Can I use our UK car seat in USA?

[pinkem]

Will our UK car seat be ok to use in Florida, or will we have to get a USA approved seat?

they fit; we have two - why would you need a 'usa approved' one'?

only reason i'd see to use an american one is so you don't have to lug yours around the airport

In the UK your car seat must conform to United Nations Regulation R44.03, I didn't know whether America has has different regulations your car seat has to conform to.

I wanted to find out before we go so the hire company can't con us into thinking we can't use ours and we would have to hire one of theirs!!

Thanks StewieGriffinsMom I will check.

not been to florida but we always take our own
the likelihood of getting a ticket for an illegal seat is slim to none

some info

Thank You EldonAve

Crikey the laws vary so much state to state and Florida seems the most lax

We just got back from Florida on sunday and we took our car seat with us our for DD (they put it in the hold with the buggy as you board the plane) but ended up hiring a local one as it didn't fit the hire car properly. We tried strapping it in but it was really wobbly and then the guy that worked at the hire car company tried to fit it for us but it just wobbled all over the place so we decided to hire a local one which clipped on the car (similar to Isofix) and also strapped in with the seatbelt. It was much more secure. We ended up just lugging our one from home around with us for nothing.

Thanks Charliebean, that is something to keep in mind.

What is a tether strap?

Isn't it quite dear to hire a carseat with the car? I think it may work out cheaper to hire seat for just a few days and go BUY a new seat for yourself.

Info on tether straps and LATCH (like ISOFIX)

www.car-safety.org/latch.html

lljkk is right I think

It will cost us £70 to hire a seat for two weeks, i have seen lots of bad reports on hiring a car seat and that is why we were looking at taking ours. We have discussed buying one when we get there but i don't want the hassle of going back and forth to the hire company, i think we have decided to take ours. Thank you to everybody who replyed.

We always take our own car seats as you could buy them several times over if you were to pay car hire fees.

Technically, you should have a car seat that has be positively approved by the local state. In reality, most car seats are fairly international brandwise, so there is little to worry about. The police are not looking to pull over tourists with foreign car seats.

but they may invalidate your insurance if you have an accident.

Which car seat do you have? Perhaps its a brand that is widely available (and approved) in Florida.

I'd pay the £70. Your other problem as well is that your UK car seat may not actually fit into the US hire car.

Have seen too many seats get mauled about by the baggage handlers as well; I would not be taking these to FL.

We have the Maxi Cosi Tobi, we now know that it will definately fit in the car.