Flying with child under 2

I know they fly free as a lap baby, but if I wanted to get dd a seat, do I need to bring her car seat to sit on? Does she just sit in the seat with the same seat belt we have as adults?

Flying with child under 2

Under 2 you can hold them in your lap for take off and landing, even if they have their own seat. I flew with DD2 once when she was around 9 months without the car seat. The seat next to me was open, so she moved around during the flight, back and forth from my lap.

Message edited 8/12/2014 10:56:17 AM.

Flying with child under 2

You don't need to bring on her car seat but, many people do (make sure it's approved for FAA travel). We bought the Cares Harness for DS when he first got his own seat since the seatbelt is loose on them and he could easily climb out.

Re: Flying with child under 2

Flying with child under 2

They can sit in the seat with the seatbelt but I would strongly advise using at least the CARES harness (much easier to transport). If the plane hits turbulence, a small baby/child could easily fly out of their seat.

Re: Flying with child under 2

Are you flying with more than 1 child under 2? (got confused bc you mentioned your DD and a DS) If you are flying with more than 1, I believe that there is only 1 lap child allowed per row (per side) so keep that in mind. We took a car seat for DS to sit in on the plane until he was 3.5. The lap belt alone isn't enough to hold them. The CARES harness may be a good option if you don't want to carry a seat.

Re: Flying with child under 2

Flying with child under 2

I have flown 6 times with DS as a lap infant. When he was under 2 I never bought a seat for him. We just had the arm up between DH and I and passed him back and forth if needed. Once he was over 2 and we had to buy a seat we never had the car seat on the plane. We just put him in the seat with the belt on and he was fine.

Flying with child under 2

We took the car seat on the plane even though DS could have been a lap child (21 months) simply because I knew if he wasn't buckled properly, he would never stay still. He would have never sat on my lap for the entire flight.

I've seen the CARES harness and honestly if we didn't take the seat, we probably would have done that.

Flying with child under 2

We bought a seat for DS when he was under 2 because he's always been off the charts and it's easier for all to have his own space. Once we brought his carseat and the second time we used the CARES harness.

I personally am not comfortable with a lap belt alone as it wont prevent them from flying out of the seat in the event of strong turbulence or sudden altitude drop. Just my personal paranoia.

Re: Flying with child under 2

Once upon a time I flew with my son as a lap child. I've since become a CPST, and if I ever had a child under two again I would nEVER ever agin fly with a lap child. When you know better, you do better. For one, it is so unsafe. If you are in any accident, hit bad turbulence, etc....you are not holding onto your child. Two, checking your seat puts it at serious risk of being damaged. It now has an unknown history, and you don't know if it's safe to use anymore.

Please watch this eye opening video

Flying with child under 2

I always flew with my DD as a lap child unless we were going out west. My DS was/is another story. He needed his own seat. I always travel by myself so IMO the Cares harness is the way to too. Sooo much easier. Even if you need your car seat for the trip I recommend the harness on the plane. You can rent them on ebay too. The regular seat belt was not an option with DS since he wouldn't keep it buckled.