How bad is it?

Here's the situation:

We're flying across the country with a toddler (16 months) and an infant (3 months) to visit my in-laws for a week. We don't have a car and are taking a taxi to and from the airport; we will use my in-laws' car once we arrive. We will be taking an infant car seat for my younger one by strapping it on to our carry-on suitcase to wheel it around in the airport, and gate-checking it before we board the plane. My mother-in-law volunteered to borrow a toddler car seat for my older one. I found a local taxi company that can supply a car seat for our trip to/from the airport.

Now for the question:

I'm pretty sure that the car seat that she borrows will be FF, since they're far more common (and the person she borrows from will probably not have very young children). The one supplied by the taxi will definitely be FF. Forgetting about the more recent RF guidelines, my 16 month old is only 19 lbs and should still be RF even according to the old guidelines.

We can take our own car seat with us instead of using the taxi-supplied one and either check it or gate-check it. The problem with the former is that I'm scared that all the throwing and banging around the luggage will damage the car seat. The problem with the latter is that we will be traveling with a lot of paraphernalia in addition to our double stroller and can't see lugging around a (very large, bulky) car seat in addition to all of that.

Would it really be so bad to use a FF car seat for a 19 lb 16 month old for a week?

If so, any advice or suggestions?

Thanks!

What do you the 16 month old in now? Why not just take her seat with you and install them both on plane. You could strap them to a luggage cart to take them along.

I would not use a borrowed or rental seat.

Baylor said:

What do you the 16 month old in now? Why not just take her seat with you and install them both on plane. You could strap them to a luggage cart to take them along.

I would not use a borrowed or rental seat.

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:yeahthatlove:

I wouldn't use a rental seat either, and I would rather have my child in a car seat on a plane especially at that age, it will be familiar and may make the plane ride easier

There was a thing on here a couple years back about rental carseats and it was scary!!! Expired seats, missing parts, mold, bodily fluids, recalled seats, I won't go on, you get the picture.

I would just pick up something like an apt for $40 and take it to use on the plane and then when you get there. I personally don't fly but I know I would much rather have a toddler in a carseat with an ipad or dvd player than being all over the place. Plus, it's just plain safer.
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$15 for the Traveling Toddler carseat strap on amazon. We used this strap to hook our then 2 year old's spare carseat (a Scenera) to one of our suitcases. It actually made the trip through the airport EASIER because our son thought it was so fun to be wheeled around in his carseat.

Both of your children should have seats on the plane and be secured in their car seats. The only unsecured thing on an airplane is a lap baby, its incrediably dangerous to you, the baby and everyone around you.

The oldest absolutely cannot FF if they are under 20 lbs. It is not a safe or legal option. They must be RF in an appropriate child restraint. I do not recommend using a rented car seat. I would only use a borrowed one if it is appropriate for the child, the complete history of the seat is known, you have the manual, and you trust with your child's life that the owner cared for the seat correctly. I would not check a car seat, either. You can see in this video how car seats are handled:

http://youtu.be/lzmJr1a-BHU

Where are you heading? Is there someone here that might be willing to lend a seat? Or can your in-laws pick up a Scenera (or 2)? I don't like the Taxi idea either with a seat from them.

Can you wedge the scenera in the double stroller? And then take it on the plane for your toddler?

I'd say get a $40 Apt for RF the 16 month old. It's not legal to have him/her FF.

I couldn't imagine trying to hold and entertain a 16 month old on a cross country flight. Get both children a seat and take their seats.

If you're not convinced they need seats, take a day and both adults try holding the children for the amount of hours the flight will be with all the things you plan to take on your flight. Remember to stay seated, only get up to go to the bathroom...leaving your travel companion to tend to both children, make sure you've got plenty of food and diapers in your bag for your faux trip.

I absolutely would NOT put a child that small in a FF restraint.

Susan

I wouldn't assume the rental seat and borrowed seat would be FF only. There's only a handful of "combination" seats that FF only. The most common type is the convertible car seat, which RF's and FF's.
With that said, I would never in a million years allow my kids to ride in a seat I don't know about because I'm too paranoid I've always dragged multiple carseats through the airport. Some seats can actually fit in the overhead compartment, although I know it's not standard practice for the flight attendants to allow it. My BFF stowed a scenera ($40) with no problems and I've seen people on here have gotten the radian to fit, too.

And checking a seat, unless in a snug fitting box, is never suggested. A checked seat is a crashed seat is the general rule. You have no idea how it was handled, was it thrown off of the belt, did it miss the conveyer all together and fall from the cargo area to the tarmac? Theres also the chance that it gets lost, then you are stuck and someone has to go buy a new seat before you can leave the airport, not cheap in a taxi. You wouldnt hold your child going 30 mph in a car, so why hold them going 150 mph on a runway; the most likely place that there will be a problem in an airplane.

My kids and I flew to meet my husband once and my dad surprised me with airport shuttle reservations back home. He knew I would have my seats with us, but made reservations for seats as well saying it would be easier on me to not have to "mess with my seats" for such a short trip (75 mi) when they would already do it for me. I got to the counter at the airport with my cart full of stuff (and my seats) to check in and the lady looks at me and says "i see you have a reservation for car seats, but yours look better than any we have for you" and pointed to some seats. The seats they had out for me were both extremely dirty, and not good or new looking at all. At the time my kids were 36mo and 15 mo (both petite)and still RF. One seat was a very basic hbb, and the other was something along the lines of a Scenera (basic shell, no padding/wings, no latch straps, etc). I didn't trust them, and I didn't use them.
I will tell you, it was difficult going through the airport with both of them and all their stuff by myself. But I am glad I took their seats. And I knew they were safe the entire trip in ours. I don't trust a seat I don't know, because in an accident my child's life depends on it.

To make it easier to carry the seats through the airport you can bungie to your luggage or get a car seat bag with backpack straps on it. HTH

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