Flying With a Carseat

By Alison on July 7, 2008

Is your child's carseat approved for use on an airplane?

Chances are pretty good that it is, but if you plan on taking it onboard, you may need proof.

Look on the seat itself for a statement saying that it is approved for airplane use. If you can't find it, look through the seat's manual for such a statement. Be prepared to show any airline personnel. We were asked twice on our last flight and everyone was so impressed that I had the manual with me. I needed it though, because I couldn't find any notation on the seat and they weren't going to let me take it on-board without that.

photo by Matthew Jolly via Flickr

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Alison

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3 responses to “Flying With a Carseat”

Lindsey
July 7, 2008 at 10:19 pm | Permalink

I've flown with my son in his carseat many times and have never been asked for proof that it was "airplane safe".

I'm going to search through the manual (if I can find it, that is) and find the appropriate statement. When I find the statement, I'm going to cut the page and affix it to the carseat in case there is ever a problem in the future.

Thanks for the heads up. I would hate to encounter this at the flight deck.
PsychMamma
July 7, 2008 at 11:13 pm | Permalink

Or, totally skip the carseat on the plane and use a CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System) harness instead. It's super-light, easy to pack and easy to use. Check out my post at

http://psychmamma.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/flying-with-a-toddler/

for more info about the CARES harness and tips for flying with kids.
Nancy
July 8, 2008 at 9:12 pm | Permalink

I've flown with babies dozens of times and only been asked once. And that one time was like the 30th time. So I just stood my ground and kept insisting that I WAS getting on the plane with this carseat just like I had two days before on the flight TO there and 30 times before that. Eventually they caved.
It's ridiculous that they're being picky about this still. It's my understanding that only really old (like 15 years and older I'd guess) carseats aren't approved. They were only ever NOT approved because they didn't buckle into the seat belts properly. Any modern carseat is going to buckle into a seat belt just fine.

…Sorry – I'm flying tomorrow so I've got my game face on and am ready to fight any battles I need to in order to fly successfully with four kids. I may be a little rilled up.