Car seat share

[Cant wait for Disney]

I've seen threads about passing along xmas trees to other dvcers-why not car seats? Here is our situation:
we are staying at Kidani for 11 days next month and will be renting a minivan. I do not trust rental car seats so we will be buying some from amazon (amazingly, cheaper than renting) and sending them down ahead of us. After our trip is over, we won't need the seats as our kiddos have their own at home (yes, we could bring ours along but i dont want to check the baby's and lug the convertible around). So my question is- would anyone who is arriving at akv on the 5th of dec. like/need 1 or 2 carseats? We can lug them home but i'd love to pass them on if any other disney lovers could use them. i know it's a long shot, but i thought i'd try!

 

[tjkraz]

That's very generous but I guess my thinking is it would be pretty hard to find someone who wouldn't need the car seats until they arrive at WDW. When we rent a car, we're picking-up at the airport. When our kids were car seat age, the seats would be needed immediately at MCO, Sanford, Tampa, etc.

How are you going to get to-and-from the airport with no car seats?

 

[Cant wait for Disney]

We have 5 adults so luckily 2 are going to get the van and drive in while the rest of us take Magical Express in with the kids. You're right though, that does make it tougher unless someone wanted to use that plan also

 

[tripletsmama]

We will be arriving at BCV on December 30. DS will be 5 months. We are taking magical express, but my brother lives in the area and will be spending some time with us. When we go out with him, our 2 families will be in brother and sister in laws cars, so a carseat will be needed! If you find someone who needs the carseat between December 5 and December 30, they could pass it along, or my brother could pick it up from AKV on the 5th. What size seat is it? Such a generous offer!!

 

[Fobgirl12]

I could totally use them. I will be there for. The 10-15th and staying at akv and be willing to pass them on. Will pm you for details.

 

[Cant wait for Disney]

private messages to you both!

 

[DisWitt]

I totally understand the car seat craziness and I think the rentals are a joke, too. Plus, those seats rarely get cleaned (should be sterilized between kids) and its not like they buy the good ($$$) Britax ones. That being said, do you really want to buy el cheapo car seats for the trip and risk something happening to your child? Really, the risk is open ANY time your child is in a car anywhere.

Why not pack your trusty, primo seat from home? That way, you have it for the ride to/from the airport on both sides. We have the "Gate Check" red car seat bag from Babies R Us and for <$20 it has been great. We take our seats out of the car at the airport and stack them in the bag, drawstring closed and tie it off, attach the luggage tag (all airlines must ship car seats for free) and pick it up at HNL or MCO or... Easy, ours, and free. Plus, you know how kids can be with anything "theirs". Their seats are a little piece of home comfort when far away.

 

[Cant wait for Disney]

Thanks for your thoughts diswitt! I have heard good things about those bags, but I just can't get past my fear of the baby's seat getting ruined on its way to the plane. As far as the new seats, we did our best to find a good price on seats that we trust are well built and have the qualifications to be completely safe. I agree with you- car seats aren't to be chosen lightly!

 

[KSL]

... I have heard good things about those bags, but I just can't get past my fear of the baby's seat getting ruined on its way to the plane. ...

I am reminded of the time I flew solo with my then-3-month old on a connecting flight to Houston. I gate checked her infant carseat and when I went to claim it for her to sleep in during the layover it was nowhere to be found. DOH! How did they lose it between the end of the jetway where I left it, and the luggage compartment of the plane? So then I stressed about that during the whole next flight. Landed in Houston and still not found. I couldn't leave the airport without it! The airline ended up loaning me one but it was filthy , and it was not an infant carseat, but one intended for older babies (mine had this insert padding for infants, anyway I digress). I looked at the agent like, are you serious, you expect me to put my beautiful, perfect baby in this disgusting thing!? And he just shrugged and said it was all they had. I ended up taking a t-shirt out of my luggage as sort of a liner and some padding for the carseat and we made it home OK but obviously I have been scarred by the experience! They did end up finding the carseat (someone had apparently tossed it -- it was in one of those nice carseat carry bags -- from the jetway down toward the luggage loaders but it got caught on a railing and no one realized so it was hanging there for hours before anyone found it...) and called me later that day to say it was being sent so I at least knew I didn't have to buy a new one. They delivered it to me 2 days later. I was so glad we had our own carseat back!

Now I'm sure the odds of something similar happening to you are nil, but still I can understand your not wanting to risk anything happening to your baby's seat!

 

[Cant wait for Disney]

oh my gosh KSL- that is exactly the kind of thing i imagine happening! at least i know now that i might not be over thinking it too much!

 

[quentina]

Another option...buy the car seat luggage bag as they fly free. You can get them for $20.00 of so.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Why not just use the carseats on the plane to help keep your children safe? The one time we flew with our son and he was small, we bought a seat and used his carseat. He was comfortable in his seat as he rode in it often.

 

[deltapilotwife]

I agree with Deb. Why don't you just use the new seats on the plane? This way you'l have them for the next trip as well. We bought an extra seat for my DD2 when we started flying w/ her at 6 months. We just use it for flying so that I don't have to worry about getting it in and out of the car. We have a go-go roller that attaches to it to roll it around the airport.

sorry to get on a soap box, but it always amazes me that the airlines won't allow you to have your purse or computer in your lap because they can go flying unexpectedly but it's ok to have your child in your lap or questionably secured in a regular seat.

 

[sskem96]

I am reminded of the time I flew solo with my then-3-month old on a connecting flight to Houston. I gate checked her infant carseat and when I went to claim it for her to sleep in during the layover it was nowhere to be found. DOH! How did they lose it between the end of the jetway where I left it, and the luggage compartment of the plane? So then I stressed about that during the whole next flight. Landed in Houston and still not found. I couldn't leave the airport without it! The airline ended up loaning me one but it was filthy , and it was not an infant carseat, but one intended for older babies (mine had this insert padding for infants, anyway I digress). I looked at the agent like, are you serious, you expect me to put my beautiful, perfect baby in this disgusting thing!? And he just shrugged and said it was all they had. I ended up taking a t-shirt out of my luggage as sort of a liner and some padding for the carseat and we made it home OK but obviously I have been scarred by the experience! They did end up finding the carseat (someone had apparently tossed it -- it was in one of those nice carseat carry bags -- from the jetway down toward the luggage loaders but it got caught on a railing and no one realized so it was hanging there for hours before anyone found it...) and called me later that day to say it was being sent so I at least knew I didn't have to buy a new one. They delivered it to me 2 days later. I was so glad we had our own carseat back!

Now I'm sure the odds of something similar happening to you are nil, but still I can understand your not wanting to risk anything happening to your baby's seat!

We had something similar happen to us too. We were returning home from WDW. DD1 was almost 2, and back then planes were never full, so it was easy to just book the window and aisle seats, and then put the child in the empty seat in the middle. We had a layover in Atlanta, but were supposed to stay on the same plane for the remainder of the trip. Sometime shortly before landing in ATL, a bird got sucked into the plane engine and they ended up having to get us a new plane to get us home, but they never transferred our luggage to the new plane. We got home and stood at baggage claim watching everyone else get their bags, and we had no luggage and no carseat! We were stuck at the airport until they loaned us a nasty carseat to take home, and about 2 days later they brought us our luggage and carseat and we returned the loaner. Carseat standards weren't very high in 1998, so I wasn't even worried about the safety so much as the disgusting stained cover!