Flying at 14 months

[karinothing]

We are thinking about going home around Christmas. The trip is about 5.5 hours or so (if non-stop). Last time we flew DS was 2.5 months and slept the entire time. At 14 months I doubt this will happen unless I drug him.

So my question is, should I buy three seats? He is currently in the infant carrier still, but I assume he will be in the convertible seat by then. He currently seems okay with riding in the car seat, although sometimes we have a battle buckling him in (he loves to roll over and stand up in his seat).

So what say you MM moms?

[satama]

We flew from Baltimore to Arizona when DS was that age. We had three seats in a row because my mom was with us. It was nice because we were not bothering any other passenger since we had the whole row and DS could stretch across all of our laps to sleep (even though he slept like 45 mins total), but no way would I have trusted him to just sit in the seat. I was still nursing too so that made it a lot easier for me. I am fine NIP but would have felt weird pretty much touching a stranger while nursing and DS liked to stretch out so I would have had trouble keeping his feet and legs off of them.

I don't know if that was at all helpful. Lol. I do have other tips that made the flight bearable if you want them, and they don't involve drugging him.

[karinothing]

Jul 16, 2012 7:02:06 GMT -5 satama said:

We flew from Baltimore to Arizona when DS was that age. We had three seats in a row because my mom was with us. It was nice because we were not bothering any other passenger since we had the whole row and DS could stretch across all of our laps to sleep (even though he slept like 45 mins total), but no way would I have trusted him to just sit in the seat. I was still nursing too so that made it a lot easier for me. I am fine NIP but would have felt weird pretty much touching a stranger while nursing and DS liked to stretch out so I would have had trouble keeping his feet and legs off of them.

I don't know if that was at all helpful. Lol. I do have other tips that made the flight bearable if you want them, and they don't involve drugging him.

Ha ha, that is the exact flight we plan on doing ;D I would love your other tips (although I will likely ask for them again come December).

I don't expect him to stay in his seat, but I know that if we get a seat for him he has to be buckled in for take off landing.

[satama]

Oh and we did not bring a carseat since we were staying with family, my mom just had a cosco scenera shipped before we got there. But if you are bringing a carseat that will be different. I personally found it easier for DS to be more free to move around, I am sure others would say the opposite.

[SusanBAnthony]

For that long of a flight, it will definitely be easier with him in a car seat, but I would probably still cheap out and do a lap baby, lol.

You can also not buy a ticket and take a risk that there is an empty seat. If there is they will give it to you (as long as no one is on standby).

We found from about 12 months to when he stopped napping, that DS would take a normal nap in his carseat, but not as a lap child. The carseat was familiar and the plane was way too interesting.

[satama]

First tip, fly with my mom. Lol.

-take a million smacks. I took stuff we did not normally have. Crackers, those gerber snacks that look like cheetos, wagon wheels, earths best granola bars, banana cookies, goldfish
-take an empty sippy or two.I let. DS have some apple juice for the first time when the stewardess offered, you can also get milk at starbucks in the airport since most planes don't serve it
-travel during nap time if you can
-wait to feed himonthe plane, takes up some time
-I dressed DS in pj's and let him run around the airport until boarding time
-I got a bunch of small books and toys and wrapped each one to pull out whenever DS would get bored. The wrapping makes it exciting and the unwrapping takes up some time. Favorites were stickers, a mini magnadoodle and a talking Elmo remote.

[satama]

Oh and nurse or give him a drink on take off and landing to help with ears popping. DS didn't cry or anything, it was just a PITA to keep him entertained that whole time. He also made "friends" with a little girl in front if us and they smiled back and forth for a while and shared some toys back and forth over the seats.

The wrapped toy thing was also good because then DS had those toys to play with at our destination.

I would also bring his lovey and favorite blanket for napping on the plane if he has one.

[drloretta]

We did a cross-country flight at 16 months and bought DD her own seat. I can't imagine what that trip would have been like with her on our laps.

For shorter flights (we did a 2-hour one with a layover in the middle) I was OK with her as a lap child.

[dcrunnergirl]

We buy seats for our kids for every flight, even 1-hour trips to Boston from DC. Even as infants, they wouldn't have been happy on our laps for more than about 5 minutes. At 14 months, forget it. And, with them in their carseat, the trip is SO SO much more enjoyable. It's like a fun adventure b/c you can talk to them about everything, play games, sing songs, etc. rather than just worry about when the LO is going to freak out and want to get off your lap.

ETA: Like others, we have Cosco Sceneras that we use to fly. We RFed them in the plane seat, just like in the car (although next time we fly, we may FF them b/c they'll be 2+ years old by then).

[karinothing]

Jul 16, 2012 8:05:58 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Jul 16, 2012 7:12:38 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

We found from about 12 months to when he stopped napping, that DS would take a normal nap in his carseat, but not as a lap child. The carseat was familiar and the plane was way too interesting.

This is DD - she will often fall asleep in her carseat on the plane, but if she is out and on a lap, it's constantly "get down, walk, etc." No concept of "the captain says we have to stay seated.

Your DS should definitely be big enough for a Scenera (he is probably big enough now), so I would watch for a sale (it'll probably only be $10 less from $45 to $35). If you do get a Scenera, I would not worry about getting the 40RF (goes to 40 lbs RF instead of 35) version because it isn't tall enough to get most kids to 40 lbs (and the FF limit is still 40 lbs regardless).

Good luck!

Do I need to buy a Scenera for the plane? We already have a Brtiax Boulevard 70-CS. Is that too big for the plane?

ETA: If you use a car seat on a plane which seat do you put it in?

[drloretta]

I would check the dimensions on the airline website. We flew with a carseat for DD on Southwest, and our Marathon70 was way too big. We ended up finding a much smaller one (still got good ratings on CR) for $40 because they were discontinuing the fabric. That's now our "travel carseat".

We put DD against the window. DH's philosophy is that keeps her from being stuck in the middle (and I like the middle seat for some reason) and away from the aisle and all that's going on. DH and I would swap seats through the flight to entertain her.

[mrshandy]

I cheaped out and flew from DC to El Paso solo when DS was 14 months as a lap child.

Holy shit, there were low lows and a few high highs. I'm sure my neighbor saw my boob a few times, but that was better than DS screaming at the top of his lungs.

One flight we even had an extra seat just by chance and it really did not make things much better.

I'm sure some people hated me, but I did my best. I think the hardest part was our layover was smack dab in the middle of nap time. DS fell asleep right at the end of one flight and I somehow managed to keep him asleep, gather him up all of our stuff (one handed), put him in the strolller, and get him halfway through the airport before a FUCKING elevator ding woke him up.... :-(

Sigh....it sucked. I wish you the best, at least you will have your H with you.

Buying a seat is probably a good idea.

[atouchofklasse]

Buy the seat!

[brit1017]

We flew with DS when he was 15 months just holding him on our laps and it was a nightmare. He wanted to get down in the worst way and it made the trip exhausting for DH and I. I would definitely buy him his own seat.

[karinothing]

Ha, alright everyone has convinced me! Boo to spending $1500 in plane tickets Hopefully we can at least find a deal on the rental car!

[karinothing]

Jul 16, 2012 9:41:04 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

The Britax website says your seat is 19.5 lbs. The Scenera is 8.6 lbs. On car-seat.org, it says that the Britax seat is 21.5 inches wide and the Scenera is 17.75. It's probably possible to use your seat on the plane, but I would much rather carry the Scenera down the jetway than our TrueFit (although I'm going to start using a magna cart to wheel it onto the plane because it's getting too heavy for me to carry the Scenera with DD in it). The Scenera is also narrow enough to secure in our stroller.

www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=150573
www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=150687

There are measurements online for the width of the seats - I have never had to put the armrest down, but the Scenera does fit with the armrest up or down. Our infant seat (Snugride) only fit with the armrest up because it hits the armrest at the widest part of the seat.

You have to put the carseat in a window seat because it can't block the path of any passenger - the flight attendant will probably remind you when you board. We used to have to show the "approved for aircraft" sticker on the bottom/side of the seat all the time, but they haven't asked since United/Continental merged. We install our seat RFing and have never had a problem. We often get seats at the back of the plane because there are fewer people and usually a lot of activity (bathroom, beverage service) that either keep her interested or cover any noise.

Thanks this was very helpful! You mention carrying your DD in the seat. I didn't realize this was possible? Do those seats have a handle?

Thank you again for all the information. I really appreciate it.

[karinothing]

Jul 16, 2012 9:49:09 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Ha - nope, I just have her buckled in the seat on the stroller, undo the strap holding the seat to the stroller, and heave her up and brace her against my stomach (facing me). I find a secure place to hold it on the underside of the seat (my combo diaper/laptop bag has a cross-body option, so I do that and put the bag behind me). Hence why I love the 8.6-lb seat - because DD is 26 lbs (luckily she's small). DH carries her if we are traveling together, but if we are alone, it has been easier to restrain her in the seat and carry her than try to carry the seat and hold her hand. But now that I'm pregnant, I need to work on the magna cart method the next time I fly alone with her.

Ha, that doesn't sound easy at all! I was planning on wearing DS in the Ergo throughout the airport (assuming he allows this). But I guess this is something I will have to plan as we get closer. I also just wanted to bring the umbrella stroller. I am not sure the umbrella stroller would be able to hold the car seat.

[mollybrown]

I'd buy a seat if you can afford it. From 18 months to 2.5 we always bought DS a seat and put him in his car seat. He was always an angel, and slept most of the flight. He never asked to get out of the car seat, because he knows that doesn't happen. We decided to fly with DD (11 months) as a lap infant in our last flights, and it was so much more work. Constantly fighting her not to get down or not stand on our laps and pull the hair of the people in front of us. And of our last 4 flights, 3 were full. I wouldn't count on there being an extra seat.

You can buy a Go Go Kidz travel mate and push your carseat like a stroller. We bought a much cheaper strap on Anazon that allows you to attach your car seat (and child!) to a carry on suitcase. Works great, although we've never actually put a child in the carseat while using it.

[karinothing]

Jul 16, 2012 14:31:41 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Jul 16, 2012 9:54:51 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Ha, that doesn't sound easy at all! I was planning on wearing DS in the Ergo throughout the airport (assuming he allows this). But I guess this is something I will have to plan as we get closer. I also just wanted to bring the umbrella stroller. I am not sure the umbrella stroller would be able to hold the car seat.

I don't think an umbrella stroller will - we have a Peg Aria, which still has the flat seat but weighs 10 lbs. But if you can either wear DS or put him in the stroller, you can put the carseat on a luggage cart/magna cart ($20-40) and put your diaper bag (and probably even the stroller if you need another free hand) in the seat - then just bungee cord everything together. There are lots of threads on car-seat.org about doing this. You can also bungee the carseat to a carryon, or you can spend a lot ($80-100) and get one of the specialized carseat wheeled carriers.

Good luck!

Ugh, this makes me not want to fly ha ha. Too much stuff! We weren't really planning on bringing a carry on (other than a backpack which works as a diaper bag/kid toy/snack carrier). We were planning on checking the stroller/luggage.

I already have a specialized carseat wheeled carrier, but the strap broke the first time we used it! I guess I need to get that fixed.

Am I crazy to think I can get through the airport with minimal stuff?