Can I use uk car seat in the us?

[FoolOfATook]

Hi, we are currently debating to get the cares safety harness for our 19 month old to travel to New York or to use the car seat.

Pros of the harness are that we don't have to carry car seat around the airport

Pros of the car seat are that I think ds my be more comfortable in it during the flight to sleep. Also, we can them hopefully use it on transfers to hotel and also if we hire a car.

I can't find any info on whether we can use a uk seat in the us?

we have always taken our car seat with us and then used it in the hire car. the cost of hiring a car seat is always pretty extortionate plus the quality, cleanliness etc of them is variable. you will only be carrying the seat around for a couple of hours and it is worth it if you are going to be on a holiday with a hire car.

It has to be FAA approved and stickered for you to be able to bring it back on the return flight, and they're pretty hot on checking, so make sure it's FAA approved and this would be shown by a sticker (which is not the same as EU flight approved) before you even contemplate taking it....if it's a British seat I don't think it will be. Could be wrong though.

There is also some discrepancy between UK and US regulations for car seats on the road - US ones must have a chest clip, UK ones must not have a chest clip.

You'd need to check if you were breaking any laws or invalidating any insurance by using a non-US approved seat over there.

I would hire a car seat and if it is not up to scratch in your eyes, insist on them lending you another one.

If it is not US approved with the stickers it is not worth taking along with you. Your seat may also not fit properly into the hire car thus rendering it useless.

Flights to the US leave during the day; you may well find that your child is awake for most of it.

Re the plane, have you spoken to the airline in question about the types of seat they provide for infants?. Have you paid for his/her own seat?. If not, he/she will be expected to sit on your lap for the duration (they will give you an extender belt for take off and landing).

Thanks for the replies. We are flying with BA and have already purchased ds a seat.

That's good. Speak to them further to find out exactly what sort of seat they will provide your child to sit on.

According to their website:-
"The child seats supplied by us are:
•suitable for older babies who weigh no more than 12.5kgs (27.5lbs)
•available on all longhaul flights (except the London City to JFK service)
•adjustable to a variety of reclined positions
•not to be used during taxi, take-off, landing or turbulence (when the fasten seatbelt sign is on)"

We just flew long haul on BA with 20 month old twins on our laps. As long as you have a seat in the bassinet position (which you should automatically have been assigned if you bought infant tickets) then they can give you a Britax baby seat for bigger babies/toddlers - it's like a big bouncy chair. It fits in the bassinet fixings. You can't pre book it, you just ask for it once on board.

This is a MASSIVE advantage of flying BA, as I don't know any other airline that supplies these seats - most only offer bassinets, which most babies over 12 months are too big for.

They tried to tell us that our son was too big for it, but actually he was fine and slept well in it. He's 12.7kg. The official weight limit is 12.5kg though.

If you bought an infant ticket, you can't take a car seat on with you anyway as the baby will be expected to be on your lap and won't have their own seat.

It's worth upgrading to premium economy if you get chance. Flying with toddlers isn't much fun and it's worth paying extra for comfort and better meals and luggage allowance.

We paid for an adult seat for ds as the woman at BA that made our booking told me he would be too big for the bassinet seats.

The way our booking had to be made is for 3 adults and an infant. Apparently they need to know there is an infant on board even when booked into an adult seat so out booking is for 4 people. Gives us luggage allowance for ds.

We have been allocated the seats with the bassinet so maybe I keep those seats. Take the Cares aviation harness and If ds won't fit in the seat I've got a back up?

He is very tall god his age. I think he'll be inside the weight limit but I'm not sure how comfortable he'll be.

I took a UK seat to the US many years ago and couldn't use it as the seat belts were too short. The next time we stayed a night at an airport hotel and dh took the hire car to ToyRUs first thing and bought a new seat, cost less than the rental costs, was clean and we knew it fitted. We left it at the end of the trip.

Even with his own seat you may still have to hold him on take off/landing. Interestingly Air Canada refuse extension belts for young children, their rules say young children are held in arms as the belts are more dangerous.

During the actual flight I think he will be fine in the regular seat with lap belt, especially if you bring a child neck pillow. The belt will stop him flying in the air if there is a sudden drop in altitude due to turbulence. I'm not convinced a car seat v. a belt would make any difference in most plane crashes, a bit like life jackets - how many people survive a crash into the sea and then need one?