I will be flying with Ashton to Buffalo for her 2nd birthday by myself. I am really stuggling with the thought of doing this by myself with her, a stroller a carseat, carryon, etc.....being 5 months pregnant. We are flying direct and Don will be flying back with us, so that headache is taken care of.

My dear friend Colleen has offered us the use of her carseat so we don't need one for the rental car in Buffalo.

My question is, have you flown with a 2 year old without a carseat? Would you? We have a Britax Marathon so it is a fairly large carseat to carry around.

Thanks for all advice!

I did fly without a car seat for my 18 month old to Mexico. He had to sit on my lap for take-offs and landings. I felt comfortable without it and we even rode in crazy taxis without it. I may be a bad mommy for it, but I wasn't going to lug that seat around for the few rides we took.

I will be going to Seattle soon with him and don't plan on bringing it then either, we will have a seat to use once we arrive.

When we flew at Christmas we checked Madelynn's carseat with our bags. DH held her the whole time. If I had been alone I would have gotten her a seat, as there was no way I would have been able to hold her the whole time while pregnant!

Thanks.....at age 2 you are required to buy a seat, no lap sitting, which I why I am searching for those who have done it for a child over 2.

We're flying again in June and I plan on checking her carseat again, even though we need to buy her a seat. I think it would be too much of a pain to carry it around the airport.

Have you already bought her ticket? I'm wondering if it is any cheaper for a 2 year old.

we're also flying in june. i'll be using the carseat (i do need it when i get to florida anyway) but i do not use my normal carseat, the triumph. i have a seat i only use for flying, it's the cosco touriva. it's extremely light and narrow so perfect for airplanes.

i got it at kmart for about $45.

even if i didn't need the seat i would bring it, if only to contain tony. the thought of him in a seat for 3 hrs scares me :lol: it would just be a nightmare...with him, restraint is key.

I've been on 2 flights recently w/ my 2 girls. I flew solo w/ ally 2.5 and sarah 7 months in january. I was horrified at the thought of flying alone w/ them. It was a short flight. I checked in their carseats (i had help lugging everything in). Sarah sat on my lap, ally had her own seat w/out a carseat. She was so entralled w/ looking out the window and the excitement of it all that the flight was fine!!! I also had people waiting at the arriving airport to help. Will you have help? There were also alot of nice people at the airport who offered to help.

We also flew (dh and I) w/ the girls to California (6 hour flight) in january also and did the same thing. Girls got antsy during the last half hour of the trip.

Some advice.... pack light, have help getting and arriving, take off all jackets etc before you get to security. if she's in a stroller, you will have to take her out and lock down the stroller during security and she'll need to walk through the magnatometer. If u can, do curbside checkin (alot easier) and check your stroller at the gate. They'll give you a ticket and have it waiting for you as soon as you get off the plane. Also, have PLENTY of activities/snacks for her on the plane to keep her busy. have her eat/drink as you take off/land to help w/ her ears. My girls' ears were fine.. i was surprised becuz mine got plugged up and even hurt at one point but I looked at them and they were fine?!?

hth

another thing i thought of.... wear slip-on shoes in case they ask you to take them off at security. alot easier than having to untie, watch your daughter, put everything down and then do it all again as you put them back on...

Have you already bought her ticket? I'm wondering if it is any cheaper for a 2 year old.We've been looking into taking a quickie vacation somewhere soon (hopefully), and unfortunately the airline ticket for a 2 yr. old is the same as an adult. :rolleyes:

We're flying again in June and I plan on checking her carseat again, even though we need to buy her a seat. I think it would be too much of a pain to carry it around the airport.

Have you already bought her ticket? I'm wondering if it is any cheaper for a 2 year old.

Yes, we fly Southwest because they have a non-stop flight between Las Vegas and Buffalo. We are flying for $99 each way.

We've been looking into taking a quickie vacation somewhere soon (hopefully), and unfortunately the airline ticket for a 2 yr. old is the same as an adult. :rolleyes:
dawn, some airlines will give you a 1/2 price child ticket, BUT it's usually half off the full price refundable fare.

it's cheaper for us on southwest to buy tony a regular ticket.

dawn, some airlines will give you a 1/2 price child ticket, BUT it's usually half off the full price refundable fare.

it's cheaper for us on southwest to buy tony a regular ticket.Thanks Kim! I'll keep that in mind with some airlines offering 1/2 price for child.

Actually, if we do go, another travel agent we spoke to said she can put Lexie in as UNDER 2 yrs. old as a lap child. That would be great cuz I really can't see paying FULL price for her (and besides we're on a tight budget with this trip). They won't need to see birth cert. since we won't be leaving the country. We will have a 40 min. layover in the middle of the trip and I think that will be good so that I won't be worried about her not being able to sit tight on our laps for 3 hrs.! :lol: Oh, and this is if we go to Florida (miami)...in 8 days...yes 8 days from today. Told you we REEEEALLLLY wanted to go away and soon! :lol:

airlines have the right to ask (and often do) to see a birth cert. if you have a lap child. we were asked with tony (on southwest), but once we showed them he had his own ticket we didn't need to produce it.

i would check the airline's website for their policy.

Too bad Southwest doesn't fly to South Dakota. Darn it, we have to fly United. :rolleyes:

When we flew with M. at Christmas they never asked for her birth certificate. Good thing, because I forgot it at home! :eek:

airlines have the right to ask (and often do) to see a birth cert. if you have a lap child. we were asked with tony (on southwest), but once we showed them he had his own ticket we didn't need to produce it.

i would check the airline's website for their policy.Really?! Very interesting! I will check that out...thanks. IF we do go, it will be US Airways I believe. I will check into this later.....(she's screaming her head off right now!) Thanks Kim for the heads up. :)

When we went to Belize and to the USVI, they told us that Lauryn's ticket was going to be the same price as ours- $600. No discounts. Discounts only apply to certain routes. I checked with Delta, United, Continental and American. All of them had the same thing to say.

We traveled with a carseat/stroller:

http://www.elitecarseats.com/safeline-sit-n-stroll.shtml?engine=adwords!346&keyword=%28stroller+car+seat%29

The thing was a lifesaver! I couldn't see carrying the carseat and then dragging her stroller around and this one just really streamlined our trip. I let my friend borrow it last week for her trip to Cancun and she loved it too!

Actually, if we do go, another travel agent we spoke to said she can put Lexie in as UNDER 2 yrs. old as a lap child. That would be great cuz I really can't see paying FULL price for her (and besides we're on a tight budget with this trip). They won't need to see birth cert. since we won't be leaving the country.

I just want to clarify something, since some lurkers like to register just to cause trouble and bash me from something I've written 3 yrs. ago (I see it was deleted admin. and thank you for not giving them the satisfaction).

We went on this trip 7 days after Alexia's 2nd birthday. Wasn't my idea to 'lie' about her age, nor am I teaching her the 'wrong' thing to do. Let's not compare going to clubs underage versus sitting on mom's lap when they are 7 days past the age of 2.

If a travel agent suggests to do that and put them in as 2 yrs. old when they are only days older than that, that's fine by me. She obviously didn't have a problem with that and neither did we (neither did the airports either since she looked about 1/2 her age at that time and never asked for birth cert.). There are MUCH MORE things in this world to stress about. Geesh.... (as how you put it).

I'm glad you saw this and responded, Dawn......because I really wanted to but didn't want to give this person the satisfaction of having a response to such a ignorant statement. :)

I'm glad you saw this and responded, Dawn......because I really wanted to but didn't want to give this person the satisfaction of having a response to such a ignorant statement. :)
I understand. Thanks Shannon. :) Whether it's read by that person or not, I just needed to get it off my chest. :lol: