airplane, travel, wizard vs scenara?

LEAW

New member
Dd and I will be flying alone, home to Houston (3.5 hrs) and then Houston to HI (8 hrs). She'll be almost 14months, 31" and 23#.

Dh bought the cheapest seat he could find at a WalMart in L.A. last year - I think it is the older Scenara, but I'm not positive, I installed it in his car as the 2nd seat after that trip and haven't used it since. It was about $40, but doesn't look like the current Scenara pics I can find online. (And he's at work, or I'd go check!) It is a Cosco.

She rides regularly in a Wizard in our van, and I love the seat. The Cosco seat is a pain to install RF (FF it is easy!) with LATCH, but I can get it in pretty well with the locking clip in my 3rd row or with the locking seat belt in dh's car.

My questions - it's likely that I will have a space for dd to ride in her seat on the plane - MIL works for the airline and is going to do what she can to facilitate that, and there will be open seats.

Once in HI we won't be driving much, but the seat will be going in/out of at least 3 cars and on a few island hopping airplanes (as cargo, not for her).

SO...

Do I take the Wiz or the Cosco seat?
Will the Wiz fit RF in a plane w/o hitting the seat in front of it? I suppose I can put her FF for the flight, but I think it would be a lot easier to talk to her, amuse her, and play if she were RF next to me.

Pros and cons to the Wiz - it's an awesome seat, I can install it in the blink of an eye, it's far more comfortable than the other seat, the headwings will support her when sleeping,she's more familiar with the seat, BUT it doesn't fit on top of our stroller very securely, I'm worried the headwings will get damaged if it has to be put in the bins, and it's darn heavy. And I'd need to learn to install it w/o LATCH before we go.

Pros and cons to the Cosco seat - it's much lighter, fits into the stroller (I could probably buckle it down and put bags on top, I won't put dd in the seat int he stroller), BUT it's not as comfortable, not as easy to use, no head support when sleeping, it is a bit smaller, so I assume it will fit RF in the plane, while I don't know if the Wiz will. I am pretty good at the locking clip, and it meets minimum safety standards for a car seat. Can I add one of those head supports from the bucket seat that snaps around the harness straps?

Advice? Suggestions? If I had dh with me, I'd take the Britax for sure, as I could count on him to hold, carry, baby wrangle, etc. He will fly home with us, but the flight home is also at night the whole way, so it's likely dd will sleep most of that. The flight out is just me and her, as he is leaving this week for work out there.

I'm anxious enough about having to amuse her for 8 hrs over the Pacific, help me decide which car seat to take! Any other travel tips and ideas are more than welcome as well.

Thanks,
Lisa
 
ADS

Smiles365

Senior Community Member
Lisa, I've flown more times than I can count with my now 2 year old, most of them without dh or anyone else to help. (I lost count after 20 flights, so I'm guessing we've been on over 30 flights now). We take his Roundabout every time. It fits rearfacing without any problems, ask for a seat that there isn't anyone in front of (they won't be able to recline the seat at all) or the bulkhead seat.

One of the best things I have gotten is a little luggage cart to stick the seat on to roll it thru the airport. If you travel a lot there is a GoGo Kidz cart thing that attaches right to your seat and turns it into a stroller, I'm seriously considering getting one because of how much we travel and the fact that I will have 2 little ones to get thru the airport next year when we travel and it can be a pain to take the seat off the luggage cart to get thru security then put it all back together in a hurry.

The Cosco seat you have is probably the Touriva, they are great seats (it's what our coalition gives out when people need seats). They are fairly easy to install in most vehicles, but it's just not a Britax. If you are used to using the Britax and know how to install it easier than the Cosco seat, I'd personally use that. One of the advantages of the Britax is the built in lock offs, so you don't have to worry about using a locking clip in various vehicles.

Is dd walking yet? If she is, I would get a harness for her (I know, some people think it's cruel, but I use it with ds when my hands are full and I can't keep a hand on him all the time, he doesn't mind at all). That way she can walk a bit, get some of her energy out before getting on the plane. If she isn't walking yet, do you use a sling or carrier of some kind with her? You will have to take her out of it to get thru security, but it is another way to have a free hand to handle the car seat/stroller/carry-ons/etc.

Good luck, just give yourself plenty of time at the airport, relax, and have a great trip!
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Hi Lisa! I took our Wizard with us on our trip to Disney last year -- just me & my DD :) She was 3 & still not yet 33# so I RF'd her on the plane.... This was nicer for keeping her entertained, easier for securing the seat (I tried it FF & got bloody knuckles, youch), plus it prevented her from kicking/pushing the seat in front! Also, she seemed to really like the fact that she had her OWN seat amidst all those other changes in her surroundings! Not to mention that the built-in lock-offs made it easier to get a good install in the rental vehicle. One thing, though, about installing RF: you will want to lift the fabric cover to buckle under it & the foam pad - you might also want to add an extra layer of blanky for comfort since the buckle lays under kiddo's thighs (you don't add blankey when instlaling in a vehicle, but it's OK in the plane - my daughter was not uncomfortable so long as I did this)....

I have a GogoKidz for our Wizard that allows kiddo to ride through the airport (staying out of trouble, LOL) -- it's unused & since our trip overseas is now canceled, I could sell it to you with free shipping :)

th_RF-BritaxWizard-AirPlane.jpg
 

LEAW

New member
Thanks Sarah, you're quick :)

I plan to have her on my back in a mei tai at the airport until we get through TSA - they really had a fun time with me last time with her in a sling - and I only had dd and a backpack.

I do have a little luggage cart thingy, do you think TSA will insist on me unhooking it from the car seat? I know it needs to come off to put the seat on the plane... I had planned on using the stroller instead, but we rarely use the stroller at home (although I did regret not having it when we went to L.A.). I will probably end up using the stroller and gate checking it.

She is walking, and I hope she'll run all over the place at the airport. ITA on the harness, I have a sling we've used as a harness before.

We're going to hit the dollar store for expendable toys today too..
 

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