travelling in a small plane: which car seat fits?

Here is my situation: I am 5 1/2 months pregnant and in two weeks I will be flying with my 17 month old son. We have to change planes and our second flight is on Continental Express (an Embraer RJ145 to be exact). I have flown before with our Britax Marathon attached to gogo kidz, but it is hard to carry that thing down the aisle of the plane as well as my 17 month old as well as the 20+ extra pounds of my pregnant self. Also I am concerned that the marathon might not fit in the seat of the smaller plane. Thoughts? Suggestions? Experience with this size plane?

thanks

Seat width-wise you'll be fine. The E-145s have fairly standard seats. I flew with Continental on two 777s and a 757 last summer and the seats were plenty wide, and the E145's seats are nearly identical in width.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Continental_Airlines/Continental_Airlines_Embraer_ERJ-145.php

I'd ask a gate agent to let you preboard--I don't think they'd say no after seeing a pregnant momma with a child in tow

I just did this same thing 2 months ago. I bought a Cosco Scenera for the trip since it is lighter and easy to install RF in almost any car.

I strapped the Scenera to a luggage rack with wheels, I used the bungee cord it came with and looped it twice like you would install FF and then I strapped my DD who was 17 months at the time in the car seat. I could push her in front of me or pull her behind me through the airport.

We flew on the small planes and I thought they were easier to maneuver and get the seat in to then the big planes.

DD and her seat wheeled down the isle of the plane and to our seats.

When we arrived at the airport to check in I had our seats changed to the bulkhead so she could RF and I could see her. We also asked to pre bored.

It was no sweat. And the seat fit great.

I hope this helps.

caro said:

Here is my situation: I am 5 1/2 months pregnant and in two weeks I will be flying with my 17 month old son. We have to change planes and our second flight is on Continental Express (an Embraer RJ145 to be exact). I have flown before with our Britax Marathon attached to gogo kidz, but it is hard to carry that thing down the aisle of the plane as well as my 17 month old as well as the 20+ extra pounds of my pregnant self. Also I am concerned that the marathon might not fit in the seat of the smaller plane. Thoughts? Suggestions? Experience with this size plane?

thanks

Click to expand...

We've flown on RJ145s a ton (and the RJ135, the 170s, a couple of CRJs, Fokkers, and private planes). Our Wizard fit just fine on any plane we've been on, but there's no way it'll wheel down the aisle of a 145. I used to use a luggage trolley that I could fold up and I'd put the Wizard on that (pre GoGoKidz), and I'd have to gate check the trolley.

Make sure you put the armrest up. The seats are a bit smaller than standard, but not too bad. The worst part is that there's no way to get three across to have the extra room. Just make sure they don't seat you in A&B seats. That's window and the opposite aisle. They'll move you easily enough, but better to have boarding passes with your seats correctly listed than have to move someone around once you're on board. The good news about having a carseat installed is that you won't have to move when they do a weight balance. I've never been asked to uninstall her seat for that.

I would let your son go on board of you first, with you carrying the seat (or having someone carry the seat). Make sure you preboard. Since there's no first class get on first. Simply stand there by the ticket reader holding your seat and your son and looking as pathetic as you can. A lot of times the gate agent won't even announce boarding before they wave you on. Pregnant with a big belly, big seat, and 17 month old, it shouldn't be hard to be noticed. Once your son is on board let him run around in the plane (he can't go anywhere) while you install his seat. Then by the time the seat's in other people will be behind you and getting on board. Your son will fit between them back to your seat, so don't worry about him being separate too much (unless he's going to freak). He can't go anywhere and no one can take him and run. He's honestly trapped. It's a rather nice feeling when you have your hands full. My daughter loved to go over to another seat and strap herself in and play with buttons and all that stuff while I installed her seat, and by the time I was done the people in the back were getting on, and every one of them would pause for a minute to let her scamper back to me and I'd get her at least standing in her seat while everyone else boards (she knows she doesn't need to be strapped in until the main door is closed, and I don't fight that fight of trying to get her in, let her get some energy out while we still have both feet on the ground, as it were). We've had gate agents or flight attendants help us get the seat down the aisle, and they've watched my daughter before others got on, so it's generally pretty easy.

Have a great trip!

Wendy

Yep, call Continental and see if they can move your seat up in the plane... the first few rows, since there isn't any first class. When we travelled with grandma we got the first row (I think they hold it for disabled passengers) which was great..

Also, they can (and will if you ask nicely) let you go through the first class/pilots line for security, which cuts out a huge amt of time. A gate agent can help you carry your seat down to the plane (at least here you go down to the plane via steps, not into the plane from a jetway for the small planes) and get it to your row for you to install.

Have fun! The seat should fit just fine, and you "qualify" for special treatment because you're preggo AND with a small child.