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!

you can just have him sit in his seat like everyone else.

Why make it difficult? The child sits in his seat with his lap belt on like everybody else.

I sometimes kept DS in my lap for takeoff and landing; otherwise he was fine with just a seatbelt.

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.

Get a cheap car seat like the Evenflo Sureride or the Cosco.

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 wrote: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

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.

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

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....

Probably depends on how squirmy the kid, but my 2 year old was fine just sitting in the airplane seat.

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!

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.

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.

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....