Car Seats

[rass2008]

We are cruising with our 15 month old daughter and usually rent a car when travelling with her and bring our Britax Car Seat. We will be heading to San Diego to go to the Zoo and Sea World prior to getting on Elation for 4 days.

 

Should I be bringing my Britax, what have other people done about car seats. I want to bring it to know she will be safe, but also understand the PAIN it will be to lug around all day in San Diego etc.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions????

 

TIA :)

[6rugrats]

You need a car seat; besides being unsafe, it is illegal to have your child in a car in California without one.

 

Either bring the one you already have, purchase a smaller one that's easier to transport for travel, or rent one from the car rental agency.

[urquie]

the cosco scenera is a great car seat for travel and grandma's car! it's much lighter than the britax, is very affordable and has very good reviews. our normal car seats are all britax, but we use the scenera for travel and for a 2nd car seat. you can read a lot of reviews about them here... and other recs for travel seats.

 

when traveling by air we bungie the scenera onto our maclaren stroller and can either put dd or carry on bags in the seat. it works very well. :)

[boilermaker98]

Are you renting a car in San Diego or relying on public transpo? If renting a car, it should be no prob to either bring your seat or get one from the rental company. I personally am rather leary of the rental seats as you don't know the history of them and how clean they are. I've heard a few stories of them being extremely dirty or having frayed straps and even some agencies using expired seats.

 

If you are relying on public transpo, you can use a private car service to/from the airport that can provide a seat. Then use buses within the city (I don't know enough about SD to know if this is good or bad). You don't need a car seat on a bus.

 

If you are bringing yours with you, you can also bungie the Britax into most umbrella strollers as well.

 

One word of warning on the Scenera. Compared to a Britax, it is very difficult to install. So if you go that route, practice at home until you figure it out. Nothing worse then getting to your destination and not being able to figure out how to get your car seat in the car.

[jam82]

After one cruise where we lugged the big 40 pound car seat, we bought a cosco. It was the best. If you are set on taking your big seat with you, Babies-R-Us sells car seat roller bags. They cost more than the cosco car seat would, but if you're set on the big seat, it's worth it.

[rass2008]

OOPS ... I should have mentioned the major point ...

 

WE AREN'T RENTING A CAR this trip, which is why I was asking about the car seat and what to do? We will be walking most times, but taking the odd taxi ... that is why I am confused!!

 

Do most parents bring their own car seats for use in taxis and buses?

[nothriver]

Yep, take the carseat. I know it is a pain but you don't have much choice!

 

I've traveled with my Britax seats in the past and it is managable. Just look through your itinerary and think things through. Can you take a bus instead of a taxi, you don't need the carseat on buses. Maybe it is easier to rent a car, or hire a towncar service some days, rather than depending on taxis?

 

As for carseats, next trip, I am taking a Radian. I've had this car seat for awhile but didn't take it last trip because it weights a ton. However, after buying shoulder straps and playing around with it, I think it is totally managable, probably more so that the Britax seat, and I'm actually looking forward to traveling with it just to play with it. It folds flat, and with the straps you can wear it like a backpack, or over one shoulder like a messanger bag, or hold it by the handle on the side. Heavier than the Britax seats, but when it is flat it is SO much easier to manage! That said, I bought mine after my dd was forward facing so I don't really know about using it rear facing in the car, it has some special attachment to go on the bottom. Also it is almost certainly too tall to install rear facing on the plane.

 

Anyway, for your Britax seat you can order wheel things to go on the bottom, that way you can just use the seat as a stroller. They aren't cheap, but it is the perfect accessory for your tip, in my opinion. One is called the Go Go Kidz, and I think there is another very similar product as well. I think this is what I would do, traveling with a 15 month old.

 

ETA: I have a Costco Scenera and I only use it in emergencies. Compared to my Britax seats, it is downright flimsy. There is no EPS foam to protect the childs head, there is NO padding, just the thin cover over a plastic shell, so my child finds this seat really uncomfortable. I think about taking it every trip, but then I always decide to take a "real" seat. I've had mine for over a year and only used it a few times.

 

Good luck and have a great trip!

[boilermaker98]

The new Scenera that came out about 2 months ago is an improvement over the old one. But still very much a basic, utilitarian car seat.

 

If you can get by with buses or private cars, I'd leave the car seat at home (and rent a CARES device on ebay for the flights).

 

I'm in a similar quandry wondering if our carseat is worth carrying for 2 taxi rides and a red eye flight...one more week to decide.

[rass2008]

I am with you boilermaker98 ... we too have yet to decide. We will take approx 3-6 taxi rides while we are in San Diego ... maybe less, depends how the transit/shuttles are there to get to Sea World or the Zoo.

 

We will for sure take a taxi from the airport to the hotel, then to the cruise terminal, and then back to the airport.

 

Do taxi's even have latches in the back for latch car seats???

 

It just seems like such a BIG item to lug around, I have even thought about getting a car service (which you can ask them to bring the car seat) even though it is a lot more money ... it would save a lot of inconvenience lugging the seat through the airport along with suitcases etc.

 

Another thought is ... WHERE can you store it in the cabin?? Would the Britax even fit in the closet????

 

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[isk8]

It's the law here in CA that children must be in car seats in a taxi, so you will probably find it difficult to get a taxi to take your 15 month old without a car seat. The only vehicles that do not fall into the 6yrs/60 pounds rule are motorcycles (!!) and buses.

[clansac]

If you go by taxi, please make sure and call one and tell them you will have a car seat. We had a horrible time the one trip we had a car seat and needed to hail a cab! Nobody would stop for us and we even had several refuse to take us from the hotel taxi stand too. They just didn't want to be bothered with the car seat installation time.

 

That being said, we have a Safe Guard Go that we use as our travel seat. If you travel often, I highly recommend it.

[butrflynlambie]

We will be traveling out of San Juan for a southern caribbean trip. Do the islands require a car seat as well?

[JACJAM]

With an upcoming cruise with a flight before I'm going back in fourth about a car seat/stroller. Check this out!!!! Car seat and stroller in one.

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=6805&parentCategoryId=85184&categoryId=85219&subCategoryId=86216