S/O of 5 hour flight post

I don't know about your babies, but mine are not fans of the carseats and if baby a saw baby b in our laps while they were in a car seat, you can bet that baby a would make sure we knew how unfair that was. My boys can't even make a complete 3 hour trip to San Antonio! We have to stop halfway every time. Is the extra seat just for room? Do they for some reason do better in the car seats on the plane? Am I missing something? We're also planning a trip from Houston to Florida when the boys are 15 months. Thanks in advance...starting to freak out.

 

The extra seat is so that there are enough oxygen masks in case of an emergency.

I don't think you have to actually use the seat. They can give you a seat belt extension that you can strap the baby in your lap. But when the ox. masks drop there may not be enough for everyone in the row if both adults are holding infants in their laps and there are no other seats reserved for you. If I remember correctly, one seat has two masks and the rest of the row only one each. If you needed to use the masks, I think it was worth the cost of the extra seat just so both babies can have a mask! Ya know? I didn't like having to pay for the extra seat either until it was explained to me.

We adopted our babies from Southeast Asia. It was a 30 hour flight with two not very healthy infants. That was terribly exhausting. I'd take a 3 - 5 hour flight anyday!

 

Serrano, I'm in Houston too!
We've always purchased 4 seats... yes more $$$, but when they were that little we loaded the carseats on w/ us and each boy was strapped in nicely. they are 'used' to those seats. on the other hand I believe mine would have been out and about if only in a lap belt and worse yet...our laps.
The FL flight...not a bad one. We've done it, just the usual array of toys, snacks, books, etc...portable dvd player? baby einstein?
There is a GREAT hwy stop w/ a children's playground on the way to san antonio...oh I need to remember, maybe exit 119? In our around Seguin. (I-10) It's over the halfway mark, but unless it is raining or night time we stop there. The boys have come to expect that stop. Indoors it has some TX history on the area.(mini-museum) Pretty hard to miss, worth the stop, nice new play area for the fellas.
We go to SA at least twce a year if not more... since they were babies...love to go!
Can't say enough about the portable dvd player for the longer stretches...we won't use it for just say Galveston, but SA and a flight...you betcha!

 

We did buy a seat for one of my girls when they were 17 months old. DH's work was paying for his ticket and by us paying for 2 tickets, we had the whole row of 3 seats to ourselves. There are only 4 oxygen mask per 3 seats, so you can't have 2 lap babies in one row. We did not bring the car seat on that plane trip, so we didn't have the problem of one being strapped in and one not.

We had the car seats on the plane once, and during the flight home, Dani did not want to be in the car seat. DH wound up walking with her to the back of the plane and sitting down in 2 empty seats and she did great.

 

The extra seat for US was for space. They both fit on it and it usually means you have the whole row to yourself. That way they aren't crawling, drooling, spitting up etc. on some random unsuspecting person. The extra oxygen might also make it so you can have both of you on one side of the plane. Otherwise you will have to sit adjacent aisles.

I never used their car seats on the plane. But since it is transportation, they probably would do just fine in them and maybe sleep.

Have a good trip!! It won't be that bad!!! :hug99:

 

No airline will let you bring two lap babies and sit in one row. It's against FAA regulations. So if you plan to hold both babies, you and your DH will have to sit in separate rows or on separate sides of the aisle. Buying one seat -- as everyone else has already said -- can make it possible to sit in the same row. From a safety standpoint, buying two extra seats and having your kids sit in their carseats at least for take off and landing is the way to go. The statistics show that toddlers are MUCH safer in car seats than on your lap during regular turbulence. It's annoying to have to spend the extra money, but it is much safer.
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