Amanda said:
My husband and I are flying into LA with our 2yr old daughter.
Who is about 14kg or 28lb and 87cm or 34" tall.
We have decided to buy a car seat once we arrive instead of hiring one as it will be cheaper.
What do you recommend?
What will be easy to travel with as we wont have the hire car the whole time?
We are also travelling to Atlanta and Memphis, If this makes a difference.
Are you flying from LA to Atlanta & Memphis? If so, here's what I think you should do.
1) Bring your daughter's current seat with you. This will protect her on the plane as well as giving her something to ride in once you land and before you've had an opportunity to purchase a US seat.
2) Before you fly out of LA, get an American seat. You probably will not be allowed to use your foreign seat on a flight originating within the US. If you find you have trouble installing your seat in an American vehicle, you can purchase this sooner, rather than later. Here are my recommendations for seats you should look at.
http://www.car-safety.org/carseats.html Any of the ones listed *should* fit your daughter. Stores like Toys R Us let you try seats in your vehicle before you buy. Target and Walmart also carry child seats and have fairly reasonable return policies. Just be sure to save the receipt and the box until you know for sure the seat will work for you.
If you're not flying within the US, you could simply use your own seat for the whole trip (unless you find it doesn't fit in the vehicle correctly). When you fly back home, you may be able to convince the airline to let you use the seat you brought, even though they could technically refuse you. That will depend on the flight attendant.