We will be traveling with our 2 year old in a few weeks. Because we've been too cheap, prior to this trip, we've always endured flying with him on our laps. Kind of looking forward to him having his own seat. We are planning on bringing his car seat on flight but was wondering if we'll have trouble fitting the car seat into a coach seat. We have the Britax Boulevard (http://www.amazon.com/Britax-Boulevard-Click-Convertible-Berkshire/dp/B001E5CDVY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1317705322&sr=8-6). I know it is air travel certified but the dimensions of it doesn't seem to jive with the width of a coach aircraft seat. Has anyone traveled with this car seat on a flight before?
Or should we forgo the car seat altogether? The reason we'd like to use it is because he sleeps well in the car seat in our car so we were hoping that it'll be the same on a flight.
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How about a CARES harness instead? Do you need the car seat at your destination?
We have a seat just for travel, the Cosco Scenera. We will use CARES at age 2.
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Standard car seats are often wider than airplane seats, so you can go to seatguru.com and input your flight number to find out exactly how wide your seats are. Our car seat was too big so I called the airline (Jet Blue) and they only allow car seats in window seats. We can raise the arm rest in between the window seat and the center seat though, so it didn't matter that our car seat is too wide. Every airline has different regulations though, so you will probably have to check directly with them.
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We also have a Cosco Scenera car seat just for traveling. It has worked out well. For one thing, it is light. With a toddler, it's best to strap them in, or else she tries to get out of her seat and wander around. We also got a back pack cover for it so that my husband can carry it on his back and have his hands free when at the airport. The travel seat is the car seat we use at our destination. No frills, very basic, inexpensive but it does the job well. Also, should your little one develop other friends later on, it'll be a seat someone can use when traveling with others. If you decide to check a car seat, I would recommend getting a travel bag or cover for the car seat. I heard about airlines leaving car seats out, as they are the last to be loaded onto a plane, but if it's raining, your child gets to sit in a wet car seat upon arrival.
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Thanks all for the info. We are flying delta. I'll contact them to see if our current car seat will work. Otherwise, I'll probably look into the CARES harness. Might as well get him used it early on and it'll be much easier for travel rather than having to lug around the car seat. We won't be needing the car seat at our destination.
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I have the CARES harness, I have the Kiddopotamus Kushy Straps on his regular car seat and when using the CARES I transfer the straps there so that he has a place to rest his head.
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we will be flying to disney with em in december and she'll be 20 months old. do you think we should go the car seat or harness route? we're also flying jetblue and have the britax blvd car seat.
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We have the Britax BLVD and the worst thing we ever did was take it on an airplane with our then, 17 month old. He was miserable being strapped into the seat, it was WAY easier for him to kick the seat in front of him in protest, and there was no place for us to PUT the seat and just have him sit in the regular airplane seat. If we travel with it now, we ALWAYS gate check the seat in a bag and have him sit in the regular plane seat. The care's harness is ok, but in my mind, not necessary. He's 2.3 now, so he understands that when the pilot says we need the seatbelt, there is no arguing...and he's getting better at napping by leaning into one of us, although we admittedly try to book flights for when he'll be awake as opposed to nap time.
Sorry - all of that to say that we didn't have any problem fitting the seat on the plane, but I don't recommend it for super long flights with a fidgety toddler.
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The BLVD is a huge seat, there's no way I'd ever consider bringing that beast to the airport, even if I was checking it (which I would never do unless it's in a very well padded box).
I believe the CARES harness is for kids 24 months and older. In your shoes, since you're going to Disney and probably taking the express bus from the airport to the resort, I'd look into a light convertible, like a Cosco Scenera or a Graco MyRide.
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