Car Seat Size For Plane?

[KAT1811]

We are heading to the World in September with our three DDs (10, 2, 8 months) and are flying in (as usual). This year DD#2 will be flying in her carseat. We never had to bring it for DD#1, who always sat very well, so I am unsure as to the size restrictions for the seats. I read on another post quite awhile ago that not only do the seats have to be FAA approved but they also need to be a certain width and many are too wide. If anyone has any info I'd appreciate it. Thank you!!!

[Lucyrella]

When flying to China we took a sit n stroll. It is FAA approved and it fit the 17" inch seats most planes have. You can go to your carriers website and find the seat dimensions.

Hope that helps,

[wdwjenn]

We are also traveling by plane with our DS2:mickey: who has never flown before. We are planning to take his car seat on the plane eventhough the Southwest web site says it has to be smaller than 17 inches - which it is not. I even looked into buying a seat that would fit and could not find one that is narrower than the 17 inches. He is going to sit between my husband and I so I thought we would just be able to lift the armrest to allow more room.
I will be interested to hear how you make out and what others can offer for experiences.

[vamaggie]

As long as the arm rests can go up you should have no problem as long as the seat is FAA approved for air travel (not all are). We have only had to travel with one car seat, always put it at the window seat and rasie the arm rest. No problems!

[Lizzie]

We are traveling with two car seats for our 17 month old girls. Are seats are FAA approved so hopefully we have no problems.

[MIMIROX]

We took our regular full size car seat when our DD was 1.We also flew on Southwest and had no problems.You are allowed to preboard w/ small children.:mickey:

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

I know the Evenflo Triumph is too wide. Most others are fine. We used a Century booster style with harness that is FAA approved for our last two trips. We do not use it in our truck for normal use since she has the Britx Regent so she calls the other one her Mickey seat...lol.

We had to put up the arm rest and car seats have to go in the middle on SW just so you know. (At least that was the case our last two flights).

HTH

[wdwjenn]

Oh no! I have the Evenflo Trumph! How do you know it is too big? Have you tried to use one and the airline did not allow it? I thought if I put the armrest up it would not matter what I use? :confused:

[KatGat]

Our FAA approved car seat was a little bulky, so they simply asked that we secure it in a window seat so that other passengers would not have to try to squeeze past it to get in or out of their seats nearby. It was no big deal and our 23 month old loved being by the window. Our biggest challenge was getting through the airport with that huge seat, the stroller, and all of our luggage. We ended up carrying our toddler and using the stroller to cart the car seat. Have fun!

[vamaggie]

We had to put up the arm rest and car seats have to go in the middle on SW just so you know. (At least that was the case our last two flights).

HTH


Just a note: We have always been told (not flown SW though) that the car seat needed to go in the window seat so it would not block other passengers who may need to get past.

[TheRustyScupper]

Just a note: We have always been told (not flown SW though) that the car seat needed to go in the window seat so it would not block other passengers who may need to get past.

From the FAA Website:

. . . A CRS should be placed in a window seat so it will not block the escape path in an emergency. Do not place a CRS in an exit row.
. . . Measure the width of your CRS. It should fit in most airplane seats if it is no wider than 16 inches
. . . A CRS is a hard-backed child safety seat that is approved by the government for use in both motor vehicles and aircraft. A child safety device is an FAA-approved alternative to using a hard-backed seat and is approved only for use on aircraft. It is not approved for use in motor vehicles. For example, the FAA has approved a new harness-type device appropriate for children weighing between 22 and 44 pounds

[Minniemouse27]

If your seat is FAA approved, then it should fit just fine in an airplane seat.

We've traveled w/ large Britax seats just fine.

The bottom of most car seats are under 17". I know w/ our seats that we've used the widest part is the bottom part of the actual part where the child sits.

I automatically raise up the armrests...makes it much easier to install the seat. Also, it may be easier if you recline the airplane seat, install the car seat and then bring the airplane seat back up to the "upright" position. This allows for a tighter installation.

Check out this site (http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/airplanetravel.aspx) for a lot of great info about using your car seat on the airplane.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Just a note: We have always been told (not flown SW though) that the car seat needed to go in the window seat so it would not block other passengers who may need to get past.

Hmm....That is weird. Maybe that has changed but, I know she had to be in the middle our last two flights. I even checked the pics I took. Who know?! ;)

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Oh no! I have the Evenflo Trumph! How do you know it is too big? Have you tried to use one and the airline did not allow it? I thought if I put the armrest up it would not matter what I use? :confused:

It was not me, it was my sister. She has the Triumph 5. This was two years ago. She ended up checking it with the luggage and had my niece sit in her seat with the seatbelt. She called me and let me know since we were flying down later that same night to meet them and I had the same seat at the time.

Maybe that has changed as well. :confused:

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Oh no! I have the Evenflo Trumph! How do you know it is too big? Have you tried to use one and the airline did not allow it? I thought if I put the armrest up it would not matter what I use? :confused:

I just got off the phone with my sister. She said the plane was full and they were sitting in the bulkhead seats. The arm rests did not move so the seat did not fit. She said instead of having to switch seats with someone else ,etc, they checked the seat with the stroller and just had my niece sit in the seat without a car seat.

So, I guess if it was in another seat and you put up the arm rests you would be fine. Sorry I scared you. I knew she had called me that day before we left. :blush: I would make sure you avoid the bulk head seat if the arm rests do not move. I think I remember that was the case on our last flight when we sat there. I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. Oh, and it was SW.

[scootch713]

I took my daughters(by myself) when they were 2 and 5... and did not take a car seat at all. The 2 year old did fine... there was so much to keep her busy, just watching all the people. I did have to remind her a few times to stay in her buckle, but it was really nice not having to lug the car seat with me.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

When we were flying with my 2.5 year old nephew, we actually went to the airport to make sure his seat would fit. The gate attendant assured us that all car seats would fit so it wouldn't be a problem no matter what kind he had. I guess that wasn't true? Good thing he didn't need it. If I remember correctly, we checked it with our luggage. I know we must have brought it because we had a rental car.

[KAT1811]

I called SW this afternoon and they told me that the seat had to fit in the seat without the armrests raised or we will not be allowed to bring the seat on the plane. The seat is 17" wide so I am going to measeure our seat but am pretty sure that it is wider than that. I will add that the person I spoke with was FAR from helpful even borderline rude apparently the info wasn't easy for her to find and I must have put her out.

Maybe I'll do what another poster said and take the seat to the airport. My 2 1/2 yo DDcannot sit still so we need a carseat!!!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

I called SW this afternoon and they told me that the seat had to fit in the seat without the armrests raised or we will not be allowed to bring the seat on the plane. The seat is 17" wide so I am going to measeure our seat but am pretty sure that it is wider than that. I will add that the person I spoke with was FAR from helpful even borderline rude apparently the info wasn't easy for her to find and I must have put her out.

Maybe I'll do what another poster said and take the seat to the airport. My 2 1/2 yo DDcannot sit still so we need a carseat!!!

Now, that goes with what happened to my sister. She thought it was just because the arm rests did not move. Maybe it would have been the same no matter where she sat with her car seat. The Evenflo is a pretty large seat and it was SW.

I would be in the same boat as you, My DD would be a royal pain if we did not have a car seat for her.

Sorry the person on the phone was rude. Especially since you are only trying to do the right thing for your DD.

[vamaggie]

You may want to see if you can pick up a smaller carseat on clearance or from a friend for the trip. We have 2 carseats for our DD--one stays attached in the car (was installed by the fire dept so that thing is not coming out til she is ready for a booster!) and the other we use for travel. It also makes it easier when we go and come back cause we are not struggling to get the carseat out or installed back into our car.

[Minniemouse27]

I am a certified car seat technician... and although 99% of my training is for using car seats in cars, I keep up on their use in airplanes as well.

I have two children, ds is 19mo and will take his first plane ride in December and dd is 6yo and has about 5 round trips under her belt... all of them in a harnessed car seat! Our December trip will be her first not using a seat and I'm a bit nervous!

The link I posted earlier to info about using your car seat on an airplane (http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/airplanetravel.aspx) will answer a lot of your questions.

I will reiterate that the 17" number is for the BOTTOM of your car seat, not the middle portion. Generally the bottom is skinnier than the rest of the seat.

I've traveled w/ some of the largest seats on the market (that are FAA approved) and haven't had any issues. Additionally I am a member of a few online car seat boards and have yet to run into someone there that has had an issue w/ a seat fitting on a plane.

As previously stated, the bulkhead armrests don't raise up so if you are using a car seat... don't sit there!

Also, most flight attendants will make you place a car seat in the window seat...this is so others in the row can exit the plane in the case of an emergency. If the plane has two rows w/ center seats and the family is sitting in the middle... the car seat should be in the center seat.

If you have any other questions, just give me a yell.

[DisneyLuvRSince76]

When we took our DS to Germany last fall (1 1/2 at that time), we used his carseat. We flew US Airways on an Airbus A321 and the seating configuration was 2-4-2 (15A-B, Aisle, 15C-F, Aisle, 15G-H) As far as the positioning goes, we were told the following by a flight attendant:
If we are in a row with more than two seats (ex.15C, 15D, 15E), then he would have to sit in the middle, but if there were only two seats (aisle & window - 15A&15B), he would have to sit next to the window (15A). We ended up with 15A & 15B on the way to Germany and with 11D-F on the way home. Getting the seat in on the way home was easier than on the way there - we were able to work from both sides 11D & 11F to get the carseat into 11E.
I hope I didn't confuse anyone too much :confused:! We have an Evenflo Triumph and it did fit - I believe we raised one armrest to get the carseat in and secured.

We are getting ready for a trip to Boston and this time we are not taking DS's carseat. We have purchased the CARES Harness and will be trying it for the first time.

Good luck with the carseat situation and have a great trip!

[KAT1811]

The link I posted earlier to info about using your car seat on an airplane (http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/airplanetravel.aspx) will answer a lot of your questions.


Thank you very much for the link. I'm sure we won't have too much trouble. But DD must be in a car seat or she'll be running up and down the aisles. I lover her to death and she is a great child, tons of fun and fills us with laughter, but she is overloaded with energy and sitting still for any length of time is not her strong suit.

My birthday dinner last night was a pure example. She would not sit after the appetizers, even ice cream only worked for about two minutes. We are bringing her portable DVD player with us so she will be a little better at dinners in WDW. She is an on the go kid for sure. Our oldest DD could sit anywhere but not this one. Once in awhile she'll surprize you but we'll be prepared non the less!

Thank you all for your help. Ive never had to do this before as our oldest DD sat without a carseat on a plane since day 1. I just don't want to have to fight her to stay seated for the 3 hour flight. I'll be busy holding on to DD#3 (she'll be 10 months when we go) and keeping her occupied

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

If we are in a row with more than two seats (ex.15C, 15D, 15E), then he would have to sit in the middle, but if there were only two seats (aisle & window - 15A&15B), he would have to sit next to the window (15A).

Now I feel better...lol. We are a family of 5 and the plane had three seats on one side, two across the aisle. We had all five seats. DD and DS sat in the three row seats with me both years and DH and DS in the two seat row. That would explain why they had us put her in the middle. I was starting to think I was crazy!! ;):blush:

[KAT1811]

Okay I called back and spoke with someone much nicer from SW and they said that our seat (19") would be fine. They don't mind if we have to raise the arm of the seat as long as we don't disturb any other passengers by doing so. There are 9 of us traveling so that won't be an issue. We are only over by 1 3/4". I just don't want to be stuck trying to make her sit for the flight for 3 hours. She is SO wiggily!!! Thank you for all of your help, it has really helped me ease my fears.