Bus transfer

[Aherdofcows]

Hello

We are going on our first ski trip with children who will be 5 and 2 when we travel. We are using Mark Warner and have a 3 hour transfer. Unfortunately we will start the bus transfer smack bang in the middle of youngests nap time which shouldn't make for a particularly fun trip. Given that we don't have a traditional car seat in the bus which I am a bit iffy about or a 5 point harness, I have visions of a struggling, impatient toddler who will be exhausted and grouchy for two hours.

Does anyone have experience of this sort of transfer with such young children? Thinking about hiring car instead or dragging car seats abroad!

Thanks

Ha! My experience is that all routines go smack bang out of the window during flights/transfers etc. don't be surprised if little one will fight sleep due to excitement and then fall asleep on the very boring bus ride in your arms. I've done 3 transfers now and never seen a baby/toddler in a car seat, but sat/sleeping on parents laps...

We've done a trip like this when DD was aged 1, 2 and 3 - never used a car seat and we never saw anyone else using a car seat. DD fell asleep on us. This year, when DD was 3, we found having programmes downloaded onto a mini-tablet a real help, even though it's not something that we do so it might have worked well partly for the novelty value.

I agree with mei and snowgirl, all routines tend to go out the window, pack plenty of snacks and tablet/DVD player. We've taken DS aged 1,2,3 and never used a car seat, also never seen anyone else using a car seat. This year I did see a couple of kids board another coach with trunki boostapaks on their back so maybe this could be a possibility?

We took trunki boostapacks when DD was 2. IME kids mostly fall asleep on the bus particularly if they have been up at stupid o'clock to get a flight.

When we took our two year old on the transfer bus we used one of those inflatable "Bubble Bum" seats. Obviously it's not as good as a car seat, but it did mean the belt was positioned a little better. And it deflated easily for packing.

Agree about the routines. Usually by the time the bus part comes around they just crash out anyway even if they've been woken up part way through. Buses make most people sleepy!

Thankyou. We will suck it up, take snacks, iPad etc and hope littlest one will sleep in my arms! So excited, only a few weeks now!!

Why because others don't use a car seat does that make it ok? Personally I'd be concerned about safety on such a long transfer with a small child. Even a trunki is better than nothing.