Car seat on plane and travelling with toddler

Hi

We are looking into booking our flights. We will have a very manic 29 month old with us...

I understand you can take their car seat onto the plane with you which I think would be ideal as she sleeps like a dream in the car. Has anyone done this and if so which airline did you use? Did you have to get it cleared before arriving at the airport?

Also which is the most 'family friendly' airline in peoples opinion? BA is coming out cheapest and good flight times at the mo though Qantas is obviously the same flights just a tad more costly. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Hi there, we took our car seats onto the plane with us when we came over in 2007. We flew with Malaysia and we notified them beforehand. I'm not entirely sure if all airlines will let you take the seats on, probably best to check with the airline before you actually book the tickets.

We didn't bother with car seats as you can't use them here anyway and found that our then 2 year old just curled up in the seat with no problem, we just asked for a few extra blankets to pad her out. On the second leg of the flight she fell asleep on take off and woke up on landing. This being a little girl who at the time did not sleep through the night.

We flew with Singapore airlines and found them very family and child friendly, extremely helpful, couldn't rate them higher. We flew in sept last year.

Singapore airlines would be the best bet.

You find kids behave on plane usually.

One is motion

second is new people, and lots of them, so they tend to stick to who they know and behave.

Just spend a while before flying telling them what will happen and how important it all is to behave on the plane. You can mention the cartoons too!!!

I am lost with the car seat part.

We didn't bother with car seats as you can't use them here anyway and found that our then 2 year old just curled up in the seat with no problem, we just asked for a few extra blankets to pad her out. On the second leg of the flight she fell asleep on take off and woke up on landing. This being a little girl who at the time did not sleep through the night.

 

We flew with Singapore airlines and found them very family and child friendly, extremely helpful, couldn't rate them higher. We flew in sept last year.

What do ou mean when you say you cant use your car seat in Australia?

Hi

Sorry if I'm hijacking this thread a bit :embarrassed:. We will be travelling to Adelaide with a 22 month old later this year and were planning to bring our car seat too but if it's no good in Oz then we obviously won't bother. I wasn't aware that UK car seats are no good over there - can anyone give me a bit more info on this?

Familygood, I've heard many recommendations for Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific as the best family friendly airlines. We opted to fly Cathay Pacific in the end just because the flight times suited us a little better.

Georgina

we have an isofix car seat? will it really not work? seems strange...

Hi we have opted for Cathay Pacific to fly with in September, as they seem to have some good reviews for being child friendly also we can stop in Hong Kong to take boys to Disney to beak the trip.

Forgot to say, not taking car seats as he should sleep on plane (we hope) and can't use them in Oz anyway.

Thanks everyone I know you cant use the car seats in Oz but ours was a hand me down so dont really mind if it doesnt get used again just anything to try and make the jourbey easier!! Will have another look at Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines then.

Cheers!

Singapore are fabulous!!!!!!!!! And i also heard that the U.K car seats are not acceptable in Oz- but cant remember the reasoning!!!! Sorry! Yvonne x

Oooh and have also flown cathay Pacific who were also very impressive. Qantas left a lot to be desired in comparison, but everyones experience is different i guess and they are generally cheaper- swings and roundabouts!!!! Yvonne x

It's true about the car seats, if they don't have an Australian safety mark, they're not legal. We're hiring one with our hire car until we can buy our own.

http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/Primary/road+safety/child+safety/child+restraints/the+law+and+standards+on+child+restraints/

Hi

 

Sorry if I'm hijacking this thread a bit :embarrassed:. We will be travelling to Adelaide with a 22 month old later this year and were planning to bring our car seat too but if it's no good in Oz then we obviously won't bother. I wasn't aware that UK car seats are no good over there - can anyone give me a bit more info on this?

 

Familygood, I've heard many recommendations for Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific as the best family friendly airlines. We opted to fly Cathay Pacific in the end just because the flight times suited us a little better.

 

Georgina

Hi, isofix carseats do work over there. I am taking mine, I have a maxi cosi and my sister in law took hers and is using it over there. I think it just depends on the car.

Thanks everyone I know you cant use the car seats in Oz but ours was a hand me down so dont really mind if it doesnt get used again just anything to try and make the jourbey easier!! Will have another look at Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines then.

Cheers!

Personally always have found it a pain to travel with car seat as tray doesn't come down for meals in most cases as car seat is too high. I have memories of having my meal then my kids meals in one hand and asking the flight attendants what I was supposed to do with it all! Not so bad on the asian airlines as they are family orientated and serve the kids first if you've ordered child meals. However, if you are using US or British airlines - beware! I'm also with everyone else - flights are so long that kids seem to do best when they were curled up. ALso booked aisle and window seat (leaving middle empty) with the hope it would remain that way and found it often works as who wants to be with a toddler if they don't have to!!

Liz

Hey it seems to me that I have seen a thread similar to this on here before. Someone wanted to bring a car seat with them, didn't and one sector of the trip had to borrow one from the airline, not sure which way there were travelling. Not sure why your car seat would not be useable here (seems my partner's grandkids are ferried around in any old seat sometimes not one at all (ages 1, 3 and 5, may I add to my disgust) anyway I digress). Even if it is one that is not recommended here, when you arrive you will have to get to your desitination from the airport, so it would be handy to have if only just used that once and replaced by an Australian approved version.

When I travelled with my guys all over the world a seat that placed them higher and with which they were comfortable already, and in one place would have been great, all of my friends travelling from US back to Oz each year, always travelled with their car seats and as seasoned travellers I guess they did that for a good reason. Things have changed so much that when we used to travel they used to allow the kids to sleep on the floor in front of us (where the basinettes are) with their sleeping bags, these days most of the time they prefer you in your seats and strapped in much of the time.

My kids were great travellers most of the time, I agree with the other posters it is the motion of the plane that seems to help. Good luck to you, happy flying and enjoy your new adventure, what a lucky little one getting to enjoy this new life of yours.

All the best.

Sandra

What do ou mean when you say you cant use your car seat in Australia?

Australian car seats are attached very securely to the back of the seat, whereas British ones are just attached via the seatbelts. I found this website which says

"Australian child restraints must be fitted with a top tether which is attached to a suitable mounting point on the vehicle. The use of European child restraints without a top tether is, therefore, illegal"

See http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/countries/australia.htm

The RAA website also says "

What is an ‘Approved Child Restraint’?

Approved child restraints comply with Australian Standard (AS) 1754 and must be correctly anchored to the vehicle using an Australian Standard’s approved anchorage system.

The child restraint must be correctly fitted and properly adjusted for the child using the restraint at all times.

All child restraints sold in Australia must meet the strict requirements of the AS 1754 covering the materials, design, construction, performance, testing and labelling of child restraints.

Restraints bought in other countries will not meet the Australian Standard - it is illegal to use them in Australia. "

The UK carseats do not carry Australian Standard for safety stickers, and are not allowed to be used in Australia, I found the same with my motorcycle helmet, manufactured to EU safety standards but nor for Australia.

Hi

Cant help with the car seats but I recently travelled with Qantas to the UK with a 10 month old and a nearly 3 year old. I found them great with the kids, more helpful than Singapore whom we travelled over here with. going over my 3 year old was great, sleeping, watching dora and playing with her toys, but on the way back I think the novelty had worn of and she was a real pain, kept taking seat belt of and wanting to go to the toilet every 5 mins. My advise would be if you can use a car seat then bring it, at least the cant undo the seat belt.

Good luck

Wendy

Even if the car seats were ok to use here I definitely wouldn't have bothered. We had 9 suitcases, 4 kids aged 7,5,2 and 1 and a double buggy plus hand luggage, there is no way we could have physically managed car seats on topof that and the children were quite comfy in the plane seats, Niamh who was 2 just got herself comfy, I think she would have got uncomfortable in a car seat for 12 hours, she had more room to move, the airline never requested we use car seats. As said before singapore airlines were fab.

Hi, when we flew with Quantas everybody with babies was seating next to this cots that they have on the wall for babies. I guess you can ring the airline and get a seat in front of the cots. The kids seem quite happy sleeping there.

Australian car seats are attached very securely to the back of the seat, whereas British ones are just attached via the seatbelts. I found this website which says

 

"Australian child restraints must be fitted with a top tether which is attached to a suitable mounting point on the vehicle. The use of European child restraints without a top tether is, therefore, illegal"

 

See http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/countries/australia.htm

 

The RAA website also says "

What is an ‘Approved Child Restraint’?

 

Approved child restraints comply with Australian Standard (AS) 1754 and must be correctly anchored to the vehicle using an Australian Standard’s approved anchorage system.

 

The child restraint must be correctly fitted and properly adjusted for the child using the restraint at all times.

All child restraints sold in Australia must meet the strict requirements of the AS 1754 covering the materials, design, construction, performance, testing and labelling of child restraints.

Restraints bought in other countries will not meet the Australian Standard - it is illegal to use them in Australia. "

Reading that article suggests to me that if you have a seat with a "Top Tether" you should be ok. Surley there must be some EU standard seat that comply with Oz regs.

I have flown SAA, Qantas, Malaysian, Emiratres and BA to Oz but the best was certainly Singapore Airlines!

You can request a basinet which is usually for small infants....if it's not being booked already then you might be lucky. My daughter flew Singapore and she was given the basinet even though her son was too old for this (you also get good leg room!).

Sorry that I can't help with the UK seat issue. You can pick up really good baby seats and booster seats at garage sales and the markets here for just a few dollars. However, it is a requirement that all passengers are strapped in including back seat passengers and it will get you three points on your licence and a fine if you contravene this.

Ask the people who you are going to rent from whether they provide a car seat or post a request on this site and maybe someone can help.

We took our car seats on the plane with twin boys (22 months old then) in January. They slept for most of the flight into K.L. and then slept for the flight to Adelaide. The only thing I would consider is the fact that you have to carry the car seat with you. Probably not to difficult with one child but two kids + car seats + hand luggage makes life interesting (think queues at departure airport, X ray machines, getting on/off the plane(s) all whilst carrying car seat + extras).

UK seats are not legal here as they need a strap to attach into an anchor point either in the boot of the car or behind the seat.

Ian

On Malaysian airlines the total weight of seat and child must not be more than 40Lbs and the seat has to be within a certain size. You also have to have the airlines agreement prior to arriving at the airport.