Opinions req’d - Folding car seat or trunki or similar…

[Spareincoming]

We’re off on a holiday soon, using an airline which has a luggage policy in which, due to the age of the child, DC’s luggage weight allowance includes their car seat, so our grand plan is to use their luggage for the car seat, younger DCs lightweight travel cot and bedding, backpack carrier etc and put their actual luggage in with ours.

I’d settled on getting the Argos Cuggl folding high back booster car seat as DC is too small for a normal non high back booster (20kg, 119cm) but my friend has suggested the trunki booster seat is ok for smaller children.

My other option is to buy a cheap csr seat there and then I guess I’ll have to abandon it when we return the car, which is shockingly wasteful!

Anyone used a folding seat in real life or should I get a booster and be done with it!

Hi OP,
Backless booster seats are really only belt positioners for older children who no longer sit comfortably in a HBB, but who aren’t yet big enough to go without. You don’t say how old your child is, but by the weight and height you’ve given, I doubt a backless booster would be the safest option. We looked at getting a BeCool Foldy for travelling, but end up just taking the HBB we use at home (lots of bubble wrap an in a car seat bag).

@FamilyAreEverything Thank
you, I would love to take our HBB but if we’re going to put a car seat, cot etc. in one bag that fits the restricted weight and size for children’s luggage, I can’t make it work!
DC is 6.
I’d ruled out a booster cushion as DC is smaller than the 135cm height booster cushions are designed for, until my friend said about trunkie booster seats being suitable for smaller children because of the lapbelt positioner.

We used the trunki boostapak for our 3yr old as it’s suitable for 15kg onwards. We thought it was a brilliant set up in terms of practicality. Compared to her large rear facing car seat she used at home it definitely felt less substantial but for a 30min taxi transfer was fine. Just seen your DC is older, so should work better. We got one on marketplace for £15

https://www.trunki.co.uk/products/boostapak-pink

I’d be more concerned about the lack of side protection with the trunkie. Personally, I wouldn't go for the trunkie and my child is older, taller and heavier.

We have both a becool foldy and a trubki. The foldy It fits in a suitcase. Easy to install, fold etc. I'd recomend. Ours has done about 4 trips now when we've hired cars. At nearing 5 DD gets a good fit in it. If its litterally for a taxi ride to and from a resort i'd maybe consider the trunki, we've had the trunki for ubers or taxis. It makes me anxious though with no side protection. But if hiring a car no way would i use it daily at a young age. Also for taxis to other places while away the foldy is reasonably big, you couldn't just carry it around all day while you looked at the sites so trunki has a use for that.

Do you have to take the travel cot? Could you not use one at your destination? Most places can provide them.

If you're allowed an extra piece of luggage for each child, could you take a car seat each for them?

We have a Besafe foldy for travel, it's pretty bulky even when folded, but fits in a large suitcase. We also have a trunki boostapak which is compact and light. Which one I'd use depends on the age, height and weight of the child. Also length of car journey and whether using motorways etc.

@NameChange30 unfortunately the place
we're staying has no travel cots available for 4 of our 7 nights; we have a very light cot though so that’s not a huge issue.

Our baggage allowance is unusual in that the youngest DC can have a buggy and child seat plus 15kg. Dc over the age of 2 can take a child seat but that comes out of their 15kg allowance. Us adults have 23 kg each.

We know we can get all the families stuff across our adult 46kg fairly easily; so
thought to minimise baggage we’d take 2 cases, the “free” car seat in a bag, the “free” buggy in a bag and use one of the DC’s 15kg to cover a hold-all with a car seat, the travel cot, nappies and baby carrier in. So we’d only have 5 pieces of luggage.

@Antsinmypantsneedtodance We’ll have some journeys of over an hour so I’d prefer the side impact protection!

Cyber do a folding high backed booster too.

look at the maxi Cosi Tanza I-size
https://www.maxi-cosi.co.uk/car-seats/tanza-i-size

Which airline are you flying?
I've always been able to take a car seat for a child on top of any baggage allowance up until the age when no longer required.

We have a folding high backed booster from a brand called recarro which is great and was chosen for good safety ratings plus portability. It’s our reception aged child’s main car seat. We often need to take it on trains etc. I don’t know if you can get that brand in the UK though. The cybex G2 looks good but I haven’t checked the crash test stats.

www.cybex-online.com/en/gb/solution-g2-gold.html

In which case i'd go fpr the becool foldy. Its one of the best options of folding HBB when i researched last year and has a crotch guard to stop them slipping and help positioning. Folds easily and has a helpful carry handle.

Also under 15kg so can easily get extra stuff in with it to help the baggage allowances

@LostMySocks Our initial flight and the general nuisance is Logan Air. If we could fly direct without a connection we’d not have this issue but alas, no such luck!
We are used to this baggage kerfuffle with them but usually have access to a car seat at the destination, but on this occasion, things haven’t lined up!

Becool Foldy is a bit tricky to get hold of in the UK, I think Maxi Cozi Tanza i-size is much easier - it's on amazon. The Cuggl one seems to be the same generic model sold by Jovikids and Urban Kanga, so personally I'd be happier with Maxi Cosi. I can see that the Cuggl is cheaper though so it might be worth it (the others are actually more expensive).

Trunki Boostapak is still technically legal/approved for children from 15kg with no minimum height because it was approved before the regulation changed, but of course it doesn't offer any side impact protection or support if a child was to fall asleep, which is quite likely when travelling I think.

To be honest in a lot of EU countries you'll struggle to get even the cheapest, most basic high back booster from a supermarket for much less than €100. And in a lot of countries you will have a choice between cheap backless booster or expensive branded high back, with no cheap HBBs at all. So £60-80 for a folding HBB which you can use again is probably going to be about the same or potentially cheaper than buying one there.

my friend said about trunkie booster seats being suitable for smaller children because of the lapbelt positioner.

I think your friend has misunderstood; the Trunki doesn't have any different features to any other backless booster. It's legal to use from 15kg because of the regulation at the time it was approved. It can be a "better than nothing" type option as PP said for a short journey where you wouldn't otherwise have access to any kind of car seat, and it has the advantage of doubling as a fairly small rucksack so you can stash things inside it. But other than that, it's no better than any other backless booster. Most of them come with the strap for the shoulder belt and all backless boosters have a lap belt guide.

@BertieBotts Thank you for your expertise!
I’m usually pretty clued up on car seats, I used to be fitter many moons ago but the whole travel/folding side of things has passed me by and the trunki/bubblebum stuff is a world away from anything else!

I think the Maxi-cosi Tanza is the way to go, shame Britax or Axkid aren’t in the folding market or I’d be throwing my money at them!

I think it does depend on how big your dc is. Backless boosters are not as good as hbb but are widely used for primary aged dc. Weight matters as well as height, age not so much

Axkid do have one I think but it won't be out until later this year. I mean if you want a folding ERF seat/HBB you could look at Tinyseats 2. It is a lot of money though.

Recaro have a folding one as someone mentioned above, they are an excellent brand too, just less popular in the UK.

Maxi Cosi are very good in terms of safety though.

Typical, I’d have waited on an Axkid but need it in May.

Sorry to jump on this old thread, but what did you end up going with @Spareincoming? I need similar for upcoming travel for my tall and heavy 3.5year old and I’m not sure between Maxi Cosi Topaz and Cybex G2. The Axkid one is out now but at nearly £400 is too much for effectively a travel seat that will only be used a few times a year (although we have an ERF Axkid for day to day).