Two year old and their own seat
 

I flew last week IAD-CDG with my just turned two-year old (2 years and 4 days). She had her own seat because she was over two. The flt was turbulent on and off for pretty much the whole flight and so the seat belt sign was on for nearly the entire crossing. My daughter is pretty energetic and refused to sit in her seat and the seatbelt didn't do much to hold her in. We were in C on the AF 380 so the seat was large and she was hard to control. The only way I could keep her confined and quiet was in my lap and buckled in but the FA was purposely hovering around us and insisting she had to be in her own seat. I tried to argue that because of the turbulence and because she was not confinable in her seat that it was safer if she stayed with me and used thAlso, has ane connecting infant seat belt. Do you think she was safer on her own? She is small for her age.

Recently I was travelling with my two year old son in the new Airbus A320 LH Business class (the one where the middle seat is now a fixed (non removal table)). It was difficult to not only keep my child sitting (one hour on the runway without taking off) but particularly since I couldn't sit beside him. Definitely an occasion where its better not to sit in business :-(

We still use a car seat in the airplane seat (in Y or C) for our two year old. It really helps that they know and respect the fact that they are buckled in. Using that seat would be my recommendation to keeping your child in his/her seat and comfortable.

On that note, we have to bring some kind of extra padding (like a folded blanket) for the seat, since the airplane seat belt buckle tends to stick through the padding in the lower back area.

Once our oldest turned 3 or so, we stopped using the car seat and he was able to understand the importance of being buckled when the seat belt sign was on.

Sounds like she wasn't mature enough and physically big enough to sit in her own seat. We used car seats for both of our kids until they were about 4yo. Reasons: 1) safety - if we hit bad turbulence, which we have, they would be as secure as possible in their 5 point harness 2) because they use a carseat at home, there is no expectation of NOT having to sit in it - it's just wasn't something they considered. If they're flying they HAVE to be in a seat, just as if they were in a car and 3) their carseats are comfy so this made playing and napping easy for them.

I can see why the FA was concerned...since she was over 2yo, she shouldn't be on your lap. This is an FAA regulation. I can totally see it from your side too though. She was getting ansty and it was getting bumpy and you wanted to hold her. Certainly understandable. I'd try the carseat next time. Good luck!

The car seat helps but sometimes it's not always practical to bring one. For example, if you're visiting a big city and will be on public transport or if you have car seats waiting for you on arrival. But this is a good example that if you're organized and get the car seats to the gate, it's worth the slightly extra effort of using them on board.

My kids are close in age so I had a car seat for the baby but the 2 year olds were hard to keep in their seats. My oldest and youngest are very active. Also, I flew foreign airlines which didn't allow car seats, or even specificall American car seats. Very irritating and hard to keep the kids calm by myself!

I wish they had had CARES harnesses when mine were little. Some parents say it really helps. Supposedly it's as safe as a car seat (kind of hard to believe but the company says they've tested it). If you don't want to buy it, perhaps rent one on Ebay or Craigslist.

Good thing the F/A say the mom strapping the child into the seat belt. This would have been dangerous during turbulence. The mother's body is bigger than the child's so if they had hit an air pocket, that could have really injured the toddler. That's why this isn't allowed by the FAA (bad idea for the car too).

There are some tricks too, car seat or not, to keep your child seated. One is to give the child a new toy at tricky parts of the flight. This is good for push back when everyone has to be seated, so hard for active 2 year olds! Hopefully, the new toy will keep the child occupied enough that they'll stay in their seat until you're in the air, or when the turbulence stops. Be aware that you can get the odd flight which is just bumpy all the way.

Some parents use food too, for this purpose but that can run into other issues. I feel that if you don't fly everyday, a few rules can be bent but do what works for you.

One common question is about getting up when the seat belt sign is on. If the sign stays lit, and someone needs to go, the fact is that they're not responsible if anything happens to you while up. Try to go when it's calm-ish and you may want to talk to a member of the crew.