Car Seats on the Plane

If your child is under the age of two years old then you can take a car seat! It has to be FAA and Aircraft approved! You are NOT allowed to take booster seats at all!!! You can take Infant or Convertible carseats! This websit helped alot, TravelWithYourKids.com

only Infant and Convertible car seats are acceptable,( however there is no age limit on how long you can use them, as long as the child fits the seat according to the manufacturers specifications - think about seats approved up to 65 or 70 lbs and some to 58 inches)also the CARES harness is approved for children 22-44 lbs.

It is important that the seat is approved for aircraft use either by the US or the UN if it was manufactured abroad. Also you have the right to have a child restraint system for your child, as long as the child has a paid for seat (there are a few aircraft types that cannot accomodate any such seats, but they are far and few between and usually only used for short commuter travel- typically small aircraft with less than 50 seats which are older)

Here are some links to the official information provided by the TSA and FAA

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children/index.shtm

http://www.carseat.org/Legal/FAA-AC120-87A.pdf

http://www.carseat.org/Legal/FAA14cfr121.311.pdf

I have travelled numerous times overseas with my 2 ruggrats and let me tell you it is not all that fun to lugg a huge RECARO car seat around (as big as the big BRITAX ones) I was very happy when I found the Gogo Kids Travelmate, funny looking contraption but worth every Penny (the company will give you Military Discount if you call to Order Directly, as well as Twin Discount if you should need 2 like me) it attaches to the carseat and you can roll your seat through the airport with absolute ease, even 2 at a time is not an issue if you have to travel alone. I am not one to "plug" products but this thing was a huge help.

I have never had any issues with my gigantic seats, once they had to be "manually" inspected b/c the x-ray machine was not big enough, but that was no issue either, I do travel with the FAA regulations though just in case, but so far in 7 overseas trips, never needed them.

just noticed here is the website for the Travelmate

http://www.gogobabyz.com/products-c26-gogo_Kidz_Travelmate.aspx

those seem soo much easier than what i got! i got one of those "sit n stroll" kind, that turns from a stroller to a carseat... yeah, getting it from car to stroller, piece of cake...from stroller to car seat, easy! but after 6 pages of instructions, 2 weeks, and a bottle of Advil, i STILL can't get the stupid thing in the car!!!! and its WAY more expensive! so...advice? go with the travelmate type...

got a fold up hand cart from Costco that is approved for airline travel. Was only $18 and our carseat can strap right to it.

I would still send a car seat, if you are shipping your car, or planning to buy one here. The CARES harness will work in a pinch (like in a cab) and is definitely better than nothing, but it not as good as a car seat. It offers no impact protection, all it does is keep your kid from becoming a projectile in the car.

Depending on the age of your child, I might not use it at all in a vehicle, actually. I would only use it if my child were old enough to ride in a booster seat with the vehicle belts. If he/she still needs to ride harnessed, or rear facing (my daughter is 19 months old and still rides rear facing) I would check a car seat on the plane.

Checking car seats does not count towards your baggage allowance, by the way.

I got a really nice convertible car seat bag that is a backpack. I love it because it has a lot of extra room and I can pack it full of extra stuff in case my other checked bags are over-weight... which is usually the problem! Anyways I keep my hands free in the airport while traveling with a 1 year old that is all over the place. Got the bag from Target.com. It is SUPER Durable and fits my Safety 1st Air Protect Convertible Car seat just fine! http://www.target.com/J-L-Childress-Ultimate-Seat-Travel/dp/B0009RNXNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&frombrowse=0&node=1038576&keywords=car%20seat%20travel%20bag&field_browse=1038576&searchSize=30&id=J%20L%20Childress%20Ultimate%20Seat%20Travel&field_availability=-2&refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Ctarget_com_age%2Ctarget_com_gender-bin%2Ctarget_com_character-bin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchNodeID=1038576&field_launch-date=-1y&searchRank=target104545&searchPage=1&field_keywords=car%20seat%20travel%20bag