Ever bring your own carseat?

[hofftkmn]

We will be renting a car in Orlando with a carseat for an extra $42/week. How easy is it to take a carseat with you? Can you just check one in with your luggage on the plane?

 

[Zephyr]

Yes, you can check it in as luggage. (though you might want to find out if it should be in a car seat carrier).

If you are travelling alone with your child, then yes, it is a pain to take the car seat. I got a carrier for mine, so that helped alot, but it's bulky, so it's a pain to carry around when you also have luggage, and children to watch over. If you are travelling with another adult you should be fine.

 

[ducklite]

I'm not understanding why you are checking it? You should be using it on the plane! Those seat belts are not going to hold your child safely if there is turbulence. He'll be happier in his "own" seat as well.

Anne

 

[beattyfamily]

You don't say how old your child is?

We always bring a car seat for our toddler. It's better if she doesn't think she can get out of her seat and walk around and she's comfortable. Sometimes she naps in it too. So no need to check it.

Then, for our then 4 year old, we brought her booster seat and checked it with the luggage.

It's just much cheaper this way and they'll have their own seats rather than old, dirty, possibly broken ones the rental companies have.

Good luck!

 

[skeezixspud]

So, if your child weighs less than that, it is safest to use the seat on board the aircraft. (Tell the airline in advance that you will use the seat; there are restrictions on which seats in can be used in.)

If your child weighs more than 30 lbs., you should check the seat as luggage.

The airlines will usually provide a heavy trash bag to bag up a checked seat, but I personally don't trust that, the one time I tried it the bag ended up with two giant gashes in it. We bought a carseat carrier from BRUS (Prince Lionheart brand, $20), which is heavy-duty and zippered, and can hold other soft items tucked in with the seat when checked. The carrier also has backpack-type straps that make carrying it to the gate much easier when it is used on board the aircraft.

 

[amccowan]

Did you ever consider renting a minivan with a built in car seat? Last time we were at Disney (2years ago), we actually found a van with two built in seats (for our twins), and the rate was much better than renting a car and car seats, not to mention having extra luggage to deal with if we took our own! I don't remember which company we used, but it might be worth checking into.

 

[ttfn3]

We've done it both ways. The one time that we did not take our own car seat and rented one from the car company, I was extremely disappointed. It was basically a hard plastic seat and much too small for our 3 year old. If your child is small, I would highly recommend you take your own seat and use it on the plane. If your child is not small, I would recommend that you check it as checked luggage. I'm cheap, so I don't have a special carrier. We usually fly Delta or Southwest. Both airlines pack the seat in plastic and we've never had a problem.

If you take your own carseat, you'll save money, your child will be more comfortable, and you will feel better knowing your child is in a safe, clean seat.

 

[ttfn3]

We've done it both ways. The one time that we did not take our own car seat and rented one from the car company, I was extremely disappointed. It was basically a hard plastic seat and much too small for our 3 year old. If your child is small, I would highly recommend you take your own seat and use it on the plane. If your child is not small, I would recommend that you check it as checked luggage. I'm cheap, so I don't have a special carrier. We usually fly Delta or Southwest. Both airlines pack the seat in plastic and we've never had a problem.

If you take your own carseat, you'll save money, your child will be more comfortable, and you will feel better knowing your child is in a safe, clean seat.

If you're worried about carrying the car seat, many times I've used our umbrella stroller to lug the car seat and let our child walk in the airport. He was ready to move around when he got off the plane.