Can a 14 months old have her own seat on the plane?
 

My niece will be 14 months old when we fly to Europe in the summer and we could get her her own free seat on miles but are not sure whether that's needed.

A 14 months old can walk and sit up straight on her own so do we need to take along a car seat to place it on top of her seat? that would be such a hassle especially with shorter, discount flights within Europe :-O

I would call the airline!
Different companies may have different rules

Ryanair doesn't allow kids under 2 to have seats, nor to have carseats on the plane. I know it's the same for many other European airlines.

Even if you found an airline that allows carseats, they probably wouldn't allow American ones (because it's a different regulatory scheme). So you'll have to research this carefully.

I should clarify - if you are taking an American-based carrier to Europe (no codeshares), then it's probably fine to use an American carseat. But that won't be the case for European-based carriers.

I guess she could sit on our laps during short, one hour flights. So that's fine about Ryanair.

Our main concern is about the long overnight flight to Europe.

We'll be flying Lufthansa. So assuming they don't allow American carseats, do they provide anything similar? or would the little one be just fine sitting on a regular seat next to mommy?

For as many times as I recommend this product you would think I was getting a kickback - but I'm not, I promise! When we fly with our 3 year old son we use the CARES harness. http://www.kidsflysafe.com/
It hooks onto the airplane seatbelt and creates a 4 point restraint similar to the 5 point restraint in your car seat. It's great. It keeps him safe and it's also what he is already used to.

When we flew northwest Seattle to London we had a flight attendant ask to see the paperwork for it, which we keep in the carrying case, to make sure that it was the harness approved by airlines. Other than that we have never had a problem with it.

For what it's worth I would definitely get her her own seat. Holding a child for hours is miserable! You won't get any rest and she'll be fussy too. I won't even into the safety aspect -- you can read all about it on that website.

Good luck! By the way -- we think taking small children to Europe is a ton of fun. It allows you too see those places in a completely different way. Not everyone will understand your desire to do it but if it's what you choose to do -- have fun!

It is not true that ALL European carriers do not allow carseats. I flew on Iberia with a carseat. The carseat does need to be approved for air travel (FAA) - but I am not sure if that standard is internationally recognized.

The strange thing about Iberia is that on the flight to Europe, our daughter sat in the carseat for takeoff. On the way back, the flight attendants made her sit on my lap with this skimpy seatbelt that seemed totally unsafe. It seemed completely bizarre to me why if I had the carseat, the child couldn't sit in it on takeoff.

Frankly, I think you are a bit at mercy of the flight attendants on board and they do not seem to have a consistent policy.

BKP's CARES suggestion sounds interesting. Not sure how well a 14 month old would sleep with that but I might take one for our next flight.

A small child should not sit in a plane seat without some sort f car seat. If there were any turbulence it would be bounced all around and perhaps become an unguided missile. EVeryone on the plane has to be able to be buckled in securely.

I would contact the airline as to exactly what is allowed.

And I would never consider a lap child on ANY flight. Just way too dangerous for a child under any circumstances. (Would you take an hour car ride with the 14 month old just sitting on the back seat?)

We flew to Hawaii ( about 6 hours) with friends years ago when we all had small kids.
We purchased a seat for our 9 month old and brought her carseat which was the semi reclining type that sits backwards.Strangley stewardess made us hold baby for take off, but I thought that was bull sh*t and put baby back into seat soon as stewardess sat down.. Baby IS safer anywhere but your arms.
Our friends wanted to save money and their 12 month old was a lap baby.. HA ! They spent a long flight( it seemed long) bouncing the kid back and forth between them, and they had to trade him off at meal times, he was getting heavy to hold onto for hours,, they really really wished they had bought a seat.

A few years before that we had taken our first two kids down to La to catch a cruise. We had to use the big carseat for the two year old,, what a pain.

A child that size will be just fine in a regular seat. Bring a small pillow or blanket so she can curl up to sleep. You don't need the carseat on the plane, but you should have it for when you arrive for driving in taxis and such. The only reason to bring the seat on the plane is if she sleeps better in it than out of it.

If there is turbulence, you can hang on to her. If you will be colliding with another plane during flight, you have more to worry about than if her carseat is buckled.

From the American Academy of Pediatrics website (my emphasis):

"Q: Should my child ride in a car safety seat on an airplane?
A: Most infant, convertible, and forward-facing seats can be used on airplanes, but booster seats and travel vests cannot. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the AAP recommend that when flying, children should be securely fastened in certified child restraints until 4 years of age, and then should be secured with the airplane seat belts. <b>This will help keep them safe during takeoff and landing or in case of turbulence.</b> Check the label on your car safety seat or call the car safety seat manufacturer before you travel to see if your seat is certified for use on an airplane. You can also consider using a restraint made only for use on airplanes and approved by the FAA.&quot;

Ignore kelliebellie who seems to think a parent has ESP and will know ahead of time if there will be turbulence.

Thanks very much, I truly appreciate everyone's suggestions.

The CARES harness does seem like a great alternative to the carseat on airplanes! We'll probably also bring her an extra pillow to help her settle better in her seat.

Kind of silly to ignore the advice of a woman who flies several times a year with her 4 and 2 year old.

It seems like everyone that flies with a child will have some story about a problem with a flight attendant. You should research the airlines individually, print out that information, and put it in your carryon.

Out of curiosity where are you planning on visiting in Europe?

Last February we traveled to Hawaii with my neice's 18 month old. Prior to our trip I had read BKP's recommendation for the harness and she purchased it for the trip. It worked great and with the little one's own pillow and blanket he had no problem sleeping in his seat.

I wouldn't take the opinion of anyone who hadn't flown on a flight with either significant turbulence or an emergency.

Coming into JFK once we had a light indicating a landing gear problem and we had to dump fuel and prepare for a &quot;hard&quot; landing. Every small child that was not strapped into a car seat had to be passed forward and packed into the area between the bulkhead and first set of coach seats surrounded by every blanket and pillow on the plane. One woman was hysterical and refused to give up her child - and finally the head FA had to pull the child from her arms - and tell her the child's chance to survive was more important than the mother's desire to hold the child - which IS NOT POSSIBLE under severe conditions.

She said to the mother - if you care so much about the child why didn;t you buy her a seat? (Would you drive for thousands of miles with the child just sitting loose on the back seat, thinking it's safe since you don;t plan on having an accident?

Seems safest to buckle up to me too.

I have bought my kid a seat on a plane since our first flight when he was 3 months old. He had his own seat when we flew to Paris from L.A. at 13 months. So the answer is, yes, of course your niece can have a seat. We took a car seat, pain in the neck as it was back then.

These days, as described above, there are much better alternatives.

I never, ever wanted to have the experience of flying in turbulence with a small child to save money. My parents did when I was little and it caused: (1) my father to never fly again; and (2) me to have an everlasting dent in my head from the impact of head and ceiling.

All the responses were very interesting to read. I happen to be a flight attendant for a US airline. So I can only speak to our policies. Up until 2 years of age or 20 pounds weight, the choice is yours to get a seat or not. After that age or weight you must buy a seat. HOWEVER, as an airline professional I would always recommend having a child in an approved car seat on any flight, especially a long one. Turbulance can happen at any time without any notice. By the way, we do not have any policy about taking unrestrained babies from their family!!

JRoe,, perhaps your airline does not practice this, but some do, and we certainly encountered it( as did another poster) ,, what is the reasoning for not letting babies stay in there car seats for take off and landing. My understanding is that is the safest place for them.