Getting Toddler their own plane seat

Are they required to sit in a car seat if you purchase a seat for them? Ann would be under two and still allowed to be on my lap but DH would be driving so Ann & I would be flying alone and I'm thinking it may be easier for her to have her own seat.

But since he's driving, I'd have him take the car seat with him, so I'd have one less thing to lug on my own. I wasn't sure though if I *had* to put her in the car seat on the plane.

Re: Getting Toddler their own plane seat

I believe they are required to sit in there car sit, but I attached a link for a harness you can purchase that is FAA approved.

link 1

link 2

Re: Getting Toddler their own plane seat

Check with teh airline.

DS flew at 22 months (we didnt buy a seat but he did have his own as the plane wsnt full)
And at 35 months

Neither time did we bring a car seat. We flew Southwest both times.

Re: Getting Toddler their own plane seat

So I'm having Grammy by the restraint (since Ann will require a seat purchase come summer and I expect we'll hit Disney at some point after that ...) and Spirit airlines requires a car seat or the restraint if they have their own seat, which is what I decided to go for.

While I could have done the large seat up front with her on my lap and been fine for the 1.5 hour flight ... the Spirit/LGA combo is never a good one to count on taking off on time!!

Thanks for the advice/suggestions!