Travel with Safety 1st Go Hybrid Booster or our usual seats?

tarabear · Feb 8, 2015

Hi everyone!

We leave on vacation in less than 24 hours and I haven't had time to think about this yet, so I'm hoping I can get a few quick opinions.

We have some very dependable, safety conscious friends who let us borrow their Safety 1st Go Hybrid Booster seat. (It has had minimal use and has never been checked as luggage- always carried on.)

We also have a Britax Frontier 90 and a Graco Nautilus.

My question is, which one would you use for travel? Do you have any hesitations about using the Safety 1st Go Hybrid? I guess I'm unsure of how soft it is and how little protection it has around the head, but it definitely would be easier to carry through two airports and get on the plane. I think they will likely make us gate-check the Britax/Graco if we take one of those.

We'll be using the car seat in a cab to the airport and also in a rental car at our destination. We won't be doing a ton of driving but some every day and a few days will be 2+ hrs in the car.

My son just turned 5. He's 38 lbs and 43" tall. (Tall and thin!)

Thank you! I so appreciate this wonderful community!

aeormsby · Feb 8, 2015

We had a Safeguard GO that we used for the kids from about ages 3-5. It worked well and was so much easier to travel with than a huge seat.

It wasn't comfy for sleeping (well, the kids didn't usually complain but they fell over like crazy). If you have a jacket or blanket you can fold and put behind their back (between the back of the Go and the vehicle seat) it will help with back support and comfort (I think the newest versions of the seat say to use part of the bag for a pillow).

Safety-wise I felt fine using it, it's definitely different in design but it's passed all of the same tests as seats with solid backs.

The only time I wouldn't suggest using it is if you won't be able to use latch to install it. It lowers the harness slots by a couple inches, is difficult to install and makes it even more uncomfy for the kids (the seatbelt goes in front of the armrests and pushes their butt forward making back support even worse).

LISmama810 · Feb 8, 2015

If it were me, I'd take the Go, and have done so in that situation. That assumes your destination is within the U.S., meaning the cars you'll be dealing with will have LATCH, because the Go can be hard to install with a seatbelt.

If you do take one of your other seats, though, you can use it onboard. No need to gate check it.