I’m hoping there may be others here with better car seat knowledge than me who can give advice on this situation.
DC currently 4y9m, 21.4kg and 112cm. Tracking between 75-91st centile on charts since birth. Exclusively rear faces in a Minikid 4 Max.
We will be going on holiday when DC is 5.5yo. Transfer is 50 mins direct, or up to 1.5hours by Jet2 coach. I’m struggling to work out what is safer when looking at transfer:
- Coach - likely lap belt only and I don’t believe any car seats are tested on coaches so we have no idea how they perform. But statistically coaches are much safer than cars - plus local driver drives the route regularly
- Hire car/private transfer - Take our Minikid 4 - DH is the only driver and feels unsure about driving somewhere he hasn’t driven before with DC in the car. Also we travelled to Paris earlier this year (train transfers) and when landing back in the UK we saw 2 families whose pram and car seat had been left in Paris. We have a 2 hour drive home from the airport in the middle of the night and would have no way of getting another seat if this happened.
- Hire car/private transfer - Buy a HBB for the trip and then keep it for when DC outgrows the Minikid 4. Would eliminate the risk of not having a seat when we get home. But DH is still unsure about driving and I’d likely feel more nervous with DC in a HBB with someone who doesn’t know the roads driving.
What do other ERF families do when travelling? Any help is appreciated!