Car seats on the airplane

You have to bring it. At least with most US airlines view a two year as bigger enough for their own seat and to use the seat belt. And I think you have to use an approved airline seat. Seat belts are not used on trains and there is no expectation that children be restrained on trains. Probably should be but .......

Seat belts are not used on trains and there is no expectation that boisterous adults be restrained on trains. Probably should be but .......

Heather, go to the website of the airline that you are flying on and check the requirements. I believe that no car seat is required on the plane if your child can sit up with their seatbelt fastened. In the U.S., if you do bring a car seat, it needs to be FAA approved (but have no idea what Canada requires). However, I have no first hand experience with this ... just recall seeing this on a frequent flyer chat board. Your airline should have specific instructions. The car seat won't be needed for trains.

Last flight with Air Canada in March this year, I had a young kid sitting next to me - he spent most of the flight in his seat but was on his parent's lap for take off and landing. I have never seen a car seat in use on a plane - how on earth would they attach the car seat to the airline seat? But check with Air Canada or whoever you are flying with to be absolutely certain.

Hi Heather, I have flown several times with my kiddos- now ages 3 & 5. I can only speak for US Domestic flights (so far), so this may not help you at all. At age 2 1/2, you will need to buy a seat for your child, but do not need to bring a car seat on the plane. If you do, it must have a sticker on the side (from the manufacturer) that says it is approved for air travel. We have flown with a car seat installed in the airline seat and also without (checked, for free of course, to our final destination). They are a pain to lug onto the plane, but they are nice to confine your child- and in something that is "normal" to them. We use a GOGO Kidz (google it) which makes getting through the airport a breeze. We also have a JJ Cole Car seat bag- it is essentially a huge backpack made for transporting a car seat. This is nice as you can use it to check a car seat or carry it through the airport. I can't imagine using it to haul a car seat around Europe though. One other option, if you would like to safely restrain your child during the flight but not have the hassle of a car seat you should check into a CARES harness. It is essentially a super simple restraint that packs compact and light. Again, google it for a better description. Depending on how many kids and carry-ons we are flying with, we have also just checked the car seat (if needed at final destination) and used the standard airplane seatbelt for the kids.
Message me if you have any other questions about flying with toddlers:)

Will you be traveling by car at any time during your trip? If not, it seems that you don't have to worry about the car seat. If you are, it looks like you will also have to deal with carting it around the rest of the time.

We have taken our 2 1/2 year old on several flights since she was in a toddler car seat (not ever while in an infant-rear facing seat) and we always take our own, but I don't think I've seen very many, if any, other parents bring a car seat on for their toddler. I see lots of kids sitting with their parents, even though they do have their own seat (since you have to buy one for them). I don't know what we would do if we took her to Europe, though. On our last trip, to Seattle, we knew we would be relying on buses (and sometimes friends' cars) but we also stayed in only one hotel, so we could leave the car seat in the closet. Moving around a lot would make it really difficult. Our car seat fits really nicely inverted on top of one of our rolling carry-on bags. We strap it on and roll away. But, it makes it quite heavy obviously. See if your car seat will fit like that. You don't legally have to put your toddler in one on an airplane, so depending on your mode of travel when you're in Europe, you may want to forget about it. Like someone else said, though, if you are going to rent a car at all, you might want to take it. Who knows how long it would take you to buy one there, or how expensive it would be. Good luck; it's a tough decision!

I would never recommend trying to rent a carseat. The rental car seat could look okay, but have been in an accident and therefore not be safe to continue to use. (Your eyes won't be able to detect if there's damage to the material that will prevent it from safely absorbing the impact of a second collision) They can also be filthy. I had the airline lose a carseat once and they agreed to cover the cost of a rental and the rental agency pulled out the filthiest carseat I'd ever seen. It was also pretty old. I refused to leave the airport until they brought something else. That was in the US. I wouldn't have known what to do if I couldn't have dealt in English.