Us carseat in New Zealand?

I'm about to visit a friend in NZ and I can't seem to find anything about using US carseats there. Is it legal? Safe? Anything I should know? I have a new born so it will be a infant seat. I didn't know if I needed her to buy a seat before I get there.



Thanks so much!

Yes, that's legal! It's actually legal to use American or European seats in New Zealand, but especially as you're only visiting, it's perfectly fine to use your own seat when traveling.
Best practice is to use the seat on the plane for baby. It will not only make baby much safer, but protect the car seat from damage. We recommend not checking car seats as the baggage handlers are very rough as they load and unload, sometimes tossing and dropping bags - and car seats! - dozens of feet. That sort of treatment damage would make the seat unusable, and unfortunately it's impossible to know by looking at the seat whether or not it has been mistreated. Best to avoid the mess altogether by bringing the seat onboard with you!

Actually, only seats that meet the AU/NZ or European standard are legal without caveats- only some US seats are legal in NZ, and they must bear a certain sticker granted after special approval/import procedures to be approved in NZ- at least, that's my understanding of the law.

However, in practice, nothing will happen to a visitor with a US seat and I otherwise completely agree with the points above.

Thank you both! I wondered about how they treated seats so I'll be getting the baby her own seat on the plane! I've never been out of the US and I'm worrying about everything.

It's not technically legal for you to use your US seat there. I think it's great that parents plan ahead and if possible bring their own familiar seat. I definitely think you should bring your own seat. Safety on the ground is most important.

Best practice is to use the seat on the plane for baby. It will not only make baby much safer, but protect the car seat from damage.

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Can we please stop the nonsense about car seats being "far safer" on an aircraft than lap belt/lap. It's misleading and cause more parents to make bad decisions. All the data we have, mainly from FAA, show extremely clearly that car seats make no difference on an aircraft. Please provide some verified facts and figures showing that a car seat is "far safer". Not opinions, thoughts or beliefs. No thoughts from some uneducated random NHTSA person or helicopter parent. Official facts and figures showing that many lives could be saved with car seats. (Don't look, there is nothing showing car seats on aircrafts saving lives. It's actually the opposite)

If every single child traveling on an aircraft in the US during the 20 years had used a car seat we would not have saved a single life. Not one. Zero. This is data straight from FAA. During this time 800 000+people died in traffic accidents. Focus on safety on the ground and not on the nonsense about car seats on aircrafts.

From FAA in 2011:

No preventable fatalities have occurred since Charlotte, more than 17 years ago. In short, the empirical evidence is limited to 3 “saves” over 32 years and none in the past 17 years

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Kids are not safe on an aircraft because a lap belt/lap is great but because flying itself is so safe.

Adventuredad said:

Can we please stop the nonsense about car seats being "far safer" on an aircraft than lap belt/lap.

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Doesn't having a child in a car seat on a plane prevent injury during turbulence? In the case of severe turbulence wouldn't a child be "far safer" strapped into a car seat than in the arms of an adult?

I wonder why in the world, if the FAA doesn't think it's safer for children to fly in car seats, that they still have this on their website today: http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/ "Did you know that the safest place for your child on an airplane is in a government-approved child safety restraint system (CRS) or device, not on your lap? Your arms aren't capable of holding your child securely, especially during unexpected turbulence.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly urges you to secure your child in a CRS or device for the duration of your flight. It's the smart and right thing to do so that everyone in your family arrives safely at your destination. The FAA is giving you the information you need to make informed decisions about your family's travel plans."

Adventuredad said:

If every single child traveling on an aircraft in the US during the 20 years had used a car seat we would not have saved a single life. Not one. Zero. This is data straight from FAA. During this time 800 000+people died in traffic accidents. Focus on safety on the ground and not on the nonsense about car seats on aircrafts. From FAA in 2011: Kids are not safe on an aircraft because a lap belt/lap is great but because flying itself is so safe.

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Good thing you're not including Canada in that ridiculous blanket statement. A little girl was the sole survivor of a plane crash here a few years back, in her car seat.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

And this baby, not in a cat seat, was the only passenger that did die. http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/n...-safety-debate/article6704530/?service=mobile

jellopanda said:

Good thing you're not including Canada in that ridiculous blanket statement. A little girl was the sole survivor of a plane crash here a few years back, in her car seat.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

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I believe this is likely the girl you're mentioning, just so we have a link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...sh-survivor-discharged-from-hospital-1.665216

I fail to see how with examples of children passing away from not being in seats, and children serving thanks to seats, advising parents to bring their car seat on the plane is causing "Bad decisions"? Even if there were no evidence to support the safety benefits, how would it be causing bad decisions? Especially when as mentioned above the FAA recommends it.

Proper restraint use is one of the most basic and important tenets of crashworthiness and survivability. On August 31, 1993, the NTSB issued Safety Recommendations A-93-106 and -107 as a result of the September 1992 accident involving a Piper PA-30 in Broussard, Louisiana. Among the airplane passengers were two children, ages 4 years and 10 months, who were seated in child restraint systems. The NTSB determined that the children survived the impact (which involved high vertical and side loads) because they were each restrained by a child restraint system rather than an adult-size safety belt. The NTSB’s safety recommendation letter also cited two fatal accidents that demonstrated the detriments of having a child sit on an adult’s lap with both occupants restrained by the adult safety belt. (In one accident, the child was killed, and the adult survived with serious injuries. In the other accident, neither the adult nor the child survived, even though the occupiable space where they were seated remained relatively intact.) The NTSB stated that the adults involved in these accidents might have erroneously thought that they were providing protection to the children by restraining them within the adult safety belts but that the children’s injuries were likely exacerbated by the weight of the adults.9

http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/recletters/2010/A-10-121-123.pdf

Adventuredad said:

All the data we have, mainly from FAA, show extremely clearly that car seats make no difference on an aircraft. Please provide some verified facts and figures showing that a car seat is "far safer".

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United Airlines Flight 232, Sioux City, Iowa.
USAir Flight 1016, Charlotte, North Carolina.

The NTSB (who has been lobbying for thirty years to require child restraints for air travel) has also documented cases of children who have survived plane crashes because they were properly restrained.

You can quibble over the use of "much" safer, but there is no doubt that there is at least a small decrease in the risk of death and a slightly larger decrease in the risk of injury (injuries being more common than deaths) when children are properly restrained during flight.

Even the FAA doesn't argue that carseats make no difference on aircraft. "{T}he safest place for your child on an airplane is in a government-approved child safety restraint system (CRS) or device."

Is commercial flying generally very safe? Yes. Are there advantages to using a carseat on an airplane? Yes. (Safety in the air, comfort during the flight, and ensuring that the seat is there and ready for use on the ground when you land.) Are lap belt adequate for all passengers? Absolutely not! A lap belt is not appropriate for an infant, period.

I would bring and use your car seat here, the chances of it ever getting checked are slim to none and even then you will be commended for using a car seat correctly. Technically you can be fined but I've never heard of it happening.

Where are you visiting? I hope you have a good trip