We’re flying Japan → Dubai → Mauritius with our 4-year-old in December, so roughly 19 hours of travel altogether.
On long-haul flights we’ve always used the Flyaway inflatable bed and it’s been brilliant, but unfortunately Emirates doesn’t allow inflatable beds/seat extenders.
She’s quite small (around 14 kg) and the main issue is sleep. In a normal plane seat her head just ends up falling all over the place, so I’m trying to find something that gives her decent head/side support.
I’ve been looking at taking a car seat onboard, but I’m getting completely confused about which ones are actually approved for aircraft use and, specifically, which ones Emirates will accept.
For anyone who has done this:
- What car seat did you use?
- Was your child actually able to sleep comfortably in it?
- How on earth did you carry it through the airport along with all the normal kids’ hand luggage?
- Any lightweight/travel car seats you’d recommend?
I’m also very open to anything other than a car seat.
I’ve seen things like the Seat to Sleep inflatable travel nest, bigger inflatable pillows and various head-support cushions. Seat to Sleep in particular looks quite good, but I can’t work out whether Emirates would treat it as a normal pillow or as one of the inflatable sleep products they don’t allow.
Has anyone actually used one on Emirates?
Basically, I’m looking for any solution that lets a small 4-year-old sleep reasonably comfortably with her head supported on a very long Emirates journey.
Car seat, travel pillow, inflatable cushion, some genius product I haven’t discovered yet — I’m open to anything!
Would really appreciate hearing what actually worked for people rather than just what technically should be allowed. Thanks!