https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 05 Jul 2026 08:59:44 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay/page/2#post-2042007 Tue, 27 Jan 2015 12:33:16 +0000 sungirl 2042007@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: I'm curious as to what you ended up doing and how it went. Can you update? Will be making a similar decision soon. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay/page/2#post-1927642 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 16:34:21 +0000 aegie 1927642@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>honestly ... i think it depends on the length of the flight. For short flights, its probably easier without it. But for anything 6+ hours, i would recommend it because it's perfect for you to feed them strapped in and to sleep in since you don't have to hold them for hours on end. Plus I can move around and go to the bathroom and watch movies without disturbing her. But anything less than 6 hours, i don't think it's worth the hassle of bringing a bulky car seat with me since it's highly unlikely she'll nap or if she does, it's not likely to be a long nap. Plus she can walk around and distract herself enough. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay/page/2#post-1927586 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 16:09:23 +0000 shopaholic 1927586@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 19 month old is a climber and would wriggle, squirm, etc. without the containment of a car seat. We've flown lap seat, her own seat, and in a car seat. For us, hands down the winner is her own car seat. It is exponentially less tiring for me and she can actually fall &amp; stay asleep comfortably in her car seat. We haven't paid for her own seat yet, but honestly I think I'll be happy when we do so I can guarantee bringing her car seat on. At least for another year until she can behave and stay seated in a seat. The seat by itself was too much freedom for her still and not comfortable enough for her to sleep. She did end up sleeping across us on all 3 seats and none of us could move, eat, or do much while she slept. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay/page/2#post-1927501 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:33:41 +0000 JoJoGirl 1927501@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. D: Thanks. My DH is absolutely hell-bent on checking it. He thinks she won't sit in it anyway and it's just going to take up space... I am not sure I can talk him out of it, so appreciate hearing that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay/page/2#post-1924846 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 19:43:17 +0000 Mrs. D 1924846@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I polled my fiends this summer before we travelled with our 2.5 year old daughter. We had to buy her a seat due to her age. Absolutely everyone said to check it. I'm glad we did, it gave US more elbow room with her between us, and she had room to squirm around instead of being stuck in her seat the whole time, and it was easier to snuggle mommy when she was scared during takeoff. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay/page/2#post-1924510 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 14:09:05 +0000 JoJoGirl 1924510@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wonderstruck: @Kemma: Good question, and the answer is I'm not sure. Last time we flew a couple of months ago, she was on our laps. She eventually got so exhausted she fell asleep on my lap (during landing, of course). So I think she technically *could* fall asleep elsewhere, but has done it a ton in her car seat so is more used to that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay/page/2#post-1924477 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:48:51 +0000 Kemma 1924477@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wonderstruck: yes to this </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay/page/2#post-1924430 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:26:28 +0000 wonderstruck 1924430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm assuming that LO will need a nap over the course of that 8 hours...will she nap in your lap? My LO won't, so not having a car seat would be a disaster. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay/page/2#post-1924253 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 12:20:52 +0000 pui 1924253@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think for a shorter trip, going without the car seat is fine. For a longer trip, I'd get an extra seat for the car seat. I think in an ideal world I'd always put my kid in the safety of her car seat, but in reality paying for a whole extra seat for an hour plane ride just is too expensive for such a low risk. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1924244 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 12:18:08 +0000 SleepyMonkey 1924244@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My lo will only sit in it if she is ready for her nap (which she decides) or for no more than 2 minutes at a time. For our last two trips, I questioned the usefulness of it because she basically sat in our laps the entire time and refused to go in it. She just turned 2. I don't know how her naps would be otherwise though. When she was younger, it was easier to get her to sit in it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1924147 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 11:26:58 +0000 babynumber1 1924147@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: I would check the car seat. LO is wiggly and likes her free space. She would be much better behaved sitting like a big girl in her seat. Plus to try to wrestle it in place and through the airport, yikes! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1924140 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 11:21:06 +0000 Beehive 1924140@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: I'd bring it on the plane, especially since your LO does okay in the car seat. We've always brought ours on flights with our LO, and it works out really well - he naps well in it (which is key), and will sit in it for a while if given entertainment (like snacks). When he needs a break we take him out of the seat and he plays on our laps. While I haven't tried it, I don't think he'd be inclined to sit in his empty seat for much longer than he'd want to sit in his car seat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1924066 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 10:28:24 +0000 JoJoGirl 1924066@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Aaaand I'm totally back to being on the fence about this! She has done sort of okay the last couple of car trips and at least understands that when she's in her seat she can't get up. But sitting on our laps may result in a tantrum. Darn it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1924051 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 10:21:21 +0000 wonderstruck 1924051@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd bring it for safety reasons if nothing else - I've only flown a handful of times, yet have managed to run into bad enough turbulence that I'm not confident I could've hung onto LO during it twice. And I don't trust car seats that have been gate checked - baggage handlers often throw that stuff around, and if the seat was internally damaged you'd probably never know until you got into an accident and the seat failed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1924027 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 10:13:06 +0000 Mrs.KMM 1924027@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: I can't speak to the carseat issue but you may be pleasantly surprised on the extra seats thing. I've had trans-Atlantic flights with so many empty seats the DH and I each had an entire row to lay across and sleep. Obviously you can't plan for that though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923921 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 09:20:43 +0000 blackbird 1923921@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We borrowed MIL's carseat to take on vacation with us. I wasn't checking a 45 lb Foonf, hell no! </p> <p>E would probably do better in a car seat at this stage, esp if i sat next to her and entertained her. She's like that in the car for long trips but she struggled at 15 months to be "free" on the plane. She couldn't settle to sleep on us, even when I wore her, and she kept scrambling between DH and I. At this stage, I'd probably do a seat with E. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923900 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 09:12:52 +0000 Mrs. Bee 1923900@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>my kids aren't used to car seats since we don't have a car, so it has always been easier to travel without one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923866 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:59:40 +0000 mediagirl 1923866@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: I'd be wary of expecting your parents to entertain her in the exit row. Flight attendants are pretty against kids being in that row, visiting or not. They won't let a kid have a seat in that row. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923847 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:50:31 +0000 JoJoGirl 1923847@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: Oh that's cheap! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923846 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:49:55 +0000 jetsa 1923846@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: he was just cruising and so he did ok in front of us. That adds a whole nother level to it lol </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923845 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:49:41 +0000 looch 1923845@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: I paid about $35 for mine, it was a clearance color. Walmart has it for about $40. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923843 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:48:35 +0000 JoJoGirl 1923843@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jetsa: Was he walking/running around already by that point? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923841 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:47:13 +0000 JoJoGirl 1923841@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: How much would something like that go for? We'll be driving every day (we're going to a Caribbean island), so definitely need to either bring one or rent one there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923834 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:43:21 +0000 jetsa 1923834@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wouldn't bring it. We did a lap child at 12 months and da was great. He hates his car seat so I have no doubt the seat wouldve caused lots of tears </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923822 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:39:36 +0000 looch 1923822@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: So, another option is to get a smaller, lighter seat, unless you're doing so much driving around your destination that you feel you need the Diono. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923820 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:38:14 +0000 JoJoGirl 1923820@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaCate: Hmm that's helpful. Thank you :)</p> <p>@looch: Yes, unfortunately, it's a beast. Diono Radian RXT. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923813 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:35:41 +0000 looch 1923813@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: is it a big seat? We use the Cosco Scenera for travel. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923808 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:34:19 +0000 MamaCate 1923808@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I flew with LO at 18 months with no car seat. She did well and napped while I held her. We flew two other times where she had her own seat and she like having her own space to move around. I think you can make it work either way but I would air on the side of skipping the car seat especially if LO cries when in it.</p> <p>My other advice for the plane is to wait as long as possible to bring out your entertainment and use the plane and the people and the stuff in the seat to entertain LO for as long as you can. Good luck!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923797 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:28:23 +0000 JoJoGirl 1923797@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: She will be almost 19 months when we travel. Although I do think she's at least more accustomed to being in the car seat vs. constrained on our laps, so now I'm going back to thinking we should bring it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seats-on-planes-yay-or-nay#post-1923790 Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:25:39 +0000 looch 1923790@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: Then I'd gate check...remind me how old your LO is? </p>