22 Month Old On Lap Or Own Seat?

Anderson25 · Tue May 26, 2015 10:07 am

I'm flying with my family and 22 month old son in a couple of weeks. This is the first time flying with him, it's only a short 2 hour flight. In the uk he can sit on his Mum's lap with an extended seat belt. But I'm thinking of getting him his own seat anyway and using his car seat. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm assuming this will be more comfortable for us and safer for him? Thanks for your advice.

AWACSooner · Tue May 26, 2015 10:10 am

If this is a European flight on a European airline, they'll make you take him out and sit him on your lap (with seatbelt extender) for takeoff and landings...doesn't matter if he has his own seat or not.

Eurohub · Tue May 26, 2015 10:16 am

Quoting Anderson25 (Thread starter):
But I'm thinking of getting him his own seat anyway and using his car seat. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I flew EMA-ALC last summer with my then 20-month old and booking her a seat on ZB wasn't an option anyway. For older infants (24+ I think) a seat was required and a car seat on board was possible but there are restrictions as to what types of seats are permitted - speak to your airline, that's the only way to know for sure.

Regards,
Eurohub

Jano · Tue May 26, 2015 11:29 am

Quoting AWACSooner (Reply 1):
If this is a European flight on a European airline, they'll make you take him out and sit him on your lap (with seatbelt extender) for takeoff and landings...doesn't matter if he has his own seat or not.

Yes, sometimes they try. In my case it was 1 in 4 flights we had to do that.

Quoting Anderson25 (Thread starter):
I'm flying with my family and 22 month old son in a couple of weeks. This is the first time flying with him, it's only a short 2 hour flight. In the uk he can sit on his Mum's lap with an extended seat belt. But I'm thinking of getting him his own seat anyway and using his car seat. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm assuming this will be more comfortable for us and safer for him? Thanks for your advice

I suggest to get the seat. My son started to fly when he was3 month old, as 5 month old he had his 1st transatlantic trip. He was always in a proper car seat. The crew will check for that - in our case it was 90%+ of flights, The car seat needs to have the approved for air travel sticker. On US side I have experience with DL only, EU side with AF, KL, OK. Also, on EU side sometimes it's a challenge to get the car seat on board. There were quite a few cases where they would not want to let us bring the car seat on board. I had to show them we paid the normal adult fare for my son. Have the ticket for your kid always handy.

Bongodog1964 · Tue May 26, 2015 12:21 pm

Quoting AWACSooner (Reply 1):

If this is a European flight on a European airline, they'll make you take him out and sit him on your lap (with seatbelt extender) for takeoff and landings...doesn't matter if he has his own seat or not.

This is incorrect.

We used our own seat on both BA and U2 when our daughter was young. In both cases the cabin crew checked the seat for suitability before they allowed us to use it.

The rules included:
Must be able to be secured to the seat using the lap belt.
Must have a 5 point harness to secure the child to the seat
Had to have a one piece rigid frame
Must be forward facing
Must not block anyones exit (usually means it must be in a window seat)

Cubsrule · Tue May 26, 2015 12:54 pm

This:

Quoting jano (Reply 3):
My son started to fly when he was3 month old, as 5 month old he had his 1st transatlantic trip. He was always in a proper car seat.

seems inconsistent with this:

Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 4):
Must be forward facing

Can one of our European friends reconcile for me? I've never taken the kids to Europe, but in the States, the only "proper" car seat for an infant of this age is rear-facing.

happyhaydn · Tue May 26, 2015 1:22 pm

The U2 rules on car seats are here . I would think that most airlines have a page dedicated to "flying with infants/children" somewhere on their website. I guess it would be more comfortable space-wise to pay for an extra seat but then it depends if it's worth the extra £££ for a short flight.

bikerthai · Tue May 26, 2015 1:29 pm

Haven't had to use my car seat on a plane but I do have a Diono Radian. FAA certified.
It folds up and can be carried like a back pack. It is also narrow so it would fit in an airplane seat nicely.

Kind of heavy though.

http://us.diono.com/convertible-to-booster/radianr100-shadow

bt

AWACSooner · Tue May 26, 2015 3:06 pm

Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 4):
This is incorrect.

We used our own seat on both BA and U2 when our daughter was young. In both cases the cabin crew checked the seat for suitability before they allowed us to use it.

The rules included:
Must be able to be secured to the seat using the lap belt.
Must have a 5 point harness to secure the child to the seat
Had to have a one piece rigid frame
Must be forward facing
Must not block anyones exit (usually means it must be in a window seat)

Well then LH is full of crap! We moved over here when my daughter was 8 weeks old and she had an APPROVED car seat in her seat. They told my wife she had to take her out and put her in her lap for takeoff and landing because it was EU regulation.

yvrtoyyz · Tue May 26, 2015 6:25 pm

At 10 months, my child was rear-facing in their infant car seat onboard.
At 22 months, my child was forward facing in their toddler car seat.

Both times, they met the criteria of C.A.R.E.S. harness so that was another option.

YYZYYT · Tue May 26, 2015 6:46 pm

Quoting jano (Reply 3):
Quoting AWACSooner (Reply 1):If this is a European flight on a European airline, they'll make you take him out and sit him on your lap (with seatbelt extender) for takeoff and landings...doesn't matter if he has his own seat or not.
Yes, sometimes they try. In my case it was 1 in 4 flights we had to do that.

I also found it varies...

I did a lot of travel with my children when they were very little (my first took her 50th flight before her 3rd birthday).

My experience with UK / EU carriers and children is limited (BMI and LH)... however I found that in most cases they allowed car seats (once on LH they tried to make us take her out... we objected and the FA left it).

A seat will be far more comfortable for a 22 mo old (and likely safer), but if money is an issue here is a tip:

Book the flight as a lap infant... if there is room on the flight, most airlines will assign an empty seat to an infant with car seat. Just remember, some airlines will do it if you ask at the gate, others require that you ask at check in (they create a dummy file, and print a boarding pass..).

Most airlines are very accommodating .

notaxonrotax · Tue May 26, 2015 6:50 pm

Reading the thread title......I thought you were talking about a car!

Bear with me: this is extremely common back where I live!
People bla bla about how they would do anything for their offspring, that the child is everything they live for......yes, pretty dramatic stuff. "Anything" apparently does not include buying a decent car seat for a toddler!
They carry that same child on their lap.....while seated in front!

I just shake my head......

No Tax On Rotax

ordbosewr · Tue May 26, 2015 6:53 pm

I have taken the practice to always buy a seat for my young ones even if I don't technically need it.

I do it for the sanity of the parents and the safety of the child.
When I get my child in that car seat buckled up it is a much easier flight than holding them.
Maybe it is just me, but the fact that I use the same car seat they are always in our car I feel that they have a sense of comfort there and it doesn't stress them out as much.

With my 1st child I did not buy separate seats and I regretted it every time. Now, my wife and I only do it because we buckle them in and away we go.

The biggest downside to the car seat is that sometimes my child has gotten some really dirty looks from the person in the seat in front due to the kicking. With our car seat the child ends up so close to the seat it is really easy to kick for just about any age. I have 'solved' that by buying 2 window seats back to back. Then I put my car seat child in the higher row and then they are only kick the parents or a sibling.

Heck, I have has one child that was in the car seat even after the 2 year mark.

I highly recommend it and I have found most airlines are very helpful when you board to get you what you need.

OB1504 · Tue May 26, 2015 7:57 pm

Regardless of age, for the safety of the infant I would strongly suggest purchasing a seat.

It infuriates me to no end to have passengers request special favors and/or complain that they're not getting priority for traveling with an infant when they're too cheap to buy a seat to guarantee the safety of their child.

ubeema · Tue May 26, 2015 8:02 pm

For the OP, just be ready in any case especially that the car seat will fit the aircraft seat you have booked. My little one will be 24 months old next July, I joked with my wife after all that money is paid, I am sure my daughter will still decide to opt-out the infant seat on her own terms.

bwaflyer · Tue May 26, 2015 8:59 pm

Full information for BA flights can be found here;

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/...family-travel/getting-ready-to-fly

Car seats, plus the Amsafe System

Car seats

If you decide to purchase a separate seat for your infant for a child fare, or you're travelling with a child who is less than three years old, you may prefer to use your own forward facing car seat.

The car seat:

can only be used for infants over six months old and children up to three years old.
must be designed to be secured by means of a normal aircraft single lap strap and face the same direction as the passenger seat on which it is positioned.
must have a 5-point restraining harness.
must not exceed the dimensions of the aircraft seat, and should fit into an area of 45cm x 45cm (17.5ins x 17.5ins).
must be strapped in place ensuring that the adult lap strap buckle does not lie directly over any part of the frame or under the structure of the car type seat after tightening.
Please note: Two part car seats, (a seat and separate base) are not suitable for use on aircraft seats.

Jano · Tue May 26, 2015 9:23 pm

Quoting Cubsrule (Reply 5):
Can one of our European friends reconcile for me? I've never taken the kids to Europe, but in the States, the only "proper" car seat for an infant of this age is rear-facing.

There is no inconsistency. I said "in a proper car seat."

It means:
infants - rear facing - we were using Baby Orbit infant car seat (the crew will double check this one very often)
toddler - front facing - we were using Cosco Scenera
The above is true for both side of the Atlantic.And it is really more weight dependent than age dependent.

Cubsrule · Wed May 27, 2015 3:04 am

Quoting Jano (Reply 16):
There is no inconsistency. I said "in a proper car seat."

Not in what you said, but there seems to be some resistance to rear-facing seats in Europe, which I don't understand. For instance, U2's policy, which had been linked in this thread in a post that looks to have been deleted, says that a child may not occupy the rear-facing seat while the seat belt sign is illuminated. BA appears to prohibit rear-facing seats.

22 Month Old On Lap Or Own Seat?

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