carseats on longhaul flights

[shiningstar]

hello

can anyone tell me what car seat they have taken on a longhaul flight please. we have been told it has to be less than 16.5 inches wide and i am struggling to find one! it also needs 5 point harness and kitemark.

depends entirely on the airline and age of child - best bet is to ring airline and ask for list of recommended models.

It does depend on the airline - American based carriers insist ion a FAA approved seat and very few European made ones carry that sticker. They should all conform to British Standards though. Do you really need to take it on board ?

thought it would be good for her to sleep in! maybe not now though. suppose just chuck it in the hod for when we get there!

that was suposed to be hold!!

we took dd1's britax eclipse when we flew to Aus in Singapore airlines. As it reclines she had no problems sleeping in it. I also felt she was safer on take off and landing rather than in a normal seat belt.

We took DS2's Maxicosi Priory on a BA flight (Cape Town to London).

It was the worst flight of our lives (we flew 19 times last year, so I can compare ). The seat is lovely from the perspective that it reclines but because he is taller, he could not stretch his legs out in front of him without kicking the seat.

He cried the whole night because he felt squashed. On the next longhaul, we put it in the hold and he slept like a dream (head on my lap and feet across the chair).

We've taken our Maxi Cosi Priori's to NZ for DS and DD twice on Singpore Airlines with no prob's. Prior to flight they stipulated all sorts of things they had to comply with but we turned up anyway and they were satisfied with five point harness and British Standard sticker. Also on Qantas, although they're only allowed one in each cabin at one time (ridiculous rule as our second one ended up strapped into an empty seat unused!) and their "engineers" had to install the seats which they did incorrectly and managed to damage the seat! Virgin definitely do not allow front facing car seats - they supply their own foamy-type ones. Flew Emirates recently and they allow car seats on but like Dejags, DD couldn't put her legs in front due to shorter seat pitch on their 747s. As a result she slept v badly from NZ to Dubai and did a lot of crying, so the trip wasn't a good one. Was fine on their Airbus and 777s, as plenty of room.

If you do take a car seat, and even if you have your partner travelling, book assistance via your airline at both ends and in between if you are stopping. Has saved our sanity on a number of occasions, even if the person pushed the trolley while I carried DD or DS. Mind you, at Heathrow, they're as helpful as a chocolate teapot, not allowed to touch bags, children or much else so I singlehandedly had to manage two babies while keeping an eye on my hand bags and car seats, while trying to get our bags off the carousel, as the assistant stood by and watched all this. Then was told they couldn't push the trolley or buggy through customs, so I ended up pushing both! Just what I needed at the end of a 24 hour flight!