Rakhii- No, car seat has to be attached to the plane seat same way as in the car. Airplanes give an extra extender (belt) to loop through the car seat. Hope it helps!
Oh thatnks! That sure helps. I am curious now, I have never ever seen a carseat attached this way on a plane :thumbsup
i travel with my 12 month old 6 months back, i didnt take any car seat, i took stroller which is very useful.. car seat will be like another load for you to carry all the way thru.. if he can sit properly in the stroller make sure you take one.. bassinnet seat is also on first come first serve process so make sure you go early inorder to get bassinnet seat. my kid didnt seat in there at all. he was with us all the time in our seat and other free once.. yes you can use the extended belt given by them in the flight.... just take the stroller light weight one which is easy for you to carry. car seat is a waste thing except its load for us to carry all the way thru.
Hi All, Thanks for your suggestions. Several of you suggested bassinet but that's not an option for us. My little boy is in 95th percentile for both weight and height and already above the recommended limits for a bassinet. We are not using infant seat for him either, he is in convertible (rear-facing) car seat now. If he were still in infant seat I wouldn't have thought about not taking a car seat esp since he has his own ticket and the airlines allows car seat on board. My only hesitation is due to change in my husband's plans. Now, I'll be travelling alone with the toddler and carrying a toddler convertible car seat might not be as easy as we thought. We're still looking into buying a travel friendly seat (sit n stroll) or a go go baby travel system. I like to carry him in baby carrier (gotta love ergo) so not thinking about taking a big stroller (may be an umbrella stroller). Thank you all.
I had traveled alone with my then eighteen month old son to India a few years ago, and I didn't take a car seat. Further I doubt my son would have sat in it for a significant amount of time anyway). Actually, come to think of it, my son didnt sit anywhere for long, and wanted me to walk him around the aircraft, so we literally walked to India--but that's another story! Anyway, since you have one spare seat, your son will have enough space to spread out and even lie down (this is not possible in the bassinet row since the arm rests are attached and cannot be moved up unlike the rest of the cabin). Also, even if your son wont fit in the bassinet, you can still request for a bassinet seat and use the extra leg room so your son can sit in that space and play. Have a good trip!
You will not be able to keep your toddler in the car seat in a plane even for a few minutes, they will start crying. The good thing is you have 3 seats make use of it, if I where you I will do this Pre-book the seats (The best seats are the seats where the basinet is located, even if you don’t qualify for the basinet you can get the seats, just call and speak to someone) use this website Airline Seat Maps, Flights shopping and Flight information- Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru to check the aircraft layout and choose your seats. Get a fully collapsible stroller, you can check-in the stroller at the boarding gate and get it back at the transit airport, this will help you move around in the transit airport. Get a diaper bag that is designed like a backpack instead of a shoulder bag. Forget the car seat, you will be exhausted carrying it around in the airport.
Don’t forget to update this thread with “lessons learnt” when you return back from India. Enjoy your trip.