Air travel w/baby -- do you buy your infant a seat or hold/wear them?

[Anonymous]

I am going to have to fly with DC, who will be 2.5 months at the time of the trip. Should I buy a seat & use the car seat or just wear DC in the ergo? This will be our first trip. What do most people do?

[Anonymous]

OP there's a travel forum with dozens of threads with this exact same question... you might find very helpful info there.
Some ppl will say it's safer to buy the seat and strap kiddo but then you won't be able to feed the child during landing and take off what can cause damage to their tympanic membrane...
some flight attendants will let you wear the baby while sitting some won't...
it all depends...

[Anonymous]

Car seat is the safest

[Anonymous]

I have twins and we opted to never go the car seat route - complicated an already complicated situation. On a couple Southwest trips, we bought a third seat to park the kids in during the flight, but were able to get refunds as the flights were not full. I never met a flight attendant who would allow us to use a Bjorn or carrier on take-off or landing. We just held them on our lap. Once a passenger brings a car seat on the plane, it seems as if s/he can't deviate - baby needs to be in car seat for take-off/landing, etc. Not all fight attendants are that strict, but be prepared that you cannot reason with them. Once they state the "rule," they are not going to change it.

FWIW, I found nearly all folks to be quite nice when we traveled when the kids were young. Okay, there were a few bad eggs in terms of attendants and passengers, but most folks were really great. I always went out of my way to be prepared for the trip, attempt to be as self-sufficient as possible, and realize that wee ones can be annoying when they are not your kid. That attitude may have also elicited some of the positive vibes we got while traveling in the early years.

[Anonymous]

At that age the infant carrier is easy to install and easy to travel with. We purchased a seat (has to be window) and installed the car seat. As other PP the flight attendants required our DS to be there for take off and landing. Most of the flight he ended up in our laps. As he got older (but still under two) the large car seat was too much to deal with so he just flew in our laps. You are not allowed to use a baby bjorn or ergo during take off and landing. After 2 he got his own seat without a car seat and we just rented it once we arrived.

[Anonymous]

I flew on SW for about an hour and a half flight by myself with my son when he was 2 months old. I held him and he slept the whole time. It went much better than I expected. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

We always brought the car seat. My husband is a former airline pilot who has experienced enough sudden, unexpected, and severe turbulence that he believes it is the only safe choice.