Experience using travel car seats for toddlers on TUI flights?

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Hi, just wondering if anyone has used a travel car seat on flights for their 2 year old or toddler recently. I have the maxi cosi nomad plus which I was hoping to use on a tui flight this year but from what I have read I don’t think they will allow it. I am struggling to find any car seat that can be confidently used on the plane so just wondered if anyone has any experience of this. Thanks

There arent many that will fit the dimensions of the plane seat and be able to be fitted with lap belt. Ive never seen a car seat used on board a plane

I've never seen a car seat used on a plane? I wouldn't think the plane seat belt would be able to secure the car seat properly.

I think it's only American ones that fit tbh. We put ours in the hold

When mine were smaller I worked out the cosco scenera next would hsve fitted

I have never seen one.

when we travelled with our toddlers they had a seat.

Using car seats on planes is an American thing. You won't be able to get one here that fits.

Why would you use a car seat on a plane?

Because then you can buy baby a seat and strap him in and let him chill/sleep. Without a car seat, even if you buy them a seat, you're constantly picking them up and down, waking them up to put them on your lap. And those lap straps will not keep them safe during turbulence, they're terrible.

We lived in North America until my son was 14 months and flew with him a few times. It was a much nicer experience than when we flew (BA) to the UK and had to hold him on my lap constantly.

She has to buy him a seat anyway. He’s 2. He won’t be on her lap.

A car seat just restricts the space even further, why would he sit in a car seat any happier than with a lap belt? They’re absolutely fine in turbulence, as long as you keep them fastened!

I missed that he's 2. I don't understand it then either.

You can get straps that fit over the seat for toddlers. It keeps them a bit safer in turbulence and stops them escaping. I think it's more common to use them in the USA though and they might not allow you in the Europe.

Mine always travelled in car seats once 2, we had American Graco forward facing ones that secured with a lap belt because we lived in the USA and they hadn’t invented extended rear facing yet. I regularly travelled transatlantic alone with them and couldn’t have managed without at least one fully contained (eldest by window, younger in middle worked best). By the time we returned to the uk to live they were old enough to be straight onto the seats and fully bribable not to move (money worked every time, eg sit still and you get €10 in pocket money when we get there, both understood money from young thankfully)

Assuming the OP is not in America due to her dilemma, then she’ll be the only one on the whole aircraft with a 2 year old in a car seat. It is completely unnecessary

I’ve never seen a car seat in a plane cabin.
if it needs to come it can go in the hold

I’m a big fan of the car seat on the plane. It’s an absolute game changer for naps as it means they can sleep totally independently in their own seat and not lolled across you because they have no head support. Then if you need a car seat at your destination you know you’ve got it and you’re not risking damage/lost in the hold or getting a shit one a vastly inflated price from the rental company. However, OP it’s a no go for you unfortunately as there are currently no UK toddler seats on sale that are airline approved. I have mine from when we lived in the US.

The cybex cloud is TÜV cabin approved and good until 2. We're going to take it for our 18 month old, but haven't tried it yet. It saves having to pay hold baggage for it. It's normal in Europe too for longer flights.

Car seats normally go in the hold for free

Not after 2. Most airlines it's only up to 23 months. Plus if you take it in the cabin under 2, you can take a travel cot or baby carrier as the free hold bag. You do have to pay for a seat though

Easyjet allows any child (up to 11) to have a free car seat in the hold, done it many times

Don’t know who you’re flying with. All the airlines we flew with allowed under 12s to have 2 baby or child items free in the hold.

I am yet to see a car seat on a plane and would assume the parents a bit batty if I did see one!

I used my cybex cloud t i-size on a flight to Tenerife successfully. That seat goes up to 2 years (max weight is 11kg which my chunky boy maxed out by 1 - he was 11 months at the time of the flight, so may or may not work for your child?).

I've also never seen a seat on a flight except for when I did it myself, but you certainly are allowed to take them based on my experience. You could check with the airline directly?

If you just want it to be more comfortable, more of the airlines are allowing eg the flyaway kids bed, which might be worth looking at?

I have also never seen a car seat on a plane! Sounds bulky and annoying in an already small space.

With the Nomad, at least it will fold small enough to put in the overhead compartment if they won't let you use it. The XL will absolutely not work though as it's an isofix seat, not seatbelt fitted in the harness mode.

There aren't any car seats on the EU market any more which have the TUV (European airline approval) for this age group or forward facing. You could get an older, second hand Britax Eclipse but then that's not so good at the other end as you won't know the history of the seat or how old it is.

This is what TUI's website says:

Approved child car seats can be used for toddlers or children in accordance with the age, weight and height ranges that are recommended with the manufacturer. It's the parents' responsibility to make sure the seat is suitable for their child. You'll also need to make sure you bring a car seat that...

- Conforms to European safety standards
- Is not wider than 40cm or 16"
- They usually have the reference ECE R44-03
- Is in good working order, and must be fitted with a single release-type harness
- Is secured in a forward facing position only
- Is secured by the aircraft seat belt, through rigid lower bars and not over the child

The 40cm width will be tricky, although the Nomad might fit into it.

ECE R44-03 is a really old, obsolete standard - they haven't updated their guidance in about 20 years. The current European safety standard (and Maxi Cosi Nomad) is ECE R129 though, so should fit into this, since they only say "usually has this reference". Whether or not the airline staff will know this, I don't know. You might want to print out some information about the change from R44 to R129 to show them. This happened in 2013 and it's difficult to even buy R44-04 car seats any more, let alone R44-03.

Rigid lower bars refers to a feature on older car seats where they had metal bars built into the lower part of the frame. This is rarely seen any more, perhaps today's plastics are more tough so it's not needed. But essentially I would understand this requirement to mean that the seat must have a rigid shell which the belt is routed through underneath whereas the child sits on top, so you might have trouble with the Nomad for this reason, and also because if you think about how an airline buckle is, it would be right in the way digging into the child's back and be really uncomfortable. I would also take the "spirit" of this rule to mean that booster seats and impact shield seats are not allowed.

You might be better off looking at something like Graco Extend R129 or the older Cozy n Safe Fitzroy (R44) as these do have a solid shell with the benefit that at your destination, you could use them rear facing for your child which is safer (The Cozy n Safe only if he is under 13kg).

Bear in mind none of these are designed or tested to be used with just a lap belt, so it would be at your discretion whether you feel it's safer than just a seatbelt, but their guidance doesn't explicitly forbid this usage.