Carseat Recommendation for 4 Year Old for Airplane?

Hi! I am flying next week with a 2yr old and 4yr old. I will be flying alone to the destination and with my DH on the return. My 2 yr old is in a Britax Boulevard and my 4yr old is in a Britax Frontier 85. I will need carseats to use when I arrive at the destination. I have purchased a Cosco Scenera for my 2 yr old for use on the plane. I am considering ordering ahead and shipping the carseat for my 4yr old to the destination and bringing it home with me on the return. My 4yr old is 42in and 39lbs. I would really like to keep her in a harnessed booster for use when we arrive at our destination. On the return, since I have my DH it would be possible to bring it on the plane for her to use. I have been reading the boards that I shouldn't check the carseat. Is gate checking the carseat for the 4year old equally unsafe? Is there a harnessed booster seat that fits my daughter's size and is lightweight? This is my first time ever flying with kids and it is causing me anxiety! Thank you!

When you say "harnessed booster," do you mean a seat that starts off as a 5-point harness and then can be used later as a booster?

If so, there are some relatively lightweight seats that might fit the bill here, like the Evenflo Maestro or SecureKid.

The FAA recommendation is that kids under 40 lbs. should be in a carseat, while those over 40 lbs. can use the regular aircraft lap belt. Some parents have said that the aircraft lap belt didn't fit their kids well until they were somewhat bigger than that.

So there may be some benefits to having even the older one in a carseat for the plane ride. If it were me, I'd probably get the carseats I wanted and install them both on the aircraft. You can rig something up to a luggage cart or stroller to help you get through the airport.

Now, if this simply isn't realistic when you're by yourself with both kids, then I'd think about a plan B. Gate-checking doesn't really help you much, because you still have to schlep both seats 95% of the way there -- i.e. up to the door of the aircraft -- and there is still a chance that it could get damaged or misplaced. (The carseat manufacturers' association issued a statement in 2012 that gate-checking is OK because they are designed to withstand the forces that they would normally encounter. That still doesn't guarantee that it will be waiting for you at the destination, which would be a real pain to deal with.)

If you have friends or relatives at the destination who can pick you up at the airport, probably the better bet is to have them buy a carseat (or have one shipped to them). With both parents on the way home you can definitely manage 2 carseats, especially if one of them is a Scenera.

Thank you for the reply! I appreciate it! Yes I meant a booster that my daughter can be harnessed in now and used later as a booster, something like the Frontier she is in daily. I had a friend fly with her Frontier, but since I am flying one way alone I want lightweight and my primary concern is to have a carseat for my 2 year old over my 4 year old on my way there.

I will look into ordering and shipping to our destination the Maestro or SecureKid. We are flying to see family and I could leave the extra seat there, but I could really use the extra set of seats for my husbands car here at home.

Another one to consider for this purpose would be the Harmony Defender 360. It is narrower than the Evenflo harness/booster combo seats and I think it would probably be easier to use on the plane (although I haven't tried it personally).

At the moment it's a Walmart exclusive. But a relative would need to pick it up at Walmart since it's been out of stock for shipping for quite a while, and it's not in stock everywhere. You should be able to find out whether it's in stock near your relatives by checking whether it's available for "Site to Store" shipping, but I'd recommend just having them go buy it rather than using Site to Store. Some Walmarts have had them for pretty significant discounts on Rollback and if you order online they'll pay full price.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Harmony-Defender-360-3-in-1-Convertible-Car-Seat/22796374