Faa approved car seat?

[Minnesota!]

We are going to WDW in 38 days WOO HOO! Anyway, I decided to get my 19 month old a seat on the plane. Now I need a FAA approved car seat. We need to buy him a new one anyway for his nanny's car...

We want something cheap (under $100) but safe. And of course, FAA approved.

Any advice?

Thanks!

 

[MegaDisney]

Cosco Scenera:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8054497

Now, it does only have a 40 pound weight limit, but for the price it is great for airplane travel. Nice and lightweight.

I'm sure some of the other knowledgable mommies will chime in with some suggestions too.

 

[Sirrani]

What are you using now? Most car seats for kids that age are FAA approved. My favorite seat for flying with the is the very inexpensive Cosco Scenera. It's under $50, very light weight (which is great for the airport) and easy to install on planes and cars.

 

[all4fun]

I agree, Cosco Scenera, which is a very basic but light weight seat. Rear-faces to 35#, Fwd faces to 40lbs. Height-wise, fits children until they have about a 15" torso (some kids outgrow these seats by age 3 to 3-1/2yrs old fyi). This seat usually requires a chunk of pool noodle or tightly rolled towel when installing it rear-facing. For $45-50 though, it's not a bad deal. You just will probably need to replace it with a bigger 5pt harness seat down the road.

Another option that is a little bit plusher, and also EPP foam lined, is the Safety 1st Avenue. This seat has the same limits as the Scenera except the top slots are an inch or so higher, so kids will last a little longer in it height wise. This seat also may be a little easier to install.

If you want something that will last longer, you might also consider the Evenflo Triumph ADvance (rf to 35#, ff to 50#), the First Years True Fit (rf to 35#, ff to 65#), the Sunshine Kids Radian65 or 80 (# denotes ffing limit, both r/f to 35# and have 18" top harness slots. Tall seat that may be difficult to install r/fing in small spaces like airplanes & smaller vehicles, though). There is also the bigger Britax convertibles - Marathon, Decathlon, Boulevard. All of these seats will last your LO until about age 5 or possibly longer since the top slots are also at least 17" tall. Of course since all of these seats fit bigger kids, they are also going to be a little bulkier and heavier for carrying through airports. The Radian does fold for travel though.

hth!

 

[all4fun]

Also, here's the link to the FAA child safety seat page
http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/
You might want to check your current seats and see if they have a sticker on the side that says this

* Make sure your CRS is government approved and has "This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft" printed on it. Otherwise, you may be asked to check the CRS as baggage.

hth

 

[NotUrsula]

Note that no carseat actually SAYS "FAA approved". The wording of the required sticker is set by Federal law, and this is what it actually says:

“THIS RESTRAINT IS CERTIFIED FOR USE IN MOTOR VEHICLES AND AIRCRAFT” in red lettering.

The label is normally on the outside of the seat shell, on one of the sides.

 

[KristinU]

When my DS was small we had a spare Graco Comfortsport for travel - it was easy to install, lightweight, comfortable, and inexpensive. When he outgrew that we bought a Sunshine Kids Radian for travel (plus daily use in one of our cars). We really like it, but its more spendy than a Graco Comfortsport or Cosco Scenara and the OP's criteria was under $100.

 

[Minnesota!]

Thanks guys!

I had actuallyasked this once before and wrote down the Cosco one but misplaced my post it note! I couldn't remember the name!

Going to Walmart this week!!

 

[LastminuteLouLou]

I will be flying with a 22 lb. 19 month old and a 38 lb. 3 year old. They both have seats. Do I have to have them in carseats on the plane? Do any airlines supply these for you? What about the safety harnesses I've read about?

I want to be safe, but our current carseat is SUPER heavy and I'd really rather not lug it around. We would end up buying a new one.

Thanks for any insight...
Beth

 

[Bren's Mom]

Good for you for having purchased your little one their own seat!

Having a car seat or a CARES harness for them makes it much safer for them. The lap belt is easily removable and doesn't fit small children well. And kids feel secure in their car seats, they tend to be calmer, sleep better, etc. when securely tucked in. If your seats are too heavy to take I'd suggest a Scenera for the little one. Your older child it's a judgment call. We've flown twice in the last 6 mos with ds. In June he was in a car seat on the way there, in the plane belt only on the way home. This wasn't ideal but he did fine. However, he's an easy going kid and loves to fly plus it was a short flight. If he was a more high energy kid or wasn't crazy about flying this wouldn't have worked out so well. This month we had a CARES harness for him and that made me feel better about the flight and he was perfectly comfortable. But your little one I'd say definitely a car seat, without question.

ETA: NO, airlines do NOT supply seats or harnesses.

 

[Minniemouse07]

Another slightly pricier option if your child is already forward facing is the Graco Nautilus. It can harness to 65lbs before becoming a high back or low back booster seat.

The Nautilus is FAA approved when being used w/ the harness (not as a booster).

They are selling for around $150 at Walmart/Target and a few other stores.

The harness slots are really nice and high, my 7.5yo just outgrew the harness this month!

It is a bit heavier than the Scenera, but you would be able to use the seat until they don't need one anymore!

 

[cshelzy]

I also vote for Cosco we just used it and it worked great
we used our belt from our shopping cart cover to attach it
to the back of our umbrella stroller for easy transport in the
airports

 

[PrincessPoohsMom]

Just an FYI, we used our Britax Marathon (DD's regular car seat) for travel but found it just had her sitting up so high, any time she even twitched she kicked the seat in front of her. She's pretty tall for her age, though (99th percentile from the very beginning). For our upcoming trip I went ahead and invested in a CARES harness and will just check the car seat. We do a fair amount of traveling so I figured we'd get our money's worth (Amazon sells them for $65). I'm soooooo looking forward to not lugging the car seat through security. And I know DD will be tickled pink to sit in a "grown-up" seat.

 

[Minniemouse07]

We used ds' Britax Boulevard (about the same size as the Marathon) when we flew last year. He was fine rear facing and we got around the issue of the person in front of him not being able to recline by putting dd (6.5yo) there! She was fine w/o the seat reclining.

We looked into a CARES harness but w/ a 44lb weight limit, ds would hit that before we took another trip by air.... so it wasn't worth it.

Plus.. I am not comfortable checking a car seat. Too afraid it will be damaged or lost in the cargo hold!

We actually only took ds' Boulevard w/ us last year FOR the plane trip... we didn't need it once we landed since we used DME and WDW transportation while we were in Florida.