Car seat and train journey

[Daisies123]

I'm a little stumped about the car seat situation when travelling by train. I want to take DD on the train to visit friends/relatives (I don't drive long distances). She is a toddler so still in car seat (extended rear facing but no longer in her baby seat). At the destination will need to take her by car to their house, but obvs wont have car seat for her with me.

Am I trying to do the impossible? Cannot see how I can do it. For some friends it would be possible to get the bus from station to house, which would be fine, but other friends aren't on bus route/only couple of buses a day situation.

We did go to visit my Mum by train in DD's first year, but Mum has a car seat for her car so it wasn't a problem.

Can your Friends borrow a car seat for a day?

Are your friends picking you up from the station? If so I would either ask friends if they could borrow a seat or buy a cheap one and have it delivered to their house.

It's multiple friends/destinations- probably 3/4 separate trips away so buying a cheap car seat each time isn't really an option.

Would probably be picking us up from station, unless I get the bus. I could see if they could each borrow one - that's what I've done in the past when friends with kids have visited me, but I've got other friends here with spare seats which I can borrow (they bought cheaper seats to take on planes).

I suppose I won't know without asking but Is it realistic to borrow a toddler size car seat over a weekend when everything in the area is only reachable by car so I imagine most families will be using theirs? Although maybe some families have two cars and two sets of seats?

How about borrowing a pram at your destination instead? If you don't have to take a pram with you on the journey you could have your daughter in a carrier on your front, a rucksack on your back and take the car seat attached to one of those collapsible luggage things that have little wheels so you can pull it along.

Not an easy journey, but I can't think of anything else other than you deciding that actually you will start driving long distances!

Also, if you do manage to sort out a borrowed seat at your destination it's likely to be a forward facing one isn't it 😕

Would your carseat fit in a large wheely suitcase? If so, put it in there and pack round it all the clothes etc.

Thank you for the responses. TBH I'm veering towards the bus option as it seems the only viable way of doing it. I'm also looking at hiring a car at a train station as that would give me more flexibility than the bus as long as I could hire a car seat to go with it.

I suffer from driving anxiety- have taken a course for it which got me back on the road years ago as I'd stopped driving completely but I still find it incredibly stressful. I don't want to drive more than 100 miles in a day (we holiday within 100 mile radius of home as DH doesn't drive) so visiting these people more than 200 miles away is going to have to be by train.

DD is 27lb and strongly objected the last few times I tried carrying her in the sling so I don't think I'd want to go without the pushchair at all. Have visions of nightmare tube journey with my giant rucksack and thrashing toddler arms and legs refusing to be in sling!

The car seat is pretty big so it wouldn't fit in one of our existing suitcases but would fit in one of those absolutely enormous ones I've seen!

Buy the Doona carseat stroller thingy? Shes only a couple of lb off the top weight limit so id only advise it if you were planning more babies to make it worth it.