which car seat to use on the plane?

beautyqueen88

i've been putting off going on holiday with our toddler who is now 16months as the thought of her screaming on the plane for 2 hour terrified me but i've decided to finally go away this summer and have being looking at the flying arrangements
i want to book a seat for her so i can use the car seat as im sure she'l be more settled in this but my current car seat is too wide for the thomsons requirements; thats assuming we end up going with thomsons but im guessing its a pretty much standard requirement it has to be no more than 40cm wide.
i just wondered if anyone knows of a lightweight car seat that would be suitable size for the plane
and if anyone has any other tips for travelling with a toddler it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Engadine

From what I remember when I was cabin crew with charter airlines it was pretty standard what they would all accept for car seats. If there is another airline that you could possibly end up travelling with then it would be worth while double checking with them as well before you buy a seat.

Not all toddlers scream on an aircraft for the duration of the flight, when I was crew I found that very few did that. Normally they were too interested in watching what was going on around them. If there was a point that they would cry it was when the aircraft was in the descent and they were having problems with their ears, normally giving them a drink during the descent worked with most

eslick

We took our 18 month old and 4 year old away to the US last year and had the same worries but in the end it was really painless. Ther flights were early ( we were up at 2.30am) , one leg was a hour and the other 9 hours. The first flight was no problem at all we had a seat for him but he sat on our knees for the whole flight. He slept for 3 hours on the 9 hour flight and the only real problem we had was on the way back where he didnt settle so quick and my wife was standing rocking him to sleep and some bloke woke him up by tickling his chin

bet you will find the same, you will worry before hand but once you are in the air it will be easy. We had worried for 4 years with our daughter and didnt go abroad with her because of this.

On the car seat, we didnt take one with us in the end, we needed to purchase a one that was small enough for the flight but they were so expensive we decided against it. We had been told that our Britax Firstclass would fit by the airline but when we got on the flight there was no way it would. I would check with the company you fly with and also you will need a bulk head seat of when the person in front of you puts their seat back it could hit the seat you little one is in.

Someone said on another thread that "Britax Duo Plus Isofix seat fits a AA Boeing 767" but I havent seen this.

One thing we did buy was a Qinny Zapp, we were in the airports for a couple of hours so our son could sit in there and we could take it on to the plane. I know charters take push chairs off you at boarding but with transfers this was so much easier.

Have a good trip

Murphy_The_Cat

eslick wrote: »

Someone said on another thread that "Britax Duo Plus Isofix seat fits a AA Boeing 767" but I havent seen this.

That would be me :j
If it helps at all, a Britax Elite also fits into a Boeing 767 seat with no problems as well.

Personally, I would contemplate ANY flight of ANY duration, if I couldn't put my toddler into a car seat, into her own plane seat -- however, many people do and have absolutely no problems/issues with it. It's just not for me :beer:



p.s. both seats also fit in an AA MD80/MD83,an AA Boeing 757, and American Eagle BAE 31A Jetstream turboprop palnes

nej

Interesting about the bulkhead seat thing.... Murphy did you have bulkhead seats on your flights before, or was it fine being in a normal seat? Chances of getting a bulkhead seat are very slim.

Murphy_The_Cat

nej wrote: »

Interesting about the bulkhead seat thing.... Murphy did you have bulkhead seats on your flights before, or was it fine being in a normal seat? Chances of getting a bulkhead seat are very slim.

I've flown in the bulkhead seats, pre children, but never since. We've just travelled in regular seats in Cattle Class and never had a problem. But, its always been on full service, real airlines -- how things work on a nofrills/cheapy airline with criminally restricted seat pitch, I wouldn't know.

eslick

on bulk head seats if you tell a schedule airline that you have a car seat and have booked a seat for the child they do try and get you a bulk head. BA and KLM did it for us in the past.

Murphy_The_Cat

Just a quick thought for the OP, it may be worth a quick call to Thomson and ask them ehere the 40cm dimension comes from. I've checked all of my car seats and they are all comfortably under 40cm on the base, but are all over 40cm on the seat portion/shoulder portion.

It may also be a good idea to post your original question on a site like mumsnet - you may get a wider response.



p.s

eslick wrote: »

on bulk head seats if you tell a schedule airline that you have a car seat and have booked a seat for the child they do try and get you a bulk head. BA and KLM did it for us in the past.

IIRC, on AA flights, the bulkhead seats are prereserved for Platinum & Gold AADvantage card holders. If there were none of them, you may be in luck. But if there are any on the flight............................

Bukes30

We've been away when our oldest was 9 months and again when she was two and a half and our youngest 9 months. Went both times to Egypt on a 5 hour flight.

Both times no real problems, i would'nt waste your money on an extra flight seat and car seat. As someone else said, they are easily distracted and just take lots of things to occupy them and for them to nibble on. You could always try flights around the time she is due for a nap or in the evening, that way she'll sleep for most of it.

You can have your buggy in the airport until you get on the plane.

You'll be fine and enjoy yourselves,

Bukes30

Murphy_The_Cat

Bukes30 wrote: »

We've been away when our oldest was 9 months and again when she was two and a half and our youngest 9 months. Went both times to Egypt on a 5 hour flight.

Both times no real problems, i would'nt waste your money on an extra flight seat and car seat. As someone else said, they are easily distracted and just take lots of things to occupy them and for them to nibble on. You could always try flights around the time she is due for a nap or in the evening, that way she'll sleep for most of it.

You can have your buggy in the airport until you get on the plane.

You'll be fine and enjoy yourselves,

Bukes30

Just in case I'm totally out of kilter on this one, I did a google on "take a car seat on a plane" and these are the results.

Its a free society and we all make have to make decisions that suit us -- for the OP, I agree wholeheartedly with you about taking a car seat with you for a toddler, for ME having an infant on my lap for a flight would be one of the worst things that I could imagine that I would choose to do for my hard earned holiday.

If I couldn't take my infant on a plane, in a car seat, I think that I would probably stay at home, rather than potentially have the journey from hell.

RoxieW

I've flown with mine from being aged 3 month and although we have always purchased a seat it has never been used. When they were little babies they just wanted to snuggle mum or feed and the same for when they were older really. They wanted to sit on my knee. Not best comfy but if it settles them then I'll do it. TBH the age range you're talking about was the worst as the wanted to be mobile/explore but are too young to understand why they cant - hence lots of tears and tantrums. My little boy screamed for 4 hours on a flight to crete once - not pleasant! we chose a night flight thinking oh they'll sleep the whole way but what actually happened was that he was overtired and didnt sleep until we got there and got settled at 5am! therefore my best advice to you would be to take a short flight! you can get to france/spain in under a 2 hour flight. take lots of drinks and snacks to distract her!