Car seat on an air plane?

[fieryred33143]

I have traveled a lot and have never, ever seen a car seat on a plane. Most times I have seen children on mom's lap (if very young) or in their own seat.

What is your experience with this? Have you seen this before? Is it uncomfortable for the child? How do the surrounding passengers feel about it? (not that it matters but just wondering if they have made comments since I'm assuming they won't be able to recline their seat back) Was the child able to sleep comfortably?

We may be headed to NY soon with Sophia and it'll be her first plane ride. If we take a seat, it'll only be for the plane as we don't expect to be in cars in NY at all.

 

[MustangGal]

We took Kyle on a 3 hour flight when he was 15 months old. I didn't pay for his own seat, but the plane was only half full on the way up and we took his car seat on. They make you put it in the window seat so that it won't get in the way in case of evacuation. It made things MUCH easier! He fell asleep before we even took off, and it was much simpler to keep him contained. On the return flight we had to hold him (squirmed for 2.5 hours straight and wouldn't sleep), but there was a bit older toddler in the row in front of us in a car seat too.

Oh, I don't think the car seat would stop the passenger in front from reclining either, but we put Kyle's convertable one in forward facing for the flight (even through we have it rear facing in the car). He liked looking out the window

 

[ChinaCat]

Fiery-

We just took O on his first plane ride sans car seat. I admit I was nervous and thought not having a car seat was going to be a big PITA. Surprisingly, it went great. Like Kyle, O is super squirmy and never sits still BUT between DH and I it worked out fine. He just sat in our laps, went back and forth, and entertained himself. He took naps both ways, just on me. I brought all of these new toys but he mostly played with the window shade and flirted with the people behind us. It was a 2.5 hour flight and it wasn't a problem at all. Though I don't think it would have worked if there had just been one of us. Also, O hates his car seat and struggles to get out of it most times, so that's a factor for us.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I have never taken a car seat and I have lost track on the number of flights T has been on. I do see them sometimes.

 

[Puppmom]

If you're not planning on buying a separate seat, it's probably not worth bringing it as carry on. I believe some airlines will make you check anyway if you don't buy a separate seat.

 

[fieryred33143]

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I was going to get her own seat anyway because honestly FI and I are not small people so we aren't comfortable as it is and having her on our laps would be even more of a hassle.

 

[neatfreak]

If you are going to get her her own seat just bring one anyway. If during the pre-boarding you decide not to use it they can always gate check it for you. But I think it's a lot easier if you have a kid who likes the car seat.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Buying her a seat changes things. Since this is her first flight maybe she will think it is normal Just in case you decide/can't use it, I suggest bringing a LARGE plastic, garbage bag to put your seat in before you gate check it. They aren't the most careful. Our infant carrier was actually DRAGGED from the luggage cart. Luckily I had it in a cloth bag (they make gate check ones) so even though the bag was ripped and stained, my seat was okay.

 

[ChinaCat]

Ditto. If you are buying a seat, I'd probably bring the car seat. Fun! When are you going?

 

[vespergirl]

My son always sat in his carseat on plane flights until he was 2. There was no way I was going to sit trapped in a coach seat with a kid squirming in my lap for hours. It's much safer for kids to travel in a carseat, and it's easier for you, because you can put them in the carseat if they fall asleep and then you have your hands free for other things.

 

[akmiss]

The car seat has to be airplane approved... Some are not so check your car seat manual. Having a car seat makes the flight more comfortable for everyone. I traveled extensively with my youngest son and sometimes we purchased and extra seat but other times we were lucky enough to be on an empty plane. You can always check the seat at the gate if the plane is full. I am not sure how long your flight is but it might be easier to skip the seat if the flight is short. My son's car seat weighed a ton and lugging it around was a hassle. I did purchase a go-go kids attachment that strapped to the back of the car seat and converted it into a stroller.
www.gogobabyz.com/products-c26-gogo_Kid ... lmate.aspx

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Is it safe just to have a child in the parent's lap? I read about some instance where there was plan turbulance and a child went flying out of the mother's arms! There are tether things you can attach to the child so nothing like that can happen. When my son was 7 months old, we used one of those.