Also, you can get a baby b'air if you're worried about a lap baby becoming a projectile in case of sudden loss of altitude. I did that, because it was pretty cheap and gave me some piece of mind.

The Britax seats just do not fit in coach. I've done it, and the seat pushes the child forward so that the child's foot was jammed against the seat in front of him, in a way that was really not good for their ankles and looked really painful. If the guy in front of you is overweight, it brings their seat back another inch or two, and then there really is no room. (The carseat has to be in the window seat, so you have no option of switching seats with the child.) Get a CARES harnes if you're that worried, but once they are past age 2, I think the regular seat belts will hold them in in case of turbulence. It's different from a car because it's not like you're worried about whiplash injuries on a plane -- no one is goingto rear-end you. What you're worried about is a sudden loss of altitude that will cause an unbelted child to propel into the room of the airplane -- I think the lap belt will hold them in for that purpose.
(The Britax seats will also overflow into the seat next to it, but I am very thin and was willing to give up an inch or two of my 14" seat.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. I have flown many many times with my now two year old. There is NO way she would sit in a car seat for a long flight (over 2 hours) so then it just gets in the way. We always buy her seat and rent a CARES harness for take off/landing and turbulence but beyond that she gets up and down from her seat to play on the floor. The full size seats are huge and may put your kids feet into the seat in front of them which means non stop kicking. We held her on our lap until she was 9 months old and then get her a seat with no car seat. We gate check the seat. Althugh we have rented them with cars before, they meed all safety standards but definitely not as nice as the one we own.

Do you let her decide whether to sit in her car seat in the car too? And does she set her own bedtime and choose her own meals?

I am not PP, but in the car I don't care about bothering other passengers. I am sure you are one of those parents on the plane who just lets their kid scream, but I am not. My kids stay quiet and one of the reasons is that I don't strap them in car seats they hate!

I wrote the post about letting my kid NOT sit in the car seat not he plane. She is 30 inches tall and in a diono radian on a plane her feet would be hitting the back of the seat and no doubt super annoying. So yes, I let her get up and down from the middle seat between her parents. And letting her do that means she doesn't fuss or tantrum to walk up and down the aisles. At one point she just played on the floor on a blanket. Its silly to assume that because we do this on the plane that we let her run roughshod over us everywhere else.

If they sit in a car seat in the car, they should be able to sit in one on a plane. Your child refuses to sit as you do not make it an expectation. I would find it very annoying to have a kid jumping and bumping my seat. In less she is very special needs she should sit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Option 1) Fly as a lap child to see grandma and grandpa
Option 2) Never see grandma and grandpa

Too far to drive (cross country) and too expensive to buy the 3rd seat. Is it riskier? Sure. But I didn't want to risk my parents never meeting their grandchild because I couldn't afford a $500 plane ticket.

Option 3) Give up some luxuries you have (smart phone, eating out, coffee, alcohol, movies, etc) so that you can afford appropriate transportation for your child.

You realize its safer to fly without a car seat than for the family to drive.

This is your child. Why take the risk? There are lightwieght car seats that are cheap for travel.

Option 5). If grandparents can afford it, they can pay for an extra ticket.

Option 6) go another time of year when plane tickets are more reasonably priced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Option 1) Fly as a lap child to see grandma and grandpa
Option 2) Never see grandma and grandpa

Too far to drive (cross country) and too expensive to buy the 3rd seat. Is it riskier? Sure. But I didn't want to risk my parents never meeting their grandchild because I couldn't afford a $500 plane ticket.

Option 3) Give up some luxuries you have (smart phone, eating out, coffee, alcohol, movies, etc) so that you can afford appropriate transportation for your child.

You realize its safer to fly without a car seat than for the family to drive.

Anonymous wrote:I would think that it is more sensible to give up plane rides, which are the definition of luxury, than basic internet. I was never on a plane in my life until I was 17. If it was so far we couldn't drive it, say -- more than 20 hours -- we didn't go.

Then why don't you hold yourself/your children to the same standard?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. I have flown many many times with my now two year old. There is NO way she would sit in a car seat for a long flight (over 2 hours) so then it just gets in the way. We always buy her seat and rent a CARES harness for take off/landing and turbulence but beyond that she gets up and down from her seat to play on the floor. The full size seats are huge and may put your kids feet into the seat in front of them which means non stop kicking. We held her on our lap until she was 9 months old and then get her a seat with no car seat. We gate check the seat. Althugh we have rented them with cars before, they meed all safety standards but definitely not as nice as the one we own.

Do you let her decide whether to sit in her car seat in the car too? And does she set her own bedtime and choose her own meals?

I am not PP, but in the car I don't care about bothering other passengers. I am sure you are one of those parents on the plane who just lets their kid scream, but I am not. My kids stay quiet and one of the reasons is that I don't strap them in car seats they hate!

I wrote the post about letting my kid NOT sit in the car seat not he plane. She is 30 inches tall and in a diono radian on a plane her feet would be hitting the back of the seat and no doubt super annoying. So yes, I let her get up and down from the middle seat between her parents. And letting her do that means she doesn't fuss or tantrum to walk up and down the aisles. At one point she just played on the floor on a blanket. Its silly to assume that because we do this on the plane that we let her run roughshod over us everywhere else.

Also -- if lap children were not "appropriate" then they would be illegal, like they are in cars. So perhaps you ought to consider that -- regulators are in the business of weighing these risks and both US and other international regulators agree that this is an acceptable risk, as I have flown with a lap child here and abroad.