How do I fly with my 2 year old?
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Anonymous
| I am flying with my 2 year old. He has his own seat. Does he just sit in the seat? Do I need to get him a booster or something? Do I bring his huge car seat (Britax Marathon) on the plane (that seems like a nightmare, it's just going to be the two of us so it would be nice to check the car seat). Any tips would be appreciated.... |
Anonymous
| He can sit in the seat. You can buy an FAA-approved harness that attaches to the seatbelt and turns it into a five-point harness. You can also install the car seat in the airplane seat if it's FAA-approved for flight. |
Anonymous
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Boosters are not allowed to be used on planes.
Is it a long flight? If so, I would do a carseat, especially if he is not prone to sitting still. If you don't want to do his carseat, get a lightweight/cheap one like the Cosco Scenera or Safety 1st Onside Air. |
Anonymous
The Cares harness is a good option and better than the car seat at that age, but my toddlers still wiggled and complained. They much preferred standing in their seats! 
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Anonymous
| Probably depends on how squirmy the kid, but my 2 year old was fine just sitting in the airplane seat. |
Anonymous
| Thanks all. Op here. He's probably just fine to sit in the seat - he's not super squirmy and has flown a million times. Just always on my lap so I've never had to think about this stuff before. It's only an hour and a half flight and since I'm traveling alone, I think that the harnesses are the way I want to go. I'm mostly just concerned about his safety - I don't want to try to put him in an airplane seatbelt if that's not what's safe for him.... |
Anonymous
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It's called the CARES harness & WAY over priced IMO, see if you can borrow one.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012E4FV8/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_mGhwtb0HVPZ26 |
Anonymous
Yeah, it's a good candidate for borrowing or craigslist. But it is probably going to keep your kid safer, since it's harder to wiggle out of than a lap belt. |
Anonymous
| You can rent CARES harnesses on eBay. It's relatively cheap and easy, and you don't have to spend $70 on something that is basically nothing more than a few straps. |
Anonymous
| Get a cheap car seat like the Evenflo Sureride or the Cosco. |
Anonymous
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Do you fly a lot? Get CARES.
We used it on a dozen or so flights between ages 2-4, and it was totally worth the money I spent on it. Folds up small, keeps kid safe and (more importantly, IMO, because I think the risks of air travel are exceedingly small), keeps kiddo in their seat and not squirming all over. |
Anonymous
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I sometimes kept DS in my lap for takeoff and landing; otherwise he was fine with just a seatbelt.
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Anonymous
| Why make it difficult? The child sits in his seat with his lap belt on like everybody else. |
Anonymous
| you can just have him sit in his seat like everyone else. |
Anonymous
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We fly all over Asia with our toddler and it's always an adventure. Here's what we've learned: if your child is REALLY active, like ours, and it's a long flight, bring the car seat. It's worth the weight to keep DC in her seat and able to sleep. If it's a short flight/more mellow child, the CARES harness should do the trick. As for toys: an iPad is invaluable. I don't like to let DC play with it UNLESS we're flying, so it stays a novelty for her and she doesn't turn into a gadget junkie. There are tons of kid-friendly apps. Fisher Price has several; so does Sesame Street. Also, we tried bringing Post-its this time, and they were a hit! Finally, bring lots of water, milk, and snacks (ours likes cut grapes, Goldfish, and Gerber Baby fruit & veggie meltaways). She also likes the in-flight magazine. Good luck!
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