Traveling w/Toddler - Car Seat ???
 

We will be traveling with a 2 1/2 yr old and am wondering if a car seat would come in handy on the plane or should we just get one with our car rental?

ttt

Well, if you take the car seat you won't have to pay extra for the rental. You can check the carseat, or decide at the last minute that you don't want it, and check it at the gate.

Most people consider them to be very handy, I think -- way more comfortable and familiar for the child, with tray/play area that fits. Others don't like the schlep.

I took my car seat on the plane form my 15 mo. old a few years ago and when she fell asleep on long flight (SF to Milan) I was able to doze off much easier than if she had not been secured.

We were also doing a bit of driving and I felt that having her own/regular carseat could help in making us ALL enjoy the ride better.

In September I am going with now 4.5 year old and almost 2 year old to Croatia. I don't plan to bring car seats because except for a couple of taxi's I don't plan to be in the car and I am thinking I might suck it up and NOT buy a seat for her (we'll return 2 weeks before her 2nd birthday) since it is several hundred dollars (on the trip mentioned above we cashed in zillions of miles and all had our own biz class seats - awesome). But now we have 2 kids so we'll at least have a 3.

So my 2 cents - will she sleep in it on the plane, in her own seat, and how much driving are you doing.... that should drive your decision

A car seat may or may not be helpful on a plane. Probably depends upon the length of the flight, your child's size, how comfortable your child will be in the car seat vrs. airline seat, etc.

In terms of safety, an approved car seat makes sense. At age 2 1/2 your child could also probably use the normal lap belt in the airline seat.

But more importantly, there are FAA and airline requirements concerning use of car seats on aircraft. Here's a link to the FAA website that has info:

http://faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/

Different rules apply for European-based airlines. Best idea is to check with your airline.

We always took our children's carseats when flying. Since we live in Europe, we traveled home to America frequently. They were great on the plane, esp. when I had to travel sans husband.