Flying with 16 mo. old- take the carseat or not?

[Anonymous]

I'll be making a six hour flight at the end of this month with our 16 mo. old. It will be just me and him and I'm 7 months pregnant (what are we thinking, you ask?! We're actually moving to the west coast and me and DS are flying while DH drives). We bought a seat for DS, but now I don't know if I want to take his carseat on or not. Logistically, I'm trying to figure out how I'd get the big Britax seat, DS and his stroller, and our carry-on bag through security and to the gate by myself. I also don't know how, once I drop the stroller at the end of the jetway, I'd get DS, our bag, and the big heavy carseat onto the plane. DS has yet to master following any sort of directions when he's walking and when I try to hold his hand and guide him, he usually gets upset and just sits down. I'd like to think I could put him down and have him walk onto the plane and down the aisle but I foresee that not working out very well. I'm also imagining DS escaping and running back up the aisle while I am trying to maneuver my preggo belly in the small confined airplane space, around his carseat to get it belted in. Additionally, we have to change planes halfway through so I'd have to do all of that twice! I don't feel I can count on help from flight attendants. Many are great with kids but we've flown quite a bit already and have found quite a few who are un-friendly to little travelers. If we take the seat, then I know we have to put it by a window which then puts me in a middle seat and makes it more difficult for us to get out to walk the aisles, use the bathroom (pregnancy bladder), etc... I'm just wondering if DS would do just as well without the carseat and just having the seat to sit on, climb on, lay on my lap, etc.... Up until this flight we've always just had him as a lap child. Thoughts???

[Anonymous]

Wow, I'd totally skip the carseat in your case. If you want, get the CARES harness instead.

[Anonymous]

I was totally prepared to recommend the car seat, having just returned from a 4 hour trip with our 15 month old. However, given your circumstances, you need a different strategy.

It sounds like you've assessed your situation and determined the car seat isn't very practical. So, I would trust that and look for alternatives. The harness might be a good solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was totally prepared to recommend the car seat, having just returned from a 4 hour trip with our 15 month old. However, given your circumstances, you need a different strategy.

It sounds like you've assessed your situation and determined the car seat isn't very practical. So, I would trust that and look for alternatives. The harness might be a good solution.

Oh, and I'm glad I'm not the only one whose kid does the sit-down thing when I try to guide him by hand.

[Anonymous]

Unless you need a carseat at the other end, I would get a CARES harness if you plan to make more plane trips. We started using ours around that time.

(I always travel solo with my daughter and luggage plus kid plus carseat can be too much.)

Personally, I'd bring the umbrella stroller and gate-check it- will help keep your son corraled while you're in the airport. A leash worked well for us at that age too.

[Anonymous]

definitely look into the CARES harness--I'm not sure what the lower age/weight limit is. We've used it with DD when she was older, and it was way less annoying than toting the whole car seat!

[Anonymous]

Don't bring a car seat!! You don't need it and it will exhaust you.

[Anonymous]

I would bring the carseat. Look into the go go Babyz cart that you can attach to the Britax. It turns the carseat into a stroller. We had one and it made flying with my DD very easy. I flew across country with her multiple times bringing the carseat. At 16 months your child should be in the carseat and I think will be better on the plane. Also get a back pack so your hands are free. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

We used the GoGo Babyz Travelmate (bought it on amazon) in place of a stroller to tote both child and car seat. It worked out really well. My kids were always unpredictable on flights and often needed to be held, even at the age of 2. I took a long flight when my oldest was 14 months old and I was a little more than 7 months pregant; my child was scad and needed to be held the whole time. It was extremely uncomfortable for me, especially because I needed to put him down so I could go to the bathroom (frequently) and he'd scream. I think he would have been more comfortable in his car seat (my subsequent children were).