When Flying...

It is safer to use the car seat. If there is a break failure, bad turbulence, etc. With that said we never used the car seat because there was more room for the little one to move around with out it. (we have flown 1-3 times a year since the babies were born 16 yrs ago)

Oh we never brought seats with us on the plane. Son sat in my lap till he was 2, then just sat in the seat after that. Really did not have anyway to carry a car seat

I had my daughter strapped into the car seat for take off & landing (she couldnt see out the window if not in the see either) once the captain gave the okay to take off our seatbelts I did hers as well.... I would certainly have the child in it b/c if you have to strap them down for any reason its better to have the seat then not, they would be more comfy sleeping in their carseat then a plane seat too.

We always brought their car seats. It's safer and more comfortable for them. FAA regulations do require the seat to be buckled into the plane's seat. I knew we would be doing a fair amount of flying, so when I purchased a car seat, I made sure that it was FAA approved (which means that it is capable of being installed into a standard airline seat).

If you are going to need your car seat on your trip, you are better off having your child use it on the plane--if it is FAA approved of course. Otherwise, if you check it with luggage, you don't know how well it will be taken care of. I've noticed that most children are more comfortable on a plane in their car seat, as if they were in a car. Most kids are eager to explore the plane if it's new to them so a way to control that is to use the car seat.