Car Seats/Booster Seats dilema......

[HRHQueenOfQuelNoel]

ok - so we might be going to Zimbabwe in May with the boys. DS1 has a (backless) booster seat - so no problem there - easily transportable - but DS2 is still in his massive carseat.

He's 14kgs (or was 2 weeks ago) - and 2yrs old. Obviously there's no way we could take the big britax out with us - so I was thinking of just getting a booster seat (like DS1's) just for while we were out there. Car seats are a very rare phenonmen out there- and I know for a fact that none of DH's family have any - and the chances of the car hire places out there having any that are 'safe' (ie not just been reused after being in an accident) are slim. There's no WAY I would let my boys in cars for any distance in Zim without carseats of some description - I saw far too many horrific accidents out there when I lived there, but would a low back booster seat actually do any good????

Why can't you take a big car seat? 30 pounds isn't that much is the scheme of things - especially as you could sell it when you got back.

We've taken our big car seat on a plane twice. Even with ryan air it didn't count towards our luggage allowance. We gave it in when we got on the plane and it was given to us when we got off. We didn't have to wait to reclaim it as luggage. People do it all the time theres no problem.

Why can't I take a big car seat?

well - as you probably know not all car seats fit in all cars - booster seats generally will fit into any car. We have no idea what car we'd be driving out there (if we do manage to hire on) and there'd be no certainty that DS2's carseat would fit the car we hired.

most car rental places will hire car seats too (well, anywhere Ive been anyway) why dont you try to book a car in advance or even check with a few places, to see if they do this, before looking into buying one?

LOL i personally would never use a car seat from a hires place.

1. you NEVER know its history
2. they are evry often old and unsafe!

Generally most of the 'normal' car seats, Britax 9-18kg, maxi cosi prior DO fit most cars. Generally the only exceptions are sporty cars with bucket seats etc.

I've never found a car our UK seat didn't fit into and it must have been in around 50. I've never found it a hassle to take.