Car seat in plane until what age?

[citymama]

I was reading the replies to maestramommy's thread about flying with 3 DC ( no advice but :bowdown:) and I noticed a number of replies indicated that her 3.5 yr old could use a lap belt on the plane instead of car seat.

So is there a different standard for in-flight versus in-car travel at that age? We're flying this weekend and I'm not looking forward to lugging the Marathon on the plane (definitely need to have it with us for the other end though). But I also want DD to be as safe as possible. She's almost 4 and 42 inches tall/37 lbs. Car seat gurus: would you keep her in the Marathon on a 5 hr flight or just go with the lap belt? TIA for any advice!

[arivecchi]

DS1 has been flying with just lapbelt since he was about to turn 3. We also have a CARES harness but he hates it. I think a 4 year old would definitely be ok with the lapbelt. You are mostly protecting against turbulence.

[WatchingThemGrow]

DD flew with the CARES last month. I'm keeping her in it until she's too big or DS2 needs it. (off to check the stats for it..)

[bubbaray]

I'm was a-OK with my then 2yo using the lap belt. Of course, that was pretty much forced on me when she refused to get into her car seat (yes, she screamed all the freakin' way from Vancouver to Maui -- 6 hours!) and refused to get into the CARES harness (which didn't fit her anyway) on our trip to DL.

The physics of a plane crash are inherently different than a vehicle crash. JMHO.

[jjordan]

Physics of a crash aside, I'd bring a seat for a 5 hour flight just because that is a LONG time for a preschooler to be in an airplane seat. I would expect her to be much more comfortable in a carseat.

If it were maybe an hour or two, I'd skip the carseat.

[ourbabygirl]

We went on a 3 hour flight with DD (then 15 months) & no car seat, just a lap belt. She was great, especially since when I flew with her in her MA in November, the extra height propped her up and made it easier for her to spend the flight kicking the seat in front of her (flight attendant wouldn't let me install the seat RF). This time we bought a Scenera when we got to our destination and used it while on the trip, then checked it with our baggage- it's a crappy seat but soooo much lighter than the MA. I figured we could suck it up & deal with the twisty straps for 2 weeks! ;)

[arivecchi]

DS1 loves seating on the seat with a lapbelt. He feels like a big boy and behaves well as long as we have his DVD player and Cars on. :) I cannot imagine him being on a car seat on a plane at this point.

[Clarity]

I thought that checking carseats was risking damage to the seat? Is that not the case? So, if I wanted to fly with my girls I could actually check 3.5yr old dd1's car seat and just use then 18 month old's carseat on the flight?

[bubbaray]

Well, yeah, its a risk. I would be hesitant to check a seat that my kids used daily. I have a few spares (cough cough), so have been lucky in that regard.

[AnnieW625]

We kept DD in her car seat on the plane until she was 3 and the only reason we stopped was because she outgrew the Triumph 5 (similar in size to a Roundabout), but honestly if the Marathon would've been a little bit lighter I most likely would keep her in the car seat. She does well in them, but she also does well in the seat with just the seat belt. I just tell her the rules and it makes it easier for her to reach the tray table. All of our flights since DD turned 3 have been to and from Sacramento so just over an hour in the air.

Also I always gate checked or counter checked our car seats a lot before DD was 2 yrs. old and I never had a problem with it. I am just happy now that we have a Safegaurd Go that can go in the overhead bins.

[crl]

I found DS didn't really fit in a carseat on an airplane after about 2 1/2. His legs would have been totally squished, and he would have kicked the seat in front of him incessantly. Maybe I wasn't getting the right angle? He's really tall too, so maybe it was just his long legs? I was lucky and had my parents picking us up on the other end so I ordered a new seat shipped directly to them and that seat stayed at their house for future visits.

Catherine

[jent]

Physics of a crash aside, I'd bring a seat for a 5 hour flight just because that is a LONG time for a preschooler to be in an airplane seat. I would expect her to be much more comfortable in a carseat.

If it were maybe an hour or two, I'd skip the carseat.

At what age/size do people think the airplane seat is more comfortable than the carseat? We flew last month (DD was 2.75 but small for age), and I assumed the carseat would be more comfortable, but the carseat takes up so much room on an airplane seat, she just seemed kind of wedged in there. On the flight down I half-wished we'd checked the seat, but on the way back she fell asleep in the carseat so I was glad she was in it.

We were traveling with our Marathon, maybe other carseats have a smaller footprint on the airplane.


I found DS didn't really fit in a carseat on an airplane after about 2 1/2. His legs would have been totally squished, and he would have kicked the seat in front of him incessantly. Maybe I wasn't getting the right angle? He's really tall too, so maybe it was just his long legs?

Yes, that's exactly what was happening with us.

[citymama]

DD's last major flight was last August, when she was just a couple inches shorter, maybe 40 inches tall. She rode in her Roundabout. We don't have time to pick up the RA from grandma's before our flight, so we'd be carrying our primary seat, the Marathon. I don't want to have anything happen to it if we gate check it, so it sounds like maybe we should take it on board and have her sit in it regardless.

[niccig]

DS's first ride without a carseat was last Thanksgiving and he turned 5 a month later. A couple of reasons we kept him in it.

1) he sleeps in it and on 14+ hour flight to my parents, you want your child to sleep 8 hours or so.
2) he's smaller, he was about 35lbs, 40" and still fitted in the Uptown car seat. The first ride in just the seatbelt, I was worried as when he curled up to lean on me to sleep, the lapbelt slipped down and is more on his thighs the on his hips. I could see a smaller child not fitting the seatbelt well.
3) kicking a seat wasn't a problem for us after age 3. He knew not to do it, we have a routine where we would go over where his feet were to be, and he got bribes throughout the flight for NOT kicking the seat. We also fly a lot, so he knows the drill for being on a plane.
4) He's an only child, so only one car seat to lug.
5) Cares harness bothered his head and was more uncomfortable.
6) at 2.5 yo, we used the Cares and he kept undoing the seatbelt, that was more of a PITA than carrying the car seat.

He's fine now without the carseat, and I like not carrying it, but I take a GO onboard, so still carrying something. I am worried about his comfort on our next 14+ hour flight. We flew 2 hours at Thanksgiving and for the last hour he complained about his bottom hurting from the seat...I'm thinking of cutting a piece of foam to size of seat and carrying it onboard, so he has more padding to sit on. The main reason for us was his comfort so he would sleep and we could sleep - we take red eye to Australia so he has to sleep or it's more hellish than normal.

[luza]

DS's first ride without a carseat was last Thanksgiving and he turned 5 a month later.
We last flew with a Boulevard when DD was 5 1/2, but our flights are usually long (10-12 hours) and having the seat made it easier for DD and I to both sleep. She's just outgrown the BLVD so I guess I'm going to have to learn to manage without it...

[egoldber]

I would expect her to be much more comfortable in a carseat.

My younger DD HATES being confined and fights the carseat after an hour or so. So for her, it is not more comfortable.

She is also a seat kicker. (Our older DD never did that.) Our last flight was 3 hours and she did soooo much better in just the lapbelt. She was happier, so I was happier. :)

[bubbaray]

My younger DD HATES being confined and fights the carseat after an hour or so. So for her, it is not more comfortable.

She is also a seat kicker. (Our older DD never did that.) Our last flight was 3 hours and she did soooo much better in just the lapbelt. She was happier, so I was happier. :)


A huge :yeahthat: -- my younger DD#1 was/is fine on the plane. DD#2, not so much, at least not when in her car seat. She's fine in a lapbelt.

[arivecchi]

My younger DD HATES being confined and fights the carseat after an hour or so. So for her, it is not more comfortable.

She is also a seat kicker. (Our older DD never did that.) Our last flight was 3 hours and she did soooo much better in just the lapbelt. She was happier, so I was happier. :):yeahthat: This is DS1 too.

[AnnieW625]

Also FWIW our best trip with DD in her car seat was the red eye going to Boston. She slept for most of the time in seat. The 5 hr. return trip was a little harder to get through, but she made it and she kicked the seat a bit, but she'd been away from home for almost a week and so I think she was ansy too.

What about getting a smaller less expensive seat like an Avenue (not sure on the max height though)? Also less dough is lost if something does happen to it. I'd rather gate check than counter check car seats because the car seats and strollers are the last things that get put on the plane.

[diegosmom]

I just returned from a trip on Sunday with both of my kids. I can't remember but it was either 40 lbs or 40 inches to go without a carseat (per American Airline). My almost 4 year was fine without the carseat (although he's just shy of 40lbls he is over 40 inches). He actually did really well and it keeps him from pushing on the seat in front of us. Previously he always traveled in his Marathon. DD at 19 mths still travels in her carseat and sometimes its a chore to keep her from kicking the seat in front.

[AnnieW625]

I just returned from a trip on Sunday with both of my kids. I can't remember but it was either 40 lbs or 40 inches to go without a carseat (per American Airline). My almost 4 year was fine without the carseat (although he's just shy of 40lbls he is over 40 inches). He actually did really well and it keeps him from pushing on the seat in front of us. Previously he always traveled in his Marathon. DD at 19 mths still travels in her carseat and sometimes its a chore to keep her from kicking the seat in front.

40lbs is the recommendation from the FAA, but it is not enforced at least on the airlines we fly (Southwest, and Jet Blue). I have seen kids just over 2 or so in the seats with no carseats and I have never once heard a flight attendant tell a parent that their kid needs to be in a car seat or harness on a plane; and it won't be mandatory at least for harnesses unless the airline is willing to provide them IMHO.

[fivi2]

I just returned from a trip on Sunday with both of my kids. I can't remember but it was either 40 lbs or 40 inches to go without a carseat (per American Airline). My almost 4 year was fine without the carseat (although he's just shy of 40lbls he is over 40 inches). He actually did really well and it keeps him from pushing on the seat in front of us. Previously he always traveled in his Marathon. DD at 19 mths still travels in her carseat and sometimes its a chore to keep her from kicking the seat in front.

That is weird. We flew American over the summer with my 3.5 yo twins - definitely under 40 pounds and 40 inches. They did not use a car seat. I called and asked and they said once they were over 2 yo (I don't know who checks that?) there was no rule on using a car seat. They told me that under two they could be a lap baby or in a car seat, but after two it was up to me whether or not to use a car seat. That is odd that they told you a different rule! Kind of scary that it depends on who you talk to, because we didn't have a seat with us (they were waiting at the other end).

They did not use a car seat and it worked well for us.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

the FAA says they should be 40 pounds to use just a seat belt. But those rules come from back when no car seat went above 40 pounds, so take that for what it is worth.

My six year old still uses a car seat on a plane. I figure we have to take the car seat with us anyway to use at our destination, so why not use it. We use a Radian on the plane and she has plenty of leg room and can use the tray table. She sat in it for 14-15hours on the flights to/from Taiwan last April.

If I were traveling alone with two kids, I might change my mind about that so I didn't have to carry two car seats through the airport, but since the Radian folds up I might be able to do it.

[citymama]

the FAA says they should be 40 pounds to use just a seat belt. But those rules come from back when no car seat went above 40 pounds, so take that for what it is worth.

My six year old still uses a car seat on a plane. I figure we have to take the car seat with us anyway to use at our destination, so why not use it. We use a Radian on the plane and she has plenty of leg room and can use the tray table. She sat in it for 14-15hours on the flights to/from Taiwan last April.

If I were traveling alone with two kids, I might change my mind about that so I didn't have to carry two car seats through the airport, but since the Radian folds up I might be able to do it.

I think we'll do the car seat again. Just wish it wasn't the big old Marathon, but that's what we've got. If DD was OK in it at 40 inches height, she should be OK at 42 inches. And since she's not yet 40 lbs, we'll play it safe this time and do the car seat again.