Getting my baby to Disneyland- I need your help!!

[ginnyhowes]

Hi everyone

My family and i are travelling to Disneyland in September from Australia and we really need your help.

I want to put my baby in a car seat on the plane as I know its the safest way for him to travel but unfortunately the airline we are travelling with will only allow american made child car seats on board.

I have searched the internet for an american site that will ship me a car seat but I can not find one anywhere and its driving me mad!!!

I was thinking that maybe I could buy one online and ship it to an american address and then have it sent to Australia but I don't know anyone in America!!

This is where you come in. Would anyone be willing to have the car seat mailed to them ( already paid for of course) and then post it to me in Australia. I will of course transfer the postage costs to you beforehand so you won't have to pay anything, you will just have to get it posted for me.

If anyone could do this then I would really appreciate it as I want my child to be as safe as possible.

If anyone has any info on any companies that do ship overseas then that would also be really useful to me.

Many thanks in advance for any help you can offer me

Nat

 

[jasy]

I can't help you out since I live in Canada but I find it very strange that they will only allow an American made car seat. Most airlines don't care where the seat is made so long as it is approved for airline use. (We use a Britax Marathon carseat and it is).

How old is your baby? If they are one year or older you could always get a CARES harness for them instead.

Another option if you do have to go with an American made car seat would be to check out ebay.

 

[Monkey Monkey]

I highly doubt that the flight attendants will check the country of manufacture on a carseat when you board the plane.

 

[3monkeys4me]

I am assuming that you are flying an american airline so you need a sticker that says your seat is FAA approved, is this correct? If so I can assure you FA as well as the gate agent will check to make sure you have the correct sticker.

I don't know if this is any help to you but I think some seats in NZ are FMVSS 213 compliant (American standards) as well as european standards. You might have an easier time finding a store that will ship to you from NZ. I do not know, however if they have the FAA approved sticker on the seat, I would definately try to call and ask first. I know the Cosco Scenera is sold there but I am not sure which others.

How old is you baby and how much does he weigh?

 

[annacali]

Maybe just getting more info on Australian approved child safety seats will help...they want you to have an FAA approved seat, but maybe you can insist on an similarly Australian government approved seat. Maybe you just need to point out the difference?


http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:STANDARD::pc=PC_91467

 

[Ariel224]

Hope I'm not breaking any posting rules by linking to another board, but you might want to post your question on this site as well. I'm sure the question of international travel has come up here several times and the experts here can help you find a workable solution.

 

[ginnyhowes]

Hi everyone

thans for responding so quickly.

Basically we are flying vaustralia and do not allow any australian made car seats as they require an anchor tether ( australia is the only country that requires this)

I know its seems ridiculous than an australian company wont allow an australian car seat but I have argued the point with them and they are adamant that the only car seat I can use is one that is FAA approved.

I was actually looking at the Cosco Scenara on american websites and didnt realise the NZ sold it too so will check that out.

Its so annoying as Qantas does accept other car seats and if I had known this I would have used them instead.

I did considor getting a Cares Restraint but apparently they are better suited to older kids ( 2 years and upwards) and tend to slip down alot on babies.

thanks again everyone

 

[emacat]

Maybe this is a silly suggestion, but have you tried ordering from Amazon.com (the U.S. one)? When I pulled up a Graco baby seat, it showed that it could be shipped to Australia, so I can't see why there would be a problem.

I order from the UK and other places on the Amazon sites for those countries, and never have a problem with international shipping, they not only ship here in the US, but also to numerous other countries.

 

[bnbheartdisney]

I think you may find it easier to search on eBay. Hope you're able to find what you are looking for!!!

 

[cypressmom]

How old is your baby? The Cosco Scenara is a good seat for travel as it's lightweight and easy to install. It's not the most comfortable or plush, but not a bad seat. If I'm correct, the Scenera rear faces to 34 inches, so if your baby is smaller he/she needs to be rear facing on the plane. If they are taller you can forward face.

 

[Monkey Monkey]

My bad! Obviously I have no experience with this, so I should have just kept my mouth shut!

Good luck OP, I hope you can find an easy solution!

 

[kailuagirl]

Wow, what a situation you are in.... not sure how to help you find one, I can't figure out why they would want an american made one, ghezz, how many are actually made here in the US??? Is it just the FAA approved sticker they want? That kinda makes more sense. Even here on Hawaiian Air they check the seat before they let you take it on to make sure it is approved for air travel. We have 2 car seats a Britax (not made in the US), it has the FAA sticker and we have a Safety First one (not sure where it's made), it also has the FAA sticker, this is the one we took on the plane. We had to remove the base according to the instructions to make it safe for a plane (I think???, can't remember). Good luck, you'll find something. Maybe double check the airlines website for more info intead of taking to someone on the phone and see if that helps.

How old is your baby? We had this red strap thing, don't know what it was cold that you could use when the baby was in your lap, it was a vest and baby wore it and it was secured to seatbeat.

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[bumbershoot]

If so I can assure you FA as well as the gate agent will check to make sure you have the correct sticker.

You're probably just talking about Australian planes, but in the States I've never once had a FA check or even look at DS's carseat, when he was using it on the plane.



kailuagirl, even if the carseat was made in the States, if it was made FOR Australia, or for Canada, etc, it has different features, weights, etc. So in Australia I guess they all are tethered (nice!), but Virgin doesn't have tether anchors (I was looking at a message board I found from googling, and this problem is as far back as '06 with Virgin Blue, when they told someone they would look into it), which makes it impossible to use properly, and I guess they've done their own risk/benefit analysis and have decided that it's not statistically worth it. (I love Virgin America but Virgin's owner in Europe is making me nervous with his "who cares about the Icelandic ash, we should be able to fly if we want to!" stance)


I wish you luck!

 

[kailuagirl]

sorry

 

[melbarkwith]

I don't have any answers for you, but just wanted to say good luck!

We totally LOVED flying VAustralia, so I hope once you get this sorted everything else is smooth sailing. (the flight attendants even washed my DD's clothes after she had thrown up everywhere, very much unexpected but greatly appreciated!)

 

[Tikestoublie]

Ginny -

Not sure if you have solved the carseat dilemma yet. If not I am in Oregon now, used to be Melbourne. If you still need a seat and can find one that can get here I would be happy to assist in its arrival to you. I remember how frustrating things like this could be when I moved to Melbourne with my toddler. Strange how some things can be so different. My DD was big enough when we moved and on subsequent flights that I did not use a carseat, but I can completely understand why you would want to.

I am hoping you can find one more local, but if not, please let me know. Can't remember if there is a local ebay or craigslist there, but it might be worth looking. Only say that because occasionally you might find someone local selling an American seat. I sold stuff over there and certain I can't be the only one.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Jules

 

[ginnyhowes]

Hey everyone

thank you so much for all your responses.- you guys are great !!!

I realised that I can also use a UK car seat and as we have family there, I am going to try and get one off ebay and get my rellies to send it to me

Also still investigating the new zealand option too.

Jules- thank you so much for your kind offer- hopefully I can get it sorted!

melbarkwith- glad you liked vaustralia !!!! Not really looking forward to it as we have the baby and also a nearly 3 year old but it will be worth it for the look on their faces when we get to Disneyland !!!!

And I will get over the trauma of the flight with a Monte Cristo !!!!!!

thanks again everyone

Nat

 

[ado121]

im in canada so if you find one in canada, i can mail it to you. no problem!

we were planning a wdw trip with an active 18 month old runner...needlesstosay we needed to purchase a 'harness' for her. they didnt sell them in canada (at that time) and i didnt trust ebay. so i contacted someone thru these boards in the usa and they went and bought one at their local walmart for me and mailed it to me. i paypaled them right away. it worked out really well.

i would love to payback the favor. granted i am in canada.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

My goodness what a mess ~ I bet your seats are safer than what we use here in the states! The Cosco Scenera is a great travel seat ~ be careful of eBay ~ unless it's a new seat, you don't know it history *has it been in a crash *mistreated/dropped??

You are so wise to have a seat for your little one ~ I'm sure it'll be a much more pleasant flight for all of you - it's gonna be a long one!

*BTW ~ I'm a former CPST *I haven't forgotten what I learned just haven't renewed - my kids are both still in a 5 point harness seat - 10/6

I too would be happy to ship you a seat, FYI the Scenera weighs about 10lbs ~ shipping weight from amazon.com

 

[ginnyhowes]

Disneymomma81 and ado121- THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

Actually I have finally solved the problem- found a company that ships stuff to Oz from america.

Not sure if allowed to put on here but here is the link coz I figure that someone else is likely to have the same problem as me at some point!!

www.priceusa.com.au


So hopefully in a couple of weeks I will have my Cosco Scenara !!! Now lets just hope the airline allow it ( they had better be prepared for one angry mama if they don't!!)