Flying with 18 month-old

[Anonymous]

We are taking DD on to Germany for Christmas to visit our in-laws. She's flown twice before including one trip to Germany but those times were before she was mobile. Now she wants to walk and walk and sit down and sit up and you know the drill...

We bought her a seat and are wondering if we should bring the carseat or not on the flight. We will be using it minimally at our destination as we will mostly travel by train while there.

We are looking at the CARES harness. My concerns about the carseat are:

1) bulky to carry around in addition to the stroller (which we definitely need to bring) and the suitcases
2) since DD reaches the very end of the carseat, I'm afraid if forward facing she will be able to kick seat in front (couldn't get bulkhead)
3) will we be able to open tray to put DVD player and toys for her to play? (or is it a bad idea in general to use the tray since she may bother the person in front?)
4) if the car seat protudes into the space in front of the seat, will I be unable to move past it to go to the bathroom or look for something in the overheard bin? We are on a 5-seat row and I'd hate to bother the other two people every time I have to go, which was a lot last time we flew with her.

My concern about the CARES harness are:

1) DD is 25 pounds, is the harness going to be too big or uncomfortable for her?
2) is there a way for her to lay down on the seat while wearing the harness?
2) she can sleep really well on her carseat, will she sleep as well on the real seat with the harness? any experience with both?

We are hoping to make the flights as comfortable as possible for everyone, including our fellow passengers. Any answers to any of my questions will be truly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. We have the CARES but I would suggest that on such a long flight to suck it up and bring the car seat, esp if as you say, she sleeps well in it. You can't lay down with CARES on.

[Anonymous]

I've read on here that car seats are a good, safe option, and we've taken ours when we've flown with DS.

Which car seat do you have?

We have the Radian65, and it's pretty great to fly with. The bottom folds up, and they sell a special bag that you can put the seat in to carry around. It's worked out pretty well for us when we travel.

[Anonymous]

Something to think about - the car seat generally has to be in the window seat, or the middle seat of a middle row. You may want to double check with the airline, but those are the rules as they've been explained to me.

And yes - your child can reach the seat in front of them if they're in their car seat, and the tray table will hit the seat so won't fold all the way down. However our almost 2yo DD does WAY better in her carseat than when she's free, so these hassles are worth it to us.