By Land, Sea, and Air

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Ponkosmom

Guest
My family will be taking a trip to South America in the fall and we will be traveling on a cruise for 2 weeks, then traveling to the airport, then flying home from S. America. My two older kids have Safety Vests that we will use during land portions of our trip- so they are set.

Their little brother (currently 14 months and 21lb & will be 20 months and maybe 25# I'd guess ) has outgrown his infant seat and his hand me down Radian is set to expire the month we leave so we will be looking for another seat anyway. We travel frequently, so while I'm not looking for a gold laced seat, I'm okay investing in a solution that we will use for years.

I'm looking for other options rather than just getting another Radian/Diono, that will travel well, and is easy to install to use in buses, vans, taxis etc. I am usually able to get a good install *most* of the time with our Radians, but after years of lugging that beast throughout airports I'm open to other options. I'm looking at convertible options, and while I'd be fine with a FF install in the plane, otherwise I'm looking at RF until 4-5 years old.


Thanks!!!
 
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lgenne

New member
There are only 3 seats I would look at in your situation: the Cosco Scenera NEXT, the Britax Roundabout, and the Graco Contender.

The Scenera NEXT is basically the ideal travel seat, as long as your kid still fits in it. It weighs 7 pounds, it installs easily, and is compact and narrow.

The Roundabout fits kids longer, weighs 17 pounds, and has lockoffs, which can be really helpful for international travel. It's a bit wider, but compact front to back.

The Contender is under 15 pounds, and fits kids a long time, significantly longer than the Roundabout. About the same width as the Contender, but shaped differently. Easy to install, compact front to back, but no lockoffs.
 

MelodyoftheForest

Active member
I got an Evenflo SureRide when my daughter was about 21 months. I did have to FF on the plane, but installed it RF in cars. It weighs under 10 pounds. You will likely need a towel to install it. I find a hand towel is generally enough. The major disadvantage is that it is tall, so installing RF in a small vehicle requires putting it in the center so it can fit between the front seats.

I will add that I looked at the three options above too. The only downside of the Scenera Next is that it could be hard to install if you have to use the seatbelt and the buckle stalks are not short. That may not be an issue if you are able to just use LATCH.

I really liked the Roundabout but it was more than I wanted to spend.

I also really liked the Contender. I just went with the lighter-weight option once I was pretty sure I could fit the SureRide in the particular cars I needed it to go in.
 

lgenne

New member
The Sureride also has a 40" standing height limit for rear facing, which won't last to age 4-5 for many/most kids. Which is also true for the Scenera NEXT, but the Scenera NEXT is cheaper, lighter, and easier to install rear facing.
 

cantabdad

New member
I second the recommendation of the Roundabout and we often used one as our "travel" seat. It's a little wider than some others, but should still fit on the airplane without any issue. The lockoffs are a great feature -- it hadn't really occurred to me that European vehicles would not have automatic locking retractor (ALR) seatbelts, so the lockoffs made it much easier to install in taxis than dealing with a locking clip. I don't know what kinds of vehicles you will encounter in South America but the Roundabout is certainly more flexible in that regard. Compared to other carseats that I have used, and certainly compared to the Radian, it also also just generally more "forgiving" of different seatbelt configurations, backseat shapes, etc -- very easy to get a solid installation in various shuttles, taxis, and rental cars. I am not sure that its max RF height/weight are high enough to get you all the way to age 4 or 5, but that could be a reasonable tradeoff.
 

brooksfamily

New member
We have a Roundabout. It is super easy to install. My daughter is 4.5 and still fits in it, but she is small (somewhere between 10th - 20th percentile) She's was 38 inches and 33 lbs. at her 4 year old well visit. She's still got about 1/4 of an inch of growing room left. If I was traveling a lot and wasn't good with a locking clip, I'd go with that.

However, if I was good with a locking clip I'd get a Next for sure. It may not last quite as long but it's so inexpensive. I wouldn't balk at getting one until he outgrows it and then look for something else at that point.
 
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Ponkosmom

Guest
We are currently using a Rainer in the car, and it lays so far back that any plans to use it for travel got tossed (even with the angle adjuster). My little guy (now 15 months) falls asleep as soon as we are on the move, so I think a reclining angle should be part of my process.

Thanks for all the great posts guys. I'm looking at getting the seat in the next month or two so I can use it in our second vehicle.
 

lgenne

New member
The Coccoro is more expensive and outgrown sooner than any of the 3 above. It also has a non-integrated lock-off for rear facing, which basically means it's a glorified locking clip. I don't actually find it easier to use than a locking clip.

It's a fine seat, it's just my 4th choice. Choices 1-3 all have other things going for them that the Coccoro does not.
 

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