WWYD re: turning 3 yo and plane travel

[Amy7707]

DS is 3y6m, 38.5", ~34 lbs and currently RF in XTSLs in both cars. I'm debating on when I want to turn him FF. He's been asking and it is getting to be a pain to buckle him in. My plan was to turn him FF this spring, but now I'm second guessing myself. He has a huge head and still fits in the seats we have.

We are also flying to FL in May so I'm debating on what seats to take and it kind of plays a part in if we FF DS or not. If we weren't flying I would probably just keep DS RF as long as we could, but it might be easier to travel if he's FF. DD will be RF in a seat as well, so we need 2 seats. DS will be FF on the plan no matter what we decide on RF/FF in the car. They both have seats on the plane.

Current seats we could use are 2 XTSLs, 2 S4M and 1 Avenue.

My dilemma is that the XTSL would be great FF on the plane since he'll be able to use the tray. But if we bring that and he's FF in the car then do we need to take off the safestop on the plane? If he still RF in the car, then we'll need to bring the angle adjuster & RF boot with use too and adjust the harness for RF again when we get there. I hate adjusting the harness on the RN and it is heavy!

If we bring the S4M, he's so squished in it RF it will be annoying all week trying to get him in there, but it is easy to install as is without extra 'stuff'.

If we turn him FF in the car, then I'll probably bring the Avenue FF for DS and the S4M RF for DD. Or convince DH to get a FF only seat for him like a Maestro and take that and the Avenue.

What would you do?

 

[Brianna]

I might FF for the trip but I'd keep him RF other than that.

If you do use the XTSL on the plane, you'll need to take off the safe stop- it's not used when the tether isn't used.

 

[Amy7707]

I might FF for the trip but I'd keep him RF other than that.

If you do use the XTSL on the plane, you'll need to take off the safe stop- it's not used when the tether isn't used.

I'm not sure he'll be agreeable to going back to RF if he is FF for the week. I guess I could just see how it goes. I'll probably try FF him a bit before we go to see how he does with it. I'd hate to get down there with the RN FF only and have him hate it and not be able to sleep if needed.

 

[ketchupqueen]

I have always FF my kids over 2 on planes, but still RF them in the car. Being on a plane, it doesn't seem to occur to them that they can ride that way in the car, KWIM? "This is the way your seat goes for the plane, and this is the way it goes for the car." Bonus, you don't have to deal with getting the safestop on and off the Radian...

 

[krasota]

I FF my son on a Florida trip at 3.5y. I did it because I have a hard time with quick, stressful RF installs (like, say, a rainy rental car lot with an anxious 3.5yo) with our travel seat (Scenera). I can get it in FF super fast. If I had a different seat, it might be a different story. Future trips will likely see us taking DD's Radian and she'll most definitely be RF.

Now, I did think about working on the RF install simply because the further south you go in FL, the more aggressive the drivers. At least it seems that way. I've lived/driven in DC, NJ, NYC, Boston . . . and south Florida has them all beat. I saw so many wrecks and had so many close calls.

Anyhow, he totally understood that FF was a vacation-only thing and went happily RF once we were back home. He asked to RF a couple times on the trip because he wanted to sleep with his legs up, but we weren't in safe areas to stop and switch.

 

[Amy7707]

I have always FF my kids over 2 on planes, but still RF them in the car. Being on a plane, it doesn't seem to occur to them that they can ride that way in the car, KWIM? "This is the way your seat goes for the plane, and this is the way it goes for the car." Bonus, you don't have to deal with getting the safestop on and off the Radian...

Good point about the safestop. I'll still have to bring the angle adjuster and RF boot though. I guess I could pack those in the suitcase and worst case FF him if our suitcase doesn't make it. I'm trying to limit the amount of stuff we have as carry-ons since we'll have a double stroller, the 2 carseats and then our regular carry on stuff (diaper bag, kids lunch, computer, etc).