Travel Report

I wanted to share my recent travel experience. DH and I flew with our 20 month old twins across the country. We flew Frontier and I was impressed with their customer service and that they have pre-boarding for families. We paid for three seats but the first flights were empty enough that we could take both car seats on the plane and that was awesome. We gate checked our bob stroller with no problem. The boys were great on the flight and I think being in their car seats made a huge difference. They were comfortable and with enough new books and toys, totally amused.

The return flight, however, was not so wonderful. Both flights were packed so we did what we originally planned--one kid in the car seat and one on the lap. Wrestling a 20 month old on my lap was exhausting! Thankfully he fell asleep for half of the flight.

The worst part, however, was that Asher in his car seat, wanted to kick the seat in front of him. Planes are just too cramped to avoid the feet kicking. Sadly, we had a nasty woman sitting in front of us who turned around and asked that I stop my child from kicking her seat. I said I would do the best I could without guarantee because he was a baby! She responded, "You will do the best you can and if that doesn't work, you will come up with an alternative plan." As if that wasn't rude enough, she turned to the woman sitting next to her and said loudly, "She said she couldn't guarantee she could stop her child. Darn right she could stop her child! She is the mother. The nerve of her."

I was nearly in tears I was so upset. I was going to ignore her and let Asher kick the seat but my dh intervened and essentially pinned Asher's feet to his car seat for two hours, which caused constant tears. It was torture. Thankfully he fell asleep after two hours of crying and whimpering.

Anyone have advice for stopping their kids from kicking the seat?

 

I don't have any advice about stopping the kicking, other then doing what your DH did. It is something that they will learn not to do over time. I'm sorry that the woman in front of you was not more understanding. :hug:

 

Some people are just grumpy. There is a nicer way to ask and I'm sure you would have done your best to stop him from kicking anyways. I have to travel with my girls at the same age and I was thinking of buying the extra seat between us. Do you have to use a car seat if you do this? I was thinking we could just have the seat and let them both sit in it together or take turns without a bulky car seat taking up so much space. Is this not allowed?

 

I'm sorry that woman was a b*tch. She obviously doesn't have kids herself (or they're all grown up and she's forgotten) or she would know that saying "This will happen" doesn't always make it happen. I hope she enjoyed listening to Asher crying for 2 hours because he wasn't allowed to move his feet.

I admit I absolutely hate having my seat kicked too -- but now that I have small children, I know there is only so much you can do. At 23 months I was able to keep Sarah from kicking the seat (she was in her carseat, but with the GoGo Kidz attached, her feet could reach the seat in front) just by repeatedly reminding her for about half an hour. (It also helped to take her shoes off.) Then she gave up. But she is a very placid child, and was also a little older at the time.

Other than that, I don't know what you can do besides distract them really heavily.

 

I'm sorry you had that experience coming back. I'm sure she has no idea what its like to travel with two 20 month olds so she has no idea what she is talking about. Glad you had a good trip though.

 

Wow. Sorry you had such a crab apple in the seat in front of you. What nerve SHE has for complaining about a baby kicking her seat!!

 

sorry to hear that experience....we are flying overseas in sep (they will be 18months by then) and we have 4 seats for the 4 of us, we will bring our car seats on the plane.

you can get bulkhead so you have nobody in front of you (for kicking) ....also, we do 2 and 2 seat in the aisle right behind, so one adult with one kid in a row, so if the kid kicks, he'll kick your husband.

I will definetely post after our trip to share our experience.

 

If I were to buy 2 seats for the girls and bring car seats, how does that work? How do you arrange the seats? I thought I read they have to be a window seat. Just trying to picture it in my mind. I'm starting to think I'll buy seats for them to make our life easier. It will be an extra $400 I wasn't planning on spending, but I think it will be worth it. I'm hoping they sleep most of the flight. They'll be 21 months old when we fly.

 

The car seats have to be the inside seats, so it can be...window, car seat, car seat, person. That is because you couldn't get out past the car seats if you were on the inside. We did that (window, car seat, car seat, then me, then my husband had the seat across the aisle so he was able to help with anything I needed and watch the kids if I had to use the potty.

 

Hi, guys! I'm a long time lurker, but this is my first post. I'm a flight attendant and mom of 19 month old twin boys, so just thought that I would add my two cents on this topic.

Like the previous post said, you could request a bulkhead seat, which works out really well with a lap baby. However, if you plan on bringing your car seat, just be aware that some bulkhead seats have fixed armrests. This can make it very difficult to secure your car seat. These armrests could also have a full panel between the seats, which means your car seat may not even fit in these seats.

As for the rude passengers, don't worry about it. Some people are just complainers. I get them on EVERY flight. If she wasn't complaining about the kicking, she would've complained about something else. Yes, it's annoying to have your seat kicked during the flight, but we're talking about a baby here. If she wanted to ensure a kick-free flight, she should've chartered a plane. As long as you're apologetic and sincere, most people will understand. I've actually had an elderly couple complain that the person (another adult) was kicking the back of their chair. Just wanted to let you know that I thought you guys handled it well.

 

I thought I remembered that some airlines won't let you put more than one carseat in a row -- or is that not more than one lap child per row?

At any rate, if I were traveling by myself with both kids, I wouldn't bring the carseats because I can't imagine how you'd get them on & off the plane. I had enough trouble with just one child and her carseat. But I know that a lot of twin moms have strategies for this kind of thing that I've never dreamt of.

 

ahh after that I think I would have let my child kick her seat the rest of the plane ride
She could have complained to the flight attendant and asked to move or perhaps in the future she will purchase a 1st class ticket. Of course Im sure you werent willingly letting your child kick the seat, what does she think you were doing? sheesh!

I think having the 3rd seat really does help! I am curious at what age can I stop bringing my car seat and let them just sit in their paid seat on their own?

 

We've traveled alot with our guys, both in the US and internationally. We don't bring the carseats precisely because they have so little room for their legs. By age 2, they were sitting in their own seats with just the seat belt. Thankfully they love to fly and are good travelers.

As for the rude woman in front, I have to agree with her. :tomato: I don't agree that she should be rude, but I too would be p*ssed if a child kicked my seat for the entire flight. She paid the same for her seat as you paid for your child's seat. :escape:

 

QUOTE(Minette @ May 28 2009, 08:04 PM) [snapback]1331944[/snapback]
I thought I remembered that some airlines won't let you put more than one carseat in a row -- or is that not more than one lap child per row?


I think you are limited to one lap child per each side of the aisle. From my understanding that there are 4 oxygen masks per three seats so there are enough for each of three seated passengers and one lap child.