Another 'car seat on flight' question

[SarfEasticated]

My LO will be 2.5 yrs, when we fly to Wellington in March with AirNZ. I'm not sure whether to take her car seat or not. I think it would be a good idea because she is used to sleeping in it, whereas she isn't used to sleeping curled up in a chair. I know it will be a hassle to carry, but if we don't use it surely we can put it in the overhead locker? I am assuming that we won't get any special treatment/seats.
Any suggestions very gratefully received...
Thanks

From my experience it might be worthwhile. I found that even though you recline the seat the little ones don't weigh enough to keep the seat back. They will have to then sleep cross ways over your lap making it awkward for you to move around of sleep yourself.

Thanks, for your reply McKenzie think we will take it, it is blummin heavy though!

I would think twice about taking this seat (particularly if it is heavy to start with) to the other side of the world for the following reasons.

What are the child car seat regs for NZ?. It may be that your UK car seat will not be permissable for use there, another potential problem is that it may not fit onto either the Air NZ seat or into the car in NZ (fixings for car seats are different and many countries have their own rules).

It won't likely fit in the overhead locker, it will be too heavy and bulky for that compartment.

If you are transferring through LAX then I would definately not take the car seat!. It could well get damaged in transit.

The seat itself will be fine in NZ as my SIL has exactly the same one, but good point about the lockers, I just assumed as they took so many cases that it would fit. I will ring AirNZ and check. I guess I think that any hassle for us would be worth it if DD sleeps well for 12 hours...!

I wouldn't bother. My ds, also 2.5, sleeps well in his car seat, but also managed to sleep perfectly well through the night on a flight back from Brazil last week. He curled up on his seat, could re-position himself freely etc. I would not want my child to be sleeping in carseat position for more than a couple of hours tbh.

Gawd, it's a toughie isn't it, you know you'll be in a small space for 26 hrs, and you have no idea at all how they will be. She was fine at 6 months, cosy in a bassinet, but two years makes hell of a difference doesn't it!

I had thought that the airplane seat itself would be moulded and therefore not very comfy for curling up on.

It can't be all that comfy, but I just reasoned that at least he could move around a bit on the seat. Of course it meant that me and DH kept getting head butted/kicked etc!
Good Luck, in our experience it's never as bad as you think it's going to be!

You may want to consider using a small bean bag cushion to rest her head on. These are both portable and very light to carry around.

Overhead lockers on many aircraft are tiny; you can just about put a couple of coats and some small sets of hand luggage in these.

agree with Attila - it won't fit in the overhead locker

take a small pillow instead

Oh ok, if it won't fit in the locker I won't bother, I don't want her sitting it for that long. Back to the drawing board!

I've always checked mine in and never had problems with it being damaged. We wrap in a bin bag and then after check in have to take it to an outside baggage drop off point but other than that no problems.
We are off to the states in October and will take it then as ridiculous prices to hire them there.

If ye decide to bring car seat onto a/c remember it will need to fit into the little cage at checkin as that is usually the size of an overhead bin if you feel dc will not stay in it for the whole flt and you want to store it [ size restrictions will be on airlines website], also if you take it to gate and it is to large or the crew refuse to allow it onboard it will be put in the hold but as a DAA [To late to tag as transiting baggage usually] so you will need to collect it at transitting airport and carry it around there. The cares harness sounds like a good idea if the strap style is similar to a car seat and if it gives you good control over the child. Also if you contact airline ask them to email the ans to your questions and get a name so that if you decide to bring chair and there are probs bringing it onboard you have airline policy in writting to hand. Have a great trip

I brought one across the Atlantic. It was great, much better than the bassinet/ cardboard box the airline offered. I strapped DD in and she slept safely. Another time, I brought a large stroller aboard and the stewards found somewhere to stash it as it wouldn't fit in the overhead storage. They had some place (Aer Lingus) where they could fit oversize things like wheelchairs, car seats, even a large musical instrument (possibly a double bass) that boarded at the last minute with its owner.

Mthanxiety all outsize stuff left at a/c ie buggy,car seat wheelchair are put in hold 1 of a/c with a special tag and then given to pax when they get off a/c depending on airline these things can be put in with baggage as well and there is a higher risk of damage as they are not wraped I know on occasion that buggys were put in hold open as we copuld not close it but we always made sure baby was taken out the amount of parents who have left their dc at the gate/steps of a/c in car seat/buggy is

We went to LA with Air NZ from Heathrow a couple of years ago. We took both dd & ds' stage 2 car seats and I would say two things.

Firstly, the check in staff were complete arses and we couldn't check it in for pick up at the gate to go into the flight. They were actually horrid about it. And because airside you couldn't have trolleys dh had to CARRY BOTH of them to the gate, which in Air NZ's case is so far away its almost actually in new zealand. I was in tears the whole thing was so stressful. But, my distress meant that at the other end (LAX) we did get a ride on a cart to the arrivals. Theoretically, you should ask for this at check in, and they should be kind enough to help. In our case, they weren't.

Secondly, that said, I wouldn't have been without them. They were a godsend in terms of making the children feel comfortable on the flight. It was a dream. The children were so relaxed. I think at the time they would have been three and two, and the airline seat, even with pillows and blankets, just dwarfed them and there's nowhere comfy to curl up. Whereas with their familiar seats they were happy as larry and were high enough to watch the screen with the tv on.

HTH (sorry it was so long!) Good luck

Thanks everyone. Moodlum sounds like you had a terrible time with AirNZ. But a good outcome in the end. And which car seats were they? We have the MaxiCosi one. My LO is used to sleeping in her car seat so should be happy in it. Not sure how I would get her to sleep on the seat of a chair, even with lots of pillows.
If your children had wanted to get out of their carseats would there have been anywhere to store them during the flight? We'll be on a day flight then a night flight (I think) and only want her to be in there for the night part. Did you have any probs with your children kicking the seat in front?

The time I took the stroller on board I had three under 5s with me and was travelling alone. I actually tried to check the stroller at baggage check, but they waved me on with it, and with the runaway toddler strapped into it we made it to the door of the plane without incident, all the way through JFK, which was not a fun place to wrangle small children. DS had already half climbed out of the buggy by the time we got to the plane, so no problem with him being forgotten and put in the hold

Crikey Mathanxiety, I can just imagine the passengers relief as you passed their aisle! The check-in staff would probably have waved you on with a rottweiler as well as a buggy! Well done you for doing that trip on your own, I thought that there had to be one child per adult though?

The DCs were great on the plane, ate, bfed, and fell asleep. Aer Lingus flies at night eastbound. And the flight staff plied me with free bottles of wine when the DCs fell asleep I don't remember any rules about one adult per child, otherwise I'd never have got back to Ireland after having two DCs.

Fantastic ! That's what puts me on edge on a flight, worrying that we are disturbing people. Oh well, I will just have to get pissed be zen about it!

I try very hard not to worry, and zen booze is ever so helpful... I think if you're all tensed up your DCs pick up the vibes.

After last time we went, when we went last year I took a couple of lovely diazepam before getting on, which helped enormously

Sarf - we had Maxi cosi ones too. From memory we tried to store them during the flight, and that was a big no-no - or in dd's case we were able to stash the seat, but then couldn't access it for the whole flight, which is what we did on the way back and that was a real mistake.

The airline will have only a few seats that take a carseat, approx 8 per cabin...

I travelled with my four alone to China, like every year! Last year I had a 7,6,2 and 7 month old....took a stroller and babybjorn, lots of hand luggage too!