Using infant seat base on a plane?

[electriclady]

We are flying cross-country with DD at the beginning of July. She will be 17 months old but still easily fits into her Safeseat (21 lbs, 30 in), so we will be flying with that seat (she will have her own seat on the plane). The flight is 5.5 hours and we'll be traveling for about a week.

Here's my question: We recently took a long car trip and I noticed that the car's seat belt was cutting into her legs a bit. (We don't own a car, so for most trips we rent a car and install the carseat without the base using the seat belt--so the belt runs across her lap.) I'm worried that this will be uncomfortable for her on a long flight and a week of driving around, so I'm considering taking the Safeseat base (which we've never used!) so she won't have the belt across her lap. Does this seem crazy? My plan was to wheel DD through the airport in her Volo and carry the Safeseat by the handle (it'll be me and DH so it shouldn't be too difficult), and gatecheck the Volo. Using the base will of course add another heavy thing to carry.

Has anyone else carried a carseat base on a plane?

[o_mom]

I didn't take my base on, but DS3 was only 10 mos when we flew. I packed the base in my checked luggage and used it in the rental car. I'm not sure if it will fit on the plane seat or not. One potential problem I could see is that the airplane buckle will end up right where the lockoff on the base is and may prevent the seat from locking in the base.

BTW, I found the Safeseat could hang on the back of our stroller very nicely. I put the handle in the 'B' position and it hung down so that the seat portion was facing the stroller.

[hillview]

I did -- with safeseat and works fine.
/hillary