car seat for a plane ride

[Christi61315]

Ok me and my Ds travel by plane about an hour 2 times a month for a therapy. Well we will start next month doing that..

We have a regent which is not air plane friendly..I also will be renting a car for the 2 days we are there...

He is 48# and 44"

What should I do in this situation...

we will be doing this twice a month...

 

[skipspin]

I would probably recommend a Radian.

But, what kind of plane will you be flying in? Commercial, I assume?
What vehicle are you in at your destination? Are you sitting with him or driving? Is he mature enough for a booster if you are sitting with him? Does he need a car seat on the plane to help him stay seated?

 

[MomToEliEm]

How old is your son? Since he is already almost 50 pounds, if he is 4+ years old, then I would feel comfortable with him in a booster, as long as he was mature enough to sit correctly.

If he wasn't mature enough, then you may want to look into the radian as it should go well in the airplane.

 

[Christi61315]

Um Ryan has autism and is not able to sit in a booster.. I guess I may get a radian...

We will be flying commercial with south west and I will rent an economy car solike a ford focus...

 

[MomToEliEm]

Thinking again of the size of your son, he may be getting pretty big for the radian as it does only have a top harness height of 17.5 inches (or a little higher when you consider the 1 inch above the top slot). If your son is already on the top slot of the regent, then he may be pretty close to outgrowing the radian. You may want to think about one of those vest restraints. I am not familiar with them, but I am sure some others here can provide some info on them. They may allow your son to stay harnessed for a while.

 

[Christi61315]

he has another slot in the regent with plenty of growing room in it..

 

[Christi61315]

the picture in my signature is him in the regent and not sure if you can tell where his head sits.. but here is a picture of him in the regent.

not the best picture but you can see how tall he is in the seat..

 

[MomToEliEm]

Another seat, yet very expensive seat, might be the Safeguard Child Seat which harnesses to 65 pounds. Top harness slot is 19" high so it is pretty close to the regent's 20 inch harness height but it should fit on an airplane.

Your son should fit in the radian from looking at the picture you posted. If you are comfortable with 1" above the top harness slot (which radian allows provided the child's ears are still within the shell), then that would give the radian an 18.5" top harness slot vs the 19" of the safeguard seat.

 

[skipspin]

Really, the Radian is the only option that you could use on the plane with you. The vests are not airline approved. It will install well in many compact cars. I know it fits in a Vibe. I think there have been successes in the Focus as well.

If he's okay on the plane in the seatbelt, you could get another Regent and check it in the original box when you fly. The only risk there is if it is lost you are stuck at the airport without a seat.

 

[ThreeBeans]

I think the Radian is really your only option, although I'm concerned looking at your picture that he might not have much time left in it.

 

[mom2riley]

Has it been determined that the Como/Signos top slot is truly 19in? If so I would go with one of those. Right Start has a couple Signos. I am not sure if the headwings may bother your son, but the Comos are removable. Your son is such a cutie.

 

[Christi61315]

thank you.. we think he is a doll..

another reason for the 5pt harness is he is low tone and gets floppy after sitting to long..

I will look at the como's and see what my options are...