Travelling with 3

I will be travelling to Italy for a month with my husband and three children. We have decided to purchase carseats there and have them shipped to the apartment we are renting. I am currently looking at car rentals and wondering if anyone has suggestions for the most economical European cars and carseats that will work for us. The kids are 46 months (33 lbs), 46 months (33 lbs.) and 12 months (20lbs). All are currently rfing, but we would be ok to turn the older kids, but would like to keep the baby rfing.Thanks so much in advance.

Hi there. Sounds like a fun trip!

What seats will your kids be riding in on the plane? At 33 pounds and 20 pounds it's unlikely the plane's belt will fit any of them, and if it doesn't they'll be unprotected in case of turbulence or a runway emergency. The FAA recommends using a seat on board from birth to 40 pounds. http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/

I'd probably get three Safety 1st Guide 65s. They're fairly narrow, inexpensive, and lightweight. All three seats would cost $240 and weigh 36 pounds. http://www.walmart.com/ip/26845783?...87616836&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=55361902236&veh=sem

As for a car, a BMW 5 series would probably work for all three, or a Ford Mondeo. A Skoda Octavia can probably fit three Guides as well (it fits a size 8 adult, a First Years True Fit rear facing, and a Clek Ozzi, though it was a tight squeeze on my hips). I'd probably avoids Fiats, I don't think they'd be wide enough.

Practice installing your seats with a locking clip before you go, that way you can install them in the European car. Their cars don't have locking seatbelts, and you can't use LATCH for all three. And in a tight squeeze, three seatbelts are usually easier.

As an American tech, I had a tough time understanding European instruction manuals. They're nowhere near as extensive as ours, usually some pictures and a few words in about eight languages, and they don't install the same way ours do. They also generally top out rear facing at 9kg, unless you got some 13kg 0+ seats (ordering online you would also have the option of Swedish 25kg rear facing seats, but those are pricey and I don't know if you could do three across. Maybe). Most harnesses top out at 18kg. So you'd have two forward facing and one rear, and that one rear would be hopefully rear facing, and likely in an infant seat of sorts. And like I said, I found them all confusing to install. We lived in Germany for six months last year. Most seats are constant throughout Europe, but there is a possibility that the Italian seats would be different from the German ones.

I'd really stress that you take three American seats with you on board the plane for the safety of your kids, and the ease of installing seats you know how to install and have practiced with before you go.

HTH

Wendy

wendytthomas said:

They also generally top out rear facing at 9kg, unless you got some 13kg 0+ seats (ordering online you would also have the option of Swedish 25kg rear facing seats, but those are pricey and I don't know if you could do three across. Maybe).

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Just to clarify -- there are no Euro seats with a 9kg upper weight limit. Group 0 is up to 10kg and nowadays is only used for lateral facing carrycots [car beds], all infant carrier seats are group 0+ / RF to 13kg One may come across an odd group 0/1 covertible though, RF only to 10kg, but those are thankfully becoming more and more rare.

_juune said:

Just to clarify -- there are no Euro seats with a 9kg upper weight limit. Group 0 is up to 10kg and nowadays is only used for lateral facing carrycots [car beds], all infant carrier seats are group 0+ / RF to 13kg One may come across an odd group 0/1 covertible though, RF only to 10kg, but those are thankfully becoming more and more rare.

Click to expand...

Very glad to hear it! You're right. I looked at amazon.de and the group 0 seats have all but disappeared from when I looked hard while we lived there a year ago (when the 0+ seats were less than 50%). What a great change.

Wendy

Thank you so much.
So, I can use a North American seat in Europe?
So then could I just bring our 3 Radians? They are narrow, FAA approved and I know how to install them with the seat belt and locking clip. That might actually make everything easier.
Are there any drawbacks to using our current seats? I know RFing they are tall, but ds will be over 12 months, so technically I could use the angle adjuster to make it fit right?
And I know in Canada it is necessary to use a top tether FFing, is that also the case in Europe?
Thank you again so much! I am feeling quite relieved that we have decided to bring the carseats on the plane. We are flying Alitalia, do you think there will be a problem instaling the seats on the plane? Any tips?

As visitors no one will bother you about your seats.

You don't need to wait until 12 months to use the angle adjuster. Just until the baby has head control and can sit up. Usually around six months old. The angle adjuster is also FAA approved.

Wendy

You might find this thread helpful: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=210135

Have you already picked your seats?

If it were me, I would FF the older two on the plane and RF them in the car once you get there. I would try to get seats so that I could do this configuration, if possible:

P F F|
S P R|

S = stranger
P = parent
F = FF kid
R = RF kid
| = window

This way, the RF seat is behind a FF kid (who won't be reclining the plane seat anyway). The last thing I'd want to do on an overseas flight is limit anybody else's recline.