ntamayo

Don't count on having a free seat next to you, esp to Hawaii with the pent-up demand. For it me, it's a no-brainer to buy that extra seat, if nothing more than peace of mind knowing you can set your baby down next to you unencumbered for an hour or so.

a7x

hi all,

This is my first question on FT! I am travelling with my wife and toddler (just turned 2 this month) on LH J YVR-FRA-DEL and then a domestic DEL-HYD.
We are carrying his car seat but we would prefer if he has fun in his lie flat seat. Can we carry it, decide it's not working out (coz we really don't know if it will) and then give it to FAs for temporary storage until landing?

Or is it more of a "if you take it, you got to use it throughout the flight" kinda thing?

He is also sleep trained and always sleeps in his crib. How easy is it for kids to sleep on a lie flat bed after having used the crib for so long? Before this flight, we have always carried his pack-n-play on our road trips and he loves that stuff.


We are planning on carrying an Evenflo car seat and not his massive britax marathon. Thanks!

Erasmus

I don't think you'll have much luck with the "give it to the FA for storage" bit, but you definitely don't have to use it if you don't want. I have no experience with an Evenflo but our Cosco seat fit in the overhead bins of wide bodies so would take it on the lie-flat seats (including on LH, although our routes were 748s IIRC), use it for takeoff and landing, and then put it up once airborne and just let our kids sit/lay/play on the seats in lie-flat position.

a7x

Oh thank you! In that case, that's reassuring. We are 744 on YVR-FRA and 748 on FRA-DEL.

On the 748, I am frantically trying to get to F but no availability on the day I am flying lol.

We will carry it as planned, and if he doesn't like it -- we can take it off. Evenflo is similar to Cosco I believe, quite small. Off hand, i don't remember how big the wide body compartments used to be. Been a while since I flew a 747 and all my J flights were on 777.

CDTraveler

Here's another way to look at the situation: you are taking a very long trip, at some point the adults will need to sleep. If the 2 yr old is not restrained in a manner which prevents him from getting off that lie-flat seat, who is going to supervise him? Who will keep him from wandering around the plane, potentially getting into mischief/trouble, annoying other passengers or maybe injuring himself? FA's don't babysit. A longhaul flight seat is nothing like a crib, how sure are you he will sleep at all? While in those J seats, will your child be within arm's reach of you, so that you could immediately hold/grab him in case of turbulence?

a7x

We aren't sure of anything, that's why we are carrying the car seat. But, we do know that the 4PM PDT flight is during his naptime and hence, he will be awake for most of the flight (post nap). It is during that time when we would prefer for him to have fun in his lie flat seat.

Regarding taking care of him, yes. My wife and I are going to take shifts so that only one of us sleeps when he's sleeping/awake. Lastly, we are going to give him benadryl and keep him full. Hoping all of this works out well.

Let's see.

GUWonder

Maybe if there’s an empty seat somewhere on the flights they could “store” it in a spare seat if it’s allowed to be secured in an available seat that wouldn’t necessarily annoy someone else. Not sure if there are closets big enough or underutilized enough to have such storage space on each of the LH planes you are flying.

If you end up checking in the car seat for part or all of the journey, you may want to have it boxed. Even more so for the DEL-HYD flight. Damaged child carseats are compromised carseats that you won’t want compromised for use on the crazy Indian roads.

CDTraveler

Benadryl?
Google "Benadryl paradoxical reaction in toddlers"

Or read some of the latest research on how routinely giving Benadryl to children without a specific medical reason is being recognized as harmful, https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/...20/04/benadryl. If you don't like that article, it's easy to find dozens more making the same point.

As for sleeping in shifts, nice theory, but unlikely to be a good idea on an extended journey with a drastic change of time zones. One or both of you will end up exhausted and out of whack for multiple days.

GUWonder

For a North America-Europe-India trip with toddlers, the accompanying parents taking shifts to sleep is not a bad idea. It’s a better idea than having both parents arriving exhausted in India with a toddler who may or may not be well rested.

Whether it’s a good idea or not — and I’m in the category of going for less medication rather than more, especially when it’s a completely discretionary use related not to health but to attempted convenience — even the children of many Indian doctors have been given Benadryl and the like for US/Canada-Europe-India trips. It’s been going on for so many decades that it has been part of the Indian diaspora travel picture for young children since even before Indira Gandhi first became Prime Minister of India.

CDTraveler

Yes, and people used to take arsenic to lighten their skin. It was effective, but it doesn't mean it was a good idea. Cigarettes used to be recommended for weight loss.

Science and medicine move forward, and a decade of research has shown that unnecessarily dosing kids with Benadryl has the potential to do harm. If one has the knowledge that a common practice has been shown to cause harm, that should inform future decisions about the practice rather than just falling back on "Well, everybody else does it."

a7x

Ha ha, yeah damaged car seat is a worry we have. We will try to carry it onboard for the DEL-HYD flight but we will have to see how small the seats are in economy. Hopefully, this car seat will still fit.

a7x

Thanks for the link. We asked his doctor(s) and all of them told us a little bit of benadryl once in a while does not do harm. We have only given it to him once before in his life (and he has had a cold every month since joining daycare 14 months ago), so we are hoping it doesn't become a habit.

Now that you have said it, I will call his doctor again to triple check.

azepine00

just to balance opinions here - we traveled extensively with younger kids and occasionally used benadryl.. pros and cons of this have been expressed here on numerous occasions (usually by the same posters too so make your own decision based on your doc's advice and your comfort level

the opening line of cited article is quite entertaining

ya - if my kids were to fly a plane i was on i would definitely object to giving them benadryl

Erasmus

Lots of paranoia-inducing posts here. In attempt to assuage the (most recent) OP's concerns, I have taken very similar trips (indeed, including LH C to India routed over FRA) and done exactly as they propose: two parents, taking shifts, caring to an infant in a lie-flat, using the carseat during take-off/landing/meal times (and no drugs; never gave anything to either of my kids, but won't wade into that debate). As I mentioned above, the seat may very well fit in an LH 747 overhead bin (ours did), and we very successfully were able to trade off sleeping despite other's commentary. Of course, as anyone has travelled (a lot) with children knows, every kid/age/trip is different and YMMV, but there is no reason to believe this plan is not a good one IME.

Lmcernoch

I have read what seems like every article and blog about this scenario and I still don't know what to do. I'm a single mom traveling with my 6 month old and 2.5 year old from DC to LAX to SYD. My elderly mother is also coming with me but she will not be able to carry either child or luggage/carseat/etc. This will be about a 23 hr trip and neither of them have ever flown. The layover in LAX is going to be very tight (1.5 hrs). I have secured a bassinet at bulkhead for 3 of the 4 flights for the lap baby and the 2.5 year old will have his own seat. Whether the baby will actually sleep in the bassinet is a whole other thing but at least I have it as an option. Despite reading everyone's comments and questions I am still no closer to deciding whether to bring a carseat for the 2.5 year old on board. Yes, he does sleep in his car seat for road trips but for a 6 hr flight and then a 15 hr flight back to back with little to no time for him to burn off some steam in between?? Should I bring his carseat and try to keep him restrained for that long? Or let him sit in a big boy seat and risk him not sleeping at all? He is a very active little boy. We will be at the bulkhead so there will be some extra room for him even with the carseat installed. Quantas does not allow any devices like the fly away tot so without the carseat the best I could do is try to prop him up with pillows and blankets. I'm going to have my hands full with the baby so him sitting or sleeping in my lap will not be an option. Also, lugging both kids, diaper bag, carryons, and a carseat seems daunting, especially for the short connection in LAX on the way out.

Would appreciate anyone's input or suggestions.