Using a car seat on long haul flights

[eviltwin1098]

My d will be 10 months old and probably too big for the bassinet, so am considering booking her a seat, as also too big to hold all the time for a flight to NZ. Has anyone used a car seat on their journeys and if so which ones are airline safe. I'm thinking Singapore Air and it says it must be forward facing.

From Singapore Airlines website on such matters:-

"The use of booster seats is not permitted. However, you can use approved car-type child seats and FAA-approved child harness.

Approved car-type child seats may be used for a child under 3 years but not less than 6 months of age. The seat must be forward-facing and can be secured to the aircraft passenger seat by means of the aircraft safety belt. It must also be approved by a foreign airworthiness authority / government standards:

•United Kingdom (UK) Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
•Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States of America as meeting the Technical Standard Order TSO-C100b; or seats that have two markings: "This Restraint is Certified for Use in Motor Vehicles and Aircraft" in red lettering and "This seat conforms to all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)"
•European Safety Standard requirements of United Nations ECE Regulation 44 (UN/ECE 44)
•Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) No. 213 entitled "Child Restraint Systems" or CMVSS No. 213.1 entitled "Infant Seating and Restraint Systems"
•Australian/New Zealand design standard AS/NZS 1754 for infant car seats.
Some examples of the labels displayed on child car seat approved under one of the above standards can be found on the right of the page.

FAA-approved child harness can also be used on our flights. However, AmSafe's Child Aviation Restraint System (CAReS) child harness does not fit our Business Class seats on our A380-800 and A340-500 aircraft as well as the First and Business Class seats on our B777-300ER aircraft. You may wish to contact our Singapore Airlines office for more details.

If you are using a child car seat or a child harness, please note that the manufacturing standards and instructions must be provided to our ground staff and cabin crew for reference. The use of child car seat and child harness on board is subject to all child seat safety requirements. Both cannot be installed on seats at the emergency exit rows as well as the rows immediately before and after it".

I would book your child a seat, you really do not want your child on your lap for the flight duration. Also the child will likely be on your lap for both take off and landing.

TBH I would not bother using a car seat for sole use on board the aircraft as it could well be more trouble than it is worth. It may well be too wide for the aircraft seat so it becomes unusable. Also you will have to carry this seat (and these can be heavy) along the aisle of the aircraft and these are narrow even at the best of times.

This may be useful to you as well:-

www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/factsheets/07/child-restraints.html

We booked DSs a seat and used a normal maxi cosi 5 point harness on a long haul flight from that age onwards. It was a slight pain taking it around the airport but was well worth it as they were comfortable, so were we and we all got some rest (as did everyone else!)

Pretty sure we used it on BA, Qantas and Emirates.

yeah i've seen all this on the website but short of trawling through car seats on websites it's hard to know which ones are actually ok for flying as I am not sure that all of them are.

Even for a 10month old you wouldn't suggest using a car seat? Do you think that they will be safe enough with just the plane safety belt?

PS thanks

Does it have to be Singapore air? Is it air NZ who have the couch seats available? Might be an alternative.

Honestly having done it I wouldn't think twice about lugging a car seat on the plane. We had hands free to eat, DSs were comfy and it was familiar.

Not sure I can afford the couch seat but will have a look. I'm liking the idea of the long stop over in Singapore to recharge the batteries and Air NZ goes through LA which completely sucks!!!!

i was thinking that it must be easier for them to sleep in aswell as they are cocooned, in a normal chair they wouldn't be

Yes it was so nice for them to sleep but also for us to be able to get up and down as normal without playing pass the large, octopus like baby!

On BA if you have the bulkhead seat they offer you either a bassinet or a car seat style seat depending on the size of your baby. I flew with DD the month before she turned two and she slept in that quite happily and was on my lap the rest of the time (though I was seven months pregnant so didn't have much of a lap!) and it was fine.

Air NZ also goes through Hing Kong which is a nice airport nearly as good as Singapore and far far better than LAX, you are right to avoid.

I've flown to NZ and other long haul flights and would definitely buy a seat if I had a 10 month old but I don't think I would bother with the car seat.

As there are 3 of you and Air NZ are a 3:3:3 formation you will have a nice space to spread out in.

I second looking at the couch seats.

Do Air NZ have these couch seats on all their aircraft that operate out of the UK?. This is something I would clarify with them.

The overall problem with car seats is that many of them will simply not fit into an aircraft seat.

You are wise indeed not to go through LAX if using Air NZ. Would fly via Singapore instead.

BA are also worth looking at but bassinets generally are mainly used for newborns and very young babies. At 10 months the child is likely to be too big to use a bassinet.

MrsFarquhar which maxi cosi did you use? I am struggling to find one that says that it is ok to be used in an aircraft as well as a car as apparently they do an extra test for aircraft called an inversion test.
Is there anything on the maxi cosi that says it is usable in an aircraft?

Sorry I just noticed this. I don't have it any more but it would have just been the standard high selling version of the time.

I remember doing all the research you are doing and couldn't come up with anything concrete at all, its an area full of disclaimers but we tried it once, it worked and so we carried on and never had a problem.

My britax baby safe is approved and the maxi cosy pebble and pebble plus are both approved as well. I thought the cabriofix was but it doesn't say online it is check your instruction book.

You will need the seat at the other end and british seats are fine to use here. I have only done long hall once to get to NZ and with much older kids. We flew through singapore and there is so much to do there. I have flown with a 6 mth old but short hall and I can't imagine holding a baby for that long and being comfy. I would either go for a extra seat or the baby bassinet it only to be able to put stuff on. Probably the extra seat would be better. take the seat on board and if you can use it great.

Just missed the bit when it said it had to be forward facing. I would not use a seat forward that you will then not use here. We have a lots of road accidents here. The most child death in the developed world. Keep your baby rearward for the car. I would take one of the ones I mentioned on board and see what they say. Friends have found it depends on staff on board. Even if you are told at check its fine its up to the crew.

Having a extra seat will give the baby somewhere to sit while you eat. We flew Singapore and they were fab. Take food for the baby as food from Singapore to NZ was random. (my kids words)

We flew long haul this summer on BA with DD aged 18 months. We couldn't stretch to an extra seat. We reserved a bulkhead seat and a child seat which was like a baby bouncer chair which worked brilliantly. DD slept for 9 hours in it. You also have quite a lot of space below your feet in the bulkhead.

Info from BA:

Child seats

We'll supply a child seat that attaches to the carrycot position. If you have reserved your seat at a carrycot position, you can ask the cabin crew for a child seat.

The child seats supplied by us are:

-suitable for older babies who weigh no more than 12.5kgs (27.5lbs)
available on all longhaul flights (except the London City to JFK service)
-adjustable to a variety of reclined positions
-not to be used during taxi, take-off, landing or turbulence (when the fasten seatbelt sign is on)