Flying with two rear facers

[carseatfreak]

We are most likely flying from Indiana to Montana this summer. I am already fretting carseats. We have classic marathons or radian xtsl's that we could use. I have flown with the MA when my oldest was younger but always forward facing. The twins will be 2 yrs 4 months and my bet is still under 30 lbs. We will have a rental car when we get there. So....what is your favorite seat to fly with? Would you still rear face on the plane at this age/weight? I would consider getting a new cheaper seat just for this trip if it would make our life easier on the plane...one toddler per adult plus we have a will be 8 year old. I remember the pain forward facing the marathon and getting it unbuckled... Thanks!

 

[Dillipop]

If you are flying with 2 adults, I'd get seats behind one another. Put both rearfacing seats in the window seat with an adult next to it and then have your 8 year old next to one of the adults. This way you are only inconveniencing 1 passenger.

I've flown with a 2 year old rfing in a classic marathon and it was great. The seat fit nicely and the seat can be installed with the belt over the cover so it was easy to install. IIRC, I just had to have the armrest flipped up to get it to fit. The marathon also fit nicely on our luggage cart to get through the airport.

 

[Brianna]

I'm on my phone so I can't link to this PDF page, but google "faa car seat egress", choose the first link and skip down to page 12- there are rules about placement of car seats. It looks like if you get 2 window seats for the twins you should be okay. Getting travel seats would be lighter, but the Britaxes probably would be easier to install in the car at your destination.

 

[crunchierthanthou]

Car seats have to be next to the window, unless you're flying in a family group. Then you can have the seats next to each other (one in the middle).

I liked flying with the classic MA, especially rf. If you do put them ff on the plane remember to flip the buckle. They're practically impossible to uninstall if the lift plate part of the airplane buckle is facing the shell.

 

[carseatfreak]

I do want to keep them rf on the plane just to not change anything on them. I am anxious about flying with one of them (who has freaked out on a tour bus/train room in a restaurant/ so anything to keep things as they always are is going to help us (her). Any tips on preparing that child?? I am hoping she will lose some of that as she gets older. My dh is more nervous than I am (but a 27 hour drive sounds scarier to me!!!). You hear the stories of people getting kicked off the plane b/c of their child...

 

[crunchierthanthou]

rf is nice on planes because they can't kick the seats in front of them, or drop their toys and have them roll 20 rows back. My experience has been that flying is different enough that they don't think twice about flipping ff for the flight, and back to rf when we're back in a car.

Just don't look up the incident that occurred on Delta last week where a family was kicked off because the mom wanted to keep her kids rf (one of whom was 8 months!).

Actually, that should raise awareness and help you.

 

[LISmama810]

Here is a link to info about the FAA regs in plain English. Print a copy, highlight the appropriate parts, and take it with you: http://carseatblog.com/8037/guest-blog-flying-with-a-car-seat-know-your-rights/

 

[mimieliza]

I had trouble trying to RF my toddler (14 months old) last summer. Hawaiian Airlines made me FF his Roundabout on both the outgoing and return flight, despite me calling the airline to push the issue.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

[swtgi1982]

Honestly at almost two and a half I would FF for the flight only. It allows them use of the tray for snacks and toys during flight making life possibly easier.

 

[carseatfreak]

Thank you for your thoughts. I checked out the links and I will come prepared. I didn't know there was a whole area of car-seat.org devoted to this (my msg was moved from another area). Thanks!

 

[An Aurora]

I would FF for the plane (and I did FF my 22 lb 2.5 year old, who RFs in cars). But, and this is a big but...it's easier to tick off the passenger in front of a FF seat. I think people would rather not recline as opposed to having a kid kick their seat for 2 hours (or however long the flight). DS was in a mood on one of our flights and kept trying to kick. I spent two hours holding his legs down while he whined at me. Then I turned his seat RF (which was a big process as we then had to move my 4yo who was sitting FF byt the window) and he went to sleep.

 

[aeormsby]

Since there are 5 of you total I would book 3 seats together & the window & Middle seat directly in front of the 3. Then put the twins in the window & middle with 8yo & 1 parent in front of the twins. That way it's family either way if you have the seats RF (seats in front can't recline) or FF and are likely to get kicked.

If you want to RF on the plane bring the MA's, they'll be tight next to each other and I've always had to leave them in the FF unreclined to get them to fit RF on a plane, but it will work. Or (what I'd probably do) is take the Radians & FF them on the plane so they can use the trays etc. We definitely FF'd on the plane before kids were FF in vehicles. Most of the time I didn't bother changing the seat set-up to FF on the plane either (left the harness in the slots they used RF).

 

[mrosehughes]

I've flown with both a britax blvd and a radian and actually prefer the radian, since you can put the radian on your back and just walk down the aisle but the britax has to be hoisted up over the seats to go down the aisle. We always fly southwest and have never had any problem with putting the seats RFing, but the radian fits really well FFing and they can use the tray.

 

[carseatfreak]

I do remember flying with the ma forward facing and we couldn't really put the tray down (and she did kick the seat in front of her and I apologized ahead of time and took her shoes off). Had anyone flown the radian forward facing? Is it low enough profile that the try is usable? I was against working them on the plane....but if I could entice them with playdoh on the tray and snacks that might work.

I like the idea with hubby and oldest daughter sitting in front of me and the two little ones...now just getting one of the flights on the airbus319 so we can get the 3 seat set up (a lot of the flights out there are the 2 seats on each side setup which I do not want at all.

 

[carseatfreak]

I've flown with both a britax blvd and a radian and actually prefer the radian, since you can put the radian on your back and just walk down the aisle but the britax has to be hoisted up over the seats to go down the aisle. We always fly southwest and have never had any problem with putting the seats RFing, but the radian fits really well FFing and they can use the tray.

Oops...you posted while I was typing! Thx for the info!

 

[carseatfreak]

Dumb phone....meant to say 'against forward facing'.

 

[lovemybabybug]

I went to Brazil (13 hr flight) past summer when dd was 20 months 20 lbs and ff her part of the flight. I started her off rf but flipped her ff mid flight when she got to antsy, first off because plane seats had integrated TVs so she got to watch movies and second because somehow her car seat was a lot more reclined in the ff position then it was rf and she slept much better without her head slumping forward. She did not peep about being back to rf in the car though.

 

[ketchupqueen]

I flew with Radians forward facing and the trays were completely useable. I have pics somewhere, I'll try to find them for you.

ETA: Here you go, they're in this post.

 

[carseatfreak]

Awesome!! Thx so much for linking to that post.

 

[Unregistered]

I've flown a lot with my kiddos, and I will vote radian every time. It's heavy, but being able to put it over your shoulder is huge. Lugging gigantic carseats is a horrible process - the handhold hurts your hand, and the seats don't balance well on your wheeled luggage, so awkward! Two of them would be a nightmare. After my first flight flying with my eldest two when they were 2.5 and newborn, I promptly trashed my son's bulkier convertible and bought a second radian. I'll never go back (my third child is in a radian now, too!) to a bulkier seat for traveling domestically.