flying in car seats

[sirensrise]

hi, can someone explain to dh why it is important to have dd in the car seat for take off and landing. he thinks that it is more important that she is sucking. dd is 10 month old.
thanks

[Joolsplus2]

Mainly because takeoff and landing are by far the most dangerous parts of the trip. Of course, it's no fun to subject her to ear pain, either, I totally understand!
Here's a page with more information to help you evaluate the risks and make an informed choice: http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/airplanetravel.aspx

And maybe ask your dr about a little sudafed, if you are at all worried about ear pain...that might help even more than nursing :)

Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[sirensrise]

thanks so much for the article. dh thinks that it is DANGEROUS if the baby does not suck during take off and landing. he is not worry about the pain, but the danger itself. any comment on that? you can see i am a little fed up with him:) he thinks that sucking a sippy is not enough, because it is not constant.
thanks.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I never could get my baby to suck during take off and landing. And she's never had ear pain.

During the flight itself, she wants to nurse, so I just lean over her car seat. I keep her buckled in her seat for the entire flight. I keep my seatbelt on too. I've been on too many flights with sudden turbulence that could cause an injury to a baby who wasn't buckled in.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[Joolsplus2]

We're so lucky to have Karen's frequent flyer expertise! :)

No, it's really not dangerous for your baby not to be sucking at those times...their ears can tolerate elevation changes just as well as ours...unless she has a raging ear infection, then you wouldn't want to fly at all!

Maybe HE could try a couple google searches to prove to YOU it's dangerous ;)

Good luck :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[sarsah]

My oldest DS flew a ton before he was a year old -- something like 22 flights (DH worked in Atlanta and we lived in Detroit). He never had a problem with his ears. Sometimes he took a bottle or sippy cup for takeoff/landing and sometimes he didn't. It didn't seem to make a difference.

We only used a car seat on the plane once (and what a nightmere that was). Yes, I know it's much safer, but it just did not work for us. There was no way I could carry a car seat and a child who could not yet walk by myself through the airport by myself, let alone get it strapped in to the plane seat while keeping a hold on DS.

Sarah......mom to Jason, age 4 & Devin, age 1

[Stpatrick_Aidan]

I just came back from flying a few days ago. I am 6.5 months pregnant and was traveling by myself with a 2 yr old and a 5 yr old. For the 2 yr old I took his seat and I wouldn't have not taken it no matter what. I also took a light umbrella stroller and bungeed the seat to it and he sat in it while we walked through airports. We had a layover in a large airport on both trips there and back. On the flight home there was a women in the row in front of me traveling with her 3 kids and mother. The youngest of the kids was just a few months and the oldest probably 4. She didn't bring seats for any of them and then pitched a fit when they told her she couldn't have 5 people in a one row meant for 3. The reason being, there weren't enough oxygen masks. She argued and argued and acted like a child. I calmly followed the flight attendent to the back of the plane and explained that I was a CPS tech and not only was she putting her children's lives at danger by denying them oxygen but she was putting their lives at danger by not having one of them strapped in a seat. She agreed wholeheartedly and told me to go ahead and say what ever I wanted but I refrained because I was traveling by myself with my two kids otherwise I would have been all over her case. On that flight we had hit major turbulence more than once and I just prayed that mom and grandmother could hold onto those kids tight enough. 3 kids and two adults.

[Joolsplus2]

Shauna, that's a good point about the oxygen masks. I rarely if ever hear that as a reason not to fly with a lap baby, but it makes an awful lot of sense. Really makes me wonder even more why lapbabies are allowed at all (not that I haven't done my fair share of traveling with them...my biggest problem was trying to get the meal over with before my tray table got kicked...sad, I know... :( )
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[cpstechmom]

I've always wondered about the oxygen mask too.. If there are only enough for the seats available, then what? Someone has to be sacrificed for a lap baby?

My sister, bil and niece flew out to CA from LA when dn was 9 months old. She hit her head on the tray when it came down once. Apparently it wasn't hooked all the way or something like that. She had a small knot on her little head for most of the trip here.

yet another reason to use seats on planes.... I know I will...I'm hoping to fly to either South Dakota or Florida next year (depending on where my sister is living at the time I want to go) and I know I will take ds seat w/me. Besides, if he isn't buckled in his seat he wants to run all over the place. Can't have a toddler running all over the plane or screaming b/c he can't get down to run.




Janice M. Mom to Cias-born 4/13/02 and forever rear-facing in his Britax Marathon.

[Stpatrick_Aidan]

There must have been 4 masks in the row meant for 3 because with the mother, daughter and kids there were a total of 5 in that row so the flight attendent was trying to explain to her that her mom and one of the kids had to move. She threw a fit because she didn't want to be seperated but she had her mom with her so I didn't see her arguement. Anyway, when the mom was moved to the row in front there were a total of 4 people in each row so there must be an extra mask. The mom was arguing about something like she had a mask so what did it matter and the flight attendent was tyring to tell her that two of her kids wouldn't have one and she just didn't get it. I think she thought she could share her mask with a kid. Ugh!!!

[kbudsberg]

I'm new to this board and just came across this. I was a flight for 9 years so thought I'd pipe in. There are extra oxygen masks on planes for lap children. Depending on the type of plane they may be an extra one at each row or only certain rows (i.e. ony on the rt. side). If the row is full only one lap child is permitted and it must be in a row w/an extra mask. Hope that helps!

Kim, mom to Emma 1/14/04

[millerpjm]

This post is not anything scientific, just our experience flying. We have flown once with DS - we had a layover so we had a total of 4 takeoffs and landings. 3 out of 4 takeoffs DS had fallen asleep in his carseat by the time the plane took off. The 4th time we tried to give him a bottle to suck at takeoff- he did not want it so we gave up and 5 minutes later he was asleep. If we had not been trying to feed him he might have fallen asleep 4 out of 4 takeoffs! It did not bother his ears at all. Not that this will happen for everyone, but that is my one time experience. DS was 9 months at the time.


Jen

Proud mama to Thomas 2-3-03

[holliam]

I'm totally not sure what to do about bringing our daughter home! We're adopting her from Guatemala at about 6 months of age.

She is not used to strollers or carseats at all. They simply do not use them in Guatemala. She loves to be held, and I know it will keep her the calmest with everything else weird that is going on.

I'm worried about turbulence, though. Does anyone know anything about this product?

http://www.babybair.com/

It seems like a reasonable solution for making the lapseat a bit safer while in flight.

Holli

[kbudsberg]

Just know that you will not be able to use it on taxi, take-off, or landing on any U.S. airline. In my 9 years with the airlines (as a flight attendant) I've actually never seen one used. My gut would tell me that in addition to holding the baby would be more secure. They really are not common here. I've heard they are pretty common overseas. I believe they are approved there. Just don't ever put your seatbelt around you and the baby. That is not safe. If you use it let me know how it goes, I'm curious.

Kim

[JElaineB]

I used the B'Air with DS when he was 5.5 months old. I also purchased a seat for him and had his infant seat in the seat next to us. I used the B'Air when bottle feeding him and when he wanted to be out of the car seat. It worked really well. It didn't have a whole lot of slack, so he couldn't move around much, but it was fine for an almost 6 month old. When I flew again with DS at 8.5 months old, I didn't use the B'Air. He was too wriggly at that point and wanted to stand up and look at everyone on the plane. I kept him in the car seat as much as possible but when I held him I just held him in my arms. If you are not going to have a car seat at all on the plane I would definitely recommend it for a 6 month old. It definitely made me feel better about holding him in the event we encountered any unexpected turbulence.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02