Carseats for traveling for 21 month old and 4.5yr old

MilesOnBoard

New member
Hi all,
I have been searching through the forums for recommendations on folding travel car seats and have come across a lot of different information. We are traveling to Colorado from Boston and are planning to do a week of driving around in a rental car for short trips. We currently have our youngest RF in a Britax Boulevard CS and our oldest FF in a Britax Frontier85, harnessed. While I love both carseats, I do not want to carry them on a plane since they are both costly and heavy. We don't travel very often where we need to bring carseats, so I would like to pick up two seats that are inexpensive, but obviously, safe.

We have our 4.5yr old (42lbs, 43") harnessed and have not tried a lap belt. I have gotten mixed advice over this with some people saying it's fine if he's positioned correctly in the booster, and others saying NO WAY. So I have no idea what to do with our 4.5yr old. We were looking at the Safety GO hybrid (since it has a harness, but it is expensive and looks sort of flimsy?) and the Harmony folding booster (which worries me since it does not offer a harness option).

For our almost 2 yr old (@22lbs) any rear-facing, lightweight seat would do - any recommendations for a cheap but good option?

For the plane, we have typically not used a carseat since we have never had to bring one with us. I have always been a little bewildered at this since, frankly, I have a hard time imagining a harness saving your life in a plane crash?? But if we are buying two seats to travel, we would probably use at least one on the plane and have our smallest on our lap.

Thank you all for any advice/help.
 
Last edited:
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Jan06twinmom

New member
In general, I recommend booster seats for children who are around 5 to 6 years old. Some children who are very mature and able to sit still are ready for a booster seat before they turn 5yo. As a parent, you would need to make the decision based on knowing your child and how much/where you will be driving.

For the 4.5yo old, I would recommend either the Evenflo Maestro or the Evenflo Securekids. The Maestro only has a 50lb weight limit, but that is probably enough to get your child to a safe boostering age. It could be passed along to the younger child in a year or so.

For the 2yo, look at the Cosco Scenera or the Safety 1st onside air. These seats will allow you to keep your 2yo rf for now. When your 2yo is close to outgrowing these seats (with a 40lb limit), you should be able to pass the Maestro down to the younger child.

Both of these seats are lightweight and affordable.

A car seat can protect a child on the plane if there is turbulence. It can protect your child from bumps and bruises. I think the most compelling reason to keep a car seat with you is to make sure it is not damaged or lost by the airlines. I don't trust the airlines to handle my car seat carefully so I want to keep it in my possession.
 

Keeyamah

Active member
Another option, if it could cost less would be the Evenflo Sureride. It is nice and light, about 9lbs, rear faces to 40lbs and 40 inches,an d has 19" top harness slots for FFing. Basically it would last both of your children for quite awhile. Now, it is a convertible, so it does not become a booster,and you might be "wasting" the RFing aspect of it with the 4.5 yr old, but it can be found on sale for about $70. I don't know if that would be less than some other combinations of seats that would or could also work well as travel seats for you.
 

MilesOnBoard

New member
Thanks to you both - I will check out all the options you have mentioned. After doing all this research for the booster/harness/LBB, I just ended up buying our 22 month old his own airline seat. Now since we will be lugging both seats, we might as well use both of them on the plane.
 

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