Flying - Edmonds,WA

You bought her a seat. That's great. She can move around and be comfortable between the two of you. Never mind all the confinement of a car seat for a long flight.

No, it's not legally required. I personally liked traveling without one because she had more freedom. Suggestions I have for you. Arrive SUPER early so you can request the Bulkhead (the first seat in economy that faces the wall). You get more leg room, don't have to worry about her kicking the seat in front of her and she can play on the floor hassle free.

When we flew with our kids at ages 2 and 4, the carseat was a total pain and a total Godsend all at the same time. Getting it onboard was exhausting, but once the kids were strapped in, it was great. No getting up and running around, and they slept well in them. It was like they were in the car and they knew they weren't going anywhere. The fold-down table was perfect for snacks and playing.

So I would say it depends on your daughter - if she naps well in her carseat, take it along. A good nap could be worth the hassle as opposed to a meltdown from a tired girl with no nap!

Good luck and happy travels!

I just returned from a trip to Dubai with my 13.5 month old son...20-24 hours travel time with the shortest plane ride being 6 hours, the longest 13.5 hours. We took our carseat and were able to use it on each leg, without a seatbelt extender. It was AWESOME! When Ethan was awake, we took him out of the seat and let him walk around and play on our laps. When he was tired, we put him in the carseat and within 5-10 minutes he was fast asleep...for 2-3 hours at a time. I've flown twice before without a seat for him, and it was very difficult to get him comfortable enough to settle down and sleep.

The best advice I got about traveling with a small child is if you are traveling with a spouse or friend, send them on first with the car seat as soon as they can board so they can get it all set up. That way, if it doesn't work out for some reason, you have time to gate check the seat. Stay out with your 20-month-old and let them run around and use up their energy. You can be the last to board and then she will probably be ready to sleep. In Amsterdam, my husband boarded 40 minutes before the flight. I spent that time in the terminal with Ethan where he had so much fun running around and "chatting" with the airport employees. I boarded five minutes before we took off and Ethan was asleep in his carseat before we lifted off.

Good luck and happy travels!

Hi there,

I'm married to a pilot and we have always used a carseat on plane trips with our girls (now 3 and 5yo) - it is safer for turbulence (much like a car accident, you can't hold on to them in severe turbulence and they potentially could hit the ceiling - flight attendants have been seriously injured in this manner) - and they are much more comfortable in them as well. The FAA requires that the airplane accomodate the carseat, even specifically states they are obligated to move you if the carseat (which does have to be FAA-approved) doesn't fit into your assigned seat. It's worthwhile to take a copy of the FAA regs with you - you can Google them and find them easily.

Potential issues include hassles boarding (ask if they'll let you pre-board and/or request seats towards the back so you get on 1st). Ask for your seatbelt extender as you are passing the attendant in 1st class (that's where they keep them), and make sure that you install the carseat on the window (the carseat can't block anyone's access to the aisle) and lastly make sure your seats are at least 2 rows foward or behind the emergency exit row.

The bulkhead is great so as to not have your kid kick the person in front of you - but you don't have a place to stash that all-important diaper bag under the seat in front of you.

If you pack fun food and activities, you should be good to go!

Oh, and we highly recommend the gogo-babyz carseat attachment also, it's fabulous. If you are not a frequent traveller, maybe you could borrow/rent one?

Good Luck!

D.

DON'T TAKE THE CARSEAT!!! Its NOT worth the hassle. This is coming from personal experience. We even have a "fancy" made for airplanes seat for our kids and we ended up checking them because the plane wasnt equipt. Your daughter is perfectly safe in an airplane seat (with buckles on of course) and she will rest much better with her head on your lap than in a bulky carseat. Plus you will have more room that way too! :)

I agree that it depends on your child. We took our carseat on one trip and it was the biggest pain trying to carry it through the airport, get through security and getting it strapped in. My child through a fit wanting out so we let her out to save the other passengers from her tantrum so it did not help at all it was easier letting her sit in her own seat.

We have taken our daughter on some long flights between ages 1 and 3. We debated bringing the carseat - the first time we did but the airline wouldn't allow it because it wasn't FAA approved. If you decide to bring one, be SURE you check this - it should be on the label. We ended up having to check it as an extra item which cost us a bunch of money and was a hassle.

That said, we ended up being SO glad we didn't have it on the plane. It would have just been in the way. Our daughter was perfectly happy to sit in her seat normally and was able to go back and forth between us, nap lying down with her head on one of our laps, move around etc. If she had been strapped into a seat I think she would have gone insane (or at least been really fussy). As it was she was comfortable and cute and everyone was amazed at how happy and delightful she was the whole flight, instead of cranky like most kids. We've always done it that way since and it's always worked out great.

I think it depends somewhat on your child's temperament and your parenting style. Are you going to want to use the seat as a way to control her movement? Will you be uncomfortable if she stands on the seat and smiles at the people behind you? Will it make you nervous if she's not strapped into something in-flight? If so, you might want one - I know many parents feel like they need them. I personally have more of a relaxed parenting style and my daughter is pretty manageable, and we were all much happier without it.

What Karen said, but I can recommend gogobaby travelmate -

http://www.gogobabyz.com/product-i14550-c26-g6-b0-p0-gogo...

You connect it to the car seat and it acts like a stroller. I usually carried my son in a carrier, and loaded his diaperbag and my backpack into the seat. wheeled everything through and then popped it off when we got into the plane. It was a bit cumbersome, but helpful. Good luck in your travels!

Keep in mind that if you take a carseat on board, you'll have to purchase an additional ticket. You can take a lap child free of charge until they're 2.

We always checked our carseats and held our son, and it worked great. It was a treat for him to sleep in our arms, and we didn't have to spend the extra money on another ticket!

We have a sit and stroll. It is the best of both worlds when it comes to airplanes. You can pull out the handle at the top and wheels come out the bottom (for a stroller) but then when you need a car seat, you push the handle back down and the wheels go back up. It works perfect in every airplane we have been on, and we have even traveled with two of them at the same time. The stroller is great for short term, indoor use, but I would not recommend it for long walks outside. Doing this allows you to not have to worry about checking a stroller at the gate.

I wouldn't bother taking the car seat on the plane. We have travelled extensively with our three-year-old and now with our 8-month-old twins and have never taken a car seat on the plane. Firstly, it's a pain to lug all your stuff AND your children through those tiny aisles, nevermind a car seat! And once you do get on, the seats are so crammed together I doubt it would be very comfortable for anyone to have a car seat squashed into the airplane seat. If you're looking at it for safety, you can buy a five-point harness belt that straps into the seat belt of the airplane, but I just can't remember what they're called (child's travel vest or something like that). You can get them online. But really, a carseat is cumbersome and the child will have more space to move around and get comfortable if you don't bring one. She'll like have fun getting snacks on the tray, etc., that will make it exciting and new and thus she won't get bored and cranky (hopefully!). I'm not sure how long your flight is, but bring lots of new little toys and things for her to do and bring a sippy cup along as they will provide juice, but only in cups conducive to spilling all over in the hands of a 20-month-old! Do, however, take the stroller right up to the gate with you as it's very handy to have it in the waiting area with you. Have a great trip!

I have flown with my daughter 3 times since she was 6m old and all times we have had her car seat. She has slept 5 of the 6 flights and it's been wonderful. Without the car seat there is no way she would have fallen asleep and I would have had to deal with an over-tired squirmy toddler for 2 hours. It wasn't fun the one time she didn't sleep and we did have her car seat with us. I took ours so my Mom wouldn't have to buy one, but it did make it soooo much easier on the plane. We didn't need an extender for our seat, a Cosco Scenera $45 at wal mart. It fit in the seat just fine.

We take ours on the plane. So far, we've been able to use them on the airplane, but if we couldn't, we would gate check it. Gate checking also cuts down on the bumping around that can break a seat.

I think the carseat is a lifesaver unless your daughter can sit still for long periods of time normally. A DVD player is also a huge help. We took our daughter on a 5 hour flight at 19 months and she sat the whole flight. (she never even asked to get up.) I'm attributing it to the fact that she knew in a carseat she had to sit, where as in a regular chair she is a squirmy worm. Also, our daughter won't fall asleep anywhere other than her crib, or occasionally the carseat. She was able to sleep for a large part of the flight in the carseat. She definitely wouldn't have slept without it.

Good luck.
K.

I just flew from CA to OK with our 2 1/2 year old daughter. I am SO glad we brought our car seat. We found one of the wheel things on craigslist and used that. We could put our carry on in the car seat, our jackets, etc and it gave her a place to sit. She slept the whole 4 hours there so that wasn't an issues, but the flight back she couldn't fall asleep and when she said she wanted out (which I did too :O)) I told her it was just like a car and we couldn't get out until we stopped. I felt that she would think she could get up and down and move around if she wasn't strapped in her seat. Also, if she did fall asleep I'm not sure how comfortable she would have been or if she could really figure out how to fall asleep in a seat and I didn't want to hold her the whole flight. It worked out great for us and wasn't an issue, although I will say the wheels made it easier. I saw someone at the airport who had two car seats (stacked on each-other) and they were using just a regular luggage pull thing, those little medal things you can buy almost anywhere, so that would work too if you didn't want to spend $80 (we got ours for $60 and are going in 1/2's with my SIL) on the wheel things from kids catalogs.

I would call the airline in advance to see about what their recommendation is. I had a really terrible experience with trying to get my kids' seats on an airplane. I've also had a very good experience with it. I would say that since your parents have a carseat, I would lean more toward not needing one, but if you want to be extra safe, I'd take it along. The worst thing that could happen is they could make you check it at the gate (free of charge) and you'd fly without it.

I flew home last night with my 2 1/2 year old (2 hour flight) and although I wheeled the carseat through the airport to the plane, I gate-checked it at the last minute. I got it onto the plane a week ago and couldn't fasten it to the seat, either - i just buckled him into it and prayed for a smooth flight and landing. AND his legs were long enough to kick the seat in front of him. He travelled like a champ without the carseat last night. Next trip we will just take the stroller and check the carseat through with our luggage.

If you do decide to take it, check out a go-go babyz carseat traveller - you hook your carseat intoit and it becomes a stroller!

You are just going to have to decide if you think it is worth the hassle to get it on board, like the other person said. You will have to take it through security, and it can be a pain. However, I flew with my son alone and managed to get him, plus his infant seat and his big giant stroller and all our stuff through security. Yep, it's a pain, but do-able. I have also flown without it and just strapped my son in the seat, and he did fine. I just kept giving him snacks and he was happy.

The only thing I would recommend if you do decide to use it is make sure you have your own seat extender, and don't allow them to check it with baggage. I have read that checking a carseat puts as much trauma on the carseat as a car accident because of how they handle the seats. So just keep that in mind. Good luck!

It is so much easier to not have to cary a carseat with you going through security, getting on and off the plane, ect.. (I do use an umbrella stroller taht I gate check). I have traveled alot with my kids and I bring as little as possible. I used to load up my backpack with everything I could think of. It was sooo heavy and my back always hurt by the end of the trip and my kids usually only ate the snack out of it. So now I give the kids their own snacks, coloring book and crayons and maybe a book in their own backpacks. Even when my little one was 2 she used a mimi backpack and loved it. I only carried the essentials in my pack or diaper bag.

Hope this helps and good luck!!

First airlines should have seat belt extenders. Second not all car seats need extenders. We have flown numerous times and numerous airlines with Sunshine kids radian and have never needed an extender.
Car seats aren't required but they do make it more comfortable and easier for the child to nap...even for my 3 year old.
Make sure your car seat is FAA approved. It should state it on the stickers on the side or in the owners manual.

We have been flying short and long distance since my son was 6 months. I took my car sit only once and it was PIB (pain in b...). Never did it again and it worked fine. Mind that your daughter might be too overwelmed to take any naps at all. Buy new toys, only for the airplane and let her know that, so she will have something to look forward to. Good luck!

If your parents have one I would not bother with it. I have traveled with my boys on many many flights, both with seats and without, and it is easier to not have to deal with the seat. It is not required at all, and at 20 months you could save a ton by not buying him a seat at all and having him sit on your lap. My boys have always slept for at least part of the flights and never had any trouble. When in their own seat they can easily lean on you or on the wall and sleep no problem.

It really depend on your child and her mood. I have done both (with and without car seat) and it really depend on whether my daughter will sleep or not. Last time the car seat was great on the way to NY, but a hassle on the way back (she didn't sleep and kept kicking the seat in front of her). She wanted to be held by us and we would have had more room to move if we had checked the car seat.
Some airlines will only allow you to use it in the window aisle... so I would check that as well.
Have a good trip.

We traveled with our little one across country when she was about 18 months. We thought having her car seat was good because it lessened her anxiety about flying as it was something she was comfortable sitting it. You can always call the airline ahead of time or when you check in at the gate that they have a extender available. They also have some pretty nifty accessories now that turn your car seat into a roll seat to truck the child through the airport on. If you don't use a carseat you'll need to get some type of harness that is FAA approved to wear on the plane if you want to keep them safe. I can't think of the name right now, but you can probably google it. If you can't find the products, e-mail me directly and I'll find them for you. good luck.