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Thread: Car seat: yes or no

  1. #1
    Registered User missm's Avatar
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    Car seat: yes or no

    We have 6 months until our trip but have been going back and forth on this issue for a while so I thought I'd get some opinions.

    I am heading to DL with my mom and daughter, she will be 2 years, 9 months when we go and I can't decide if we should bring the car seat or not.

    Yes reasons are, first off, safety. On the plane I worry about her just sitting in a seat not being strapped in, or just having a lap belt. Also I'm not sure if at that point she will sit still for three hours. I know she will now but a lot will change in six months.

    The biggest reason to not bring it is how big it is. We will already have carry on bags, a stroller, and another bag for the tablet and plane games. We are taking the Disney bus to the hotel and aren't leaving the property while we are there so we wont need one for the anything else. Well at least that we plan on.

    What would you guys do? I am probably thinking about it too much but I just want her to be safe on the plane.

    "It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." Alice, Alice in Wonderland

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  3. #2
    Romance @ Disney Goddess
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    Until the princess was 2 we did not put her in her own seat on the plane - I held her and we did use an FAA approved harness that straped to me during the flight. However, we would check the carseat when she was an infant to use in the stroller. When she was 1 - we checked it if we needed a car at our destination. When we cruise - and do not need a car, we don't bring it.

    As long as the Disney bus doesn't need you to have it, I'd say leave it at home.

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  4. #3

    N flew at that age and we didn't use it on the plane. If you won't need it here, then leave it behind.


  5. #4
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    I am in the other camp. Also to add to the obvious safety reasons, she is familiar with it. You are worried about her sitting in the seat for 3 hours. Assuming (we have cousins who do, so bear with me ) you don't just let her out of it while driving, just because she is fussy, she shouldn't ask while the plane is moving. I know it is a pain, but it would save you as well.


  6. #5
    Read Everything-Assume Nothing GusMan's Avatar
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    Ive done it both ways - more than once. And for the purposes below, I am referring to my son when he flew before he was 3. (Which was at least 4 times.)

    Here is my take...and this is from my experience: (Your mileage may vary.)
    If the child in question is a baby and you can hold him/her in a harness like what Niwel mentioned, you can probably get away with doing so safely.
    If your child is a bit older and is a full-fledged "lap" child, then it would be much safer to get an additional seat.

    The hardest trip I ever took was with my son as a lap child. The next trip a few months later, with his car seat - in a seat of his own, was much much easier on him as well as on my wife and me. We checked the stroller at the gate and picked it up at the gate at the destination.

    Once he was 3, he had his own seat and did fine in a lap belt.

    To me, my take-away from my experiences was safety over expenses. While we had smooth flights, being a frequent flier, there are times where I really worry about little children trying to be restrained by their parents in a safe manner because the turbulence was quite significant in intensity or lasted a good portion of the trip.

    As for juggling carryons... the best thing my wife and I invested in was a decent backpack for her to carry much of what was needed.

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  7. #6
    Registered User missm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GusMan View Post
    Ive done it both ways - more than once. And for the purposes below, I am referring to my son when he flew before he was 3. (Which was at least 4 times.)

    Here is my take...and this is from my experience: (Your mileage may vary.)
    If the child in question is a baby and you can hold him/her in a harness like what Niwel mentioned, you can probably get away with doing so safely.
    If your child is a bit older and is a full-fledged "lap" child, then it would be much safer to get an additional seat.

    The hardest trip I ever took was with my son as a lap child. The next trip a few months later, with his car seat - in a seat of his own, was much much easier on him as well as on my wife and me. We checked the stroller at the gate and picked it up at the gate at the destination.

    Once he was 3, he had his own seat and did fine in a lap belt.

    To me, my take-away from my experiences was safety over expenses. While we had smooth flights, being a frequent flier, there are times where I really worry about little children trying to be restrained by their parents in a safe manner because the turbulence was quite significant in intensity or lasted a good portion of the trip.

    As for juggling carryons... the best thing my wife and I invested in was a decent backpack for her to carry much of what was needed.
    Safety is my main concern. We always buy Kiki her own seat and normally use the car seat. It's so much easier when my husband goes. I'll have to tell him how much I appreciate him carrying so much on our trips!

    You mentioned turbulence and that is a huge concern. Thanks all for taking time to give advice!
    "It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." Alice, Alice in Wonderland

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  9. #8

    At around age 3, I believe we stopped using the car seats on the plane. However, prepare your child a little for it. We obviously had extreme circumstances at that time which we were not familiar with and he completely panicked getting into the regular seat. Screaming meltdown of massive proportions panic. Looking back on it, if I knew then what I know today, I would have had plenty of talks with Arg about the plane experience and how it would be different than a "regular car-seat ride". The whole "familiar with my car seat" thing was a huge hassle at that age but then again, he had issues that we were not completely aware of then.

    Last edited by dsnyredhead; 03-10-2015 at 08:43 AM.

  10. #9

    When we used the car seat we found a good car seat bag (rolling one was the best) and it was usually big enough that we could throw a blanket and some sweatshirts in it as well for extra packing room. We purchased it off of amazon, but you can find some at local stores as well.


  11. #10
    Registered User missm's Avatar
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    Oh my gosh Lauras5boys and dsnyredhead. Both of those products are awesome. Not sure which I'll use yet but thank you! I love this site!


  12. #11

    I just looked and I do have my old Cares belt if you want it. Otherwise it will just go to Goodwill since my kids are too big for it now.


  13. #12
    Registered User missm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lauras5boys View Post
    I just looked and I do have my old Cares belt if you want it. Otherwise it will just go to Goodwill since my kids are too big for it now.
    I would gladly buy it from you. I'll send you a PM. Thanks!
    "It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." Alice, Alice in Wonderland

  14. #13
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    Car seat: yes or no

    We were handed down a backpack designed for convertible car seats last year. It was life changing. It was SO much easier to carry through the airport. We so should have bought it sooner! So, if you bring the seat... Look into that! We stopped using the car seat on the plane at around 2.5. With my older one, we didn't want to carry two seats (my kids are 17 months apart, so just one seat was a major upgrade). My kids would sleep in their car seats on flights, so that was a major factor for us too. They won't in just the airplane seat.

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