Buying a car seat

[Jade+3]

We are from Australia, and will be hiring a car for 3 weeks from LAX. DD will turn 3 in the last week of our vacation. DS will be 20 months. The car rental company has quoted about $280 to hire 2 car seats.

I have looked at Target and Walmart's websites, and it appears that I can purchase seats for around $50 each. I am thinking of seeing if I can hire the seats for 24 hours, so we can go and buy our own.

Are there any other stores besides Target and Walmart that I should look at?
Do standard car seats fit in an SUV, or do they need extension straps to reach the anchor points?

Thanks

Jade

 

[sarahandhannahsmom]

Target and Walmart will be the least expensive. Babies R Us is another retailer that will sell lots of car seats. Anything you buy here will fit in an SUV comfortably. There will be lots of choices and prices ranges, so be prepared.

Have a wonderful trip.

 

[BlakeNJ]

Sounds like you are much better off purchasing your own rather than using the car company's seats. If you are like us, we always need extra car seats so I am sure once your purchase them, you'll have use for them back in Australia. Is there a reason why you don't want to check your car seats from home as baggage? They will put them in a plastic bag for you--I do this all the time. Or, purchase your own carring bags for less than the cost of a new car seat.

The above metioned stores are your best bet as far as price. I also did a google search for "car seats free shipping" and several sites came up. Might be worth checking out a few of those sites too.

Have a great trip!

 

[all4fun]

We are from Australia, and will be hiring a car for 3 weeks from LAX. DD will turn 3 in the last week of our vacation. DS will be 20 months. The car rental company has quoted about $280 to hire 2 car seats.

I have looked at Target and Walmart's websites, and it appears that I can purchase seats for around $50 each. I am thinking of seeing if I can hire the seats for 24 hours, so we can go and buy our own.

Are there any other stores besides Target and Walmart that I should look at?
Do standard car seats fit in an SUV, or do they need extension straps to reach the anchor points?

Thanks

Jade

Hi, I think Target or Walmart are probably good places to look. If you post back with your childrens weight and torso height (seated, from bum to top of shoulder) I can give you some specific recommendations. I'm not a tech but I am a car safety advocate and know quite a bit about the car seats available. If you want to get advice from a CPST, there are a few on this board so hopefully one will post, but the best site to visit is www.car-seat.org forums OR the babycenter.com car safety tips site HERE.

As far as the car seats fitting, most seats will fit most cars...some may have a better fit than others. You don't need any extension straps or anything. I don't know how seats work in Australia, but here in the US, you can either use the vehicle seatbelt, OR the LATCH straps. LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. A similar system in Europe is called ISOFIX. Your rental vehicle will have the lower anchors to hook the tether straps too and usually this is the easiest way to get a good install in the vehicle. This site explains LATCH: http://www.thecarseatlady.com/vehicles/the_latch_system_9.html in case you're not familiar with it.

If you want to bring the seats you use at home, they should work here. You could buy a car seat bag to bring them over in (or use on the plane if allowed). Not knowing much about what kind of seats are available in Australia though, I don't know about compatibilty issues. But if you can use a seatbelt in your car there to install one, then you should be able to do the same here.

hth

 

[LilGMom]

If you want to rent a car seat try doing a Google search for "car seat rental in orlando florida" and it should give you some options that are a lot less expensive than the car rental company.

 

[tanyaandallie]

I agree about posting on the bbc board. It's the best place for great car seat info. One they recommend a ton is the Cosco Scenera. It's only $40 and assuming your 20 mos old is not way larger than the avg. 20 mos old, it would be a great and cheap option. It might also fit your other child but you would have to measure his torso height to be sure. I am actually thinking of buying the Scenera for our trip for my 2 year old.

 

[Nanu57v]

Also, consumer reports has free access to its carseat ratings, so you can find an inexpensive and real safe carseat. (consumerreports.org)


ETA: Oops, I tried to find the link, and the carseat ratings AREN'T free anymore. But this site has some info, though not as easy or complete : http://www.nhtsa.gov/cps/cssrating/

 

[Jade+3]

Thankyou for your replies - I was not expecting to get so much info.

To answer a couple of your questions (I haven't figured out how to quote yet):

We were not going to bring our seats from home for a couple of reasons. The main reason is that I do not trust the airline not to damage them, as there is no way to be sure that they have not had anything heavy placed on top of them in the cargo hold of the aircraft. Our seats are also expensive ($350 each).

I have looked at the websites recommended by all4fun (thankyou - very interesting info). Our seats have a tether strap, that attaches to the top anchor point. The base of the seat is secured by threading the seatbelt through the back of the seat.

We are not travelling until November, so when it gets closer I will measure and weigh the kids so I can get an idea of what I am looking for. Both kids are a little below average in both height and weight.

Car seats (and deciding if we should bring 2 strollers, or the double pram) have been the biggest decisions I have had to make for this holiday. Thanks again for all your info.

Jade

 

[all4fun]

We are not travelling until November, so when it gets closer I will measure and weigh the kids so I can get an idea of what I am looking for. Both kids are a little below average in both height and weight.

Car seats (and deciding if we should bring 2 strollers, or the double pram) have been the biggest decisions I have had to make for this holiday. Thanks again for all your info.

Jade

Glad to be of help. I would agree w/ a prev poster who recommended the Cosco Scenera w/5-pt harness linked HERE for your younger dc. Since you say they are both on the smaller side, it might work for both but will probably definitely work for your younger dc. It harnesses to 40lbs (approx 18kg) and the top harness slots are 14.5" (36.8 cm) tall. Because of the low top harness height, many kids outgrow this seat by age 3.5yrs so it may or may not also work for your older dc. If not, then something like the Evenflo Chase here might be a better choice for your older child. Same f/fing weight limit of 40lbs, but top slots are about 17" so it works better for taller/longer torso'd kids. I could give you some other options but I think those are probably the lowest cost ones. hth.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi Jade+3
We are also from Australia and travelling in November for 4 weeks. We went to LAX about 18months ago and spent a fortune on hiring a car seat. This time I'm just popping into Walmart and picking one up for the time we are there and will just leave it when we come home.
I've also bought a new stroller for the trip. Something that gives a bit of shade but is light to carry around and a basket at the bottom and lies all the way back for her to sleep if she wants to. I picked it up at ToysRUs on Saturday on special for $99.00. And guess what, its a Disney one. We are also staying at Windsor Hills and the villa owner is supplying another stroller for us as well. Our oldest will be 5 this trip but they get tired and found last time at Disneyland, even her 5 yr old cousin needed the stroller. It cost a fortune hiring one everyday.

 

[Jade+3]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. It will be so much easier to go to Walmart, and know what I am looking for. I am surprised at how cheap they are, compared to the prices we pay here.

PrincessBelle39 - are you just going to leave the seat in the rental car when you drop it off? I don't think I will bother bringing the seats home, as they will probably be illegal. I was thinking of picking up a stroller at Walmart too. We have a Phil and Teds e3 and I am not sure that I want to leave it unattended at Disneyland.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Jade, I wouldn't worry too much about leaving the stroler unattended. I know there are stories of strollers being taken, but I think for the most part they are safe. We took our Maclaren double in November and never had a problem. However, you can get a cheap one at Walmart and you won't have to lug yours on the plane. It won't be as wonderful and comfy as the one you have, though.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. It will be so much easier to go to Walmart, and know what I am looking for. I am surprised at how cheap they are, compared to the prices we pay here.

PrincessBelle39 - are you just going to leave the seat in the rental car when you drop it off? I don't think I will bother bringing the seats home, as they will probably be illegal. I was thinking of picking up a stroller at Walmart too. We have a Phil and Teds e3 and I am not sure that I want to leave it unattended at Disneyland.

I don't think you'll have a problem with your P&T. It's a fantastic stroller to use in the parks as well.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Yes, we will just leave our car seat in the car when we drop it off. Even if we have to pay $50 to buy one, thats only $12.50 per week. I don't want to take one from home, its hard enough with all the other luggage. My kids are bigger than yours (the youngest will have just turned 3) so all we need is a booster seat. Last time we went...(we did 3weeks in California DL for a week and then drove to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Yosemite) we rented and admittedly the seat was a really good one, but was also really expensive.
We also had no issues leaving our pram in DL. Even the rented one was always there when we came off something which I thought was pretty good. It would have been so easy for someone to walk off with it when it looked exactly like all the others.
Would love to hear about your plans Jade+3. There is so much that goes into planning such a big trip from here.

 

[Jade+3]

Its good to know that my pram should be ok. I had read a few threads about strollers being stolen, so DH was a little hesitant to take it. It is hard enough pushing one stroller in a crowd, let alone two.

Our itinerary is much like your previous trip PrincessBelle39. We have 3 weeks, starting in LA, then Vegas, San Diego and Anaheim. That leaves us with a week until we fly home from San Francisco. I am not sure which route we will take to San Francisco and we are also undecided about Yosemite, as it will be winter.
I had to play around with the itinerary a bit, as we arrive Thanksgiving week and did not want to go to Disneyland when there would be high crowds.
I agree that it is hard to plan some things from here. I have booked our airfares with Qantas, but am doing everything else myself as the prices travel agents have quoted have been really high.
This will be my third trip to the states, but first time with kids. Last time I was pregnant and had terrible morning sickness all day. I would like to do WDW in a few years when the kids are older. Its a pity it costs so much to get there!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Sounds like you will have a fantastic time. Our trip last time was also our third trip but first with kids. But we also did it with the rest of the family - 13 in all. My kids were 3 and 11 months and their 3 cousins 5,6 and 9.

We stayed 3 nights in LAX, 7 nights Anaheim, 4 nights Las Vegas and then the group split up. My mum, dad and brother went across to North Carolina and my sister and family came home. Thats when we drove up to San Francisco, across to Yosemite and through Death Valley to Las Vegas again. The drive was absolutely amazing and the kids were really good with it. We just had lots of stops. Yosemite was one of my favourite parts of the trip. But we were there in September so it was a different time of the year to when your going.

We have also done everything ourself rather than a package through a travel agent. We are coming home through London this time and leave boxing day having spent Christmas Day in Walt Disney World. We leave here 28 November. Flights are booked with Qantas and we have rented a house in Windsor Hills. We are doing the big group thing as well. I just love this planning bit.

I thought about buying a stroller at Walmart aswell. In fact that was my original plan as I didn't want to have to take it on the plane. I'm trying to limit the luggage. The house we are staying in is supplying a stroller but we need two in WDW and as we need one for London now I thought I may as well just take one with me.