Traveling with little ones is kind of daunting at first. But I promise once you get the hang of it you will want to go everywhere on your bucket list! A huge question in traveling with babies or toddlers is about the car seat. What’s the best car seat to travel with on a plane, in particular. And do you always bring it on the plane or check it to your final destination? As we’re getting ready to travel by air again soon, I thought I’d share what worked well for us with our first child. If you’re looking for tips and tricks on what to do about the car seat when traveling, read on!
Traveling with a Car Seat: Tips & Tricks
Travel with an Infant Car Seat
We traveled with our daughter as a lap infant until she was about 19 months old, when we started getting her a separate seat on the airplane. When she was really young and still in the infant seat, we would use that from home to the airport. (Our top pick for an infant seat that is travel-friendly: this one.)
Then would gate check the car seat and stroller. When you get to your stop, you pick it up as you get off the plane. You don’t have to wait until baggage claim to get it, which is a big plus when you’re traveling with a little one! Plus, that way we had her own car seat for any vehicle travel once we got to our destination, like in our rental car.
We didn’t bring her seat on the plane with us, but if you think your child’s car seat is a better option for them on the plane (and it’s probably the safest way to keep them in their seat anyway), you can always book their own seat. At the time the best way for us to travel was to do the lap infant thing. (We would frequently book a window seat and aisle seat and hope that no one took the middle. You can’t book emergency exit rows with a toddler, just FYI.)
Travel with a Toddler Car Seat
Flying with a toddler who needs a convertible seat, you have the option of having them in the seat during airplane travel or just bringing it and checking it at the desk. I’ve heard of some parents who will always use the car seat as a travel seat vs. letting a child sit in the airplane seat without a car seat. We haven’t done that yet, but it’s nice to know it’s an option! (For some small children it’s probably the best option to keep them comfortable in a seat they’re used to.) Our choice out of the lightest seats is this one, which we found to be one of the best options out there.
For a long flight, it works well for young children because they’re kind of stuck. I find that a regular airplane seat belt is really different compared to their regular car seat. There is a highly recommended plane-specific child restraint system that puts a child in a five-point harness with shoulder straps vs. just the lap buckle. We haven’t tried it yet, but it has some great reviews! (Another bonus of using your regular all in-one car seat: Our everyday car seats have cup holders, which airplane seats obviously don’t have.) Also if you get unexpected turbulence, it’s nice to know that they’re safely buckled in vs. just in a lap belt. If you’ve never brought your seat for a car on a flight but want to, you can always ask the flight attendant for assistance getting it set up!
Safety and ease of use of our favorite travel car seat
When we were looking for the best travel car seats, I wanted something safe enough to use in Grandma’s car. It’s not our everyday car seat, because it doesn’t have side impact protection, but it’s fine for sporadic use.
The FAA (federal aviation administration) approves car seats for use on airplanes, but you obviously also want something safe in motor vehicles! But for us, for air travel, we wanted a lightweight car seat that would be easy to carry through the airport. The best option we found for an FAA-approved seat was the Cosco Scenera Next (currently $59 at Walmart), which is an affordable rear-facing seat for a car. It can also be used for forward-facing kids: It’s convertible). It’s super light weight and approved for airplane use.
Pros of the travel car seat
- Light weight (weighs just 10 lbs) which makes this very portable
- FAA approved
- LATCH system for car travel
- Affordable at $50-65 depending on when and where you buy it
- Check the current price on Amazon (also available at Walmart for less than $50 if you don’t care about the color)
- Five-point harness
- Not just for travel- good option for everyday use because it meets safety standards for the American Academy of Pediatrics
- Can be used rear facing or forward facing
- Can be used for children 5-40 lbs and up to 43″ tall
Cons of this car seat
- Not comfortable for taller kids
- Weight limit of 40lbs for forward-facing car seat and 40lbs for rear-facing mode
- Doesn’t click into any strollers without an add-on attachment
- No cup holders or snack tray attachment
- Not the best option for an everyday car seat, but great for Grandma’s car or just airplane travel
- Doesn’t fit in the overhead bin if you decide not to use it once you’re on the flight
The same brand makes a seat for kids bigger than 40lbs and 43 inches tall who still need a 5-point harness. They also have a booster car seat for older kids. We aren’t using a booster seat yet so I can’t comment on these, but you can see them here.
Car seat travel bags
It’s not required, but we like to use a car seat bag when we travel if we are checking the child seats. You don’t even need a high quality bag, but it’s a good idea to cover the seat to protect it from getting dirty. The last thing you want is to get to your vacation spot and have mystery stains on your child’s seat for a vehicle. We used this very basic travel bag, but recently we upgraded to a padded car seat travel bag with backpack straps (another great backpack car seat luggage option here) now that we fly with two seats for a car for our two young kids.
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