jdrtravel

I think you will be better off taking 4 middle seats, though as long as your 8 yo is the kid in the window it should be OK. The thing is that the window seats and the middle seats are designed to have privacy from one another, so for maximum supervision, if that's an issue, you'd want a parent and a child together in the middle.

pvn

two windows and two aisles. Something like 2A, 2C, 3A, 3D.

orlandodlplat

This.

I flew with my baby in D1 many, many times. We traveled infant-in-arms at first. Then we brought on a full car seat (which was a huge pain in the a$$). The thing about the airbag seatbelt is that on the back of the belt itself is a warning label, saying it CAN be used with a child restraint provided a seatbelt extender (the kind given to customers "of size") is used, as this disables the airbag. One time, a FA challenged me and claimed this was not safe or allowed. I showed the label. She brought the captain out and we all discussed and he deemed it fine. We used the seatbelt extender and it was fine. (I am aware that the published rules say no child restraints in D1, but the label on the seatbelt contradicts this. It's a total gray area and no one really knows what the policy is.)

Also, the CARES harness is a great option. Still need the seatbelt extender to disable the airbag, but it's a cheap, light alternative that is also much less of a "statement" requiring an FA to make a decision about. I believe it's safe for an 18 month old, but you should check this. No matter what some people may say, I've had no problem fitting it around any D1 seat.

As for A330, in my opinion this is a terrible product for traveling with a toddler. You can't move between the B and C seats even though they are next to each other. Plus, the distance between one seat and the tray table of the other seat is quite far. So the parent with easier access to the kid will be across the aisle, farther away. And in the event of turbulence or an illuminated seat belt sign, it'll be very hard to get to the child. For all these reasons, I prefer the 767 or even the 757 D1 products for traveling with a child, as it's far easier to tend to him/her. (Of course, traveling as an adult there is nothing better than the A330, but that's not what we're discussing here.)

datickner

Extremely helpful and thoughtful last post. Thank you

jdrtravel

There have been several reports like this on FT. Some claim that the angle of the seats make child restraint seats in D1 unsafe, but this label on the seatbelt surely must be FAA approved as I believe all safety instructions on placards and other signs are. This whole thing really irks me as it's so family unfriendly, and I don't even have kids.

flyerCO

Couple different things are being confused.

1)FAA prohibits child seats in angled seats. It does not matter if the seat can be belted in using a belt extender. The parent above was focusing on the wrong thing and caused the pilot to unwittingly violate FAA regs when the said ok.
2)children under 2 can't be seated in a seat with airbag activated. Contract to belief the airbag is not by default activated on most aircraft. Instead when you put the belt into the buckle it activates. The magnet you see is what causes it to activate. On seat belt extenders the magnet is left off and thus the airbag remains deactivated.

Thus for OP. The child can sit in the seat except for taxi, takeoff, landing, AND anytime the seat belt light is turned on.

jdrtravel

Just googled this. The prohibition appears to be on seats that are angled more than 18 degrees. I think this probably includes DL but I'm not sure. However, if it does include DL, then this begs the question of why the instructions on the belts allow for child seats? Perhaps because in certain jurisdictions they are permissible? In this case, is it the location of departure whose laws govern?

orlandodlplat

flyerCO

The issue is how the brain moves during an accident. A straight forward to back movement of brain is less traumatic than one side to side.

jdrtravel

And how does having a car seat or not change this? The seat is angled no matter what.

flyerCO

Lose the child body will move. Strapped in the only thing that moves is the brain. Is it perfect, no. However it's more survivable for the child.

SEA-Flyer