Travelling to Europe, what to do with car seat?!?

Hi! I just found this forum after wondering and worrying about this for a loooong time, so I am hoping for some good input! ;-)

In two weeks we will be travelling to Holland with our two year old son (he's about 24 pounds and a bit over 30 inches). Here in Canada we use an Evenflo Generations Booster Seat (used to have the Triumph, which we loved, but had to replace it after a colision and of course at that time it was out of stock everywhere).

My mother in Holland has a 2004 Kia Picanto that has the Isofix system, but no top-tether anchors. My initial thought had been to buy a new car seat over there, that hopefully was better suited for those cars without top-tethers, because I find that over here I really need the top tether to install the car seat tight enough. However, after looking at the way the European car seats are installed, to me it seemed like it was exactly the same as here, but then without top-tether. After seeing that we decided to just bring our Evenflo and use it for the two weeks.

However, after finding this forum and reading some more about the differences between car seats in Europe and North-America, I am not so sure anymore if this is the right decision. On the one hand I am thinking that I don't want to spend a fortune on a new car seat that will only be used for two weeks, but on the other hand I know that I will never forgive myself if my son would become hurt in an accident while not being in the best car seat available. KWIM?

Suggestions?? Thanks a lot!

I find it interesting that the 2004 Kia would have the lower anchors and not the top tether anchor. At 2 years old and 24lbs, I would suggest that your son be rear-facing for safer riding (RF is 5 times safer than forward-facing). If your Evenflo is a convertible (I am not familiar with the model you have), I would suggest that you install it RF both in your vehicle and in your Mom's in Holland - that way the top tether is no longer an issue anyway.

If your seat is not a convertible, I would invest in a convertible seat, such as the Radian which RF to 30lbs (Canada) and FF to 65lbs. The Radian does not require top tether anchor.

Thanks for the reply! As far as the Kia Picanto 2004 is concerned, from what I've read/heard most European cars just don't have the top-tethers. I did e-mail my mom to ask her to check the manual, just in case they are hidden somewhere

Unfortunately our car seat isn't a convertible one. The Triumph that we used to have (and plan to buy again, because we miss it) is, but my son was getting too tall to be rear facing, unfortunately.....

I could check if the Triumph Advance is a bit higher though, because maybe he could still be rear facing in that one. We are planning to buy it as soon as it is in stock again (for some reason, no store in my town has it right now), before we leave on our trip.

Silvia said:

I could check if the Triumph Advance is a bit higher though, because maybe he could still be rear facing in that one. We are planning to buy it as soon as it is in stock again (for some reason, no store in my town has it right now), before we leave on our trip.

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Triumph Advance is higher back and would likely fit your child without any problems. A very nice seat for a good long time RF & ff. :thumbsup:

Since you have 2 weeks, ordering online, such as through Target.com or Albeebaby.com isn't out of the question as long as you make sure of the shipping times. :shrug-shoulders:
good luck

Silvia said:

After seeing that we decided to just bring our Evenflo and use it for the two weeks.



Suggestions?? Thanks a lot!

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Since you are going on a 2-week vacation only, I think you are allowed to bring your Canadian seats. But I would look into it first just to make sure.

If it isn´t so, then there are forward facing seats (much easier for you to come by than a bigger rearfacing seat south of Scandinavia)in Europe tthat are equipted with a "FOOT PROP". The Foot Prop pretty much works as a top tether in cars that don´t have top tether anchorage points:

This is a Maxi Cosi 9-18 kg seat (20-40 lbs)

http://www.kidsroom.de/cgi-bin/kidsroom.shop/48050e6d010488b2273f50f3360805b3/Product/View/64301640

http://www.kidsroom.de/cgi-bin/kidsroom.shop/48050eaf0107c6aa273f50f3360805b9/Product/View/83150000

It is a German website. But these seats are available everywhere.

Lena

Römer is Britax and both seats are ISOFIX seats. There are more ouththere.

Lena

There are convertiable seats in Europe. Most seats rearface to 13 kg/28-29lb s

This is a Concord:
http://www.kidsroom.de/cgi-bin/kidsroom.shop/480510d800038ffc273f50f3360805a9/Product/View/UML0801#

Then there are the Scandinavian 20-40 lbs and 20-55 lbs rearfacing seats that offer two tether straps that work like a top tether in rearfacing position as well as a foot prop. But chances of availability in Holland are close to zero.

BeSafe: Rearfacing seat from 20-40 lbs AVAILABLE IN HOLLAND!!!!
http://www.hts.no/english/

Lena