France to Germany Coach trip - car seats? The law?

[mimmymouse]

Help! I am taking my two girls (5mths and 28mths) on tour with me (performing musician) and rather unusually (and with very short notice) we've been told that one leg of the journey will be in a coach going from France into Germany. It's about a 4 hour trip.

The bus company will not supply car seats for them. They have suggested that my car seats won't fit in their seats or with their seat belts.

I am not comfortable with my girls being unsecured in a coach for 4 hours. We have toyed with the idea of putting them in slings (DH is coming along as DD2 is breastfeeding) so that they are at least secured to us.

I don't even know what the law is in France (or Germany) and the bus company have rather stopped being helpful.

It would be an enormous pain in the neck to bring their car seats as they will only be needed for this one leg of the tour. We are otherwise in planes and trains and need to carry as little as possible.

Please advise!!!

Thanks so much for reading.

Bump.

this came up recently in a thread regarding coach transfers.

putting them in slings attached to an adult is actually much more dangerous, you would crush the kid in a crash.

the consensus was that because coaches are inherently safer and the forces in a crash are very different from a car, it is an acceptable risk to go without special car seats. Yours are too small for boosters which would be the other answer.

You definitely do not require a car seat on a coach in Germany. I am not even sure if coaches are fitted with seatbelts, tbh.

I have no idea of the law in Germany but there's no way I would be travelling on a coach for more than a short emergency journey without at least the youngest in a proper car seat. My group 0+ car seat worked in a coach for ds1 on a nursery trip.

How heavy is your 28mth old? Would something like this be suitable?

Gosh! Thanks for your replies. Sadly they came after we went! I did take their car seats in the end and although they were only fitted with lap sashes I was jolly glad I had their car seats. They were obviously safer and DH and I were less worried.. Both girls went to sleep! As it turned out, to reach our German destination from our French point of origin we also travelled through Belgium and the Nederlands-- more to have considered. Thank you all for your concern. Much appreciated.