PSA - Excursions & Car Seats

[SimpleeB]

This may have been a new mom mistake but I wanted to get a heads up to others that are traveling with little ones and are planning on using a car seat for excursions.

 

I booked all of our excursions with independent operators and with each of them I had contacted them directly via email to see if a) they had minimum age requirements and b) if we could use our car seat. Each respond yes to my questions so I went ahead and booked a tour with them. And for each of them except for 2 (out of 6) we weren't actually able to install the car seat because either the seatbelts didn't work or weren't there or it was the type of vehicle that didn't have seatbelts.

 

My lesson learned was that I should have asked the question - can we use a car seat? And if so - can the car seat be properly installed in the vehicle? In most cases I found that the expection was to just set the seat on the floor or seat and strap our daughter in.

 

I hope this helps others in the same situation who are looking to book excursions and also use a car seat.

[TheCalicoCat]

Unfortunately, we can not control the laws in other countries. I've seen motocycles (scooters) with 2 kids, one in a wrap on the front & one holding onto the back. So it could be worse.

[Mom2B&Z]

My lesson learned was that I should have asked the question - can we use a car seat? And if so - can the car seat be properly installed in the vehicle? In most cases I found that the expection was to just set the seat on the floor or seat and strap our daughter in.

 

I hope this helps others in the same situation who are looking to book excursions and also use a car seat.

SimpleeB you make a great point. Most people don't even consider that the vehicles in other countries wouldn't have 3 point seatbelts, or some think that UAS/LATCH systems will be available ;)

Being that I'm a certified car seat tech and volunteer installing car seats, I've seen it all...cars without functioning seatbelts, seats that fail with one type of installation but are fine with another, broken seats etc. You make a great suggestion in that people ask if there is a seatbelt, whether it can be pulled out to lock (also called automatic locking retractor) and whether a top tether is involved. When using boosters, you MUST (I repeat MUST) use a 3 point seatbelt. This is why I often think it is easier to travel with a car seat as you can work with a 2 point belt.

It's not a new Mom mistake, it's a new-to-car seats-in-foreign-countries learning opportunity ;) I have to say my car seat tech experience has been invaluable when travelling, I highly recommend getting yourself certified if you're interested in vehicle safety.