Car Seat-Transfers, getting around with kids

[2010_cruisers]

re: Do we bring car seats, or just take a bus, transfers...please help!

 

We need some ideas about how people get around with younger kids (ages 18 months and 4 years)....What do you before, during, and after with transporting children. Please tell us your advise and best ideas how to make this a great experience for us all...thank you.

[6rugrats]

This issue has probably been discussed hundreds of times on this forum. You can do a quick search and bring up many threads.

 

There is no "better" way; choose what will work for you and your family. If you don't want to carry car seats and boosters, take buses. If you don't mind, take cabs. Just don't travel in a car without a child restraint system.

[INeedAMaiTai]

re: Do we bring car seats, or just take a bus, transfers...please help!

 

We need some ideas about how people get around with younger kids (ages 18 months and 4 years)....What do you before, during, and after with transporting children. Please tell us your advise and best ideas how to make this a great experience for us all...thank you.

 

Those are the same ages of my kids, and we traveled with them last year, and plan to travel again in December. With the youngest, we had a fold up travel carseat which worked really well, and we are planning on carrying around a booster for our four year old. You don't want to bring your bulky carseat because it'll just take up room in the cabin. On bus rides, we just made sure that the kids were sitting with an adult or on their lap; but van/shuttle rides, we made sure to use restraints.

[Mom2B&Z]

This issue has probably been discussed hundreds of times on this forum. You can do a quick search and bring up many threads.

 

There is no "better" way; choose what will work for you and your family. If you don't want to carry car seats and boosters, take buses. If you don't mind, take cabs. Just don't travel in a car without a child restraint system.

A quick search (if the search function is working :)) will yield a great debate on this topic that often occurs on this forum!

There are several of us who are well versed in travelling with young children and car seats, so if you have practical questions we're more than happy to answer them.

I won't travel without my Britax Marathon, which by most standards is a "bulky" car seat, but can be installed anywhere, which is why I love it. It also fits on the floor of the cabin closet when not in use, so we`ve never experienced the ``hassle`` of storing a car seat in a cabin (or hotel room for that matter). This will be our last year with a car seat, but honestly I don't regret for a minute carting them through airports, installing in taxis etc throughout the world. If your 4yo will sit in a booster and stay sitting in the proper position, you should be fine, but try it before you go.

Personally I don't let my kids travel unrestrained, even on a bus, unless they are over 4 yrs old, but that's me. I'm not comfortable with the protection offered by the bus to children at that developmental stage.

If you have any other questions, ask away ;)

[2010_cruisers]

So, thank u all so far for the info.....I am but curious about these "old up travel carseats"....can any brand or web site be brought to out attn. Also, which booster would you recommended. thanks once again.

[jlrn366419]

I'm leaning toward taking a carseat and umbrella stroller since I don't want to be totally dependant on shuttles/busses or vans and then have to wait for them to fill up before they depart. If a toddler is unhappy, no one wants to wait any longer than necessary lol. One idea I have in mind is to do the beach in the morning and lug the carseat off the ship and onto the beach. After the beach, return to the ship for lunch/rest/freshen up etc. Take the stroller out for a walk to the area near the port for shopping and sightseeing. This isn't an option for all ports (ie Freeport) but for many places it will work. I'm not 100% decided yet but it seems like it will give us the most freedom and peace of mind.

If you don't want to take a carseat and flying is part of your trip, the CARES harness is an option for the flight portion. Google it to read about if you aren't familiar.

P.S. A lot of the threads that mention carseats are painful to read because they turn into angry debates just like on parenting message boards. Someone suggested I do a search when I posted a message about carseats and after I did I wanted to beat my head against the wall.

[2010_cruisers]

We are very thankful all of logical, caring responses, lots to ponder. BTW - we r not flying in, we r just walking onto a ferry and then off of it, this why we wanted 1-2 less things to lug around....

[jac1976]

If you are sure the vehicle will have a top tether attachment, one seat to look into for the 18 month old is the Safety 1st Go Hybrid. We have the older version of this seat and use it as our travel seat whenever we go somewhere and rent a car. It folds nicely into a bag that you can carry over your shoulder. However, it is important to note that you MUST have a top tether for it to work as a car seat. It folds up b/c there is no hard shell. The back is just soft fabric. It is kept upright by tethering the head support. It is also forward facing only.

 

For your 4 year old, you can either use the Go, or you can look into getting a Safe Rider Travel Vest which is also age appropriate for a 4 year old and can fold up into a backpack.

 

For me, it would really depend on how much driving we were doing. We were on a Caribbean Cruise in March and I didn't use restraints. We were on a bus to the port and short taxi rides on the island. In August we are going on an Alaska cruise and for one excursion will be driving along a highway for a while, so we will be bringing a seat for my DD (3.5 years) and our tour guide will have a booster for DS (6 years old).

[Mom2B&Z]

In terms of rf/ff car seats, the Sunshine Kids Radian folds and is very travel-friendly. The two things I don't like about it is the foot that's used for rf installations, and (for all non-Britax seats) is that if you have a non-locking seatbelt (i.e. no ALR) you need to use a locking clip. Quite frankly, I've been a car seat tech for 3 years and I still find them hard to use.

In terms of booster seats, I prefer the ones that allow you to adjust the shoulder strap portion of the seatbelt. There are many low-back booster models that have this feature, I'm not going to list off any because you have many more in the US than we do in Canada ;) Myself I have an Evenflo low-back that does this, or I can take the top off my Graco Turbo booster and use the bottom with the adjustor.

In terms of minimizing the "stuff" to be carried on, you're actually lucky that you're not dealing with flights and airports. If you can find a way to carry the car seat (DH carries it slung over his shoulder with a carry strap fastened to the LATCH bars), the booster should fit into a duffel-type bag and you should be set. Planning who is going to carry what helps immensely!

 

So, thank u all so far for the info.....I am but curious about these "old up travel carseats"....can any brand or web site be brought to out attn. Also, which booster would you recommended. thanks once again.

[2010_cruisers]

btw, We r in Canada.......more importantly, I called a cab company in Seattle, and tr hey said...since they are a commercial vehicle, children did not have to use car seats........................is that really the case,. is that safe even

[DarraK]

I've always felt more comfortable buying airline seats for my kids so they could be sure to use their car seats and having their car seats with us. I either bring an umbrella stroller or buy a cheap on at our destination. It is more hassle and expense to buy seats and bring car seats but I really feel better doing it that way. We have been hassled a few times particularly on Air France where apparantly using a car seat on a plane is unheard or.

[2010_cruisers]

In no means ever would we NOT bring car seats, if we were flying i, but all we are doing is walking off a ferry and then heading to the cruise port - this is our dilemma For 1 way, 1 trip do we lug 3 car seats or not.....anyways....this is what this thread is ALL about....just trying to get feedback.,....on that, and thanks everyone...

[jac1976]

btw, We r in Canada.......more importantly, I called a cab company in Seattle, and tr hey said...since they are a commercial vehicle, children did not have to use car seats........................is that really the case,. is that safe even

 

It is true. Car seats are not required in commercial vehicles. However, it is not safe, and you do take a risk. That being said, if it were me and I was looking at a 10 minute taxi ride, I would not bother bringing 2 car seats.

 

ETA: Another option, although I'm sure it will be an expensive one, is to call a car service. They will often have car seats available and can have them installed when they pick you up.

[Mom2B&Z]

The laws around using car seats in occasional situations vary, but as cruisinmama06 says, the laws of physics don't change because you're on vacation or in a taxi.

My bottom line is this: can you live with yourself if your child is injured or even killed because you didn't bring a car seat with you? Some people are ok with this situation, others are not. You have to be comfortable with the decision you make in this situation. I couldn't do it, so we lug around car seats for 5 minute drives. A bit of planning can make the whole process of carrying around car seats easier to manage, and honestly we only have to do it for such a short time that why shouldn't we, KWIM?

Some of the US posters suggest buying inexpensive seats to travel with, but really in Canada the seats are too expensive for most of us to do this with any regularity. I'd travel with the Sunshine Kids Radian, any Britax product or the Trufit; the latter two have built-in lock offs which I find invaluable when travelling.

Asking a car service to bring car seats is another can of worms. The seats can be expired, forgotten, not installed correctly, lacking manuals for you to install/use properly etc. If you're considering using a seat, bring your own so you know how to use them properly.

 

It is true. Car seats are not required in commercial vehicles. However, it is not safe, and you do take a risk. That being said, if it were me and I was looking at a 10 minute taxi ride, I would not bother bringing 2 car seats.

 

ETA: Another option, although I'm sure it will be an expensive one, is to call a car service. They will often have car seats available and can have them installed when they pick you up.

[Slackermommy]

I am in this dilema as well..I am thinking of the cares harness for the airplane, and the ride safer travel car seat vest. Especially since we are looking at any a couple of quick taxi rides and a maybe a train or two..

[2010_cruisers]

Hiya....hmmm.....this 'the ride safer travel car seat vest' sounds intriguing...I will look online tomorrow for sure, thanks again....and all the best to everyone who has answered is about to answer more...take care ad enjoy your next voyages also............we really feel like this thread has been useful....and up to date....thanks again...everyone :)

[Mom2B&Z]

I've never seen one of the travel vests, and as far as I can tell they are not certified for use in Canada. Without getting into a debate as to which country's rules are better (they both have pros and cons IMHO), if you do buy one it will have to be on-line and you won't be able to use it in Canada. Here's the Transport Canada weblink to cross border shopping for child restraint systems http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safedrivers-childsafety-notices-2007c09-menu-353.htm

 

Hiya....hmmm.....this 'the ride safer travel seat vest' sounds intriguing...I will look online tomorrow for sure, thanks again....and all the best to everyone who has answered is about to answer more...take care ad enjoy your next voyages also............we really feel like this thread has been useful....and up to date....thanks again...everyone :)

[2010_cruisers]

B&Z's Mom

 

We are Canadians, thank u for the transport Can update...makes sense, thank you.

 

We have our plan i place now, thank you everyone.:)

[jac1976]

Glad you have your plan all figured out. Looks like we'll miss you on the Sapphire by a week!

[Mom2B&Z]

You're welcome!

B&Z's Mom

 

We are Canadians, thank u for the transport Can update...makes sense, thank you.

 

We have our plan i place now, thank you everyone.:)