Car Seat for Airplane Travel

Don't fret about the carseat. Most all carseats now are safe for airtravel. I work at Midway and we do randomly check carseats, and they pretty much all have a sticker on them that says safe for air travel. Go to Babies r Us and look on the sides or back of all the seats to see which ones have it. They probably say on the box as well. I've never denied boarding to anyone because of that. Have a good trip. By the way, don't listen to those who recommend NOT buying a seat and having the child sit on your lap. I've worked for the airlines for 15+ years and have flown about 2000 flights and I guarantee the money spent on the seat is well worth it. During any type of turbulence, even if the child is screaming in the seat, she/he is 1000x safer. I have seen lap children fly out of parent's laps onto the floor, under the seat, etc. Look for some type of stroller/wheeled attachment to cart the seat around to make the trek easier in the airport.

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The safety police may not agree with me, but I think it's MUCH easier to travel with your baby as a lap child. Even if you're brining a car seat with you, just check it. Save yourself the expense of purchasing a ticket for your girl. She'll rather sit on your lap anyway. And she's getting old enough that she probably won't nap on the plane anyway. Usually, if there's an extra seat in your row (like the middle seat of 3) this works great. We've flown with my 14-month old son probably 6 times already - and are doing it again tomorrow - and have never had a problem just bringing him on. Bring a sling/baby carrier with you and it's even easier to walk her through the airport.

When we took our daughter, we just took our regular one and checked the base. Use the locking clip with the infant seat belt and when she is out of it, use a sling, or snugli or baby bjorn so she's secured to you in some way. This way you have some kind of restraint for her. We took her at 6 months on an 8 hour trip to England and it relly helped to have her car seat for travel. and something to carry her thru the airport with. Not to be morbid, but is any car seat really rated for an airplane crash? Also, they should give you a child sized life vest if youa re going over water. Ask for it if they don't give it to you. And they will check your stroller at the gate, so bring the one your car seat snaps on to. this will make it alot easier to get through the airport and give her a place to nap. If you have nay questions, feel free to send me an e-mail.

Hi,
I bought an Evenflo high back booster for about $60 for airplane travel. It's fit in every seat (although I haven't been on a tiny prop plane with it) and it "relatively" light to carry in a backpack style carseat carrier. It's also worked well in cars, but it seems to fit more snugly in the seat if you attach it with the seat belt rather than the latch system.

J.

I always lap sat my daughter and checked the carseat. MUCH easier. That way I could nurse her up and down and she usually slept the whole flight.

I really like my triple play carseat/stroller for travel. So easy to just have one bulky piece of equipment to travel with. Now I have 2 kids though.... need to get a second triple play!

Our carseat is the Evenflo Triumph- they are listed on-line for like $89. We have taken it on several airplanes. I guess it depends on your situation as I read through the previous posts because we have really started to enjoy our son having his own seat. Because of that we found a really great thing to help travel through the airports with-the gogo kidz travelmate. Our son actually jumps in his car seat when we are in the airport because he loves to ride in this thing. It lists the various carseats that attach to it- eventhough ours is not listed it does work.

http://www.theportablebaby.com/gogokidz.html

Good luck with whatever you do!

I don't believe it is mandatory for you to have a car seat for your child. You can just hold them in your lap during the flight and landing and then just place them in the seat beside you without a car seat. We have flown a few times with our son and that is just what we did. It eliminates the need to lug a car seat through the entire airport....good luck!

I have a carseat/ stroller for airline travel. It works well. The stroller part works well for short trips and it is worth it not to cart a big carseat around the airport. Let me know if you have questions. I may need the seat for travel in the future but no plans in the works- perhaps we could work it out so you could borrow it. C.

Hi L.,
Having traveled with my daughter, I would definitely get her a seat on the plane, even though it is not mandatory. SO much easier! I have seen the stroller/seats that were mentioned, but I think that if the seat says it is approved for air travel it will not depend on the airline. You should be able to use any approved seat. That said, right now, at least by us, there are quite a few car seats on sale at Target, so you might be able to find a good deal. Otherwise try Costco or Sam's if you are a member! Happy traveling!
E.