Flying with young kids - carseats, etc.

[Wheres Toto]

It looks like we are going to be moving the China in the near future. My younger kids will be barely 3 and barely 5 years old. The 5 year old weighs 35 pounds, the 3 year old around 30 pounds. Obviously here in the US both are in car seats. We want to get them seats to use on the plane, especially since we will be flying back home every 3 months for a 3 week visit - I think they will be more comfortable/able to sleep easier in a car seat. We will have a driver in China so will be able to use the seats while we are there as well.

 

Anyone have any recommendations for seats that can be used on the plane that are good over 40 pounds? We'd like to have seats that can be used for at least a couple of years but I know they need to be less than 17 inches wide to fit in an airplane seat. Price is not a concern.

 

Every other trip I will be traveling alone with the two kids. Any suggestions on handling two car seats and two active kids while trying to get through an airport?

 

Any other helpful hints to get through extremely long flights with young kids would be appreciated as well.

 

Thank you.

[Laura Corin]

I don't have advice about models of car seat. We used to get through the airport using strollers: the child walks (runs around, using up energy) and the car seats go on the stroller.

 

Just so you know: you might find that such frequent trips 'home' get in the way of you all settling in. You might want to, at least, skip the first one, so that you spend six months in China, really settling in, rather than immediately start thinking about the next trip to the US. Just a thought. When we moved to Hong Kong the first time we didn't go to the US or the UK for eighteen months. It was an important period during which we really started to feel at home.

 

Laura

Edited July 23, 2010 by Laura Corin

[piraterose]

I would recommend something like this for the younger one:

http://www.hammacher.com/Product/77956?promo=Toys-Games-Infants-Toddlers&catid=255

 

Perhaps this for the older one, if it's not necessary for her to have a seat when she gets back to the usa (if your family could keep a car seat stored there (my parents keep a booster seat for my daughter because I fly alone with her alone and can't handle all the stuff:

http://www.kidsflysafe.com/

Edited July 23, 2010 by piraterose

[Wheres Toto]

Just so you know: you might find that such frequent trips 'home' get in the way of you all settling in. You might want to, at least, skip the first one, so that you spend six months in China, really settling in, rather than immediately start thinking about the next trip to the US. Just a thought. When we moved to Hong Kong the first time we didn't go to the US or the UK for eighteen months. It was an important period during which we really started to feel at home.

 

Laura

 

The main reason we are coming back more frequently is because we are leaving my 16 year old daughter here. There will be a variety of circumstances and issues that I will need to come back and take care of. Also, MIL is older and has some health issues and DH wants to make sure she gets to see the younger kids periodically. She is going to be VERY upset when she finds out about this.

 

Our move to China will be "temporary" lasting between 2 years and ?? but probably not more than 5 years.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

It looks like we are going to be moving the China in the near future. My younger kids will be barely 3 and barely 5 years old. The 5 year old weighs 35 pounds, the 3 year old around 30 pounds. Obviously here in the US both are in car seats. We want to get them seats to use on the plane, especially since we will be flying back home every 3 months for a 3 week visit - I think they will be more comfortable/able to sleep easier in a car seat. We will have a driver in China so will be able to use the seats while we are there as well.

 

Anyone have any recommendations for seats that can be used on the plane that are good over 40 pounds? We'd like to have seats that can be used for at least a couple of years but I know they need to be less than 17 inches wide to fit in an airplane seat. Price is not a concern.

 

Every other trip I will be traveling alone with the two kids. Any suggestions on handling two car seats and two active kids while trying to get through an airport?

 

Any other helpful hints to get through extremely long flights with young kids would be appreciated as well.

 

Thank you.

 

Keep in mind that many car seats will not allow the tray table to come down. The table hits the sides of the carseat. When we did our first trip to Germany, I had one of the kids in a toddler style carseat because I thought he'd be more comfy. But he also had no where to put his food tray and no where to put a coloring book, etc. It was a bigger hassle than it was worth.

 

I did get great mileage out of Leapsters at this age. We have Nintendo DS's now, but most of the games assume a reading fluency that younger kids don't have. A Leapster with headphones might be a much better fit.

 

And I have to second Laura's comment about frequent trips. I think you may come to feel like you are betwixt and between with neither place being home.

 

YMMV

[gracesteacher]

Look at your current car seats are the flight ready? My 28lb 3yr we just used her normal car seat myride 65 she was safe and in her 5 point harness. We tied it to our roll on luggage. However a stroller or a cart would have been a great idea. My ride 65 is ff up tp 65lbs but I am not sure about getting 2 next to one another on a plane

Lots of snacks and bag of new toys/paper/ crayons and it was all good

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Just a reminder, if you are flying on an American carrier, backless boosters are not allowed to be used in flight. They can be gate checked or checked with the luggage if you don't want to carry them on. If you want to use your car seat in the flight, make sure it is not a backless booster. :)

[nd293]

If you are traveling alone with kids that age I would strongly recommend against the car seat option. I would look into the CARES child restraint system that Erin recommends - it is FAA approved. Then keep a set of car seats at both ends of your flight. Apart from the bulk issue, I think that the CARES seatbelt might actually allow the child to recline more fully when asleep (I doubt the carseat will have much room to tilt backwards once attached to the plane seat).

 

I'd agree with Sebastian and Laura that flights home every three months would be highly disruptive, not only for you, but also for the children.

[vonfirmath]

At 4 and 6, if you have car seats on both ends, they may fit the airplane seatbelt well enough they do not need a car seat on the plane. And if you are going back every 3 months, it probably makes sense to have car seats on both ends to avoid having to carry them in the airport.

 

My 3 year old will have a car seat on the airplane and I won't worry about him not having tray access. We just plan for that.

[ecj98]

Sunshine Kids Radian - goes to 65 or 80 lbs depending on the model, folds flat and fits in a backpack for carrying through airport, sits low enough kids can still use the tray table, very narrow

 

Only con - it is a bit heavy, but not bad

[Mom2J112903]

Sunshine Kids Radian - goes to 65 or 80 lbs depending on the model, folds flat and fits in a backpack for carrying through airport, sits low enough kids can still use the tray table, very narrow

 

Only con - it is a bit heavy, but not bad

 

:iagree:

 

What you could also do, is invest in a CARES harness for both children. Get seats to leave here in the states and use their current seats in China.

 

The SKRs also RF (rear face) to either 40 or 45lbs, so you could most likely RF your not-even-3yr old :D