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?

Omg the rage! Well that's me avoiding shared transfers then!

We bought cheap car seats and boosters (I think from Asda or another supermarket) for travel. I also bought bags for them to go in from Amazon. BA let you check them in for free. Once they were outgrown I sold them on FB for roughly what I paid for them, which wasn’t much.

We have one of these and it's really handy for holidays, grandparents cars etc

You buy a cheap lightweight one for holidays. We did this and also leant it to grandparents/friends when they needed to take dc places
but if if’s a bus transfer most people will not bother

We go to Zante a lot and have used several different taxi businesses - this one https://www.zantetaxi4u.com/ says that car seats can be booked. We have used their taxis and they were very good, but not with car seats as it is just us two. Their email system was answered in English so you could try and contact them to ask what seats they use.
There are no particularly busy roads on Zante and the taxi drivers have always been really friendly and helpful. The rank outside the airport won't have children's seats so you would need to pre book a private transfer.
It's a great island for kids!

Some private hire cabs have car seats. Book in advance.

Just returned from Zante and we had private transfers via jet 2. On the way back the guy had 2 very decent looking seats he had to move out of the boot for luggage. I'd maybe go on Facebook page for Zante and ask for recommendations of taxi companies who do them. Enjoy. Zante was lovely

We either used public transport or brought a carseat. I'd get a toddler one for the 18 month old - but check first that the coach actually has seatbelts. We got a driver in Asia once and made a fuss about a seatbelt and they did in fact bring an ancient one... but there were no seatbelts in the van at all so we couldn't use it. So worth checking, they probably assume the kids will be on your laps.

I had a Trunki (two eventually) and it was great. A bit too heavy for my kids to carry themselves until they were almost too old for it but it was great for random short journeys.

Book a private transfer with seats or.
Take your own seats for private transfer

There might not be a seat on bus for 1 yo. We did do journeys on laps at this age.
Or
Hire a car and take your own. Driving is nice in zante, I've been twice

We take our own car seats. Annoying as it’s heavy but hire cars charge £60+ for one and EasyJet let car seats in the hold for free so as annoying as it is financially makes sense.

In your situation I’d take your own or hire a car rather than do a transfer.

My advice is don’t book a transfer like the coach and to go private with a company that will offer car seats.

The coach we was on had no space or seat built for car seats so our son sat on our lap

At 1.5 your youngest may still fit into a number of infant carriers. Many are by height and they are often the smallest and lightest option and it wouldn't matter if it got abused by the baggage handlers as much. I would echo a Trunki for your older child as a reasonable compromise between safety and practicality.

However... Note that it you are traveling by coach then many coaches may still only have a lap belt so you may also want to consider options that will also work if this is the case.

Thank you, looks like we will book a private transfer then and bring our own seats. Looking at the suggestions the Trunki doesn't look that safe in comparison to a high backed chair- I think as we are currently using the joie spin 360 making the move to a trunki feels like there is so much less support in a crash. Did anyone else feel like this? I dont want to spend a fortune but I also want something that feels like it will protect them in an accident.

Thank you! We are staying in Tsilivi, is it worth hiring a car or do you think theres enough in the local area for the week witj the 1 and 4 year old?

Do a Google search on Bubble Bum.

Trunki is great for older kids but it is really just ensuring the adult seatbelt fits properly, it isn't going to provide additional protection.

There are a few folding high backed/forward facing seats available now - Kinderkraft Fix2Go, Cosatto On the Go, Maxi Cosi Nomad.
They are not cheap and not particularly small but I might go for those for both your kids.

We went with BA and paid for a private transfer and requested a car seat and specified our daughter's age, she was 21 months at the time. They provided a car seat in the taxi which was a straightforward and efficient process. Even at the hotel we could request a taxi with a car seat, reality was it took a little longer but with the right planning it didn't cause any impacts for us.

Would you hire a car out there? We do that and you can usually book the car and ask to see pictures of the car seats they’d provide in advance.

When we were in Santorini we got a coach and were told that we had to put our little one in a car seat that they provided, I was surprised at that as not many countries have that rule so maybe worth mentioning to the transfer company before you fly out and see what they say.

I find a secure carrier for a little one quite good when in a taxi as you’re effectively strapping them securely to you and can put the seatbelt around you both then, but understand this isn’t for everyone!

You absolutely can't put a seatbelt round you and a baby, you would crush them to death in even a minor car accident. It would be safer to have the baby unsecured entirely.

This is horrifically unsafe - as the PP said, the baby would be crushed between the locked seat belt and the forces throwing your body forward. If you must use a carrier as an alternative, then putting the seat belt between you and the baby is slightly safer, but far better to use a car seat.

Book private transfers not like the random taxi from the airport. I’ve never had trouble with car seats in private transfers other than they aren’t likely to be rear facing except for baby seats. But plenty of people forward face their dc in the uk anyway. I personally just usually take a public bus (and don’t use a car seat anyway), but the hired car seats will be fine. You just need to clarify you have the right sort.

Ah this is useful as I was thinking I would book them through BA but wasn't sure if this meant the car seats would be appropriate and safer than anywhere else?

We have this HBB for our 4 year old for travel. It was a reasonable price and had decent reviews but folds up small for travel and storage. It is a bit weird the first time you use it if you’re used to a harness seat for them, as it seems so weird to just rely on the seatbelt, but I’m getting more used to it with every trip.

www.maxi-cosi.co.uk/car-seats/tanza-i-size?color_swatch_id=5982&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMax%3A%20UK_pur_CRS_shopping_NEW&utm_id=17678645666&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17348162534&gbraid=0AAAAADii3rCKMKhuaKuG53csQqfJvyoCJ&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgcSyrcLplAMVWJRQBh3_iyH1EAQYBCABEgL7e_D_BwE