Car seat ? in florida

[2thfairy]

We are going to florida this coming jan and are going to be renting a car.
This is not a disney trip this time we are going to be visiting my dh's grandparents on sanibel. We have never had to worry about car seats when we go to disney so this is new for us. Does anyone know the laws down there. We have a 5 yr old (40 lbs.) and a 2 yr old (30lbs.). We want to take the smallest seats possible since we will have to lug them thru the airport with our suitcases and the boys. Any help would be great!!

 

[lil mermaid]

Here is a link to the child safety seat laws in the various states http://www.iihs.org/laws/ChildRestraint.aspx

It looks as if your 5 year old won't need to be in a seat at all (which is crazy - especially if he only weighs 40 lbs.)

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you just use the seats that you use at home, regardless of the law? I mean, the laws of physics are the same in both states...just saying...

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Are you planning on using the carseats on the plane or gate-checking them?

I know I'll get poopoo'd for this as a bad mom that doesn't use carseats on a plane, but we bag-check our 2 seats in a large duffle and they don't charge us for that bag. This makes it easier on us to get through security with 2 kids and stroller - especially if I am travelling without a second adult to help.

My kids fly better without sitting in the carseats, because they get to actually cuddle up to sleep against us. Makes the 5 hour non-stop red-eye flight to Orlando much better.

 

[mom2aredhead]

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you just use the seats that you use at home, regardless of the law? I mean, the laws of physics are the same in both states...just saying...

Because depending on the seats they have in their cars at home, they're a pain in the a$$ to lug through the airport with kids and suitcases in tow.

I'd recommend this one for the little one

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8054497 - comes in it's own clear plastic travel bag

and this one

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5430281
for the older one - it folds and will be easier to travel with.

Cosco (same manufacturer as above one) also has a belt positioning booster that comes in a travel bag. I think it's this one
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8342859
but I'm not 100% positive.

My 5 year old son is still happily strapped down in his Wizard at home where we do 90% of our driving, but there's no way I'm lugging that beast through the airport.

 

[princessmom29]

Are you planning on using the carseats on the plane or gate-checking them?

I know I'll get poopoo'd for this as a bad mom that doesn't use carseats on a plane, but we bag-check our 2 seats in a large duffle and they don't charge us for that bag. This makes it easier on us to get through security with 2 kids and stroller - especially if I am travelling without a second adult to help.

My kids fly better without sitting in the carseats, because they get to actually cuddle up to sleep against us. Makes the 5 hour non-stop red-eye flight to Orlando much better.

I think this is perfectly fine. Personally I think for an older child 3 and up it is a little over the top to bring a car seat for the plane. Turbulance could potentially be bad, but really I have flown a lot and i just can't see bringing a car seat just for that. The odds are really slim that you could get turbulannce bad enough that just belting them in the seat wouldn't be enough.

 

[AalliaA]

It is definitely not easy to travel with two kids and worry about lugging the car seats around. We just got back from our trip so the memory is still very fresh in my mind. We don't use the car seats on the plane, the seats are tight enough as it is, to try to wrestle thru the aisles with car seats. Our car seats were checked in with our luggage. Graco makes a bag that is the perfect size for this sort of thing, our high back booster and backless booster fit perfectly along with other miscellaneous items that didn't fit in the suitcase.

If you prefer not to carry your car seats with you, there is always the option of adding it to your rental car (for a fee, of course).

 

[mom2aredhead]

It is definitely not easy to travel with two kids and worry about lugging the car seats around. We just got back from our trip so the memory is still very fresh in my mind. We don't use the car seats on the plane, the seats are tight enough as it is, to try to wrestle thru the aisles with car seats. Our car seats were checked in with our luggage. Graco makes a bag that is the perfect size for this sort of thing, our high back booster and backless booster fit perfectly along with other miscellaneous items that didn't fit in the suitcase.

If you prefer not to carry your car seats with you, there is always the option of adding it to your rental car (for a fee, of course).

Alamo charges $49 for the week per carseat. I don't know about the other companies. It's a preference if you want to spend the $49 on not having to lug your seat around the airport, or $49 on a smaller seat that you can use down the road but will then have to carry.
I used the Alamo seats once. For the trip to/from the airport and the occasional drive around WDW property it was fine, but I wouldn't trust it if I was going to be doing a lot of driving in/around the Florida highways.

 

[2thfairy]

The reason we are not taking our seats from home is because they are huge! There is not way we could carry those and all our luggage. I don't think they would even fit real well in an airplane seat.

Thank yoy mom2aredhead.. I will check those seats out. We need to get new seats anyways so I'm sure this will help.

I have thought about renting seats when we rent a car but we may only rent the car to get where we are going and then borrow some friends of my dh's grandparents while we are down there. So we would still need seats.

Thank you for all your help...I just want to make the airport situation as easy as possible and the car rides safe and legal for the kiddos.

 

[all4fun]

The Cosco Scenera 5pt is a good but basic seat and great for travel because it's fairly light weight. I would worry that it may already be too small for your 3yr old though. My ds outgrew this seat by height at that age (tops of shoulders past the top harness slots). Another seat that you might consider for travel is the Evenflo Chase, which is a fwd facing only 5pt seat that harnesses to 40lbs, top slots are a couple of inches taller than the Scenera's, and it also converts to a poor booster seat (due to closed belt guides). It is a less expensive seat though and fairly light and narrow too. If your ds is on the longer torso'd side like my ds was at that age, you might also look into that seat.

The Compass is a recommended booster on car seat forums. You will probably have to check it unless it folds up small enough to fit in the overhead bin (you might want to check the airline website for carry on measurement info).

The Cosco Pronto is less expensive but keep in mind it does not have a reinforced back and it requires the full support of the vehicle seat behind the child. It's been a while since I checked this out IRL, but I believe the wording on the sticker says it is outgrown by height once the midpoint of the childs head (ie, tips of ears) are past the top of the vehicle seat back. Chances are your rental car will have tall enough seat backs but this is the reason I would skip it because you just don't know when you'll have compatibility issues due to a lack of a vehicle headrest.

FWIW, I was always very leary of checking my car seats because you never know if a 50lbs bag (or several) will be placed or thrown on top of it, and what kind of unseen damage that could potentially do to the seat. We always used ours on board the plane and ds always seemed very comfortable in his car seat at that age.

Edit to add: here is a link to what the Florida State Hwy patrol recommends for car seat use in Florida: http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/CPS/4Steps.htm
hth