Car Seat in an airplane

[sv917]

Our last two trips have been with convertible car seats. E might not be over 20 pounds yet, but H definitely is and we did rear facing for both of them. I thought the FAA says they can be forward facing at 20 pounds, not that they had to be.

[Deleted]

We did a trip last month with the convertible seat rear facing - the flight attendants helped us set it up and put it that way, which is what I expected. I would think RF would be the safest, like with cars.

[ke2009]

On our trip last fall we had to FF our seat. The belt wasn't long enough to be threaded through RF. Granted, it was a full flight and we got boarded really late because of the car seat, so I didn't get to play much and the flight attendants weren't very helpful. It wasn't ideal but it worked.

[rebeccag428]

Jan 25, 2015 23:16:08 GMT -5 ke2009 said:

On our trip last fall we had to FF our seat. The belt wasn't long enough to be threaded through RF. Granted, it was a full flight and we got boarded really late because of the car seat, so I didn't get to play much and the flight attendants weren't very helpful. It wasn't ideal but it worked.

This. I ended up checking the car seat because it just didn't fit no matter what we did. It worked out better that way. She only sat on my lap during take off and landing.

[bostonmama1978]

In September we went to San Diego with b traveling in her carseat. We FF simply because we didn't know to do otherwise. In everything I read, nothing mentioned RF in the air and the attendants didn't offer any advice.

Even if we wanted to, I'm not sure her convertible seat would have fit RF. I guess we will try in April when we go to FLA (though B is now over 20 lbs).

What I read now, car seat in plane is the best way to travel, RF even more so.

FTR, we RF in the car. And will for as long as possible.

[ljgs1010]

The FAA release from 2010 says the car seat has to be installed in a FF airplane seat (so the airplane seat itself can't face backward) but the car seat should be installed FF or RF as appropriate for the child's height and weight. We just went through this last week on our trip to FL. Sometimes flight attendants get confused and think FF airplane seat means the car seat must be FF.

Basically, their website is wrong. Print out the release (I will try to find it for you) in case anyone gives you trouble. We flew JetBlue and no one said a word about the seat being RF. If the seat belt isn't long enough, ask for an extender.

[ljgs1010]

Check out section 18: www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/advisory_circulars/index.cfm/go/document.information/documentID/388616

[ljgs1010]

And obviously holds no sway with the airline, but easier to understand than the FAA link: thecarseatlady.com/before-you-fly-know-your-rights/

[finnaroo]

Possibly a dumb question but did y'all just use your current convertible seat? I'm actually really concerned about this for flying to the UK. I keep putting off our trip because of it, actually.

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2015 7:42:26 GMT -5 ljgs1010 said:

The FAA release from 2010 says the car seat has to be installed in a FF airplane seat (so the airplane seat itself can't face backward) but the car seat should be installed FF or RF as appropriate for the child's height and weight. We just went through this last week on our trip to FL. Sometimes flight attendants get confused and think FF airplane seat means the car seat must be FF.

Basically, their website is wrong. Print out the release (I will try to find it for you) in case anyone gives you trouble. We flew JetBlue and no one said a word about the seat being RF. If the seat belt isn't long enough, ask for an extender.

We were on Delta and they had an extender. I would think major airlines would be able to accommodate. The flight attendants on our flights were very knowledgable, but I can see how a lot would not be since the website is incorrect.

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2015 7:52:47 GMT -5 finnaroo said:

Possibly a dumb question but did y'all just use your current convertible seat? I'm actually really concerned about this for flying to the UK. I keep putting off our trip because of it, actually.

[br

Yep, we just used our regular one.

[ljgs1010]

finnaroo, yes, we used our current convertible seat.

What airline would you fly to London? Rules can be different with international flights. If probably contact the airline to get info on their car seat policy for an international flight, or see if you can find seat dimensions to be sure your seat would fit.

[finnaroo]

ljgs1010 it's looking like either Virgin or British Airways but it depends on whether or not we decide to fly into Gatwick. MIL's family lives in the area surrounding Gatwick but FIL's family is in Wales so we sometimes fly into Cardiff and fly out of London. The Cardiff route tends to have wacky airlines since it's a much smaller airport.

[estrellas]

We flew KLM out here and A was in her car seat, rear-facing. No one said a thing.

Perhaps worth noting, however, is she was made to be forward-facing when we did the puddle-jumper flight from a small airport out to a smaller airport, over the summer.

[Cherhorowitz]

We're taking our convertible to Hawaii and RF.

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2015 9:06:00 GMT -5 Cherhorowitz said:

We're taking our convertible to Hawaii and RF.

Jealous!

[sv917]

We bought smaller convertibles for our flights. Our regular seats are the Britax Advocates and I was afraid they wouldn't fit. It's a tiny plane from Chicago to Birmingham (2 seats on one side of the aisle, 1 seat on the other). I think the Advocates would have fit but I'm glad we got the Evenflo seats because they are like 15 pounds lighter. Wearing a baby, carrying a car seat on my back and pulling another car seat is a workout, which is what I had to do when I flew with my MIL to DC. I was very happy for the lighter seats.

[sheryl]

The airline cannot force you to have your child seat in rear facing or forward facing as long as the child under the age of two. Most airline attendants do not understand anything about rear facing and forward facing. If you are well informed about your rights (Mod note: website removed you should be able to convince any attendant to let your child fly according to the recommendations of the car seat manufacturer. The important thing is to explain to the attendant that the child needs to fly in rear facing or forward facing depending on the height weight recommendations of the car seat.

[calishove]

Where's the zombie thread gif guys?

I also thought this was new and was so surprised at how passionate this board was about rear facing after age 3.5

[Cherhorowitz]

Lol. Sheryl has a sweet new website she wants to plug. Hold please while I edit it out.

[Cherhorowitz]

Funny about that thread. Hawaii was the flight I discovered the guy in front of me couldn't recline if C was RF and I haven't RF on a plane since.