car seat to Thailand and it worked really well. You need to get a seat which is safe with just a lap belt - easy to research on line, and not too wide, and it works really well as then have car seat for cab to airport/in plane and at the other end (although the drivers in Thailand thought we were crazy!). Our son did sleep in the plane - the only issue was that the lights stay on for a long time so take some kind of scarf that you can tuck into the back of the car seat and hang over seat in front. The car seat does slightly impede the tray table but as the previous poster said, it means they are much higher up for watching the TV/other people. It is by far the safest way of travelling with a toddler - if in the worst case there was some terrible turbulance/accident your child will not be restrained by the belt and will be flying out of their seat - causing potential injuries to themselves and others. We are still using the same seat now for flights and he is 3.

[California mama]

We used our seat on the flight from California to LHR. Other posters mentioned some good points but I would add, look for the "airline approved" markings on the seat (if it has them) we were able to point it out to the flight attendant at the desk when asked so there was no confusion as to whether it would fit. We also used a carseat carry bag because at most airports you will have to lug it along--and at Heathrow it is a long walk until baggage claim and trolleys. There is a great device that I am thinking of purchasing for our future flights now that we will be dealing with two children and all the gear. (The site lists the compatible seats) http://www.gogobabyz.com/product-i14550 ... mate_.aspx

Our daughter (just 2 at the time) slept 9 1/2 hours out of he 10 hour flight. Also, I bought her a pair of toddler headphones so she could use the console so after a few minutes of craziness and some Cbeebies, she was out! Despite turbulence she stayed asleep and I attribute a lot of that to the familiarity of her seat. Plus just being able to secure her was a huge relief with the bumps.

If you have a baby carrier I would definitely recommend it, I carried her in the Ergo when she was 13 months and traveled over here on my own (she was a lap infant through.) I couldn't have managed all of it myself and she wasn't yet walking. Good luck!