Lap child?

[TinkB278]

For those of you who have traveled with a child under 2, do you keep them on your lap for the flight (free), or buy them a seat? We are currently set to leave Friday with our 7 month old riding as a lap child but now things I’m reading on the internet are freaking me out about not restraining my baby during the flight. However, putting my baby in a seat would obviously cost more and require I haul a car seat to Disney world. Curious for thoughts and experiences.

 

[FreeTime]

Hi - my children are grown now but we would buy them a seat or elect not to fly. We wanted them to be safe and us to be comfortable.

 

[serenitynow]

We used a Child Airplane travel Harness which is approved for airline travel by the FAA. I think the brand was Care. Less than $50 and rolls up into a small bundle for packing

 

[Specter]

When DD was 10 months old we hauled the car seat and bought her a ticket. In the end we had the peace of mind knowing that she was secured safely in her seat in the event of anything happening, and it meant that we had the entire row to ourselves, too, since it was the three of us. That way we didn't have to juggle the baby when someone wanted to get up to use the bathroom or anything like that.

We did look into the harness that the previous poster mentioned but DD was too small for it. I don't recall the minimum stated weight but she was definitely not there, otherwise we would have done that to avoid having to carry the car seat.

 

[RogueX]

Wife of a pilot here....always had daughter in a seat for safety reasons.

 

[GoingSince1990]

We always bought seats for our kids when they were infants and put them in car seats on the plane. I would have found it very hard to forgive myself if they were killed or injured because I wanted to save a few hundred dollars. Also as parents it makes the trip MUCH more pleasant when they have their own seat.

 

[tom1944]

Should a 4 year old be in a car seat or harness?

She weighs about 40 pounds

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Should a 4 year old be in a car seat or harness?

She weighs about 40 pounds

do you need carseat besides on plane? if needed use the seat. if not I would look into harness.

 

[growhappiness]

We flew when my son was 18 months as a lap infant. He nursed during takeoff both times and we felt comfortable holding him on our laps. He did better on those flights than after he turned two and had to sit in his own seat. He wanted to sit on my lap and cried. (Sorry other passengers!)

 

[sponica]

We lap rode with a 20 month old, that was terrible. She was off the charts huge and tall, but we were poor and couldn't afford the trip if we paid for a 3rd seat. Four years later when we went again with her sister who was also 20 months old, we bought the seat. Lesson learned.

 

[MamaMermaid]

We always bought a seat. Just desired more space!

 

[scrapquitler]

For those of you who have traveled with a child under 2, do you keep them on your lap for the flight (free), or buy them a seat? We are currently set to leave Friday with our 7 month old riding as a lap child but now things I’m reading on the internet are freaking me out about not restraining my baby during the flight. However, putting my baby in a seat would obviously cost more and require I haul a car seat to Disney world. Curious for thoughts and experiences.

the few times we traveled with a child under 2, we bought them a seat. We felt it was safer in case of turbulence and it was definitely more comfortable for me to have them in the car seat instead of in my lap all that time.

 

[SLThomas318]

Bought the seat and used a lightweight inexpensive car seat for travel (vs. our heavy weight one that we used daily at home). We used the CARES harness when they were older... I think they have to be at least 1 yr old and 22 lbs.... it worked best for my kids when they were in the 2-4 yr range where they needed a little more security then just the lap belt.

 

[Anna131517]

I always bought my children their own seat and brought a car seat - both for my sanity and their safety. I had been on a couple flights with very very bad turbulence before I had kids (the type where you’re pretty sure the plane is going down) and I wouldn’t feel comfortable not having them secured. Actually I’d be a nervous wreck. Of course my husband and family think I’m insane but whatever. My job as their mom is to keep them safe. Period. All that being said, air travel is much safer than road travel.

 

[jtopp]

Buy the seat. Comfort and safety make the extra cost worthwhile.

 

[accm]

We've flown with our kids both as lap infants and buying them their own seat. For us the deciding factor was their age and length of flight.
You know your kid better, but I my kids hated the carseat, so I knew that if I got them their own seats, I would've ended up with them on my lap anyways. I also found it helpful to nurse them on takeoff/landing, which you cannot do if you buy them their own seat.

 

[danceintherain]

We've done both. I prefer everyone having their own seat, but sometimes the cost was prohibitive.
When we do buy a seat, I bring a car seat for anyone under 5, and a booster for anyone over until they 5-step, unless we 100% won't be using any transportation smaller than a city bus.