flying with a toddler -- buy his own seat, or not?

[Anonymous]

we'll be taking a 1.5-hour flight when DS is 13 months. should we get him his own seat? it's pretty pricey, but I don't want him to just sit on my lap if it's not safe. after all, all the adults will be wearing seatbelts!

thanks.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't for such a short flight. He'll probably end up in your lap, anyway.

[Meconbear]

I wouldn't for a short flight. Hate to say this, but if the plane goes down, the carseat really isn't going to do anything anyway.

[Anonymous]

I would! It's very uncomfortable to have a child in your lap. It is safer and more comfortable for everyone to be in their own seat, buckled in.

In his seat, he'll be safe if it's a turbulent take-off/landing or if there are unexpected bumps along the way. He can nap. You can relax if he's napping. Or you can play, but he'll be restrained.

Safety has a price and it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

It's not so much a question of safety but everyone's comfort. You're probably right up against the limit for not buying a seat - we flew with our son when he was just over 13 months and had him on our laps. After that trip, we started buying him his own seat!

[Anonymous]

I recently flew with my 1-year old in my lap, two flights each way (one flight 1.5 hrs, the second 2 hours - the way home was longer, 3 hrs on the second leg) and I was by myself (no husband)

I wouldn't waste the money on the seat. It was very snuggly holding him and he slept in my arms alot. When not sleeping, he stood on my lap and looked around, sat and read books, etc) Also, taking off and landing can be rough and I think we were both happier being held (especially if his ears are popping and he is crying)

[Anonymous]

We always buy our son his own seat for safety as well as our comfort and that of everyone around us. I couldn't imagine holding a squirming toddler on my lap the whole time - no matter how short the flight. (However I should also say that I do not have a little one who sits calmly on a plane.) Plus, 1.5 hours equals more time when you count time on the ground, and then of course the ever-present possibility of delays, especially if it's still in thunderstorm season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: ..as well as our comfort and that of everyone around us.

We didn't buy a seat at that age, but it might depend on your child. My DD has flown at least 6-7 round trip flights to FL and had always sat on my or our laps. It alwasy worked very well and I always got compliments on how well behaved she was on the flights. On our most recent flight our DD had just turned 2 so we were required to buy her a seat. It was a disaster! The carseat put her so high up and forward that her kneed were level with the tray in front of her. She kept kicking and kicking the WHOLE flight! We ended up holding her on out laps for most of the flight.

It could depend on your child, but our DD is usually very well behaved on flights (and was when she was on our laps), so I could never had predicted she would get such a thrill of kicking the seat in front of her.

Maybe you can buy a seat and use a flight-approved harness if you don't need a carseat at your destination.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't on that short of a flight. I gave mine a bottle during take off and landing (that covered about 15 mionutes total). She slept for 20 minutes) and then we walked up and down the aisle a couple times. YThe rest of the time we had some toys or she just stood between my husband and us and played with our cell phones. Wasn't too bad.

[Anonymous]

For that age and short flight duration, I wouldn't get the child a seat. We've flown a lot with our kids, and on short flights we found we didn't need the extra seat. On longer flights (to the West Coast), we always got the extra seats and were very glad, but anything less than 2 hours and you'll probably regret spending the $$, esp. if both parents are flying and share lap-duty.

[Anonymous]

We've always bought our son his own seat, and haven't regretted it. If you haven't bought your tickets yet, you might want to look into flying Southwest. They have crazy-discounted prices for seats for children under 2 (we paid about $100 each way for him to fly to Oregon with us last summer). Their under-2 prices aren't available online, but you can get them over the phone.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't buy a seat on that short a flight either. But it's great to know about Southwest's policy.

[Anonymous]

With DS, the last time he flew on our laps, he was 13 months. But his next flight after that wasn't until he was 23 months, so there was no question (yes, technically, we had another month, but he's really big for his age). I'll add that when we bought a ticket for him at 23 months, we brought the car seat on for the trip down, and swore we'd never do it again. As a PP said, his legs were hitting the seat in front of him, and everyone was miserable. He has been very well behaved on every flight since then with a regular seat belt.

We have a big test coming up with our 19 month old DD. We didn't get her a ticket, and I will probably regret that. It's only a 45 minute flight, and she LOVES seeing airplanes. So, I'm hoping she'll be too entranced by the plane to realize that we are making her sit. The main reason I didn't get her a seat is that she hates being confined, and at least this way, the four of us can sit together (i.e, I can share lap duty with DH). If I got her a seat, then we would have had to split into two different rows. We'll see how it goes...

BTW-- Southwest is all we fly, and I love it. HOWEVER, tickets for under 2 might be a good deal for long trips, but not for short trips. I usually get cheaper fares with the regular priced online tickets than the child-priced tickets.

[Anonymous]

DD has been on 3 flights with us since she's been 13 months and i've always bought her her own seat. We have a CARES harness so her own seat is not awkward and it affords so much more room. Sometimes she ends up on my lap, but then i have somewhere next to us for her to stretch out or me to stretch out (I'm tall, so i appreciate that). I totally think it has been worth it.

[Anonymous]

PP - Does the CARES harness work well for 13 month olds? I've used it for my older child starting at age 2, but always brought the car seat along for the younger. He'll be 15 months at our next flight and I would LOVE to use the harness instead of dragging the carseat!