That is the best place to fully recline, she's no dummy.

Ryanair sadly don't do unaccompanied minors, but for an airline that does (and 5 seems to be the lower bound), and if flying with a partner, I've always wondered if the following would work:

Parent A flies without child on Day 1; Child is given to airline by Parent B on Day 2 and retrieved on the other end by Parent A. Parent B flies without child on Day 3.

If you've got a week or two for vacation, spending six days getting there and back just so you can not fly with your own kid seems... suboptimal.

Right, I guess a flight nanny is probably easier.

Or you know..... just be a parent.

Some folks with money really are better off hiring a professional parent, if the asshole cycle is ever to be interrupted.

What's wrong with getting a babysitter? Because that's what this effectively is.

If you're upset about the money wasted on extra tickets, that's a wealth complaint not a childcare complaint.

If there are multiple flights in a day, you might be able to fit it all in one!

And this is why your kid won't speak to you after age 18.

My parents used to stick me in Economy when they flew Business on long-haul from about 7 onward, and I still speak to _at least_ one of them.

I guess the inheritance could be a good reason.

It kinda makes sense, kids are smaller so they don't need as much space. We should sort passengers by size in general.

I feel your pain. The last flight with my 2 year old daughter, she had to be physically held in her seat because she was too old to be allowed on our laps yet also too small for the seat belt to restrain her. The moment we let go of her she intentionally slid under the belt and out of the chair!

You might want to look into a CARES harness. They are FAA approved and not very expensive. They are designed for kids weighing 22 - 44 pounds.

https://www.faa.gov/travelers/fly_children/

A booster might work also. Though to be honest, I wouldn't bother (my wife totally would, however).

Thanks for the recommendations. I honestly had no idea any of this was available.

When my kids were that small we would travel with one of their car seats for the plane. The car seat is restrained by the plane’s seat belt and then your child is nestled snuggly in their own car seat.

The benefits are that your kid is then in an environment they are familiar with and they can’t just wiggle out. The downside is that you now have to lug around a car seat in the terminal. Ours got stuck in an X-ray machine once. That was fun.

I assume that’s still possible, it’s been a while since we had to travel like that.

Yes, you can also put the kid in a carseat when they are under 2 if you don't want to keep them on your lap.

They make an exception for children under 12.

https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/travelling-with-ch...