Travel car seats - suggestions needed.

[Antsinmypantsneedtodance]

3 year 9 month old. High centile. Over 100cm and over 18kg.

Looking for a car seat to take on holiday for airport transfers, but also car hire in the future.

At home we use an ERF seat but due to age and height/weight thinking a HBB is an option for travel.

I've considered the following but am struggling to decide what's best and find safety ratings for some of them. Anyone got an insight? Or experience. We travel a fair amount so want something to keep for holidays for now and future.

HBB options i've considered

1. Urban kanga wallaroo. Some reviews say side protections not great?

2. Chicco fold and go (struggling to find stock though so maybe they've discontinued).

3. My babiie fold and go HBB. Not a brand i know which makes me cautious. Can't find safety rating info on it.

Other options that would be potentially okay for short transfers only.

1. trunki boosterpak. Cautious using this with such a young child. And wouldnt be happy using it for more than a short transfer

2. bubble bum. Really cautious of this. Seems unsuitable for such a young child despite height and weight. But very easy to transport.

So what would you go for?

We take DS' usual car seat we don't check it in, just say when you check your cases it's a car seat and you'll carry it to the gate they just tag it. We've got a travel bag with backpack type straps but it is heavy, so usually put it on a trolley, get to the gate give it to someone at the plane on the tarmac they put it in the hold after the luggage and it's the first thing out, along with buggies etc, so no real risk of damage.

Also issue with joie elevate is i'd be buying it just for now for the 5 point harness. As if i was going to go for a normal HBB i'd got for one thats well tested, which it isn't. Next time we travel it'll likely involve some lengthy driving and i'm expecting/hoping to be close to 105cm, which then means the selling point of the elevate isnt a selling point anymore and i could use a better tested hbb. Maybe i should just go for a well tested hbb now ane compromise now on lack of 5 point harness.

Joie is a good brand, though.

How sensible is your 3yo? Mine is a couple of months younger than yours (currently 3y7m) and I wouldn't trust her with a seatbelt, I don't think!

This looks good but like alot i've seen measurements wont fit a hbb? The elevate is too wide. I spent way too much of my life on amazon looking yesterday and all seem too small.

Pretty sure DH managed to fit our Britax Kidfix I-size in our car seat bag. And it's not small! I'll have to see if I can work out exactly which bag we have.

Fairly sensible and aware of safety. I mean they're not perfect so there is always a chance of them being silly. But this trip they'd be sat in back of a taxi with me so i can can stop any seatbelt playing around at least. Future trips they'd be older and even more aware of safety (i live in hope anyway).

The Joie elevate is fairly similar to their hbbs like traver/trillo that have good ADAC results. Though it will be heavier which is a minus point for hbbs. You want them as light as possible for safety.

Becool is a generic but it's a good generic. They are the same one that make silver cross that get decent results. Not as good as Britax etc but good. The German ERF specialists have stocked becool for ages.

I've not ever managed to find anything that puts any age other than 3 as the minimum age for a booster. A lot of people say you need 4/5/6, and the US studies that cite 40lbs rather than 30lbs (18kg rather than 13.5kg) as a minimum weight for hbbs are convincing but I've never found any data showing a 3yo needs to be harnessed.

I will get lynched for that because it's not the party line in the car seat groups, which is why I rarely say it, but nobody has ever managed to show me anything that's convinced me otherwise.

Even in Sweden they tend to move from ERF to HBB between 3y3m and 3y9m.

If you're buying a car seat new, keep the box it comes in. Ask the shop for the box if you buy without box. That's the best protection on a plane apparently. No idea how practical this is!

DH and I are talking about logistics for our trip, travelling by train, and we think we'll get taxis at the other end and maybe hire a car for the day. He has outright refused to take the two way elite with all our other luggage on the train, and we're hardly going to faff about installing it in a taxi.. so I have just ordered the Be Cool Foldy, to use for my 3yo (who will be 3y8m by then) in the taxis and if we hire a car or get a lift with a friend. Haven't actually mentioned it to DH yet, he thinks I buy too many car seats But I know we'll use it again as well!

OP, this is the travel bag we have:
https://jlchildress.com/collections/car-seat-accessories/products/ultimate-car-seat-travel-bag
I bought it on Amazon years ago but it doesn't seem to be available on there any more. There are lots of similar ones though.