Advice! No car seat on holiday?

[springblossom4]

Hi,

We are taking a 1.5 yr old and 4 yo to zante for a week and I really want to avoid bringing the car seats as they are bulky isofix ones, but how can I do the transfers from the airport to hotel if I don't bring them? We've booked the whole holiday with BA but no transfers yet, do BA include car seats in transfers?

We've only been abroad with the 4 year old 2 years ago to Tenerife, didn't bring a car seat but asked the taxi for one. It was really dangerous; literally just a clipped together strap round the back of the actual chair to hold the car seat on and it kept unclipping so I'm afraid of this happening again. What do you usually do? Do I have to bring one just for transfers?

The 4 year old could just use a booster seat for transfers-we had those backpack ones. They are by no means perfect but better than nothing. I would probably take the younger child’s car seat but mine weren’t isogox. Buy a cheaper one?

I guess you have to ask yourself if you’re in an accident and you children get killed/ maimed will you regret not bringing the car seats? Remember not all countries have the same levels of roads safety as the uk

Can you get some travel car seats to take with you?

Go and buy a cheap car seat you can leave there, can you do a train or bus transfer instead to avoid taking car seats altogether?

We always take our normal home/big ones (but we then hire a car and drive places). It is so annoying. I am really looking forward to them being old/tall enough not to use them!

You're not legally required to use one in a taxi. It's up to you if you feel you need one.

Just take a car seat?

We booked decent transfers with a company and asked about car seats - they sent me details of what they used/had available.

For my tiny 8 month old it was a brand new joie infant seat and the driver actually said ‘if you don’t mind I’ll install it instead - it’s much more likely to be correct’

Unless you book otherwise the transfer is likely to be a bus and you won't get a car seat for that.

If you book private transfers you need to specifically book one with car seats.

Isn't the BA transfer going to be a bus? In which case the youngest will definitely be on your knee. Maybe the 4 year old.

Private transfers, you'll need to speek to them. But if you are going yo be concerned about the rest, id get a travel booster fir the oldest, and a basic carseat for the youngest - not usofix, a seat belt secured one.

For the 4yo it's easy, take a Trunki Boostapak. I bought one second hand several years ago and we've used it absolutely loads - it's been handy for lift-sharing too (mostly used for older kids 6+ as I prefer to put younger ones in a HBB when at home).

For the 1.5yo, you're in that really tricky stage when they must have a proper (and therefore bulky) car seat. If your child is small for their age and would still fit in an infant seat (some are roomier than others) you could take that. Otherwise you need to borrow or buy a suitable seat. You could start by asking the travel company whether they could provide anything, but it is a risk - what if they don't have anything or it's not suitable? I'd rather take my own, personally.

We booked private transfer in both Rome and Gran caneria and they provided the car seat. You don’t need them for bus transfer but if that makes you uncomfortable just book a private one.

We take a car seat with us. Not worth the risk. We have a Graco Slim Fit that we use specifically for holidays. Drop it off at oversized baggage (in a car seat bag) after doing bag drop and then pick it up at the other side.

ETA: we went to Italy when DD was 8 weeks old and requested a car seat. They turned up with a forward facing seat which looked decades old. Hence us now taking our own!

Book a private transfer with car seats, or get a trunki for the older one and something more portable for the younger one.
I'd avoid a coach transfer. You're relying on the people in the seats behind you to wear their belts, which they won't. The force of them crushing you is the greatest risk in an accident.

Thanks this has all been really useful. I'll definitely get a travel one for my 4yo. Seems such a waste and bad for the environment to buy another seat for the 1.5yo that I won't use at home but we have the joie 360 for her and its got a bulky leg and everything, feels like it will be too much wrangling 2 kids, cases, a buggy and then her massive car seat too all for a transfer (we won't be hiring a car) but I don't want to risk an unknown car seat like last time. Didn't think about it being a coach transfer actually, but I can't imagine it's very safe having the younger one on my lap for that so maybe I'll have to bring the car seat after all. If anyone has one they can recommend for her that would be great! Thanks everyone!

Yeah this is wild! What did you do?

I hate this approach! A taxi driver said that to me once with a one year old when he was supposed to be bringing a car seat but didn't. Will the law protect my baby from death in a car accident if she's flung off my lap across the car? Of course not! The law isn't magical baby protection!

How about the Joie Tilt? It's £75 from Argos. Can be used until roughly age 4 so you might find it helpful for future holidays or as a spare eg if a grandparent or friend is taking your child in their car.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3337732

Thank you I will have a look at this

We had a Britax Two Way for travelling and it was brilliant - really light and easy to carry around the airport but also with a very safety rating and you could fix it forward or rear facing using the car's seatbelt. It looks like they cost about £200 now, which is expensive but it last until 25kg so you could get another 5 year's use out of it and could use it as your main car seat when your LO outgrows the Joie 360 at 18kg.

See if you can get one second hand as your spare, also look at how long the transfer is and if it's motorway etc. I'd still have something, but it may help you make you mind up.

We had an excellent recommendation on here for a folding travel seat that's still more robust than a trunki etc, it was I think the maxi Cosi tanza I size, it's light, foldable but high backed , we take it whenever we go away, used it on mini busses but we usually hire a car from the airport so it goes straight in then and stays in the car for the duration

My friend went on holiday with 1yo and 3yo, took car seats for the transfer etc. Had an absolute nightmare with double buggy, 2 car seats and cases. Got to the transfer and there was no seats for them. Due to the ages they had been assumed to be sitting on parents laps and all other seats booked out.

We bought extra car seats to take travelling that were specifically easy to install. Used mainly for hire cars (because rental companies won’t guarantee availability) but have occasionally used in taxis if I couldn’t get a transfer company to confirm what seats were available.

I don’t really care about the environmental impact of having spare seats when it comes to safety.

Trunki booster has been super useful and still occasionally use it for my 6 year old.