Question From Australia travel in US & Canada, which carseat?

Hi all,
We will be travelling in the US and Canada in May with our daughter who will be 11 months and approx 10 - 10.5kg (22-24lb). We will be flying into LA and then on to Las Vegas where we will probably just hire a car for a day to do the Grand Canyon. Then we fly on to Vancouver. We go to Vancouver pretty much every year as we have family there and are planning to go back in August so it seems to make sense to buy a car seat to use over there rather than just hire each time. So, we are looking for something that will "grow" with her (good weight range so we aren't buying new car seats every year).
What car seat would you recommend and any legals that I need to be aware of? Also, recommendations of where to buy would be great. My sister-in-law could bring the car seat with her from Vancouver to Vegas as she is coming to baby-sit if we got it shipped straight to her.
Another factor is that we might be loaned a car from a relative and it is a small hatchback (Nissan Versa), so something quite compact would be good, but we don't really mind if we need to hire a bigger car, and with luggage and stroller we might need to do that anyway.
Thanks!

To buy in Vancouver, try Toys R Us or TJs, they're both online and have multiple locations. Also West Coast Kids (Richmond), Baby's World (Coquitlam), Jack and Lola (North Vancouver), Lusso Baby (North Vancouver) - they're all online, too.

There's also Crocodile, but I've had terrible experiences with them...

Can I ask, where are you coming from in Australia? We're going there next month, Sydney and Cairns, and looking for tips on kid-friendly things to do and see

I'm in Vancouver too. Depending on what type of seat to get, some stores sell some and not others. As in some more high end stores will sell Britax while others won't etc. I find Toys R Us, Sears and TJs have a pretty good mid range selection. Zellers also has a reasonable selection, but can't order online.

Sounds like you need a good convertible seat so you can use it rear facing for this trip and later forqard facing once she outgrows it in RF mode.

Some good ones often recommended on this forum are: Graco My Ride, Complete Air, Sunshine Kids Radian, True Fit, Evenflo Triumph. These have good high slots for the shoulder harness, good max RFing weight and and high max weight for FFing (Complete Air has lower max FFing weight, but most kids outgrow seats by height, not weight).

Sounds like you also want something fairly compact for your car. The radian is narrow but takes up lots of room front to back when RFing. Others would be slightly wider, but can be installed more upright depending on the vehicle.

I have a question going the other way... we're in Vancouver and going to Australia in April. Our daughter will be 7 months and about 17lbs. We want to take our Graco Safe Seat with us but it doesn't have the Aus sticker it needs to be legal. I know it's okay safety-wise, but am worried about insurance being invalid if we use it and not too sure if rental car companies will let us use it. Has anyone had experience with this issue?


The only thing I would add to previous posts re: buying a car seat here is to check out Craigslist as well for a second hand seat. The downside of that though is that you will only have the sellers word that it hasn't been in an accident.

And we flew into Vegas a couple of years ago and then drove to the Canyon - it's a long trip to do in a day. Just FYI!

Unregistered said:

I have a question going the other way... we're in Vancouver and going to Australia in April. Our daughter will be 7 months and about 17lbs. We want to take our Graco Safe Seat with us but it doesn't have the Aus sticker it needs to be legal. I know it's okay safety-wise, but am worried about insurance being invalid if we use it and not too sure if rental car companies will let us use it. Has anyone had experience with this issue?

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LOL, wonder if we'll be on the same flight

We're bringing our Safe Seat and hoping for the best... Bought a Clek Ozzi for our 4.5 year old, to use in taxis and if we do decide to rent a car.

Unregistered said:

I have a question going the other way... we're in Vancouver and going to Australia in April. Our daughter will be 7 months and about 17lbs. We want to take our Graco Safe Seat with us but it doesn't have the Aus sticker it needs to be legal. I know it's okay safety-wise, but am worried about insurance being invalid if we use it and not too sure if rental car companies will let us use it. Has anyone had experience with this issue?

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The rental companies won't be an issue. I'd be really surprised if insurance was an issue, but if it concerns you, I'd check with your insurance company.

Please correct me if im wrong , but from the sounds of it your planning to have your sister bring the seat she buys in Vancouver on a flight to Vegas , where she will meet up with you - Correct?

If so , I thought it was terrible to check a carseat because they can easily be damaged ( bumped around , dropped and who knows what else) and since your sister wouldnt have your daughter with her she would need to check the seat?

Also , as far as buying a seat to last a while & use in multiple vehicles , I would recommend something with lock-off's - True Fit would be a good choice , fits in most vehicles , has a nice tall shell & has lock-off's and premium LATCH....Britax seats are great too but a shorter shell would mean its outgrown sooner although they do fit amazing in smaller vehicles

Unregistered said:

The only thing I would add to previous posts re: buying a car seat here is to check out Craigslist as well for a second hand seat. The downside of that though is that you will only have the sellers word that it hasn't been in an accident.

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A secondhand seat from an unknown person is never a good idea, even for a short trip. You don't know if it's been in an accident, you don't know how it was cleaned, you don't know if it's been checked on a plane. Too many "invisible" things could have happened to it that could risk your child's life in an accident.


OP - what sort of budget are you thinking for your travel seat? At your DD's size, a US Scenera 40RF would last her a few years and be quite budget friendly ($50US). If your sister is arriving before you, she could still stop at Target and pick one up ahead of your arrival. The Canadian version of the seat is pricier, and has lower weight limits. That said, if you wanted to be able to pass the seat on to a family member in Canada in the future, you'll want to get a Canadian seat.

If you want to spend a bit more, I second the suggestions above - First Years TrueFit, Graco MyRide, Evenflo Triumph Advance, Safety 1st Complete Air... All should fit nicely.

Someone in the shopping forums mentioned that Zellers is having a nice clearance sale on baby gear right now with MyRides and TrueFits for really nice prices. It might be worth it for your sister to check out.

TerisBoys said:

A secondhand seat from an unknown person is never a good idea, even for a short trip. You don't know if it's been in an accident, you don't know how it was cleaned, you don't know if it's been checked on a plane. Too many "invisible" things could have happened to it that could risk your child's life in an accident.


OP - what sort of budget are you thinking for your travel seat? At your DD's size, a US Scenera 40RF would last her a few years and be quite budget friendly ($50US). If your sister is arriving before you, she could still stop at Target and pick one up ahead of your arrival. The Canadian version of the seat is pricier, and has lower weight limits. That said, if you wanted to be able to pass the seat on to a family member in Canada in the future, you'll want to get a Canadian seat.

If you want to spend a bit more, I second the suggestions above - First Years TrueFit, Graco MyRide, Evenflo Triumph Advance, Safety 1st Complete Air... All should fit nicely.

Someone in the shopping forums mentioned that Zellers is having a nice clearance sale on baby gear right now with MyRides and TrueFits for really nice prices. It might be worth it for your sister to check out.

Click to expand...

We do have the 40lb RF Scenera here in Canada now, but yes, it's more expensive here. I'd advise against buying an Evenflo convertible in Canada. They have a 30lb rear-facing weight limit here instead of 35 or 40 like in the US.

We're the ones going from Van. to Aus. with the car seat. Thanks so much for the info - very helpful. To FrauDrA - I hope you have a great trip too!

Thanks for all the info. I'm guessing we should maybe get a Canadian one since we would mostly use it there. We aren't really thinking about passing it on at this stage but it would be handy to be able to do that later. If we got it flown down it would be in all original packaging which should make it less of an issue on the flight ???
Thanks for the tip that it is quite a drive to the Grand Canyon. We are spending a few days in Vegas.
We would definitely be using it in different cars so the locking thing sounds like a good idea.

For the poster who is coming to Australia. We used to live in Sydney but it was pre-kids. The aquarium is pretty cool and there is also a mini zoo (sorry, can't remember the name of it) near it. Taronga Zoo is beautiful and on the harbour. You can take the ferry to it. Taking the ferry as public transport to somewhere like the zoo or to Manly is the best way to see the harbour and cheaper than tours. Most of the beaches are surf beaches but there are some good bays too. Clovelly and Coogee are both in the Eastern suburbs and close to the city.
I don't know Cairns very well and I think a lot of the really good touristy things to do are actually out of town. A day trip to Green Island would be good for snorkelling. There are also rain forest tours.

Will she be a lap baby on the flights? I would discourage this. For her safety and for the safety of those around her she should have her own seat.

Stefanie, cpst in iowa - mom to 4 great kids