Best option for flight with 1.5 and 4.5 YO?

I am flying alone across the country with my 22-mo old DS and 4.5 YO DD in a week or so. We have 2 connections (so 3 planes) on our outbound flight and 3 connections (4 planes!) on our return flight. A couple tight (about 1 hour) connections in there and small planes. This will be the first time DS has his own seat; on our other flights I have taken him as a lap baby in a baby carrier and nursed him a lot.

In our cars DS is RF in a Radian 65 and a Radian 80, and DD is RF in Radian XTSLs.

I have a CARES. I think DD at 43 or 44" is too tall for it (limit is 40", I believe). I think it would not work well for DS. I can totally imagine him trying to wriggle out from under it. He is a typical crazy toddler.

I am totally OK with DD FF at our destination. I am OK with both kids FF on the plane. However, will be doing enough driving that I would strongly prefer DS to be RF at our destination.

I was planning to bring the Radians but feeling very unsure about that working for us given there will be 7 flights for me to install and uninstall and many airports to drag them through. I have literally never installed a carseat in a car (DH has always done it), let alone an airplane (and we've never taken carseats on a plane). It always takes DH a really long time to put in and take out the seats of our cars, so I'm feeling very unsure about my ability to pull it off.

Does anyone have any ideas for what my best option might be? I am open to buying inexpensive new seats and having them shipped to our destination ahead of us, but I want them to be good seats, and would like DS to be able to RF (he is just at 30lbs). Any suggestions? Also thinking maybe the Radians would fit in the overhead bins?

I'm afraid if I take them on the plane and they don't fit (either installed on seats or overhead bin) they will be gate-checked, which I'm trying to avoid for safety reasons. DH says just check them at baggage and be done with it, which I obviously don't want to do.

I would do a LBB for your DD and a Scenara for your DS. You could get a Bubblebum inflatable booster and put that in your carryon. Your DD would use the lapbelt on the planes (not the booster seat). Or she could carry on a LBB like a Harmony.

I would strongly encourage you to try to rebook without so many connections. I pay extra to avoid connections. Obviously sometimes that isn't possible but if it is just a money issue, I would absolutely 1000% encourage you to spend the extra money to have as few connections as possible.

I'm generally comfortable with a 4.5 year old flying w/o a carseat, but NOT the 22 month old -- you need a seat for the plane. The scenera is a good, lightweight option, and you can strap it to a luggage cart/hand cart to use like a stroller in the airport. For your old one -- has DD every ridden in a booster? We recently travelled with DS and a HBB, taking it apart and carrying it on the plane, but we had 2 adults and an 11 year old ini addition to DS which made the extra stuff to carry not such a big deal. For an upcoming trip w/o DH, I'm shipping a brand new in box HBB to our destination, and Grandma will bring it to the airport.

Your 4.5 year old should not sit in a no-back booster at your destination.

Michelle

mdsvc89 said:

Your 4.5 year old should not sit in a no-back booster at your destination.

Click to expand...

http://carseatblog.com/8243/to-backless-or-not-to-backless-that-is-the-question/

Generally speaking, if the child is able to ride in a booster there is no safety difference between a LBB and a HBB.

I'd personally be fine recommending and using for my own kids a LBB for an over 40 lb almost 5 yo, assuming the child will sit properly in the seat. YMMV.

bubbaray said:

Generally speaking, if the child is able to ride in a booster there is no safety difference between a LBB and a HBB.
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Click to expand...

Interesting -- I didn't know that! DS still snoozes in the car, and will lean his head against the "wings," so I've always gone that route.

A bubblebum at destination could be a choice, then, to make the air travel easier...

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately cost is an issue; dh issued an ultimatum of only buying 3 seats, which is why we are going w/o him, otherwise ds would have been a lap child. And there is no way to get there with less than 2 connections, unfortunately. We are going to see my 94yo grandmother who really wants to see me and the kids. She can no longer travel.

The scenera looks easier for the plane than the radian and price is great. Is it a safe option for the car as well? I agree ds needs a carseat on the plane. I have a friend who has offered to lend me her travelmate for getting through the airport.

As for dd, she is just a hair over 40lbs. As long as she is awake I could trust her in a booster, I think, giving her verbal reminders if I need to. However, we will be doing a couple long drives where she is likely to fall asleep in the car. Does that mean she needs a hbb? Any recommendations for which hbb to get? Could. She also ride in a scenera (trying to keep down cost of new seats)?

Has your DD ridden in a booster at all? I am not sure I would put a 4.5 year old in a backless booster if they have never ridden in a booster before.

Could you buy a Scenera to use for your DS and your DD's Radian for her? Could your DD fit into a Maestro? It is FF only but lighter weight and I think it is easy to install. Taller top slots than Scenera and harness to 50lb. Scenera only harnesses to 40lb so that's not an option for her.

Do you currently have any seats other than the Radians- anything for spares/grandparents/babysitters?

No spare seats, unfortunately, just the 4 Radians. DD rode in a backless booster once, on a field trip for school. I was very uncomfortable with it. She was in someone else's car so I'm not sure if she sat properly or not.

After looking quickly at the seat I think DD could fit in a Maestro. Is there a reason she might not, something specific I might look for? If I got a new seat for her I would just have it shipped to our destination. Or I could bring one of our Radians for her. Is it a bear to install on an airplane though?

Also want to make sure that these seats are good for the kids to ride in at our destination. Someone on walmart.com had made a comment about there being no epp foam on the Scenera.

Also, in a Scenara on the airplane does DS ride FF or RF?

You could also get a vest like the Ride Safer Travel Vest for the 4yo. That is easy to pack and provides some support if she falls asleep.

Though they are heavy, forward-facing Radians are very easy to install on planes. But shipping a seat there might make more sense for you.

If you'll be bringing a rolling carryon a Traveling Toddler strap can be very helpful.

My trip is over (phew!) and wanted to update this thread on what we ended up doing, in case anyone is interested.

For DD, I shipped a Maestro to my destination where my family installed it in their car and had it checked by a tech. DD loved the seat; got a kick out of the cupholders. We will leave it with our family out there to use on future visits.

DD rode on the plane with just the plane seat belt. She is about 45" (too tall for the CARES harness) and just a hair over 40#. She is not skinny, so I was a little surprised that while on some planes the belt fit her fine; on others it did not get completely snug. I did wish I had brought a carseat for her because I was uncomfortable with the seat belt being a little bit loose on some planes. Next time we fly she will have one with her. DD was tickled about getting to ride "without a harness" (she had been using the CARES for about 2 years) and told all fellow passengers and flight attendants about it.

I bought a Scenera for DS. It is superlight and was pretty easy to install on all the planes. No one gave me any trouble about doing a RF install. I made the mistake of putting him FF on the first flight; I had to hold his legs down most of the flight to keep him from kicking the seat in front of him. He went RF after that. I had borrowed a GoGoKidz TravelMate (which was very, very helpful to have) and was able to wheel that down most of the plane aisles (except for our little commuter planes). On the commuter planes I put him in a baby carrier (Ergo) while I installed the Scenera. On the rest of the planes I just unhooked the seat from the TravelMate and was able to install it RF on the airplane seat while he stayed strapped in the Scenera. I had been worried about him running away while I was installing his seat in the planes, and because of this it wasn't a problem at all. I did loosen my seatbelt to nurse DS during the flights. He stayed securely harnessed in the Scenera. I wasn't planning to nurse him on the flights, but his screaming was really, really bad. He was pretty bad on the flights, but seemed mostly OK with being wheeled through the airport on the TravelMate, which was great.

The Scenera installed fine at our destination with some rolled-up towels in lieu of pool noodles. I installed it a little more upright than the manual indicated since DS is almost 2 and we also needed some room for someone to sit in the front passenger seat. The tech was able to tighten the seat belt a little bit but said otherwise the install was great.


Thanks everyone for your tips! I don't think I could have done it without your help.

Sounds like you did a great job! Thanks for coming and giving us an update