Oaks

Hi

Just wondered if anyone has used a car seat for your little one on the plane. And more importantly what make was it???

Emirates have told us that our seat (maxi cosi ) cant be used.

We were thinking of picking up a cheap one off e bay for use on the journey. They seem quite reasonable and we will be buying a new one for use in oz so it only needs to do the plane trip.

Thanks in advance

galba

I see that your little boy is almost 2. Would it not be more comfortable for him to be able to lie down in his seat rather than in a car seat in the same position for such long flights? They also take up a lot of space and can make it difficult for you, the parents, to get past the seat.

Good luck with whatever you decide

Galba

emmo

Hi there

We go next week with Singapore Airlines, and we're taking on a Britax car seat for our 18 month old. He would probably be big enough to sit in the seat on it's own, my worry is I don't know how long he'll sit there, and I also know how well he sleeps in his car seat. Fingers crossed, as I'm dreading it!

Good luck
Deb

yanH

We brought our three year old out to Oz in October and he was no problem at all. We were also petrified about the flight but our fears were unfounded (we also had a 7 year old, 8 year old and 13 year old to amuse). Good luck with the journey.

Oaks

Thanks for the replies.
I do think our little one would probably be more comfortable just on the plane seat.

When we flew back from sydney at xmas we didnt have a seat for him at all he was on our laps for the entire thing so I know that it wont be any worse than that was

Munchmel

We've just flown with our 2 yr old, we used his Brittax Eclipse Si on Singapore airlines.

Initially it was fantastic, as we had a 10pm flight, and he went straight of to sleep in a seat that was familiar to him BUT a few words of warning.

If anyone is in the seat in front, you are stuffed, the lttles one feet get seriously squashed, even if they haven't reclined their seat...and if they recline your talking unusable seat! I had to turn the seat sideways (litle ones feet facing my seat next to him) just to enable him to sleep. They must be placed in window seats, but not near any emergency exits, as they are impossible to get past once in situ. We ditched ours and put it in the hold at the halfway mark in Singapore. This was fantastic as singapore take the buggies/car seats off you as you board and had them waiting for us as we disembarked, both at singapore & brisbane (had heard some airlines don't let you get buggies back at singapore) Our 2 yr old just sat in a normal seat for the singapore to brisbane stretch, it wsn't easy...and we had a horrendous journey....but this is obviously down to our son being a handfull and other passengers not being that sympathetic, making you feel doubly bad.. SIA staff were faultless, they absolutely doted on the kids and did everything they could to help, I'm just gald its over!

Sorry to be pessimistic, but I thought the car seat was the answer, but only if you have plently of leg room, eg bulkhead seats...or an empty seat in front. Good Luck, hope you have a good flight! We;re glad we've got the seat in Oz tho, as the car hire one looked well ropey

Mel

Tom Sawyer

I would be very dubious about using a car seat in an aircraft seat. You cannot guarantee that the design will suit the seat onboard the aircraft, so although you maybe able to strap it onto the seat, I wouldn't like to say how secure it would be in an incident / turbulence. The well known UK airline I work for have special child seats onboard for the very reason that they are secure and approved by the relevant authorities, infact I've never seen a car seat being used on our aircraft. I'm not entirely sure it is legal either unless SQ have checked all the car seats in the world and given approval to each one that fits. Check with SQ as they may have special child eats onboard as well, but they will have to be pre-booked at no cost. By the way I'm an Licensed Aircraft Engineer so do have a good knowledge of these things.

No Idea

I have use my childs carseat extensively when flying for both my kids. Especially longhaul - you can strap them in and go to the toilet!! When my youngest was 14 months we flew from OZ to UK Business Class and had him in the car seat. Seemed such a waste as we couldn't recline the flatbed, lol!!. However the car seat was fantastic - my son was used to it, so he slept in it and was happy to sit in it. I think everyone in business class enjoyed the fact that we had him in a car seat.

Its impossible to hold a young child in your arms in an accident, turbulance etc. For safety reasons, let alone sanity reasons I would always stick a young child in a car seat on an airplane.

On the negative side - hauling 2 carseats through the airport can be a logistical challenge within itself

Good luck

grij

Hi,
My husband, my two year old daughter and myself are flying out to Australia on Sunday. We are flying with Emirates. Not looking forward to the flight as, as like many two year olds, my daughter is very active! We have bought a seat for our daughter as we didn't think she would fit comfortably in a bassinet.

We have been researching buying a car seat for the journey as she goes to sleep very easily in a car seat. We are aware that we need to use a car seat that has been approved for use on a airplane. Rang the airline for a list of approved car seats and they said there was no approved list and that we had to contact the Civil Aviation Authority. Contacted them and got no joy. Suggested that we contact the airline!!


My question is, that for those who have flown using a car seat what brand and model number did you use? Or does anyone know of an approved list?

Many thanks for any advice received,
Juliette

DunRoaminTheUK

We had our 1 year old sitting in his Britax strapped to a Cathay business class seat. He did get some strange looks when people were boarding.

No problem though.

PoppetUK

We have travelled to Oz now a couple of times. Firstly with our daughter at 10 months and then in March when we moved over with both little ones aged 2yrs9months and 15 months and I was so happy we did. The first flight was tough as both little ones were so overtired. At least we had somewhere to strap them in. On the second leg they came into their own. We had bulkhead seats to. We all slept for ages. When we hit turbulence the kids didn't need waking.

Having found it tough the first time to carry the darn seat every where I searched for something to help out and found this www.toteatot.com They are not the strongest of gadgets but do the job. Disadvantage is that you have to take the strap off to get through the xray machines which was about 4 in total.

We were using the britax freeway secured by the lapbelt and this is the one recommended more for flying. We also used them until we could get our car seats here although that's another post (quality and fitting etc).

Do make sure you print off the the page that says you can board with the car seat on the Emirates website and if you have any queries just tell them you've travelled with it before etc. All speak to Britax and ask for the instruction manuals as you are suppose have these but we were never asked for them and fitted the seats ourselves. Britax were kind enough to send a couple free of charge.

Just for interest we never had any problems with fitting them into seats whether bulkhead or middle of plane. Leg room ok although I remember my daugther did kick the seat a bit in front when she was 10 months.

We hope to travel back to the UK next year. I probably wont bother with the seat for my daughter as she will be over 3 but still will for my bridget the fidget son who will be just over 2. He then has something to crash out in around the airport to. Its not just the flight you have to consider but the getting around the airport bit. We bought a strong Samsonite case so that we could use it for my daughter.

You will manage fine which ever you decide its just a personal choice.

If you do travel with a seat don't go overboard with hand luggage and toys etc as you have to get down the plane with the it all. If you are traveling with 2 adults and child with car seat the most I would take would be: car seat, suitcase with toteatot, and a rucksack.

Good luck.

J

BAY

Would strongly recommend taking a car seat on a plane. We used one for our 18 month old son. There is no way he would have been comfortable in a normal plan seat. Using the car seat he slept beautifully and was comfortable when not asleep..

Definitely book a bulkhead seat otherwise car seat won't fit.