We are planning a trip to Spain and France with a almost five year old and a sixteen month old. We will have a rental car for two weeks and then a few days in Barcelona without a car. Our options are to bring car seats from home or rent them.
My four year old is still in a car seat, but I think he could handle a booster. I was thinking of buying a BubbleBum seat. Renting a booster would cost $100, which is nuts.
The 16 month old will not be able to use a car seat on the plane, so if we bring one, it would have to be checked. I guess we would have to buy some kind of bag for it, and I understand that the seat would be at risk of being damaged. We could bring one of the ones we already have, which would either be an old Britax Boulevard CS or a Diono Radian, or we could buy an inexpensive, lightweight one, like a Cosco.
From what I understand, it's technically not legal to use an American car seat in Europe, since there are different standards. But from what I hear, it's extremely unlikely that we would be cited for it, so I'm not concerned about it.
However, I am concerned about any capability issues with a European car. I really don't know much about car seat installation because I've had my husband deal with it. From what I've read, they use the same LATCH system but it's called ISOFIX there. I think we need to bring locking clips in case we end up using the seatbelt. I read something that had me concerned that American car seats are actually not safe forward facing in European cars because there is no tether and they are designed to be used with a tether. Does anyone know about that? Of course, I would prefer for my toddler to rear-face; however, we are very tall and are going to be in a very compact car. We should be prepared for the possibility that the seat will not fit rear-facing. I believe it is the norm for toddlers to forward-face there.
The biggest downside to renting a seat for our toddler is that it would cost about $140. It would also limit our options for getting to the airport safely. (Babies are not required to use car seats in taxis in a city, but I would have a hard time doing that.) There is also no guarantee that they will have the seat available. We would have to figure out how to install it after a very long trip. On the upside, we wouldn't have to lug another item around, when we already of two little kids and all our luggage. And we wouldn't have to worry about compatibility and obeying local laws.
What do you think our best option is?
My four year old is still in a car seat, but I think he could handle a booster. I was thinking of buying a BubbleBum seat. Renting a booster would cost $100, which is nuts.
The 16 month old will not be able to use a car seat on the plane, so if we bring one, it would have to be checked. I guess we would have to buy some kind of bag for it, and I understand that the seat would be at risk of being damaged. We could bring one of the ones we already have, which would either be an old Britax Boulevard CS or a Diono Radian, or we could buy an inexpensive, lightweight one, like a Cosco.
From what I understand, it's technically not legal to use an American car seat in Europe, since there are different standards. But from what I hear, it's extremely unlikely that we would be cited for it, so I'm not concerned about it.
However, I am concerned about any capability issues with a European car. I really don't know much about car seat installation because I've had my husband deal with it. From what I've read, they use the same LATCH system but it's called ISOFIX there. I think we need to bring locking clips in case we end up using the seatbelt. I read something that had me concerned that American car seats are actually not safe forward facing in European cars because there is no tether and they are designed to be used with a tether. Does anyone know about that? Of course, I would prefer for my toddler to rear-face; however, we are very tall and are going to be in a very compact car. We should be prepared for the possibility that the seat will not fit rear-facing. I believe it is the norm for toddlers to forward-face there.
The biggest downside to renting a seat for our toddler is that it would cost about $140. It would also limit our options for getting to the airport safely. (Babies are not required to use car seats in taxis in a city, but I would have a hard time doing that.) There is also no guarantee that they will have the seat available. We would have to figure out how to install it after a very long trip. On the upside, we wouldn't have to lug another item around, when we already of two little kids and all our luggage. And we wouldn't have to worry about compatibility and obeying local laws.
What do you think our best option is?