Airplanes & Car Seats Part I: Car Seat Requirements

This week, I'll be publishing a series of articles about Flying with Car Seats. This article, which covers the requirements and guidelines related to flying safely with a baby, toddler or child, is the first installment!

Who Needs A Carseat On An Airplane Flight
Neither infants nor children are ever required to use a specialized child restraint onboard. However, safety experts recommend that all children be strapped in with an FAA approved 5 point harness (rear facing for infants on domestic carriers) to protect them in case of turbulence. That said, only 13 people per year die on commercial flights, versus 43,000 on the highways, so many parents feel comfortable carrying a lap infant in their arms and forgoing the car seat on board for older kids. This interesting NY Times article highlights some of the concerns and has a particularly interesting discussion of this issue in the reader comments section.

Booster seats aren't useful on board a plane(their whole purpose is to raise the child up so that a car's shoulder strap fits properly.) Once your child is traveling in a booster seat in the car, it is generally considered safe to strap them with the adult seatbelt onboard. This frees you from carrying a car seat through the airport, but you will still need one at your destination.

Another car seat alternative while you're on board the plane, is the CARES harness by Kids Fly Safe. The CARES harness weighs just one pound, is FAA approved, and fits in a 6" stuff sack. The harness is appropriate for children who are old enough to ride in a car forward facing & weigh over 22 pounds. Because the CARES harness is FAA approved, it can be used on any flight. However, some flight attendants have not seen it before, so it can be helpful to bring along the documentation in case they have any questions.

International Carriers and Car Seats
Laws vary depending on where the airline is based (review your carrier's website for details), but many European carriers do not allow rear-facing car seats at all, and do not allow infants under 6 months old to travel in a car seat. On board, your lap infant will be given a special infant seat belt that attaches to your adult belt for takeoff and landing. Once you are airborne many carriers have bassinets or special seats (Picture of Airline Baby Bed) available for infants seated in the bulkhead rows. The seats need to be reserved in advance.

Read the next posts in this series:
Part II: Checking, Renting and Carrying on a Car Seat When Flying
Part III: Airport Car Seat Carriers (Product Reviews)
Part IV: Travel Car Seat (Product Reviews)

Related Links:
DeliciousBaby: Flying With Babies, Toddlers and Kids
USA FAA Infant and Child Restraint Rules
Australia CASA Infant and Child Restraint Requirements
CAA UK Infant and Child Safety Aircraft Laws
NY Times: The Safety Hazard on Your Lap

Save to del.icio.us | | Posted on February 26, 2008 | 5 comments


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Comments

Louise Stoll

February 27, 2008 at 7:14 a.m.

Hi Debbie;

I loved your write up about traveling safely on airplanes with small kids. I'm Louise Stoll, the grandma who invented the CARES child aviation restraint system, and now managing Kids Fly Safe, LLC, the company distributing CARES. CARES was inspired by watching my daughter, Miriam, then 8 months pregnant, emerging from an airplane to visit us carrying a toddler, a 20 lb car seat and a diaper bag. I KNEW there had to be a better way!Hence CARES.

Keep up the good work!

Debbie

February 27, 2008 at 10:26 a.m.

Thanks for checking in! I'm thrilled to hear that you liked the writup. Your product has made air travel loads easier for our family.

MetaMommy

February 27, 2008 at 2:12 p.m.

This is a topic near and dear to me. We've been traveling with my son since he was 4 months old. We've used the Sit N Stroll (http://www.lillygold.com/), and have been relatively happy with it. However, we tend to fly to Ireland via fly Aer Lingus, and on occasion they give us such a hard time about using it. It's FAA approved, but for take-offs and landings, flight attendants have insisted that we remove him from the 5-point harness belt and hold him in our lap with the joke of a belt they provide for babies. I say they insist on occasion because they either don't bat an eyelash, or they insist so profusely that we either (1) hold our son, or (2) get off the aircraft. However, my husband called the airline and their policy is a bit garbled. So much so that he was able to convince the agent that it was indeed safer to use the car seat for take-offs and landings.

My long-winded point is that if you're traveling with a car seat internationally (moreso than domestically because other countries don't rely on FAA standards), you might consider calling the airline to verify their policy. Further, if you can get anything in writing, that will make your journey that much more pleasant if you are confronted about your seat.

Shannon

April 7, 2008 at 11:35 a.m.

Hi Debbie,
We just purchased the CARES system for at trip we're taking to Mexico next month with our two-year-old. Last year, we took him to Hawaii and brought his car seat on the plane, and also used it in our rental car. It worked very well on the plane, and was easy to take through the airport (we used the TravelMate system with it), but a pain to lug down the aisle of the plane (the aisle was too narrow to roll it). This time we don't have a rental car, so we decided to give CARES a try.

My questions are: Have you ever had a problem with airline personnel not accepting it? I contacted our airline, and received an email stating they would accept it, but I'm still a bit nervous...
Also, have you ever had a problem with the person sitting behind the seat, since the strap has to go under their stowed tray table?

Thanks!

Debbie

April 7, 2008 at 11:51 a.m.

Shannon,

First of all, have a great trip to Mexico!

I have never had a problem with the airline personnel accepting the CARES harness (though they've asked questions a couple of times). We always bring along the printed documentation for the harness (which shows that it is FAA approved). Since you were organized enough to also get email from the airline, I would bring a printed copy of the email as well. If you do get questions from the flight attendants, you'll be well prepared to answer them.

I've never had a problem with the person sitting behind us (possibly they're just glad that they're not sitting in front of a toddler ;) The CARES harness doesn't interfere with the operation of their tray table, so unless they're just bothered by having the tray down for a few minutes while you get things set up, there isn't really any reason for them to complain.

With both flight attendants and other passengers, we try to remember that we already have two strikes against us (D & E) when we step on board a plane. We're extra sensitive and extra polite, especially with all the recent news about flight attendants having people kicked off planes for various reasons.

Debbie

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