Car Seat for Travel

[LMO429]

My son will be 2 years old this upcoming trip to disneyworld. We took him last october and we used our nuna pipa on the airplane and then in the rental car.

This year he will be too big for the infant car seat I currently have the nuna rava convertible car seat in my car but was looking to purchase an additional car seat for travel purposes only.

I know you can rent a car seat with a car rental but I would rather not do that. and I also know that your car seat could potentially get damaged in the storage of the airplane.

can you recommend a convertible car seat that you use for travel for the airplane and rental cars?????


thank you

 

[sweetpeama]

If you are looking for a seat just for travel and the occasional use in someone else's vehicle where you live I would go with a seat like the cosco scenera. This is a $45 or less seat that is easy to carry and fairly light weight. Another one is the Graco Natalus which is a bit more but a good seat. We are still using ours as low back boosters one of them full time and the other one for when we know we will have a young person who needs to use it with us. ( easy to grab before we head out). We flew with the Natalus when my daughter was 2 attaching it to a luggage rack using a couple of bungie cords ( one through the seat belt path the other through the back fastening both on the up right portion of the cart ( one at the base of the L the other closer to the top). She was able to sit in it buckled up and we just pulled her through the airport. We did have to take it apart to go through security but that was easy enough to do. You could easily do the same with the Scenera. A few points to compare.
Scenera will reface Natalus does not depending on your Son's size this may be a factor ( my tall children both outgrew being able to reface before they were 2 years old)
Natalus is a combo seat that will go from a forward facing seat to either a high or low back booster ( we discovered that in our truck due to the design of the seatbelts ( coming out of the seat opposed to the inside of the vehicle) that we had to use low back. While the scenera does not.
Scenera goes to either 40 or 45 pounds the Natalus to 65 pounds in harness though I believe they have come up with a newer design that goes to 80 pounds ( no change in the height limit remained the same). Height limit in the natalus is the same as a number of the britax seats.

 

[Dis703]

I would also suggest the Cosco Scenera. Even if you buy it for just one trip it's cheaper than renting one. And it's lightweight for travel.

 

[FredtheDuck]

We have an Evenflo Tribute LX for travel. It's nothing special (like, really... no bells and whistles at all), but it is inexpensive, safe (search it on baby gear lab), FAA approved, and super light (so really easy to travel with). Fits the bill for us.

 

[KatieN]

We have used the Safety 1st Guide 65 for travel. It is a little more expensive than the Scenera (around $80), but it is still lightweight and has a higher weight (and maybe height) limit than the Scenera so it can be used longer. The only issue we had was that it was difficult to get a good installation rear-facing. No problems forward-facing though.

 

[PackYourPixieDust]

Make sure you get a seat with the FAA designation.

You can also get a car seat cart. We loved ours. We bought one on Amazon and just attached our car seat to it and scooted it around the airport. From ages 2-4 we used my son's car seat on the flights and my son did so well. Now at 4 we don't use it but he knows he has to stay in the seat buckeled for the entire flight.

 

[LMO429]

I would also suggest the Cosco Scenera. Even if you buy it for just one trip it's cheaper than renting one. And it's lightweight for travel.

I have seen this cosco scenario but it does not seem sturdy enough I'm worried about using it I have to do more research on it.

 

[Dis703]

I have seen this cosco scenario but it does not seem sturdy enough I'm worried about using it I have to do more research on it.

It often comes recommended by car seat safety techs. It passes all the same safety standard tests given to all of the other car seats. I'm a stickler for car seat safety and I wouldn't hesitate to use it. Only issue I had with it when I looked to purchasing was like pp said, the height and weight limits are higher on other seats.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I also recommend the the Scenera. It is rated high is safety. The only thing is it's not fancy. It doesn't have cushy seat and all the dodads that some seats come with. It is basic but it is safe. And it is wonderful to travel with since it is so light weight.

 

[shairpdrh]

We have an Evenflo Tribute LX for travel. It's nothing special (like, really... no bells and whistles at all), but it is inexpensive, safe (search it on baby gear lab), FAA approved, and super light (so really easy to travel with). Fits the bill for us.

I second the recommendation for the Evenflo Tribute LX. We used it for our daughter's first trip at 13 months because she had outgrown her bucket seat months before. It is so light and is very well reviewed. We use a Clek Fllo as our main seat at home, so we wanted something safe but easier to use when traveling since we always get her a seat on the plane. It will feel less sturdy than your normal seat but I felt good after reading reviews. We have installed it on the plane rear-facing twice (tight and the person in front of the seat can't recline, but it works) and we are planning to forward-face for her next trip (a compromise since we plan to do extended rear-facing in the car). It also worked well in the two cars we have installed it in (both rear-facing). It doesn't have any fancy features, but it is safe and that is what matters to me for a travel seat.