NextFit Flying: Up, Up and Away!

Next in my series of NextFit posts is from a guest author.  Melissa Hebert is a mother and NextFit owner I met through Car Seats for the Littles.  Melissa has helped several NextFit owners prepare for taking their NextFit car seats on a plane and having the best experience possible.  One time she wrote up this list of her favorite tips and I asked if I could post it here.  She graciously agreed.  So, please allow me to present Melissa Hebert's Favorite Tips For Flying With a NextFit:

I have only flown American and Alaskan with my NextFit but my best advice for flying with the NextFit at all is: 

1. If you are flying with someone - have one person keep the kid out of the plane til the last possible moment while the other boards as early as possible to install the seat and stow away carry ons.
2. Bring or rent a luggage roller that can roll the NextFit.  The seat is a beast.  We got a luggage roller at Ross and used bungee cords to attach it. Best $15 we ever spent.
3. You will have to lift the car seat above your head to get it down the aisle so make sure whoever is installing it can do that.
4. Bring your manual. You never know.  Stow it in the compartment on the seat.
5. The person in front of your seat won't be able to recline if the NextFit is rear facing. And that's ok.
6. The seatbelt will be connected in the belt path under the seat padding and that's ok too. Here's a pic of how the belt will look for a RF install.

Photo taken and edited by Melissa Hebert

I asked Melissa if she thought practicing the seat belt install would be a good idea, and she agreed with this caveat:

Airplane seats are lap belt only so it's slightly different from a car's seat belt.  [The biggest reason to] practice would be to get familiar with the belt path and feeling if it's secure enough or not.  Because the car install and plane install look and feel pretty different to me. That's part of what threw me off on the plane the first time- I was expecting to do it just like the car.

She also agreed that practicing the seat belt install would be handy when you're installing the NextFit in a rental car at your destination.  It can be difficult and frustrating to try to find the dedicated LATCH points in an unfamiliar car, and some cars will not allow a middle seat install, since Chicco doesn't allow LATCH borrowing.  However, if you're proficient with a seat belt install, you can simply place the NextFit, thread the seat belt, buckle, tighten, and lock, and you'll be good to go.

Enjoy your travels, you jetsetter person you!

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If you'd like more information about flying with children, please read this article: Leaving on a Jet Plane – The CSFTL Guide to Safe Air Travel with Children.  

To be clear, neither Melissa nor I are CPST's (read my Disclaimer for more information about what that means), we just really like our NextFit seats and want to help parents get the most out of them.  If you'd like help with anything car seat related, I recommend joining the Facebook group Car Seats for the Littles.

The views, instructions, and opinions in this blog are solely my own. I am not a CPST, I am not affiliated with CSFTL, nor am I a Chicco representative. No money was made from this article, and though I strive for accuracy in all things, any errors are my own.