Advice on Buying a Toddler Car Seat for Air Travel

We bought the Cosco seat you see piled up everywhere from Sears to Walmart. It's around $60, very light, comes with a cover, and it is easy to install. Our primary seat is Britax, but we also wanted something for travel and to use as a second seat for my husband's car and Grandma's house. I was worried at first because it was so inexpensive, and didn't have all of the bells and whistles the Britax did. But when installed correctly, it passed the same safety tests as all of the other expensive seats. It's is so light and convenient to carry through the airport. However, your child does have to be 22 lbs before forward facing.

Hi - we just got the Graco Nautilus car seat. It is forward facing for 20lbs upwards and approved for airplane use when used with the harness.
(I found out when we used our infant car seat that only some are approved for Airplane use - lucky ours was - but make sure you check that out before you buy)
We got it on Amazon for about $130. Its definitely not as bulky as other car seats on the market so worth checking out!

Check out car-seat.org for great information on why rearfacing past 1 year and 20lbs is the new recommendation. My own daughter rearfaced until 3 1/2 years and 33lbs.

The Cosco Scenera is a great travel seat. It's not super easy to install, but is light weight and fairly easy to install in most cars.

I have two suggestions . . . one is the Radian 65 or 80. They are probably more than you would like to spend as they retail for about $190 -$220. However, the latter of the two will keep a child in a 5-point harness until they are 80 pounds! They are great for travel as the seat bottom folds into the back of the carseat so it's almost in half and even though they are made with a stainless steel frame, they are extremely light to carry. Plus, the 80 comes with a carry strap. The website www.mypreciouskid.com carries the carseats and accessories.
Another option if you just need it for the airplane is the CARES aviation restraint. It is FAA approved for air travel and is recommended for children between 22 & 44 pounds I believe. It is a 5-point harness system that attaches to the airplane seat to keep your child safe and secure while flying.
Hope this helps!
-M.

Our main seat is a Britax but our backup/travel seat is the Cosco Scenera. We love it. It is lightweight, easy to take in and out of the car, rear/forward facing, not expensive (around $40-60). We have taken ours on the airplane 2 times and heading for a 3rd time. It is not fancy and doesn't really have any extras, but it meets all the safety regulations and is a great second seat. It is so lightweight, which for traveling is a major plus!!! Good luck on your choice.

It's expensive, but well worth it, Britax car seats have to conform to European standards that are much higher than US safety standards. Very easy to put in & out of car, but big. LIttle guy seems really comfortable in it though. Good luck.

We travel often on airplanes and always take our carseats on board with us. Our kids are now 3 1/2 and 5 1/2. And yes we still take both seats on board!!! It is much more comfortable for them to sit in their own seats that they are used to traveling in. It also helps with behavior and naps. We treat airplane travel like car travel with the exception of going to the bathroom. Like someone else has mentioned whatever seat you buy, be sure that it is approved for airplane travel. We currently have the evenflo triumph and the graco nautilus. Both fit fine on the airplane. It is kind of tight. You have to put the armrests up but they do fit. I even sat in the seat next to them. Another thing to remember is that installing them on the plane is different than in your car. There is only a lapbelt. You buckle it and pull it as tight as you can. There are no latches or tethers.