flying with a 21 month old

[duchessofdulwich]

Okay, flying to italy on Saturday with a 21 month old. Thought we would take our mama and papas car seat for the flight. just rung BA and have been told it has to be an FAA approved car seat which its not!!?

Does anyone have any experience of what we might need to do?

[new mother]

You wanted to attach it to a seat and use during the flight?

[duchessofdulwich]

We wanted to but british airways seem to have strict guidelines for carseats.

Will our toddler have to sit on our lap during take off and landing even though we have paid for her to have a seat?

[Norfolkvillas]

I didn't think that it was possible to pay for a seat for an under two year old - does it vary from airline to airline?

[Pickle]

You will have to hold her for take off and landing, but that's all. In my experience of flying with kids to and from NZ I think having a car seat with you would be a pain - the good thing about having a seat for them is that it gives them a bit of space to play etc. during the flight.

Norfolkvillas - you can pay for a seat for a child of any age, we have done so for our trips to NZ when the children are about 14ish months upwards as it means you have a lot more flexibility. Not so necessary for shorter trips though.

[anna_r]

We are flying transatlantic soon on BA with our 2.5 year old and our 1 year old. We have booked seats for all of us. You can book a seat for a child under 2 if you ring the airline but not if you do it online.

We are taking a Britax Prince carseat and a CARES harness and will use those on board in some combination with the BA infant seat they provide (although thats not allowed during takeoff/landing which is the time we have trouble containing our daughter). BA website details about carseats onboard are here:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/child/public/en_gb?gsLink=searchResults

Car type safety seats

You may prefer to use your own car type seat for use by infants with a minimum age of six months to a maximum age of three years.

The seat must meet the following standards:

The seat must be designed to be secured by means of a normal aircraft single lap strap and face the same direction as the passenger seat on which it is positioned.

A purpose-designed children's car seat must have a 5-point restraining harness.

The car seat must not exceed the dimensions of the aircraft seat.

The maximum dimensions of the seat must fit into an area of 45cm x 45cm (17.5ins x 17.5ins).

Please note: Two part car seats, where there is the seat and a base are not suitable for use on aircraft seats.

I have printed this out and will be waving it at the staff if they say we can not use the carseat onboard. The Prince fits the maximum dimensions and can be fixed with a single lapbelt.

Trying to avoid a repeat of our last flight which was a complete nightmare.

We have also bought a CARES harness (aka Amsafe system). Again details from BA.com

Infant or child restraint device (AmSafe System)

You can use your own AmSafe System, which is an approved child restraint device, consisting of an additional belt and shoulder harness that encircles the aircraft seat back and attaches to the passenger lap belt.

It can be used for infants from 12 months to children of 4 years of age.

The AmSafe System is not suitable for use on First class or Club World sleeper seats, or World Traveller Plus seats.

It cannot be used in the same row as the emergency exit or the row in front or behind the emergency exit.

We do not supply the AmSafe System, but you can bring your own with you.

[anna_r]

oh and we have also bought (from the states) one of those sets of wheels you can attach to your carseat so that you can wheel it through the airport almost like a buggy! Hope it works. As you can see we are in a complete panic about the flight and have done everything possible to try and avoid another experience like last year! 3 hours or so to Italy with one is nothing though :) x

[duchessofdulwich]

Hi guys,

I rung british airways to get some advice on these carseats and when I finally got through they were not very helpful.

I have just ordered on amazon the the cares harness, asked for it to be fast tracked so i can get it delivered before we go. I don't feel happy with sitting little one on my lap during take off and landing.

We have to take the car seat anyway as we re hiring a car the other side. Can we check the car seat in with ba?

[anna_r]

Yes you can check it in, I think cares is a good option. Have fun!

[nymom]

I have used the Amsafe cares harness four times. On one flight a BA flight attendant refused to allow me to use it as she had never seen one before. I had a huge argument with her and got the main person in charge to come over. In the end they allowed me to hold my son in my lap for take off and landing and then place him in the harness afterward, despite the fact that he was old enough to be in his own seat. It was really bizarre. For future flights I brought a printed out version of what is on the website in regard to the harness to avoid any issues.

[Norfolkvillas]

Jeez, I wish I'd known that I could have booked my son a seat! Why do airlines keep these things a secret?? In case it helps anyone, I took a lot of sticky things with me on my recent four hour flight to Crete with my 22 month old - a stack of small multicoloured post-its, an Usborne sticker book, and those coloured sticky tabs that lawyers use to mark which page of a contract you need to sign. They worked a treat - on my fingers, on his fingers, on the seat back, on bunny's nose, on daddy's nose etc - especially for the tricky take off and landing bits. Conversely, the mini pots of Play Doh I bought for the same purpose didn't work as well as I'd hoped, nor were they quite as mess-free as I thought they would be.

[duchessofdulwich]

Nymom, thanks for letting me know about that. Its funny because the BA website actually states you can use cares harness on their flights! Im going to print it off and take it with me case there is any opposition. It is also civil aviation authority approved?