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  1. #1
    cluelesswonder Guest

    Default When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    Hi,

    I'm tired of lugging around a car seat and was wondering if there was an end in sight? I've at least 3 more solo cross country trips with my now 2.5 yo daughter and we've got to lug her Marathon instead of her RA.

    When can she fly without her car seat safely? What do you do if you're flying alone with 2 kids? (Not a scenario I want to face soon.)

    Is there a good option to carrying the Marathon? I've heard the Micro Mover is good, but how do I manage it in the plane? I'm assuming that the MA is too wide to just roll it down the aisle. I'm also assuming that it is impossible to re-set up while on the plane, manuvering diaper backpack, car seat, and toddler (assuming she has'nt thrown up or is asleep). Any advice is most welcome!

    Thanks,
    Karen

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Richmond, Virginia, USA.
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    20,018

    Default RE: When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    I think you're right, the MA is too wide to get down the aisle..you'd have to stop at the door of the plane and dismantle it (it's TINY...micro, it really is!) and then get everything down the aisle of the plane and installed. Probably much easier to put it on a stroller, gate check the stroller, and carry the MA down the aisle, back pack your carry on, and a hand on your dd.
    For me, personally, the risks of air travel are so small, that I never brought seats for my kids. I found the lapbelt fits reasonably low and tight over their laps at even a young age, and we've always had an appropriate seat to use at our destination. It's probably better to gate-check the MA, or find a box or car seat bag to put it in to check it through with regular luggage...you wouldn't want the cover to get all ripped up or whatever under a pile of suitcases!

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

  3. #3
    cluelesswonder Guest

    Default RE: When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    Julie,

    Thanks for the input. How old were your kids when you just let them sit in the plane seats?

    My DD has been flying with me (mostly solo) cross country since I was pregnant and seems to sleep very well in her RA/MA so I'm hesitant to leave the seat off the plane. It's the one place she can be comfortable while asleep (so I can run to the bathroom or watch 1/2 a movie). I'm not sure how she'd do without a place to rest her head and body while sleeping upright that would leave me free to move and eat.

    Have you used the Micro Mover? Any thoughts on that?

    Thanks again!

    Karen

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    Default RE: When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    I was really bad about bringing car seats, and only did once out of...oh..ten trips or so. I guess I felt ok to run to the bathroom and leave them alone when they were about age 3 (before then, I'd either not go at all, or ask a woman nearby to watch them). They would probably have slept a lot better in a car seat (though the one time I brought one, my 2 yo totally screamed until I let her out of it and held her so she'd sleep...).
    I've only ever played with the micro-mover in the store (couldn't justify the $25 since I never bring seats...I have seats at my mom's house, which is where we always are going), but it seemed like it wouldn't be too hard to learn to use quickly, and it's super-small when folded (really, tiny...it could go in the front of a roller bag). I get the feeling you should probably keep bringing your seat on board for awhile, if she's so comfy in it. You really get a chance to breathe that way, during the flight. After she's 3 and 30 pounds, you might prefer to get a booster like the Compass B500 that can fold up for transport, and bring it in the overhead compartment (so the don't lose or break it in baggage check). I don't usually recommend that kids below age 4 ride in boosters, but sometimes for traveling, it's really so much easier!
    Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
    http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

  5. #5
    cluelesswonder Guest

    Default RE: When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    Thanks for the thoughts on the MM. My husband and I looked at it in the store and while it was very tiny, we were wondering how well it would actually handle the MA.

    This time around I've ordered the kiddiecargo lorider from BabyAge (free shipping with code: SHIPFREE; otherwise their products all ship for $3.95 per shipment). I'm thinking of ditching the stroller since they claim that the child can ride in the carseat that way! I have a few days to think about this radical idea.

    Any drawbacks to not having a stroller do you think? We're visiting my mom's and we've got an umbrella stroller there.

    RE:compass b500. Do you recommend that the child be BOTH 3 yo AND 30 lbs? DD is already at 32 lbs, 38" tall but is only nearing 2.5 yo.

    Karen

  6. #6
    MinnieMouse Guest

    Default RE: When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    We've flown I think 5 round trip flights since dd was 15mo, the most recent just two weeks ago and dd turnd 3yo last month. We have a Britax Advantage... just a bit smaller than the MA.

    I've always brought the car seat and plan on doing so until she outgrows it. Dd literally falls asleep before the plane leaves the jetway. The hum of the engines gets her every time! Out of all our flights I think she's been awake for about 1/2 of one flight. Typically dd is the only child on the flight sleeping as well as the only child in a car seat.

    I also think the car seat goes a long way in keeping dd in her seat. She's used to sitting in it in the car traveling so there are no arguements about sitting in it in the airplane.

    Our first trip we had to change planes and it was quite the challenge. Our incoming flight was late and we had 5 minutes to get from one side of the airport to the other. Dh uninstalled the seat and ran with it, I took dd, put her in the stroller on the jetway and sprinted. We actually made the flight before others from our connecting flight did!

    After that trip we bought a Micromover and we really like it. It's great for hauling the seat around the airport while waiting for your flight. This past trip we waited until the last second to "pack" it and couldn't find it. We found that the seat fit nicely on top of our rolling garment bag when we had our luggage and when we didn't we were lucky enough that my sister was traveling with us... so we had an extra pair of hands.

    On the return trip dh flew alone with dd (we got bumped and split up) so I took the stroller (an Aria)and dh took dd and her seat. He did great by himself and told me later he probably could have dealt with the stroller just fine as well.

    Using a seat on an airplane comes down to one thing for me. I "know" it's safER for dd to be in a carseat. If I didn't use one and something happened, however slim the possibility, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

    Dd is about to outgrow her Advantage by height (only 32lbs but VERY long torso). Our plan is to buy one MA and one Husky. If I didn't feel strongly about using a car seat when we fly I would just buy two Huskies...I want to make sure we have an option for travel.

    Edited to fix typo.

    HTH

    Christine
    CPS Tech and Mom to Bethany (7/21/01)

  7. #7
    egoldber's Avatar
    egoldber is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Default RE: When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    We just recently flew cross country and let DD fly without the carseat (gate checked it). She just turned 3. Honestly, it was a bit of a struggle keeping her in her seat at times, but she did mostly OK. We did this as "practice", since we are flying to Europe in a few weeks and are not bringing a carseat at all (we are only using public transport in Europe). She actually kept asking for her seat, since she is used to sitting up much higher, but she seemed to get used to it by the end of the flight.

    One thing to think about is that if your DD needs the carseat to sleep. My DD generally does not sleep on airplanes anymore. I mourn those days, but its true. If she slept on the plane, I would probably still lug the seat, but since she doesn't, I have lost a big motivator to take the seat on the plane.

    HTH,
    Beth, mom to older DD (8/01) and younger DD (10/06) and always missing Leah (4/22 - 5/1/05)

  8. #8
    cluelesswonder Guest

    Default RE: When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    Well, after this posting, it turned out that with the MA FF, my daugher only had about 3 inches of clearance between her knees/shins and the seat in front of her! (2 yo 8 months, 32 lbs, 38 inches tall.) We expected to get nasty looks from folks when they sat down and I let them know that they couldn't recline their seat, but everyone seemed understanding. She was VERY uncomfortable and had a hard time without something upon which to rest her legs.

    After this last trip, I decided that she'd be more comfortable just sitting without the MA. So we've now made 3 more cross country trips without the MA ok. We just bring the MA and gate check it. We ended up using the Kiddie Cargo Lo-Rider (www.kiddiecargo.com) to move the car seat and bailed on the stroller since we had one on the other end. That left me with one hand free, one hand pulling or pushing the car seat, and the backpack on. Much better! I would also have my daughter walk and then put the backpack in the car seat.

    My next consideration will be checking the car seat and going back to a stroller and back pack. Just in case I have to travel with a toddler and newborn/infant. Not sure.

    Thanks for all the input!
    Karen

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Default RE: When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    Thanks for posting back! I'm sorry she was so cramped in the Marathon...ugh!
    Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
    http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

  10. #10
    cluelesswonder Guest

    Default RE: When can a child fly without a car seat!?!

    Hey Julie,

    Given the cramped quarters on the airplane and the larger dimensions of the MA I'm not too surprised. The RA would have fit on the plane much better and for much longer if only my DD, "the weed", had fit!

    Also, we pretty much always fly Continental which I understand allocates the most leg room for their seats. I'm not sure what I would do on another airline.

    Karen

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