Talk to me about car seats

[Sazuburns]

We are planning a visit to WDW this summer, and we will have our two sons (aged 8 and 10) and a baby. My 10 year old is tall enough to travel without a booster, and we can easily bring a booster cushion for our 8 year old, but the baby will be around 18 months. At home we use a Concord Ultimax convertible car seat, and I anticipate her still being rear facing in it as she is quite petite. However, it's probably the heaviest car seat in the world, and not really designed for taking out and about.

Has anyone hired a car seat with a hire car? Tell me your experiences, good or bad.

Does anyone take their own car seat with them? Again, experiences please, especially regarding a good fit in American cars.

How about buying a car seat out there? We could get an airport transfer, then I could send dh to Target/Walmart/wherever in a taxi to buy a car seat.

The other option would be to buy a second car seat in the UK. I've considered the Kiddy Infinity Pro because it scores highly on Which?, is lightweight and looks like it would fit most cars.

Any other options that I haven't thought of?

Thanks!

Sarah

 

[janeyb]

Hi there,
We have been taking Dsiney holidays with our daughters 18 months apart for the last 4 years (our eldest is now 5), so I know this problem very well!!!

The first time we hired a seat and both said NEVER again. Of course it's entirely up to you , and I'm sure others have done so and have been happy, but for me it just wasn't worth the worry. First off they are totally differect than the ones that we have here in the UK and the car hire staff offer no help in fitting them. We fitted it but it was SO lose and moved all over the place. We were worried we had fitted it wrongly so asked several American parents to check for us and we had fitted it correctly.

Following that trip we have taken our own at the expense of clothes!! We have always used First Choice/Thomson and sometimes ground staff say, that's OK we won't include in luggage allowence other staff have included them!!! We have always managed fine though and that's with 2 large/heavy Maxi Cosi seats, I bought travel bags for them, they are like back packs so it's easier at the airport when I'm pushing 2 pushchairs at the same time and my husband wheels the trolly with the 2 cases and other car seat....quite a skill ....throw in a couple of tired young children having tantrums and we're good to go!!!

If I were you, I'd buy a UK car seat and take it out with me or take the one that you already have. Ours have always been absolutely fine as checked luggage and never been damaged. You check them in at a differnt desk for fragile items and they label them with fragile tags.

Wallmart is another option but I would only have been happier buying a larger carseat there (age 3/4 yrs upards) as the stage 2 (?) seats in my opinion aren't up to the same standard as in Europe. You would probably be OK buying a rear facing seat though.

Gosh, I hope this hasn't put you off or confused you!! Save yourself time/money (they're quite expensive to hire) and give yourself peace of mind and take one with you.

Have a great trip,
Jane.

 

[Sazuburns]

I thought that might be the case with hire car seats.

Where did you get the travel bags from? That's definitely worth looking at.

Sarah

 

[janeyb]

We got the; 'Sunshine kids car seat travel bag' - £13.65.

www.babysecurity.co.uk

Hope this helps.
Jane.

 

[taylor3297]

We have rented a car when our dd was young (she was 5 months old) and requested a car seat so we wouldn't have to take ours with us on the plane. When we picked up the car, the car seat was already installed correctly (no moving around). So it may depend on the company your rent your car from.

 

[janeyb]

Taylor3297 - I can imagine that the stage 1 car seats (for small babies) are absolutely fine as similar if not identical to what we have here, but we had hired stage 2 (next size up), which was a completely different kettle of fish and a lot less secure unfortunatly. Also, like you say it depends on the car hire company.

 

[Sazuburns]

Yes, it is a stage 1 seat (9 months -4 years) that we need, not a stage 0/0+ infant carrier.

It probably depends on the hire company too though - which one did you use taylor3297?

 

[buzz for boys]

I would definatly say take your own!!
On our trip last year my dd was just over 2 buts shes very small for her age so didnt meet the weight mimimum for a high back booster and we have a very heavy car seat for her too !! So we went into halfords and bought a lightweight high bak booster with the harness attached - it was £35 in the sale and it was fab!!! soething like this one
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_762573_langId_-1_categoryId_165763
I believe ( please do check!!) that at 18 months plus the main thing they need is their own harness and the weight mimimum is only when you are using an adult seat belt as a restraint!! That was the info i was told by the halfords advisor anyway !!
The only thing i didnt like was it didnt have the recline option but for the purpouse of thetrip it was fab!!

Im hoping this has made sense to you!!

 

[Elise79]

We have a second car seat that we take with us.

Would never hire one as they are not allowed to show you how to fit them and after a long flight I just want the seat in the car quickly.

I am happy with our seats and know how they work and fix. I always take a spare (leaving one in the car at the airport) incase something happens to it on the way home as we would be stuck at the airport without a car seat! On the way out we could hire one until we could buy a new one so not such an issue - I just worry about getting stuck at Gatwick!

 

[Sazuburns]

Thanks for the advice - I think I'm leaning towards buying a second seat. I'll have to find one that's suitable, possibly one of the 1-2-3 stage seats like the one buzz mentioned.

 

[Clare D]

We hired one for Joe when he was 2 and like others on here we just got the seat with no installation instructions and it was filthy.
This time for Owen we took our own and it was fine. It meant that when we were picked up by family in Chicago we had our own seat and when we got to Orlando we had no issues on how to fit a hire car seat. We had 3 flights and each time the car seat arrived safe and sound.

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

We used Alamo to rent a car last summer - our daughter was 9 months old and had just gone into a forward facing seat at home. We rented a seat, it turned out to be a Graco one and whilst we were not offered assistance in fitting it, there was a full instruction manual included that meant fitting the seat did not take long and we were very happy with the security of the seat.

 

[Sazuburns]

Thanks - I'll look at Alamo.

 

[Alibaba]

Is it ok if i jump on this thread and ask a little question rather than start a very similar thread of my own.
I have a very small 2 year old (will be three when we travel next) and when we went in march he didn't have his own seat (sat on our lap) and we put his stage 2 car seat in the hold.
This year when we go he will have his own seat, would i be able to still put a car seat and pushchair in the hold like before or would i have to take a little booster on the plane? Does that make sense?
Thanks
Ali

 

[Sazuburns]

I think it depends on who you are flying with. I know that Virgin has its own 'booster seats' for toddlers who have their own seat, but some airlines allow you to take a stage 1 car seat (the sort with a 5-point harness, age 9mths-4years) onto the plane and use that on the seat, as long as it is the sort that can fasten with just the lap belt. If he's 3 and small he will still need a car seat with a harness if you get a car when you get there.

However, I don't think you have to use a booster of any sort on the plane.

 

[Alibaba]

Thanks, didn't realise Virgin did little booster things for the flights, am i right in assuming although DS gets a full luggage allowance we will still be able to put car seat in hold? I also don't fancy idea of renting one, his expensive one was fine when it went in hold in march, so think i will risk this again.

Ali

 

[stkf]

I am just back and we rented from Alama at a cost of $9 a day. The staff were actually pretty good -even though it was 1 in the morning - and gave us some "advice" on how to fit it. It was very secure.

I have previously taken my own car seat but was told that in the event of any accident ( god forbid) you are not insured if you use a UK car seat in the US? Anybody else heard this?