UK forward facing car seat that is approved for use on a plane???

[Grimbo]

Hi

We are going to Florida in May 09. Our son will be 14 months old when we travel.
We decided to buy him a seat on the plane because he is big for his age and we didnt want him on our laps for an entire 9 hour flight!

We would like to take our car seat on to the plane with us so that he will be more comfortable and likely to sleep for some of the journey.

We have called our airline and they said that we can take a car seat on the plane but it must be approved for air travel. (seems stupid considering we are being careful by bringing the carseat in the first place rather than just having him on our laps which they allow with kids under 2)

We have the 'Easy Start' car seat from Argos. It doesn't state anywhere on the seat or in the instructions whether or not it can be used on a plane.
We dont want to risk it and take it with us only to be told we will have to leave it behind.

Does anyone know of any carseats sold in the UK that are approved for air travel and actually show that they are approved on the seat or instructions somewhere?

Many Thanks

 

[Grimbo]

anyone?????....

 

[thelilbump]

*bumped back up for you

 

[vicwick]

Hi hun, been having a look and i can't find anything on the net about approved car seats???? very weird. Could the staff at Mothercare help maybe??? We're off to Florida in May but we're just putting Alfie on our lap so haven't had to do this. Hope you find an answer soon, i'll keep looking for you.

 

[rach321]

Not sure about the car seat - the airline should be able to give you a list of ones that meet spec - I think the Britax ones do but not 100%. We have a similar problem as we are off to Canada in September. One question though - are you planning on using your car seat in the US in a car or is it just for travelling on the plane? Reason I ask is that no European car seats are approved for use in the US or Canada and you wouldn't be covered in the case of an accident. If you want a car seat to use in a car over there you should be able to hire one from the car rental company - that's what we will have to do in September. Stupid isn't it ? Especially when you consider that the European standards are much tougher than the US and Canada ones.
I know this doesn't answer your question but just wanted to make you aware!

 

[malpal]

Hey Honey, i use to be cabin crew and the regulations do vary from airline to airline. Firstly you need to find out the airline you are travelling with seat pitch (the width of the seat). The seat needs to be a forward facing with a 5 point harness and have a quick release. It should be in good working order. The seat will be put in the window seat incase of the need to evacuate it won't cause any blockage.
The other thing you could do is have a seat for your son but just have him on your lap for take off and landing (and when seatbelt signs are illuminated) He is fine to sit in the seat without the carseat during flight. Just a thought. Hope this helps if you need any other advise pm me as my sister is still cabin crew and get up to date info for you xx

 

[Grimbo]

Thanks to everyone, you have really helped and I have decided not to take one now.

The reason is I called the manufacturers of the carseat that we currently have and they said that our seat is not approved for airflight because they have not tested it as it is too expensive to do so.

I have called our airline (Delta Airlines) who said that the seat dimensions on the plane is 17" wide. There are a few carseats that will fit, Britax being one of them.

I called Britax, and they recommend the 'Britax Prince' car seat but they said that they do not have it in writing anywhere on the carseat, or in the manual that it is approved so the airline may not allow it on board.
They said they have had many queries about this and they dont think there are any carseats sold in the UK which actually state that they are safe for flying! So its up to us whether we want to risk it or not.

I also called Graco who said none of their seats are approved either and they dont think we will find one in the UK that is!

The only thing you can buy in the UK is a harness called the 'CARES' harness. I personally dont see the point of buying this as it wont necessarily make him more comfortable and is quite expensive for what it is.

You can buy many car seats in the USA that are approved for flying by the FAA but they are an american agency. I dont think its worth us buying an american carseat because by the time we have paid to ship it over it will work out very expensive just for one holiday!

So I think I will just give up! He can sit on our laps for take off/landing and naps etc, but when he's awake he can sit in his seat with some toys or books and snacks to give our laps a break!

Also another thankyou as I also wasnt aware that we couldnt use our carseat in US cars!

So we will have to look into hiring one over there with the car hire company.

Well at least that's one less thing for us to lug around the airport I suppose!

Thanks again!

 

[jenstar]

Grimbo if you get a bulkhead seat (and with a small child you hopefully will) there will be a wee fold down table in front of you and the airline will provide a "skycot" (like a carry cot that straps on to the table) for the baby to sleep in. My cousin slept in one of these when he was 18 months old.

 

[Grimbo]

Thanks Jenstar.
We have now found out that we have to take a carseat anyway! because on the airline's website it states that any child under 2 who has their own seat on the plane MUST have a carseat!!!

I called Delta and explained that we want to take our carseat but it doesnt say that it is approved and that you cant actually buy a carseat in the UK that is approved. The lady I spoke to said she has never heard of a carseat being refused on board so she suggested we just risk it and take our carseat anyway!!!

I find all these rules really contradictory. Never mind!
I just hope they dont refuse our carseat and tell us we must have him on our laps for the entire flight because we would have wasted our money paying for his seat.

Has anyone here used a carseat on a plane? did you have any problems?

 

[EvieP]

Hi there

I flew to Los Angeles in December on BA with my then 19 month old. We also booked him a seat of his own and used our forward facing Maxi Cosi Priori car seat with no problems at all. I even think that the maxi cosi is slightly larger than some others on the market but it still fitted in the seat just fine and my son enjoyed having his own space for the 11 hour journey!!

The only problem that we had was that the size of the car seat prevents the tray table from folding down which can make feeding time a bit awkward but apart from that no problems at all.

Hope you have a good trip!

 

[vicwick]

That is terrible!!! you would think they would have some proper guidelines in place wouldn't you?? I would maybe ask for it in writing from the airline just so they can't refuse you. I did this when i took my wedding dress to Florida as i was gettin all sorts of different advice from the airline!!! Its so frustrating not getting a straight answer!!!! So glad Alfie is still little so we don't have to take one, next year will be a bugger tho

 

[vicky]

When we went to tenireeff (sp?) they told us that kacy couldn't have her own seat and she was 18 months old, but it could be cos its a long lap.