Car seat dilemma

[Newbiehere123]

So basically I'm due to travel mid next month. I have a 14 month old but 6 months ago we upgraded his car seat from 0-13kg stage 1 maxi cosi to a stage 2 one. The stage 2 one is a heavy cybex one which we always leave in the car and never move as it's so difficult to install.

Basically we will be travelling to Portugal and I want to take his first car seat with us as it's very light and easy to travel with. DS is currently weighing 12 kg so he is 1 kg under the maximum weight for the the maxi cosi stage 1 car seat. But, by the time we go he will be 15 months and the car seat says maximum between 0 months to maximum 12-15 months. DS is 3-4cm taller than average so it's worrying me.

What do you when you are on holiday? Would you take your heavy massive stage 2 one with you? Or would you try to make the most out of the first car seat if you were in my position? Or do you know any recommended good quality travel car seats available for older babies/young toddler age?

I have looked over the internet and couldn't find anything good quality. I would appreciate any advice or your experience in this situation.

P.s we have family there so we won't be using coach transfers or public transport or ubers with car seat. I really should take my own one.

Height and weight are more important than age with car seats - that's just an indication really.
How are you travelling?
I took our car seat on the plane when we visited family when DD was that age, would that be an option?

Or could they buy a suitable car seat?

He is long for his age but the weight is fine as he is 1 kg below the maximum weight limit. I really don't want to bother anyone with buying a car seat for him as they won't take the money for it and I feel guilty when they don't and they don't really have disposable income.

The one we currently use is so heavy and I'm not even sure if they would allow it on the plane( cybex sirona) But the maxi cosi stage one car seat I can take it on the plane which I did many times last year when we were travelling. It's light and easy to install in the car.

The car seat my DS uses right now is still rear facing on isofix (which makes it even heavier) and I don't want him forward facing just yet. Which make was your car seat that you took on the plane?

BA carry these larger, heavier car seats in the hold for free. You just check it in with your baggage and pick it up at the carousel but you are not allowed them on the plane.

Worth giving your airline a call and find out what their policy is.

Will he still fit in the baby seat? His age will be irrelevant... It's his height and weight. If he's tall for his age, there's a strong possibility he will be two long.

If this likely to be a regular trip, buy a second, lighter toddler seat for traveling. There are some which are airplane compliant- have to be narrow enough and be able to be fitted with just the lap belt. Alternatively they can go in the hold- but can get bashed around a bit.

We bought a joie tilt for travelling with our daughters at this age (our normal seat was a very heavy isofix seat). It is a lightweight seat that can forwards or rear face (rear facing is safer, so we always did that) up to 18kg. Another option in the joie steadi - slightly bigger and heavier but has a sliding harness adjustment rather than having to rethread the straps to adjust them on the tilt, so a little bit more user friendly. Neither is suitable for use on the plane, so would need to go into the hold luggage.

Honestly, I put ds in the infant seat when he was 12.9kg. he'd moved up to the joie 360 a few months before. He wasn't as comfortable but he was safe.

After that, we had a Joie Elevate for travel which is a FF seat. Not ideal but I flew solo and simply couldn't carry the RF seat, DS and luggage (I'm disabled). So I decided I'd rather take my own decent quality FF carseat than relying on car hire ones or loans from other people- it would be something like MIL's neighbours daughter so quite far removed.

I'd be more concerned about height than weight if he is near the top of age recommendations, and tall for his age.

We bought a second carseat (per child), and it lived at my parents. They came to the airport to collect us. Mum put the seats in the boot, and I fitted them in the carpark. Is that possible if it's a place you visit regularly?

We took our big heavy stage 2 one, it was annoying but luckily I was travelling with DH so there were 2 of us, it went in the hold and on top of the suitcases on a trolley in the airport then straight in FiL’s car at the other end.

Agree re height. DD was long but not crazily so and definitely didn't have much room left in her maxi Cosi when we moved her around her first birthday.

Do you visit often if you have family there? Would it be worth ordering one that will do a few years and leaving it out there? You could order it yourself. If you go every year, you're going to have this problem every year.

We've flown with our Joie Stages in the hold, kept the original box and packed towels and nappies around it. We now have it as a back up car seat for grandparents to borrow as its so easy to install

If you visit regularly could you order one online to be delivered to their house. That would avoid the money issue and you could just leave it their. As others have said joie are great for cheaper rear facing for an occasional use seat.

We have a Joie Stages too for travel. It's rear facing but can be installed with a seat belt. We just put it in the hold in its original box. We also have family abroad and have found this seat great.

Like others we had a joie stages for travel. It was a complete pain the first time we took it but it has stayed with our relatives and should do all the cousins.

If he still fits in the seat and is within the weight limit then its fine to use even if he is older than the age guide (its weight and height thats most important)

We had a similar dilemma, we also have the Cybex Sirona which is a beast of a seat! Ridiculously heavy, we did take it on the plane once but never again, just getting it from the car to the Check-in desk and then oversize luggage was a stress.

In the end we decided to buy a car seat specifically for travelling (and also a spare for grandparents to put in their car when they look after DC). We chose the Britax Two Way Elite because it is light and compact, compatible with most cars (so will fit in hire cars and taxis) and it's a 25kg seat so we'll get years of use out of it. We bought it from the In Car Safety Centre, it's £185 but they sometimes have offers.

PS It's a rear facing seat (although also has the option to forward face up to 18kg)

We bought a Joie Stages to take on holiday & were able to take it in the hold for free. Used it in the car on the way to the airport & took the original box flattened with a roll of parcel tape. Once at the airport we packaged up the car seat & checked it in. When we arrived at our destination took it out the box, flattened it again. As PP said you can pack nappies etc in the box to save on room in your suitcase too.

Don't worry about his age. Those ages are just a guide because brand new parents have no idea what 13kg means - saying "This will last around 12-15 months" is just a guide. The car seat is safe as long as he is under the max weight and his head isn't over the edge. Actually many children can fit into infant carriers up to 18 months, even 2 years and beyond.

I would put him in it now, pull him down in the seat as far as he will go, see how close his head is to the edge of it. If you only have a cm or two, then I probably wouldn't chance it - in 3 months' time, he may well be too tall. If you have more than an inch of space, then he will likely be fine (but do check again 2-3 weeks before you travel).

You are generally allowed to gate check two items of baby equipment for free, that includes a car seat. If you take your Cybex in its original box (if you have it) it would be safe/protected. It would be a pain, but use a luggage trolley and check it in immediately and it might seem a bit more doable.

Otherwise, the options are:

1. Buy a seat for the next stage you can use on the plane (you would need to book him his own seat).

1. Buy a seat online to be delivered to your relatives, so they don't have to pay. Or buy one here and immediately forward it onto them in the same box. Car seats are incredibly cheap in the UK compared to other European countries.

1. Hire a seat from a baby equipment hire company/ERF specialist.

1. See if your relatives can borrow a seat from a friend, or find an expat network nearby where someone may lend you a seat.

Further notes:

1 - Officially the only two approved ones are Diono Radian 5 (which can be rear facing) and Britax Eclipse (which is only forward facing). But European airlines are funny about car seats in the first place. Generally for an under 2 with their own seat, you MUST use a car seat for them, but for older children sometimes you'll be refused use of a seat even if it's supposed to be a flight approved one. Some airlines have the policy that you can use any seat, as long as it can be fitted forward facing and will fit on the airline seat - standard airline seats are 46cm wide IIRC. So it needs to be narrower than this. Infant seats generally always fit and most of them are flight approved. Joie Juva is an inexpensive one which is quite tall in height, if you can try him in one in a store before you go. Obviously it might feel a waste to buy a seat just for one trip though. I would also look at Joie Tilt, Joie Steadi and Britax Two Way Elite. All of these would be able to rear face at your destination. Another option might be Britax First Class Plus. It is only rear facing to 13kg but by the time of your next trip, he will be older.

2 - I am already up way too late but if you want to do this and want someone to help you browse Portuguese online shops for suitable car seats I would be up for that.

3 - Klippan (ERF specialist up to 25kg) are a popular brand in Spain and run a system where they hire seats out to tourists/occasional drivers wanting to ERF. I don't know whether this system extends into Portugal. You do have to leave a hefty deposit which might freak out your DH! Mine was actually OK with it, which surprised me. You could email them and ask (I sent a crappy Google translated to Spanish email and got a helpful response back! They are actually Finnish, so you could just ask in English if you email Klippan direct.) Especially if your relatives live near the Spanish border, they might be near a shop that offers this. Otherwise, there are several organisations which hire baby equipment out to tourists generally based near airports. The quality of the items might be questionable and you might have to clarify which exact model of seat you'd be getting to ensure it's rear facing, but it's an option, and some of them do have decent seats like Maxi Cosi Pearl (rear facing), Britax etc. Obviously, the issue with hiring anything is ensuring that it's an appropriate model, up to date and not been mistreated. I would guess (?) that a baby equipment type hire place would be better at this than a car hire place (which tend to have horror stories) - but I don't know. It depends who is running it.

4 - May have the same issues in getting hold of an ERF seat and/or a seat which hasn't been mistreated.

These guys deliver to U.K. (don't know about Portugal)

www.babycareshop.ie/britax-two-way-elite.html

Oh and the other option although it's £300 (!) - Nachfolger inflatable car seat. Sounds insane but it's actually incredibly solid and has passed quite strict crash testing. It's rear facing and you use with top tether if there is one, if there isn't you deactivate the airbag and brace it against the car's dashboard. I'm not 100% sure about whether it can be used without the top tether if you need to put it in the back or can't (won't?) disable airbag. It folds down to smaller than hand luggage size so you can put it in the overhead compartment.

Thank you all for your replies. I did in the end take the infant seat. He did take his naps much better than Cybex one we have installed in our car. His head didn't go pass the top edge, in fact there was about an 8cm gap between were his head rested and top of the car seat so it was ok. I definitely need to buy a travel car seat as we do travel quite often due to having family living abroad. I will look into all the brands you have suggested. Thank you so much 😊

If you've got 8cm of head space left in your infant one and he's 14 months old, I'd actually say you'll have another year in that seat, so you might well end up not needing a travel seat until he's much older! At which point you might be OK with him being forward facing just for travel.