mxylplik2

I am about to travel with my 13 month old child. I did not buy a seat for him on the airplane but if there is a chance there is an empty seat next to ours, I would like to have brought his car seat on board. I can also use this car seat in the car rental.

Do people normally bring their car seats on board? I can imagine it may be hard to stow it in an overhead compartment if there is no seat available (feels about 30-35 pounds). Its not a safety issue for me - rather, its about his and our comfort for the 3 hour flight. In addition, we won't have to use the rental companies' car seat which could be dirty.

Do people stow it first and then wait till the flight is boarded to determine where the empty seats are (this could be perceived as a nuisance to have people get up for us to get the car seat out and to goto the empty seat, secure it to a seat, and secure the baby to it - could hold up the flight)? Rather than doing this, should we ask the airline at the boarding gate if there are empty seats at sit there initially? What are the airlines' policies on this? Do they let people bring child seats on board in hopes of an empty seat?

Feedback from those who have gone through this very decision, would be much appreciated.

wantsomesun

If you are not paying for a seat, I would not assume that there will be one available. Flights are alot fuller these days, since there are fewer flights available. If you want to use the car seat, then buy a seat for your child, if not more than likely you will be holding the child in your lap for the flight.

The overhead racks are not designed for car seats, so if you are bringing it along it will probably have to be checked. The other thing I would do is call your airline and find out what their policy is for car seats and open seats.

gail

Excess luggage, which a car seat would be, can be "gate checked" at most airports. That would allow you to do a last minute check at the gate to see if a seat would be available - almost the same thing could be accomplished when checking in at the ticket counter.

Years ago when my kids were little people were advised to let airlines know that they were traveling with a non-paying infant. The airlines put something called an "infant hold" on an available seat and it was almost always available for kid and carseat. These days, I have rarely seen many empty seats on planes, even to obscure destinations at odd times.

I think you should really count on having your child on your lap for the trip - good luck doing that!

ltt

3 hours with a 13 month old on your lap - sounds like a nightmare for you and the people sitting next to you.

snowrooster

ltt is clearly childless and has chosen to be rude rather than offer advice. Perhaps someone should start a baby free airline for folks like this so they can pay a premium to avoid the annoyance of children.

I too will be traveling w/a 14mos old on Thanksgiving. I'm assuming she will be on my lap and hopefully behave. I'm going to check her car seat (along with the one for my 2year old for whom we have bought a ticket).

BrimhamRocks

It is not automatically a 'nightmare' when the person next to or near you has a baby with them. That kind of insensitive comment causes a lot of resentment with us parents who travel, whether out of neccessity or for pure leisure, with our young children.

I am stationed overseas with my husband and young son. Our son was born here in the UK, and he has traveled twice to the States and back on MUCH longer flights than the 3 hours the OP talks about. With proper planning, most children will travel just fine. Yes, there are bound to be some tricky moments, no doubt. But ASSUMING that a baby is going to be a 'nightmare' when traveling is very UN-helpful, for everyone involved.

Now, soapbox out of the way.....

As far as car seats: Whether you pay for a separate seat on the plane for your child, or you just show up and hope for an empty seat beside yours, whatever car seat you take must be an AIRLINE CERTIFIED car seat. There is normally a sticker on the car seat, saying whether or not it is one of the airline-certified ones. The airlines can advise you on that, if you call them ahead of time.

I agree with the other posters that you should not assume that an empty seat will be available. Call the airline and double check that you will be able to gate-check your car seat, if you need to.

As far as the trip itself....just make sure you have all the supplies you normally need to keep your child occupied and comfortable - toys, books, snacks, juice, diapers, etc. Sounds like a no-brainer, perhaps, but what I'm saying is don't UNDER-estimate, just because it's a (relatively) short 3 hour trip. An occupied baby is a happier baby, when it comes to traveling.

Good luck and have a wonderful trip!

Ryan

We purchased a second car seat for our 2 year old son for use on planes. It's a very lightweight model made by Britax. Think it called something like the StarVoyager (or some similar type name that evokes travel.) It's about 1/2 the weight of his regular seat and can be made more compact for travel.

However, your child is probably still a bit young as we use the regular shoulder restraint seatbelt when he is in the car.

GoTravel

I'm going to risk the wrath of other posters on this but here goes.

Please, please, please buy your infant a seat.

For no other reason than the safety of your infant.

In cases of sudden deceleration and turbulence, your child could turn into a projectile. Ever try to hold on to a bowling ball during takeoff and landing?

The reason the FAA will not recommend buying an infant a seat is because it is still safer for your child to fly on your lap than it is for your child to ride in a car strapped in a carseat.

Please buy your child a seat.

BrimhamRocks

GoTravel, I agree about buying an extra seat, if you can afford it. However, I'm a little confused about your statement:

The reason the FAA will not recommend buying an infant a seat is because it is still safer for your child to fly on your lap than it is for your child to ride in a car strapped in a carseat.

Could you clarify?

BrimhamRocks

And just FYI:

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/1...eut/index.html

GoTravel

I would be glad to clarify.

If the FAA mandates buying a seat for an infant, it may push more people to drive than to fly. It is still safer to fly than it is to drive. Hence, the FAA is hesitant to veer people toward driving because it is more dangerous than flying.

snowrooster

I'm not aware of any situations when a child became a projectile during flight. It seems like this would be a newsworthy story. Odd that the media hasn't covered this.

buckeyemom

Both the Association of Flight Attendants and the DOT strongly recommend that you purchase a seat and use an FAA approved car seat. There have been incidents of turbulence where children were actually ripped from their parent's arms and injured. Try sitting in a straigh back chair about 17 inches from a wall for 3 hours with your child in your lap. Kids are used to their seat and it saves you from renting a car seat that probably hasn't been sanitized from the rental car agency. For safety and your sanity, buy the extra seat and bring your car seat.

At one point the FAA was talking about making car seats mandatory for children under 2 and abandoned the idea.

ceg

I am with GoTravel. Buy a seat for your child. It is safer. Let us not kid our selves, 3 hours with a 13 month old on your lap is no fun for you or the child. Yes, it can be done but why put yourself and those around you through it when the safest and most comfortable way for your child to travel is in a car seat.

Ryan

Ok for the FAA theory, although I disagree that the FAA is viewing their recommendation as a fly/drive safety issue. But are you claiming that FAA equivalent in every country has the same motivation?

GoTravel

I never had an opinion about this before (I am childless) until a flight from Orlando in August of 2002. I was sitting next to a couple with a lap child and we hit one of those horrible late afternoon thunderstorms.

The poor father had a very hard time hanging on to the child because we hit some very bad turbulence. Obviously the mother was hysterical.

From the link Brimham provided;

"The FAA has long resisted calls to require airlines to offer child restraints despite a recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board to do so. The agency promised in 1999 to propose a restraint regulation for all passengers, but there is no timetable for introducing it.

"It's economics over safety," said Jim Hall a former safety board chairman who has spoken out on transportation safety issues affecting children. "It's never made any sense."

Turbulence is the most common cause of injuries to passengers and crew but the risk of death or injury on a plane is considered small, studies show. The debate on whether restraints are necessary has centered on children under 2 years old who are permitted to sit on the lap of an adult.

Aviation regulations permit the use of auto child safety seats secured to aircraft"

Ryn2691

One other thing. Even if there is an empty seat next to yours (real long shot these days), you still may not be able to use the carseat if the place where you are sitting is one of the rows that will not accomodate it. Be sure to tell the airline that you wish to use a carseat, so that they don't assign your seats somewhere that a carseat cannot be used.

FAA safety regs require that a carseat not impede egress in the event of an emergency evacuation. What this means in practical terms is that the carseat must be placed at the window position (or in the center seat of the center section of a widebody). Carseats cannot be placed in exit rows, of course, but also cannot be placed in the rows that are directly in front of the exit rows (because those seats are supposed to collapse forward to widen the exit row; they cannot collapse with a seat strapped in.)

Bring a trash bag to wrap up the seat in case you have to gate-check it; it can be greasy in the hold. (It will not fit in the overhead bin, ever.) The normal procedure for letting a baby have a vacant seat is that you check in at the gate and tell the agent that you are hoping to use a carseat. Most of the time, you will be told that you will be called just prior to boarding if a seat is actually available. They will not normally tell you for sure until the checkin deadline has passed, usually 15 minutes before scheduled departure time. If there is a seat, they will then give you a boarding pass for it. If not, bag it and put the gate-check tag on it, then deposit it along with your folded, tagged stroller at the end of the jetway.

I also recommend buying a seat if at all possible; holding a 13 mo old on an aircraft is usually a nightmare. They WANT to walk, but if they have to be on your lap, they want to stand, right where they have easy access to all those fascinating buttons that work the lights and ring the bells. Also, be prepared for the joy of constant tray-table folding.

GoTravel

From the American Academy of Pediatrics

http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...ull/108/5/1218

They are permitted to be held on the lap of an adult. Preventable injuries and deaths have occurred in children younger than 2 years who were unrestrained in aircraft during survivable crashes and conditions of turbulence. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a mandatory federal requirement for restraint use for children on aircraft. The Academy further recommends that parents ensure that a seat is available for all children during aircraft transport and follow current recommendations for restraint use for all children.

Ryn2691

Weighing in here on the FAA thing. If you go out to FAA hearing documentation and read up on the discussions, you'll find that the FAA really does cling to the argument that people would drive instead of fly if carseats were required for babies. It *is* an economic argument in the end, a question of whether requiring the expense is reasonable in the face of the probable risk of injury. Apparently, the FAA has been convinced that it isn't. Recently, however, they have made it a rule that if a child under 2 does have a separate purchased seat, then the child must be in a carseat in that seat. It's some progress, anyway.

As far as I can determine (and I've researched it rather a lot, as I travel abroad often, and always prefer to use a carseat for my child) the US is the only country that requires airlines to allow personal carseats to be used aboard aircraft. In most other countries, the airlines are permitted to say whether or not they will allow them, and most of them have chosen not to allow carseats. British Airways, for instance, does not. They have their own child seats that can be used aboard the aircraft on trans-oceanic flights only, but there are a limited number of them, and if there are no more available, the child must do without. They do not offer the seats on short-haul flights, nor will they allow them for a child over 3 yrs. old, regardless of size.

There is absolutly no intl. consistency with regard to regulating the safety of children on aircraft. Contradictions abound. An example: the FAA has banned the use of belly-belts on US carriers, but they are normally required for lap babies by carriers based in other countries. The FAA says that the child would be crushed in the event of a crash, the other countries say that the belt prevents the child from going airborne in the event of turbulence.

Interestingly enough, unlike in most other countries, the US has no regulation that says that a child (aged 2-12) must be seated next to an accompanying adult on an aircraft. This oversight often results in a parent spending almost the entire flight standing in an aisle trying to supervise and guard a 5-yo who is seated between 2 total strangers.

reneeinva

It amazes me that people wouldn't give up a seat so a child could sit with the parent. Does this really happen?