CDNTech
Senior Community Member
We just got back from a 5 hour flight... when will flight attendants learn to not argue with determined mothers????
Mikkel was a lap baby (never again, but now DH understands why). Aiden used the MA on the plane and his Radian went folded in the overhead bins on the airplane.
On the way there we started out with Mikkel as a lap baby and Aiden FF in the MA. As soon as we were in the air, DH moved to an empty seat farther away, Aiden went into the airline seat and Mikkel went into the MA. Twenty minutes later, Mikkel's MA went RF to make him stop kicking the seat in front of him. He promptly fell asleep for the next 2.5 hours, yay!
On the way home... where do I start?
I got the third degree at the check in counter about Aiden using a car seat on the plane, he is over two you know. I guess they expect all children over two years old to fly in the lap belt only on the plane. I specifically showed the man his computer screen that clearly said under 40lbs should be in a child restraint. He wasn't able to connect the under 40lbs child that should be in a restraint with the 36lbs child standing in front of him, but finally let it go... he was being nice, don't ya know
Then we get to the gate and ask the attendant at the gate if there are any available seats to put Mikkel in his carseat on the plane. They tell us the plane is completely full and do not have a seat for him. Then they proceed to start writing a gate check ticket for my car seat and I say no, Aiden will be using the MA. The Radian is going in the overhead bins as carryon. They also did not seem to understand this until I forcefully said, I will NOT gatecheck my carseats. They stopped writing the gatecheck ticket and let me take both seats on the plane.
We get on the plane and I install the MA, then put Aiden in it and get the rest of us strapped in and ready to go. The flight attendant comes by and goes, "Oh, I thought that carseat was for your little guy (meaning Mikkel). I'll let it slide this time, but he's not allowed to be in that seat on this plane". To which I reply, yes, he is. He meets FAA regulations and requirements. Then, he gets all huffy and closes in on my face while telling me that I do not know his job, he knows what he is talking about. Okay... I fibbed here, I told him I was certified and did this all the time. He said I am wrong and if I like he would go get his in flight manual and show me that I was not allowed to use the seat. I said, please do!
He came back 5 minutes later and starts instructing DH on how to hold Mikkel for take-off, blah, blah, blah. At the end of his speel he says to me, The manual is a little confusing, I'm still checking on the requirements. I told him, that's okay, I understood that it could be confusing to people that were not used to dealing with these issues. He starts walking away, and then looks back over his shoulder and asks if Aiden meets 213 requirements. I replied of course... but I really wanted to say, no he doesn't, the car seat meets 213 requirements and Aiden meets the requirements of the seat. The idiot was testing me and didn't even know what he was talking about!
He came back a third time about half way through the flight to apologize and state that he didn't know the flight attendant at the front of the plane had already checked out my seat to make sure it met their requirements. I gave up at that point... no one other than the original check in had ever checked my seats.
We got free food for the entire flight and he apologized a fourth time as we were leaving the plane. The jerk knew he was wrong and didn't want to totally come out and admit it.
We did end up getting an extra seat. DH went up 3 rows, Aiden went into DH's seat and Mikkel went into Aiden's seat FF. I did recline the airline seat half way through the flight and he slept reasonably well for two hours or so. RF is definitely easier on the plane and everywhere else for that matter.
It was also a really good thing I had the Radian as carry-on because in the midst of all this happening a family sat down in the row in front of us. Thier boys were the exact same age as my boys and they had no carseats. The check-in people took their carseats and checked them for them. They had purchased a seat for their under two year old (he's two next month) and put him in the lap belt only on the plane. The flight attendants stated that he MUST be in a carseat in order to use the seat, so they had to treat him as a lap baby and he was not allowed to use the plane seat they had purchased for them. Apparently it is a rule that any child under two with a purchased seat MUST use a child restraint.
I piped up that I had the Radian and they could use that if they wanted. We were already getting ready to taxi out to the runway so they wouldn't let me install it for take-off. He got treated as a lap baby for take-off and as soon as we were in the air, I pulled the Radian out of the overhead bin and installed it for their 23 month old to use. They were pretty irritated that they were told to check their carseats.
Never again will I have a lap baby. My kids will always have purchased seats.
Aiden was totally slumped in his airline seat less than 20 minutes after sitting down in it and it did not go tight enough over him. He still had a good inch of slack with the belt tightened all the way.
Mikkel was a lap baby (never again, but now DH understands why). Aiden used the MA on the plane and his Radian went folded in the overhead bins on the airplane.
On the way there we started out with Mikkel as a lap baby and Aiden FF in the MA. As soon as we were in the air, DH moved to an empty seat farther away, Aiden went into the airline seat and Mikkel went into the MA. Twenty minutes later, Mikkel's MA went RF to make him stop kicking the seat in front of him. He promptly fell asleep for the next 2.5 hours, yay!
On the way home... where do I start?
I got the third degree at the check in counter about Aiden using a car seat on the plane, he is over two you know. I guess they expect all children over two years old to fly in the lap belt only on the plane. I specifically showed the man his computer screen that clearly said under 40lbs should be in a child restraint. He wasn't able to connect the under 40lbs child that should be in a restraint with the 36lbs child standing in front of him, but finally let it go... he was being nice, don't ya know
Then we get to the gate and ask the attendant at the gate if there are any available seats to put Mikkel in his carseat on the plane. They tell us the plane is completely full and do not have a seat for him. Then they proceed to start writing a gate check ticket for my car seat and I say no, Aiden will be using the MA. The Radian is going in the overhead bins as carryon. They also did not seem to understand this until I forcefully said, I will NOT gatecheck my carseats. They stopped writing the gatecheck ticket and let me take both seats on the plane.
We get on the plane and I install the MA, then put Aiden in it and get the rest of us strapped in and ready to go. The flight attendant comes by and goes, "Oh, I thought that carseat was for your little guy (meaning Mikkel). I'll let it slide this time, but he's not allowed to be in that seat on this plane". To which I reply, yes, he is. He meets FAA regulations and requirements. Then, he gets all huffy and closes in on my face while telling me that I do not know his job, he knows what he is talking about. Okay... I fibbed here, I told him I was certified and did this all the time. He said I am wrong and if I like he would go get his in flight manual and show me that I was not allowed to use the seat. I said, please do!
He came back 5 minutes later and starts instructing DH on how to hold Mikkel for take-off, blah, blah, blah. At the end of his speel he says to me, The manual is a little confusing, I'm still checking on the requirements. I told him, that's okay, I understood that it could be confusing to people that were not used to dealing with these issues. He starts walking away, and then looks back over his shoulder and asks if Aiden meets 213 requirements. I replied of course... but I really wanted to say, no he doesn't, the car seat meets 213 requirements and Aiden meets the requirements of the seat. The idiot was testing me and didn't even know what he was talking about!
He came back a third time about half way through the flight to apologize and state that he didn't know the flight attendant at the front of the plane had already checked out my seat to make sure it met their requirements. I gave up at that point... no one other than the original check in had ever checked my seats.
We got free food for the entire flight and he apologized a fourth time as we were leaving the plane. The jerk knew he was wrong and didn't want to totally come out and admit it.
We did end up getting an extra seat. DH went up 3 rows, Aiden went into DH's seat and Mikkel went into Aiden's seat FF. I did recline the airline seat half way through the flight and he slept reasonably well for two hours or so. RF is definitely easier on the plane and everywhere else for that matter.
It was also a really good thing I had the Radian as carry-on because in the midst of all this happening a family sat down in the row in front of us. Thier boys were the exact same age as my boys and they had no carseats. The check-in people took their carseats and checked them for them. They had purchased a seat for their under two year old (he's two next month) and put him in the lap belt only on the plane. The flight attendants stated that he MUST be in a carseat in order to use the seat, so they had to treat him as a lap baby and he was not allowed to use the plane seat they had purchased for them. Apparently it is a rule that any child under two with a purchased seat MUST use a child restraint.
I piped up that I had the Radian and they could use that if they wanted. We were already getting ready to taxi out to the runway so they wouldn't let me install it for take-off. He got treated as a lap baby for take-off and as soon as we were in the air, I pulled the Radian out of the overhead bin and installed it for their 23 month old to use. They were pretty irritated that they were told to check their carseats.
Never again will I have a lap baby. My kids will always have purchased seats.
Aiden was totally slumped in his airline seat less than 20 minutes after sitting down in it and it did not go tight enough over him. He still had a good inch of slack with the belt tightened all the way.