Flying on Easyjet with a car seat - advice please!

[mindthegap79]

In 3 weeks we're flying on Easyjet with dd, nearly 18 months. We've flown with her last year but she's now so tall and wriggly that we decided to bite the bullet and pay for an extra seat. Easyjet customer services told me to book it online with her down as a 2 year old and then ring them, so they can put a note on the booking to say she's an infant. So far so good.

They've told me that we need to bring an upright, forward facing car seat onto the plane, no wider than 42cm. This is fine as we were planning to buy one to take to use in the hire car - cheaper than renting a seat apart from anything else.

I'm off to look for one tomorrow, but I'm looking online now and all the beltable ones say they need to be secured using a 3 point car seat belt. Obviously planes only have lap belts. I'll ring Easyjet tomorrow for some advice but just wondered if anyone had done this and found a suitable seat which they'd recommend?

Thanks in advance!

I would t take the car seat on the plane, just check in with luggage for free. She will have to sit on your lap
For take off and landing anyway as under 2. Then they just sit on Seat without car seat to eat/ play

I think the britax prince is ok for a plane. Haven't used it on one though

Thanks Artandco. I was hoping this was an option. I asked the guy on the phone and he said he wasn't sure. So helpful! I'll call back tomorrow and hopefully speak to someone else

Thanks tortoise, I'll look it up!

It's def fine. We had x2 under 15 months. For take off and landing and turbulence both had to be on an adult lap. Then I put newborn in baby seat and 15 month old on own seat ( we always booked 4 seats once we had 4 of us). I only took baby seat for long haul flights though as then they could sleep in it, for short haul even at weeks old we bought extra seat as gave eldest space to lay down and sleep, or we just laid baby on main seat whilst we ate.

If you are buying something specially then you may be interested in a CARES harness.

www.amazon.co.uk/CARES-Child-Aviation-Restraint-System/dp/B0012E4FV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437464728&sr=8-1&keywords=cares+harness

It's not a cheap option, but if you fly a lot it might be a worthwhile investment. Mine has been used by both my DDs on multiple flights, many of them transatlantic, over the course of 5 years and I have another couple before DD2 is too big for it. It's CAA and FAA approved so you should have no problem with it. However, you need to warn your airline in advance that you intend to use it as it's not appropriate in every seat.

Ok, bit of an update. I rang easyjet today and after a mere 55 minutes someone answered. She was adamant that because dd will be under 2, she has to be in a car seat if we use the third seat. She can be on our laps for take off and landing but then throughout the rest of the flight has to have the seat, which cannot be wider than 42cm.

This afternoon, dd and I visited no less than 5 shops. A 42cm max car seat suitable for a toddler, which can be secured with a lap belt, does not exist. I'm sure of it.

Dh is more relaxed than me and thinks we should just board with no seat, have her on our laps for take off and landing, and then just let her sit on the middle seat anyway during the flight. He doesn't think it'll be a problem. What do you think?

Mindthegap79 - did you ever get a car seat to fit? I am having the same trouble trying to find one

We live in the US and have the US version of this seat:

uk.diono.com/product/radian-5/

It is incredibly narrow. We bought it because we are expecting dc3 and it is designed to fit three across in most cars.

It also folds flattish for travel (although its fucking heavy because it's got a metal frame which is why it can be so narrow and still safe).

It's an extended rear facing convertible seat so lasts for ages (and has a 5 point harness weight limit beyond most UK seats) which helps justify the price tag.

The manual for the US version talks about it being FAA approved for use FF on airplanes but I don't know if the UK version is.

This is from a car seat forum where someone talks about using the US model (radian RXT) on an Easyjet flight successfully. I had a Google because we're travelling back to uk next year and i might bring one of ours back for my youngest to use on the flight.

The Britax Eclipse is listed on their website as being CAA approved, but really you will have no problem just plonking DC on the empty seat once the seatbelt signs are off - we have done it many times when seating was a free for all and as long as there was room on the place DD always sat in a seat once the seatbelt signs were off.