kchoya

I don’t know about the specific car seat you referenced (Cosco), but most child seats can still be adjusted to a reclining position even when forward facing.

FindAWay

We've flown BA long-haul in using one of the BA-provided Britax seats (child-seat? I can't recall what they call them). Our son was 10-months at the time. I don't think he would've fit when he was 23-months -- he would have been pretty uncomfortable. Also, it has a weight limit of 12.5kgs (27.5lbs). More information here: https://www.britishairways.com/en-us...travel/seating So, it really depends on your girl's height and weight...if she's on the smaller-side, it might be okay. But, our biggest problem is that they make you take the child out of the "child-seat" and hold them on your lap with a lap belt whenever the captain turns on the fasten-seat-belt sign. For us, we were waking our son up frequently to do this (which, he didn't appreciate). You note your daughter will be 23-months...will she be over 2 on the return? If so, then she can get a free seat - see this thread: British Airways - child turns 2 during travel

We now use the Costco Scenera NEXT for our 2-yo. We have used it forward facing in tight Economy seats when our son was U2 simply so it would fit and our son was able to sleep. Also, if you re-secure it after take-off with the seat reclined, it may recline a bit more and make it easier for your LO to sleep.

swise

We've used a Scenera. They're rigid and only really recline in a RF position, but you could probably prop it up with a blanket or something. This would render the seat unsafe in a crash scenario (at least it would be considered installed improperly), but it might be an ok compromise for comfort on a plane. I'm pretty anal about car seats, but I would probably be totally fine with doing this, considering the low risk that flying poses -- and just having a child strapped down mitigates much of the injury risk from things like clear air turbulence.

timesnaps

Hopefully that was accompanied by some educational scenario of how annoying that might have been for the person in front when that tray is clattering and shaking the seatback (obviously not sure how she was playing but it seems unavoidable)

SKYEG

Hi everyone,

First time travelling with an infant and I'm wondering about how to check in a car seat with the airline. We are flying in J so the infant is a lapchild, but will have to check in a car seat to use with our rental car. Do we need to package it up in a box to prevent damage when checking in the car seat and stroller or just bring it how it is? Is the car seat and stroller special handled like golf clubs/snowboards etc? Or it it checked just like luggage and pops out of the conveyer? Worried about damage to the expensive car seat/stroller, so might buy a cheap $50 costco ones to travel with as suggested here. Unless they are special handled of course...

Also, is taxi and uber not an option when travelling with car seat for USA? Do they et you install yours on arrival? We don't need to rent a car at all, but I rented one just so I can install the car seat when we arrive to the USA.

Thanks so much for your help. I'm realizing how much different travel is with an infant and we are not prepared at all!

kchoya

If' you're going to check the car seat/stroller, most airlines just have you leave it at the end of the jet bridge and you'll pick it up there after the flight. Most people just leave them unpackaged. We always put ours in a gate check bag like this for a little protection:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1




If you're renting a car, you can rent a infant seat too. They won't be as nice as what you have home, but it sounds like you're willing to use a cheap costco seat so that wouldn't be an issue.

You can use a car seat in a taxi or uber, but it's a pain in the butt to lug around the car seat before/after unless you have a car seat/stroller combo you're going to use.

And it's probably too late for this, but getting a seat on the plane for your child makes it so much easier. We did the lapchild thing once. Never again.

SKYEG

Thanks so much for the info. This was very helpful, we will buy one of those covers. Great idea.

We wanted to buy a seat but J is lie flat, and car seat is not allowed. And own seat in J would be too far for us to monitor. Would you rather sit in economy and buy a seat for the infant instead with car seat attached? It's a non stop flight YYZ-FLL. Thanks for the help again! Bassinet will not work well for her in front of Y, she likes being held.

CDTraveler

I would fly Y rather than have a lap child.

I'm guessing this a first kid? The "she likes being held" suggests that. Most babies like being held. However that's not always the safest choice, which is why car safety seats were invented. You're playing the odds with having a lap child; some here will say the chances of severe turbulence or other problem are so remote they don't worry about them. In the same way you'd be taking chance of the kid being injured in the car when not being in a safety seat - most of the time, probably nothing bad would happen, and the risk of being injured in an accident while in a safety seat is not zero - there is a chance of a child being injured when not restrained in a safety seat while flying. My kid started traveling by air at 4 months, and flew in a safety seat/booster seat until he was 6 years old. That was my level of risk tolerance, you'll have to determine yours.

Also, I would never gate check a car seat. The risk of it being damaged approaches 50% from what I've read.

SKYEG

Correct, 3 months and pretty clueless.. figuring it out with help from the parents but they are different generation and didnt travel with us . appreciate your patience as well. I didn't even think of turbulence or other potential safety issues. Shows how prepared we are

This is all great info. I think buying Y and extra seat might be best now and sitting in between. and I can just bringing car seat onboard to use on seat? I will look into switching to this option right away. I have found out that the car seat/stroller we have is one of those ones that attach together too(nice to see it has some practical functions for the amount these things cost)... I'm still trying to accept how it cost $3000 for just a crib ugh lol!!

Fun times ahead.... I know it's selfish to want to travel with an infant but it's been so rough with covid not being able to see family. Was going to leave note+treats for all the J pax but not possible for all the pax in Y... Definitely mostly stressed about disturbing others and will only take the short nonstops to visit family until she's older

CDTraveler

The car seat must a have a sticker on it stating it is approved for use on a plane. Almost all of them sold in the US do, but double-check. Car seats have to be installed in such a way that they do not obstruct other passenger's access to aisle - which usually means next to the window.

$3K for A CRIB? There's one more zero there than you needed. There are hundreds of magazine articles and businesses out there that will try to convince you your little darling needs every top-of-the-line baby gadget ever invented, probably 90% of them end up being a waste of space. (Don't mind me, I'm the parent who the price shopped everything so we could start the kid's college fund)

Think positive. Many babies don't make a sound on a plane. We'd put my kid in his car seat and he'd often be asleep before take-off when he was tiny. Have a bottle available if she's fussy, but if you can stay calm, odds are better she will, too.

And truth be told, traveling with infant wasn't bad at all.

GUWonder

Traveling with a breast-feeding infant -- at least for the in-flight part -- is far easier than traveling with a lap-child toddler who really wants to bust a a move.

Gate-checked strollers do get broken at times; and without a cover, they tend to get scruffed up even if not taking a beating with the handling. Land-side checked-in strollers also do break during the airport/airline handling process; but if they are boxed properly, it's way less likely to happen

I've seen my share and then some of strollers that have been delivered to the gates, to the baggage belts and to oversized luggage areas where the strollers were then found to have been broken during the trip or been damaged in ways that made the continued use of the stroller problematic.

GUWonder

Forgot to say that the best four reasons for using a car seat in-flight:

1) it is more likely to mean that the car seat is safe where it counts -- in the car -- since a car seat roughly handled or even dropped may become compromised for the function where its safety features matter most: car accidents;
2) it also is more likely to be at your destination when you expect/need it (and need it, for reasons indicated in 1);
3) and, if the child is used to sleeping in the car seat, then it provides for a better flying experience for child and accompanying adults; and
4) if traveling alone with a young child, it provides some independence for the accompanying adult to do what needs to be done during the trip without having to count on others to "save the day".

Just be aware that the more stuff you are carrying but can't manage while having to hold a young child, the more likely something can go wrong -- even if or because of bringing an FAA-approved car seat into the cabin for the child's use.

SKYEG

Switched to Y Seat, feel much better that baby will be secure. thanks for all the help. I have parents sitting in J that can switch off and help as needed.


Yes, the crib is called Snoo. And it is a smart crib, it rocks when baby is fussy and TBH , worth every penny(i think). She would not compromise on anything baby related, so I think we have it as easy as we can. But there has been many, many surprising expenses for me. Well pretty much everything has been lol...

EDIT: I exaggerated, I took a serious look and crib was $2k+tax and cost $3k total with the attached baby car seat lol($800+tax). I think I know why we don't even want the car seat damaged and buy a cheap costco one for travel. But now that we are in Y, we will bring ours!

EmpressRouge

I will be flying with a 7.5 month old on Southwest to Hawaii, and would like him to have him in a carseat in his own airplane seat. I have to call to buy him a ticket, but my friends (who fly almost exclusively WN) say that they were often able to score their ticketless lap baby their own seat because the flight wasn't full. Between WN's family with young kids boarding policy and that people generally don't want to sit next to a baby, they estimate a 95% success rate of getting a free seat in the past.
I'm flying direct to Hawaii and back on Wednesday flights, and I still see "wanna get away" fares [w/o "X seats left" warning] even with the current FALL40 promo. I flew WN twice last year (w/o baby) and all my flights were 2/3 full. So right now, I'm betting I have a good chance of scoring the free seat. But still wondering if I should risk it?

GUWonder

Nowadays I wouldn’t count on flights even to low volume US airports to have an extra seat open for a lap-child to use on a short flight. And with a longer flight to Hawaii, it seems to be a real risky gamble nowadays. Also think about that car seat. Where will it go and in what condition when someone books up the last open space and makes the flight? It might come out on the baggage belt or bench/cart with its physical integrity no longer what it was when you were taking it to the airport.