So here is my low-down on seguridad (safety) en los aviones for toddlers. We sucked it up and bought Sofía a seat on the plane. There is barely enough room for me in the seat let alone room with Sofía on top. And then I, without fail, get someone in front of me who insists on pushing his or her seat back and so, boom, there is even less room. My 6 foot husband doesn’t even put his seat back on the avión because it would be horrible for the person behind. Oh well. Sofía either needs to be in a car seat or a FAA approved seat harness. I did the research. If you want to know the dirty details about all of it, let me know and I can tell you. We decided to take our aircraft approved car seat on the avión for Sofía. We would use it anyway in the rental car, so why not? Then my husband says that we are going to need to buy the mini-roller thing to transport it around in the airport, because really, how else are you going to do that through huge airports likes DC and Los Angeles? We are really glad that we bought the roller because there was NO way we could have lugged all our junk and child without it. The avión was a different story. My pobre, pobre husband! He had to attach the seat and un-attach the seat in all these confined areas with all the pressure of everyone wanting him to move faster. Although the seat was a great idea and segura, it left Sofía with absolutely no room. None. Add in that the person in front of her (a very short parent with children I might add) pushed his seat all the way back. So when Sofía was getting tired and cranky and wanting to go to sleep and she started kicking the seat in front of her, there really wasn’t much I could do to stop it. After the flight, when we analyzed the use of the car seat, I decided that using the FAA harness would be much better. It has a weight restriction of 22 pounds which Sofía doesn’t quite make yet though, which is why I shunned it off at the beginning. But had I known about the room factor, I may have reconsidered. They are expensive--as much as that roller thing for the carseat. But they are small, lightweight, easy to put on, FAA approved, and above all—seguro. They are available at Bed Bath and Beyond which always gives away those 20% off coupons that the store always accepts even if the expiration date has passed. Well…maybe for our next trip???
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Seguridad en un Avión
So here is my low-down on seguridad (safety) en los aviones for toddlers. We sucked it up and bought Sofía a seat on the plane. There is barely enough room for me in the seat let alone room with Sofía on top. And then I, without fail, get someone in front of me who insists on pushing his or her seat back and so, boom, there is even less room. My 6 foot husband doesn’t even put his seat back on the avión because it would be horrible for the person behind. Oh well. Sofía either needs to be in a car seat or a FAA approved seat harness. I did the research. If you want to know the dirty details about all of it, let me know and I can tell you. We decided to take our aircraft approved car seat on the avión for Sofía. We would use it anyway in the rental car, so why not? Then my husband says that we are going to need to buy the mini-roller thing to transport it around in the airport, because really, how else are you going to do that through huge airports likes DC and Los Angeles? We are really glad that we bought the roller because there was NO way we could have lugged all our junk and child without it. The avión was a different story. My pobre, pobre husband! He had to attach the seat and un-attach the seat in all these confined areas with all the pressure of everyone wanting him to move faster. Although the seat was a great idea and segura, it left Sofía with absolutely no room. None. Add in that the person in front of her (a very short parent with children I might add) pushed his seat all the way back. So when Sofía was getting tired and cranky and wanting to go to sleep and she started kicking the seat in front of her, there really wasn’t much I could do to stop it. After the flight, when we analyzed the use of the car seat, I decided that using the FAA harness would be much better. It has a weight restriction of 22 pounds which Sofía doesn’t quite make yet though, which is why I shunned it off at the beginning. But had I known about the room factor, I may have reconsidered. They are expensive--as much as that roller thing for the carseat. But they are small, lightweight, easy to put on, FAA approved, and above all—seguro. They are available at Bed Bath and Beyond which always gives away those 20% off coupons that the store always accepts even if the expiration date has passed. Well…maybe for our next trip???
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I've read this post before, but having our trips in oktober and november in mind I re-read it. If you travel without car seat, how would you transport Sofia by car at your destination? You would still need a car seat, right?
ReplyDeleteCould you install it rear-facing? Just a thought. I feel for you. We lucked out in flying to Maine as my cousin arranged for us to have carseats available at our destination (their spare + a friend's spare).
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