Safe transportation options for 2 year old

[boblerm]

Hi,

We are taking our children and our 2 year old 25 pound grandson on a cruise.  This will be the first time he will be traveling anywhere outside of a private vehicle.  To and from airport and home is no problem, as they will be taking their car, but I am wondering what options we have while away.   We brought up our kids in the 80's, and times have drastically changed in terms of what is acceptable while transporting little ones.  

The issues are-  traveling between airport and ship, and traveling within ports.

The options as I see them are-

-They can pack and take their own state-of-the-safety-art car seat with them.  Problems- very large seat to be hauling around, and I imagine  the seat needs something to tether it to, no reason to think that taxis will have such.

-We can hire a car service to go to and from airport and order a car seat.  But as someone has pointed out in another thread, the quality of whatever seat they give us may be suspect.  Also, when in most ports I don't know if one can hire a car with a seat to take you to the beach, normally just taxis are available.

-Perhaps there are other options, such as car seats that are more portable, and can be universally attached to a seat belt, I am clueless about this, and would only consider such an option if it is safe for such a such a small child.

Hoping that some helpful CC members  can offer some suggestions.

Thanks,

Bob

[Itchy&Scratchy]

11 hours ago, boblerm said:

-They can pack and take their own state-of-the-safety-art car seat with them. 

All the seats in the US go through the same tests, and companies DO NOT publish the results. If the seats pass the tests, they can be sold. If they don't, the seats are not allowed on the market. So, there is no way to say that one seat is safer than the others. :)

However, some companies advertise their seats as the safest ever, and their advertising usually works like a charm. Usually, people think the more expensive the seat is, the safer it is. :) It's not true.

 

All of the seats can be installed with either the regular car seat belt or the latch (lower anchors - if the kid is under 40#). I would also assume that your adult children would know something about the car seats, since they have a 2 yo in one.

 

If the child is forward facing, I would advise purchasing an Evenflo Maestro for $60-70 and using it as a travel seat for years to come. Use it on the plane and in the taxi/rentals, and your grandson will be as safe as he is in a $300-400 premium seat. If the child is still rear facing (as he should), Graco Contender is a great option - rear face first, and then forward face. Both Maestro and Contender are easy to install. Maestro is very light as well.

 

One doesn't need to lug the car seat through the airport either - simply get a magna cart for $25 (it's also a great investment for purposes other than wheeling a car seat around the airport), bungee cord the car seat to it and use it as a stroller. Seats can also be attached to a stroller, if the stroller is wide enough to accommodate them. It is highly  advisable to use the car seat on the plane instead of gate checking it. It's the only way to ensure the car seat's safe handling. Since they will be taking the car seat all the way to the gate to begin with, what's 30 feet farther to put it on the plane seat? Plus, it's safer for the child to be safely strapped into the car seat on the plane. A 25# 2 year old will not fit safely in just the lap belt.

                                 

If you have any other questions about traveling with children, I highly recommend visiting a Traveling with Children board https://community.babycenter.com/groups/a10635/traveling-with-children                                                                 

Here are some examples of car seats on strollers or carts:

[Itchy&Scratchy]

now, as to the destinations - it will be the parents' choice whether to use the car seat or not. At most Caribbean destinations you will be hard pressed to find a taxi with working seat belts or latch. Even if the vehicle has seat belts, there is no guarantee that they lock like they do in US cars. In those cases, the seat will have to be installed with a locking clip. A locking clip is attached to the seat belt at the buckle and locks the seat belt.

 

Most European countries (especially, Western Europe) will have isofix (same as latch), but their seat belts will not lock like in American cars.

 

Locking clips look like this:

 

and here is the installation video:

 

 

 

[Jlk88]

I am cruising with my 3 year old and infant. We are driving to the cruise terminal, but not taking car seats on the ship. As for in port, we purposely picked an itinerary where we can access a beach either by walking or by water taxi, so avoiding ground transportation altogether. We're beach people , so that works for us. I personally don't want to lug around car seats, nor do I want my children in taxis or shuttles without them. That could be an option depending on what you like to do in port.

[boblerm]

Itchy&Scratchy, thank you so much for your thoughtful and detailed response.  This is very helpful info to have.

 

Jlk88, we love going to the beach as well, but sadly, did not take transportation issues into account before booking this cruise.  It's off to the Caribbean Ports of Call board to ask about walkable beaches for our ports.

[mdjohn5]

What ports are you going to?

[boblerm]

2 hours ago, mdjohn5 said:

What ports are you going to?

St Martin

St Barts

Dominica

St Lucia

Antigua

Virgin Gorda

[mdjohn5]

That sounds like an awesome trip!

 

Unfortunately I can't offer a lot of port advice port.   Of those, I have only been to St Martin, and that was pre-hurricane last year so things may have changed. 

 

 

However, for St Martin,  they will have excursions that run up to Orient Beach that use motor coaches if you are not bringing the seats.  Great Bay beach is right off Front Street where the main Philipsburg shopping is,  If I remember right,  the taxis that take you there are usualy just the open trucks with bench seating, so a car seat would not help anyways.   

 

If you are taking the seats,  St. Martin is fairly easy to drive around on your own if you consider renting your own vehicle.  We have spent a couple weeks there on land vacations with the kids.  The roads can be narrow in spots but its all right side driving and other drivers are courteous.

 

The good news is this is the hardest stage with the kids.  Once they are old enough for booster seats,  things get exponentially easier.   When they are in that full car seat stage,  the logistics just get tough and kind of limits what you can do. .....Still better than sitting at my desk at work though :)

 

 

[cb at sea]

You had no car seats, yet, here you are!  Yes, there are risks....there are risks everywhere.  I would do buses (which don't require carseats) or walk, if you are afraid to take them without a seat.

 

Yes...I love my kids, and when they were small, they were in a carseat....of course, they weren't as "hardcore" back then as they are now....no major tethering or ratings!

 

You can't "bubble wrap" your kids....

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 1/17/2019 at 7:32 PM, cb at sea said:

You had no car seats, yet, here you are!  

You can't "bubble wrap" your kids....

sorry, but this is the stupidest argument ever. 

 

[boblerm]

On 1/17/2019 at 12:07 PM, mdjohn5 said:

 .....Still better than sitting at my desk at work though 🙂

 

For sure!

[Stacie.]

Where were those carts when my kids were little? Navigating through an airport was interesting with a 4, 3, 2, and 1 yo and all of their car seats, strollers, and luggage. Also super frustrating when the airline said our boosters were not FAA compliant so they did not let us use them on the plane and instead gate checked them and subsequently lost 1 of the 2 boosters and the infant car seat so only half of the kids had their car seats. That was a nightmare. 😞 

 

The driving methods of some of the taxi drivers I've seen at some ports are extremely sketchy so I don't know that I would take a small child on one. I'd use a bus if that is an option at your ports. 

[6rugrats]

Use of boosters aren’t allowed on any airlines; just regular car seats.

[mjkacmom]

12 hours ago, Stacie. said:

Where were those carts when my kids were little? Navigating through an airport was interesting with a 4, 3, 2, and 1 yo and all of their car seats, strollers, and luggage. Also super frustrating when the airline said our boosters were not FAA compliant so they did not let us use them on the plane and instead gate checked them and subsequently lost 1 of the 2 boosters and the infant car seat so only half of the kids had their car seats. That was a nightmare. 😞 

 

The driving methods of some of the taxi drivers I've seen at some ports are extremely sketchy so I don't know that I would take a small child on one. I'd use a bus if that is an option at your ports. 

Booster seats have never been allowed to be used on planes, we were able to carry on 2 backless and put them in the overhead bins.

[Stacie.]

I know that now, that trip was the first one we did when kids were old enough for boosters.  At the time it was frustrating because when we dropped off our checked bags the ticket agent told us otherwise (if we had known we would’ve checked the boosters with our bags instead of lugging them around). It was a fairly full flight so there was really no room to store them in the overhead compartment. The airline gave us a backless booster and an infant seat to use for a couple of days until they found and delivered our car seats. The infant car seat had a luggage tag from someone else so I don’t know if it was just not claimed from another flight or what was going on there. I know that I would’ve removed the tag before I gave it to someone to use. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

 

At at any rate, I’m glad to have teenagers now and no more car seats, diapers, and strollers to deal with. 😉

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 1/20/2019 at 8:38 PM, Stacie. said:

Where were those carts when my kids were little? Navigating through an airport was interesting with a 4, 3, 2, and 1 yo and all of their car seats, strollers, and luggage. Also super frustrating when the airline said our boosters were not FAA compliant so they did not let us use them on the plane and instead gate checked them and subsequently lost 1 of the 2 boosters and the infant car seat so only half of the kids had their car seats. That was a nightmare. 😞 

I don't know how old your kids are, but magna carts have been around for a very loooooong time. :) It's just a hand truck.

 

Boosters are indeed not FAA compliant - you have to use harnessed seats on the plane. Boosters don't have internal harness, as they work with the car shoulder-to-lap seat belts. Since planes only have a lap belt, one cannot use a booster on the plane. I see that you know that now, so it's an FYI for the future readers.

 

If they were harnessed seats, then pretty much all of the US seats are FAA compliant and have a sticker on a side that says that. In this case, the airline rep just didn't want to do his job - it's mandatory for a US airline to allow a child to use a harnessed seat on the plane.

If your 1 yo had her/his own seat on the plane, then you could have definitely used their infant bucket on the plane.

 

P.S. In general, 3 and 4 yo children shouldn't be in boosters, but we did use one FOR TRAVEL ONLY starting at 4 since DS has been very big for his age and mature enough to sit properly in one for the duration of a short taxi ride.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 1/21/2019 at 10:54 AM, Stacie. said:

At the time it was frustrating because when we dropped off our checked bags the ticket agent told us otherwise (if we had known we would’ve checked the boosters with our bags instead of lugging them around).

no-no, the agent was right - it's actually better to gate check your car seat than to check them with your luggage. Still doesn't guarantee the car seats' safe handling, but it's safer than checking them with the luggage.

 

Although, in the case of high back boosters, we usually advise people to pack the high back part into the suitcase, and bring the no back part with you on the plane and stash it under the seat. That way, even if the luggage is lost, the kid can sit in the no back booster in the car - at least, some protection will be provided.

Edited January 22, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Just_Beachy22]

We stopped bringing car seats after multiple foreign taxis not having a seat belt which resulted in the car seat being stashed in the trunk the entire time we were in port. So while we had every intention of keeping our kids at a US level of safety while in port we found it is not always possible. We stuck to buses and walking for the most part...

 

[JPilk]

We just took our 3 yo with her car seat and a foldable wagon. You can check the car seat at the airport for free (which we did last year, advice is to shrink wrap it with shrink wrap from your local home improvement store for $8 and the roll travels with you for the way home), gate check or carry it on. This time we forgot to check it when we got to the airport so we gate checked it for our first flight then realized our daughter would be much more comfortable in her plane seat if she had her car seat so she used it in the flight. That is the way to go in my opinion because it kept her under control and she actually slept most of the flight. As for carting it around, it fit perfectly in the foldable wagon, (that we also gate checked for free) and she got to go around the airport and on and off the ship comfortably. Plus we had piece of mind with the crazy cab drivers. We didn’t do any excursions so no advice to give there as far as how well equipped the vehicles are to secure a seat. However, we did use the wagon to get around the ports we walked. 

[Onessa]

On 1/22/2019 at 12:39 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I don't know how old your kids are, but magna carts have been around for a very loooooong time. 🙂 It's just a hand truck. . . . .

 

DD is now 23YO, but I traveled alone with her for years.  When she was an infant, I'd buy her a seat (even though she could have flied for free on my lap).  In the airport she traveled in a front pack, and I strapped her diaper bag and her carseat onto a similar cart to just roll behind me, but as she got older, I discovered the same trick you use with the magna carts.  She thought it was great fun and I made my life SO much easier!

 

Great info!

[CruisingJade]

To the OP, I am curious what your family decided. If not bringing car seats, what transport are you using between airport and ship? I was just about to post a thread asking about this.

 

TIA!

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, CruisingJade said:

To the OP, I am curious what your family decided. If not bringing car seats, what transport are you using between airport and ship? I was just about to post a thread asking about this.

 

TIA!

CruisingJade,

We are flying round trip San Juan, and have arranged a car service that will provide a car seat to transport between airport and  ship.

For ports, there are several that have beaches within walking distance. Several others are within a short (perhaps 5 minute) drive from port.  We are unable to find transportation that provide car seats, but do have seat belts, and while I know that this is not ideal, for such a short drive, we are comfortable with that.  In one port, there is an trolley car excursion, that we will be taking him on.

Bob

[CruisingJade]

Thank you for sharing!