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Flying with a toddler
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Wait, can you please elaborate on how you purchase a car seat for the destination? I’ve been strugglung with the car seat decision for a long time, and still dont have a good solution…
So do you order one online and have delivered to… where? Or do you buy one when you get to your destination? Do they sell them at the airport?
You can order online for pick up ( walmart does it) have a friend pick it up at walmart and bring to the airport if that’s an option. Or have it shipped to the hotel. Or you could always rent one for a day from the car rental company and go get the new one. I guess it all depends on where you’re flying, whether you’re flying alone with the kid or how long you’re staying. But there are ways…
Renting a car seat can be just as bad as buying a used one or checking your own. It is not recommended.
Absolutely. Whose to say it hasn’t been damaged or in a wreck? Only way to know if it’s a safe seat is after a wreck (that is, if it didn’t fail due to previous damage). Not a risk worth taking. Always have children ride in a trusted, correctly installed, car seat.
How do you get from the airport to the hotel without a car seat if you get it shipped there?
You can have the hotel pick you up or depending on the hotel you can actually make arrangements with the conceirge to deliver the seat or the rental car.If you’re not travelling alone and the hotel isn’t too far, you could have your SO go pick it up. There are ways…
Thanks! We’ve flown with our 2.5 year old several times (living on an island means lots of plane rides!) but I’m making my first solo flight with him this week and so nervous. Perfect timing!
I actually found a solo flight almost easier, because your u can focus solely on your child the whole time and they love that extra attention. I make it my special mommy/Lexi time.
Agree with pretty much this entire post! Little L flew 24 times in the first 2.5 years of her life (with 4 of those flights being to/from Hawaii, so technically international) and I would say my biggest recommendations are a stroller, a baby carrier, her own seat for longer flights, breastfeeding and snacks!
Now that she is 3, we haven’t flown anywhere yet but doing CA at Christmas and a domestic flight next month. I’m curious to see how things will be different. I won’t be NIP for take-off/landing, so I hope her ears don’t pop and lead to panic!
Two questions: 1) how were Lexi’s headphones for volume? We used the children’s volume-limiting kind and my girl complained bitterly that she couldn’t hear her iPad over the flight noise, even though we had volumes jacked and she does have perfect hearing (we checked with an audiologist).
2) are PowerClix allowed on flights? They are pretty strong (and heavy) magnets when they are stacked together. Just not sure if an entire set would be allowed or practical from the weight aspect.
Lexi didn’t have any ear issues at all. I haven’t NIP’ed for take off since she was 1.5/
Headphones: Usually I check for volume and make sure it’s set to where i can JUST hear it, so I figured that would be safe enough. She has not complained at all. Maybe select a seat away from the engines- that would help
Powerclix- we didn’t have any issues bringing them on and carry-ons are weighed. Also Powerclix are really light.
Hi Elena! Long time reader here. I fly a ton with both of my kids (age 1.5 and 3.5) and agree with most all of your recommendations! I think people get much too worried about traveling with children – it’s rarely going to be “easy” (especially when you’re like me and have layovers everywhere you go because of where you live), but it doesn’t have to be hard. My children have been on a combined 50 flights if I remember right between the ages of 3 months and 3.5 years!
That being said, I wholeheartedly do not agree that checking a car seat is “pretty much as bad as getting into an accident and can void the warranty.” Not true. I am very conscientious about car seats and my kids RF in Diono Radian RXTs (very safe, steel frame, very tall and great for extended RFing)… but I do check my car seats from time to time when I don’t have one available to me on the other end (no way in hell am I dragging them through layovers with me when I fly alone with the kids a lot!), and of the dozens of times I’ve checked car seats, we have never seen a scratch on either of our seats.
Here is the most recent statement issued by the Manufacturers Alliance for Child Passenger Safety for CPS Technicians/Instructors on the subject – http://www.saferidenews.com/srndnn/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=zNnkSQCE0ks%3D&tabid=352
To note – “Car Seats Gate-Checked or Checked as Luggage
Car seats are designed to withstand most motor vehicle crash forces. In general, the MACPS does not consider a gate-checked car seat or a car seat that is checked as luggage to be one that has experienced forces equivalent to a motor vehicle crash. Once the destination is reached, it is recommended to inspect the car seat to make sure no visual damage has occurred and all aspects of the car seat function properly.”
I’m totally not trying to be a troll, but I just worry that a statement like yours will unnecessarily freak parents out who have no option but to check the seat. I agree that it’s best to have one available to you on the other end of your travels if possible (just because why check one more item if you don’t have to!) but I don’t believe it is such a safety hazard for the seat that it should preclude parents from traveling if their only option is to check a seat.
Okay, off my soap box now 🙂 I’m truly not trying to be disrespectful – I’ve just done a ton of research on this and feel strongly about it obviously!
Ok, good point! This was more of a personal assessment and hear-say, definitely not researched. So thanks for the link and quote above!:)
Checking car seats is highly discouraged. i definitely would not want to use or trust a car seat that has been handled like I’ve seen many suitcases handled by airlines employees. Car Seats for the Littles has an article on flying with children and they also do not recommend checking your car seat. Children should always have their own seat for their safety and the safety of everyone else on the plane.
Parenting choices are all about analyzing the risks and options and choosing the best options for ourselves and our families. We could not afford to buy an extra seat for our kids when they were under 2, and the alternative was to drive 40 hours every time we wanted to see family. For me and my husband, we were comfortable flying with a lap child and checking her car seat, because in reality, that is much safer than driving 2500 miles on the road every time we wanted her to see her aunts, uncles, and grandparents. To each their own. She is more likely to get bit by a stray dog or break her arm on the playground than get injured as a lap child on a plane. I so dislike when everything about parenting choices turns into shaming and judgment and Mommy wars (which, for the record, is the most ridiculous term ever!).
We also have a radian RXT for our 2 1/2 year old and I just want Ed to comment to say that checking your car seat is very very dangerous and should never be done. Just pull up a YouTube video on baggage handlers throwing luggage. They do so very carelessly. You may not “notice a scratch” but you are supposed to replace the seat after ANY accident. I’m pretty sure throwing the seat on top of other luggage would cause more damage, most likely not visible, than a minor fender bender.
“there is a risk to checking a car seat. If you must check a car seat, put it in its original packaging with padding in the box. Or maybe another box with padding. And then gate check it (it’s far more convenient to use the seat on board than to drag a big box to the gate). All too often I see parents check their car seats at the ticket counter, wrapped in nothing but a plastic bag to keep the cover clean. The cover being clean at the other end is the least of the concerns. The worst thing that can happen is that a car seat arrives at the other end with damage that cannot be seen. The only way to find out that there’s damage is during or after a crash when the seat has failed.”
Written by a car seat safety technican. Read the full write up about traveling SAFELY with children on airplanes here: http://csftl.org/leaving-on-a-jet-plane-the-csftl-guide-to-safe-air-travel-with-children/
I’m a CPST and I agree with Elena on the issue of car seat checking. The problem with checking a seat is that you don’t know what happened while you were away from the seat. Your seat now has an unknown history. Did the person putting it on the belt drop it? Did it go through the sorter that essentially uses a giant metal ramming board to push it through? Did it fall off the conveyer belt (I actually saw that happen once, the guy then picked it up and tossed it on the plane). There’s no way to know. And in the process, did the seat sustain microscopic cracks around the harness holes so that in a crash the harness will pull through? Did the belt path crack and now your seat will be ejected in a crash? Did your steel frame get bent just enough that it no longer contains your child in a side impact collision? You just don’t know and more to the point, it’s not worth the risk.
If you’re going to bring a car seat, you should use it on a plane. It’s a HUGE pain I agree (been there, done that, it was awful), but it is safer than a lap belt on a child, no question. Lap belts mostly just help contain you in turbulence, they are not going to protect your child the way a car seat harness will in a crash landing.
Also, I would strongly, strongly encourage all children, whether over or under 2 years of age, to have their own seats, with car seats, every time. There are 2 major issues with lap children: turbulence/taxiing and crash landings. In turbulence, you have little warning and the physics of the situation make it impossible for you to hold onto your child if there is a significant event. Try riding in the backseat of the car holding a 10 pound bag of flour, have the driver go 5mph and then stop immediately without warning. Once you clean the flour up in your car, you’ll realize that it’s not possible. The same is true in taxiing collisions. In crash landings, lap children are both a danger to themselves and to others. The flight attendants will have you put the babies in blankets and lay them on the floor and hold them there. This is so that they’re protected from a fire (the blanket) and so that they don’t become projectiles in a crash, which can kill them and injure other passengers. Wearing kids in carriers just makes them your personal airbag.
I’m not saying this to be rude and I hope it doesn’t come across this way. I think we assume that because children can fly as lap babies that it’s safe, and it’s really not. I don’t judge any parent who does this (airplane seats are crazy expensive) because I did it before I knew better too, and thankfully, like most people, my child is okay. But to me, it’s not worth the risk. CARES is good as long as you get a good fit, but most kids don’t fit in it very well until they’re on the higher end of the weight limit, just as a heads up.
I hope that is somewhat helpful without coming across rudely. I really don’t want to shame anyone, just give information I learned when my son was little. I never would’ve known if someone hadn’t told me.
I travel cross country with my son at least twice a year. We have tried several different options – originally bringing the car seat on board. Thought this was a waste of space and would have much rather had an empty seat than one with a car seat that he didn’t want to sit in. We also have gate checked our car seat. We have a rather expensive (not to mention heavy) convertible car seat and the thought of lugging that was enough to make me never want to fly with my son. However, we had a consultation with a local “car seat lady” who is a CPST, and she talked about this very subject. Her advice was to purchase the Cosco Scenera ($40 from Walmart). It meets all safety standards and is super light weight. It comes in a thick plastic zipper case as packaging. If you check it in original packaging and its damaged, the airline will have to replace it. All that being said, it’s a $40 car seat so if it was damaged, you’re not out $350 you spent on your Clek or Diono. We also purchased a go go kids travel mate (consignment shop for $20) and strapped the car seat to it. We used it as a stroller through the airport and during layovers which was perfect. And we checked our regular stroller (a Bob jogger) when checking in. In my opinion gate checking (leaving it at end of jetway before getting on plane) a stroller or car seat is the most ideal as handlers are usually a bit more gentler with items gate checked.
Great post. I get scared with the idea of traveling with my little one. Not sure how he is going to behave. Thanks for making this post. I feel a little more confidence when the time comes to travel with him to grandmas.
This is great! I’ll be flying by myself with my 3 year old and have been super nervous about it. Reading this eases my mind a bit.
It’s really fun! Don’t be worried.