Toddler carseat on plane

[spttc]

Travelling transatlantic with my 2 year old soon. I'm reading online you have to have an airline approved car seat to use it on board (not check it in). Does anyone know of any? TUV approved or FAA approved in the us I think it is. My head is gone searching the internet

Also have you ever used a toddler car seat on board a plane before? What airline and what carseat?

It can be a problem. I flew from Los Angeles to London with my son in his FAA approved car seat. I then had a problem as I was not allowed to use it on take off from London to Manchester as it was not CAA approved. Granted this was many years ago so it would be a good idea to check what needs to be approved where.

I’m wondering why you want to use a car seat on an aeroplane? Looking at it bluntly, car seats protect children from head on collisions, side impact collisions and rear shunts. None of these things will happen on a plane. And in the very rare chance that any do, the passengers will not survive.

All of the car seats I’ve installed on planes have been Nuna. I’ve used them on multiple airlines. Would never fly with a car seat aged child without one, especially long haul!

Something to do with children being used to being in their car seats and comfortable (and possibly falling asleep) as opposed to a bog standard airline seat.

Plus the additional restraints.

It's to try get her to sleep. We flew Dublin to New York she didn't sleep a wink. So was awake 8am Irish time to 1am Irish time with not 1 minute of sleep. It was AWFUL. She's also WILD. So it's in an attempt to make her feel like she's in the car and chill out. Loads of reasons.

This is the AAP/FAA but explains it well. My husband is a commercial pilot which of course means he’s an expert on planes, not carseats or child safety, but he considers it significantly safer based on what he’s experienced.

https://thecarseatlady.com/airplanes-2/

It will work! If she does well in the car generally the familiar containment will help a lot. All of my DC will sleep for hours in their seat on a plane just like in the car, plus I’m not having to physically wrangle them and keep them from invading other people’s space. Best of luck to you!

Fair enough - I didn’t think about that side of it!

@TMess what seats have you used on planes? I'm having trouble or do you know of any approved?

Nuna Rava is what I’ve used for toddler age. I think Britax One4Life is approved also. I will say that I have never had cabin crew check the brand or rating of my seat though, they don’t even give it a second glance. Maybe get a CARES harness for backup just in case?

Which airline are you using?. Does your two year old have an allocated seat on the aircraft?.

It’s likely a standard car seat will not fit the dimensions of the aircraft seat and carrying it through an airport can be a challenge in its own right, let alone carrying it down a narrow aircraft aisle.

We are flying aerlingus and then we will be flying internally in the us we Havnt booked those flights yet so we aren't sure what carrier. We actually just ordered the Cosco scenera next from Walmart over in the US. Getting it shipped from the US to Ireland. I can't find anything here and that one is a hugely popular airplane approved one over there and can go rear facing in cars which we want & will need while there. My sis in law in the us has it, has used it on planes. It's cheap - €58 to buy, plus €20 shipping with addresspal and then if there's customs it won't be substantial. So all in under €100 I'd say. Pleased to have gotten something

And yes she has an allocated seat, they have to once they reach 2. It's light. 4kg. Very handy!

We hired a CARES harness, which is a car seat harness that attaches to the plane seat. That said, it kind of loops over the seat behind, which might not work with all airlines and their TV screens. We chose the back row to avoid any issues. Worked brilliantly for child though!

I wouldn't want my child to be stuck in a car seat unable to change position for hours.

Ok lol. That's because you're a much better mother than I am. Clearly lol annnnnyway....believe me she won't be "stuck" at any point 🤣 I'm just aiming for her not being awake with no nap, miserable for the entire 9 hour flight. She will be up and down the plane like a yo yo for the majority of the flight. Hopefully she will get an hour nap as Iv gone to the trouble to get her a carseat - even though that's clearly an awful thing to do in your opinion 🤣🤣🤣

I would advise contacting Aer Lingus re this car seat because if it does not fit the aircraft seat it cannot be used onboard. The seat width must not exceed 17 inches/43 centimetres. A US manufactured car seat also may not meet EU specifications for use on aircraft. In that event too it will be placed in the hold.

Again carrying such an item through the airport is also going to be a challenge, let alone walking down the narrow aircraft aisle with it.

Of course I checked this first. It fits!

It's so you can use it in a car at the other end.

If you check it into the hold there's a good chance it will be drop kicked and therefore unsafe

Yeh see I'm attempting to make her more comfortable so looking for the padding of a carseat. she loves going in the car so I'm trying to recreate that for her. She always sleeps in the car. We travelled business class to New York, the plane was empty she had the place to herself, lie flat business class seats! (We are in economy this time) So I'm thinking her lack of sleep was because the plane seats were too hard, not cosy enough. Who knows! I'm trying my best to make her as comfortable as possible so hopefully it works, see how it goes 🤞🤞🤞🤞

Glad you found it so hilarious. It's just you will be stuck with the seat there won't you? Not just for a nap. So how will the child change their position if uncomfortable?

Yes, BA, a graco but year and years ago

@Kalevala why do you care?! This is mental. We will cope don't you worry. The reality is she will be 2yrs 2 months. She's not going to sit in any seat. She's going to walk up and down the plane, chat to the air hostesses, and sit on myself and her father's laps. I'm getting her a padded comfortable carseat so she might be able to nap at some point because she loves sleeping in the car- so I'm trying to recreate that for her. She didn't sleep on business class flight to New York with a large lie flat bed. So the likelihood of her sleeping on a hard economy seat is nil. I'm doing my best to help her. Honestly if you don't see your responses are a little off you need to take a step back.

I mi e flew a lot, 3 times a year, west coast. They slept beautifully in them and played, read etc, watched the map on the in flight system (tablets hadn't been invented