Any recommendations of FAA car seat?

[Joshy443]

My daughter will be turning 1 soon and will need a new carseat. We're going to WDW next spring so I thought I'd post a question and see what others have used for a car seat on the airplane flight. I know most car seats are FAA approved - didn't know if anyone had success with any particular brand. I can't remember the brand but one thread mentioned about a car seat being too big and they couldn't use it on the plane. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[all4fun]

Great carseats in general, are the Britax Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard seats. The MA is the most basic of the three and usually the least expensive. It also has more choices as far as covers go. The DC is basically an MA with a slightly different harness tightening feature, extra infant body pillows and an adjustable crotch strap. The BV is the most expensive, it has True Side Impact Protection head wings and "infinite" adjustable harness straps, so you never have to rethread the harness to adjust it. All three r/f to 33lbs and f/f to 65. The BV is the one we have and we love it. All three are easy to install and use.

I do know people travel with these but they are pretty heavy so you might want to get a lighter secondary seat like a Cosco Scenera 5-pt (about $40-50 @ Walmart/Kmart/Target) which is what we used for travel until recently when ds outgrew his by height. But for $40 we definitely got our money's worth out of it. This seat is light and easy to travel with and we never had any issues with it fitting in an airline seat.

If you can't afford the expense of a Britax, then you might want to consider the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe, which is made by Britax for FP and is basically a Marathon w/out the extra safety features (i.e. HUGS, r/f tether).

You can also check this site out for recommendations: http://www.carseatsite.com/recommended_car_seats.htm

hth!

 

[fcrouch]

we travelled with a sit n'stroll car seat stroller (FAA approved) - converst easily from one to the other (doesn't have the bells and whistles of some stroller - cup holder, lots of storage etc. - but we loved it - when through two by the time daughter was 4.

 

[browniemtb]

We also used a sit-n-stroll.....very conveniant. The only problem I had was attaching it into the rental car...Britax was mentioned by one of the Ops...these are great solid car seats...little on the upper side of price but the quality is great...
Brownie

 

[NotUrsula]

There are many good seats on the market, and I won't recommend any one in particular. Read articles in Consumer Reports and the above mentioned carseat site.

One thing I will recommend is that you stay away from overhead-shield seats. Not only are they not as safe as 5-pt harnesses, but they are an absolute bear to use on an aircraft. If you travel a lot, weight will also definitely be a consideration.

 

[all4fun]

A lot of Car Seat techs (CPST's) do not like Consumer Reports ratings. This is from car-safety.org: "Consumer Reports has its own methodology, and does not discuss how they derive their crash test ratings or how their ratings relate to the risk of injury. They also conceal their results in colored circles, which don't tell you exactly how much safer a top-rated model is compared to a lower-rated one. Also, a carseat that worked for the dummies on the car benches at Consumer Reports may not fit well in your vehicle or with your child." Just FYI.

I recommend the forums on http://www.car-seat.org/ for specific advice or even Babycenter.com Car Safety Tips board.

hth!

 

[laughinplace199]

My kids are in booster seats now, but we had Britax Roundabouts when they were in car seats. I loved those seats!

 

[labst60]

Hi - We also have a 1 year old (13months), who rides in a Britax Boulevard at home - it is a great seat and we LOVE it.. .however, it would be a bear to travel with (from what I read, it is doable, and then even sell a go-go-babyz cart that you can attach - $90), but it just big and bulky and we will be doing some airtravel w/out DH and I just couldn't see me making it through the airport/security/etc w/ baby, stroller, carryon and britax.

After a lot of research on the carseat board at babycenter, I got a Cosco Scenera from walmart (approx. $45) as our travel/airplane/grandma's carseat. Boy, is it light! It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the Britax has, but from what I read is a solid, safe seat (plus it is super light!). It is also FAA approved (and marked so on the sticker) and I can actually imagine managing with this on my back. I bought a back carrier and the soft strap covers (to protect DD's neck-since they didn't come with it). We haven't flown with it yet (we will Friday night), but hooked it in my sister's car over the weekend and it was super-easy to install!

Hope this helps - good luck!