What would you do? re: flying with car seats

Kind of a spinoff of a recommendation thread.

I have two daughters, older is 5.5 - 47" and around 47#. She rides in our cars in a Husky. Younger is 2.5 - around 37" and 35#. She rides in a Marathon in our cars. I don't know either of their torso measurements, I meant to check last night and forgot.

For reference, the Marathon DOM is 1/2003, so it will be replaced in the not too distant future. The Husky should be around 7/2005, but I'll have to verify.

We are flying to NY in July. I was planning on bringing a Marathon for my 2.5 yo and it she would use it on the plane. I cannot decide what to do for my older daughter.

Option 1 - buy a belt position booster (looking at SK Monterey b/c I like the LATCH feature). Pack the back in a bag to check and bring the base on the plane to stow. Pros - buying a seat we will eventually need, lower cost. Cons - worried about packing back and keeping it safe/secure

Option 2 - buy 2 Radians. Bring both on flight for both girls. Pros - can use Radians for 2.5 yo back home once Marathon expires, allows us longer use of Husky for older dd(was planning on moving her to belt positioning booster and giving younger dd the Husky). Cons - higher cost, installation issues in rental car? (is this an issue?)

ETA-
Option 3 - something I haven't thought of

Oh and I wanted to add our cars are a 98 Explorer and 02 Maxima, in case that matters for using the seats once we're back home. I'm very spoiled with the Marathon and Husky - they are both relatively easy for me to install in both cars.

I'd probably take the Marathon (get a belt extender to make your life easier on uninstalling the seat) and get a Compass folding booster for your older daughter. That way you can put it right in the overhead compartment, you don't need to worry about packing anything.

Or buy one Radian, use it for the 5.5 year old, and bring the Marathon as well. Then when the Marathon expires pass down the Radian and you can reevaluate the 5.5 year old then, since she'll be over six years old and probably a few pounds heavier.

Wendy

Which slot is the 5.5 yr old using in the Husky? If she fits in the Radian, I would lean towards buying two Radians since you need a new seat for your 2.5 yr old soon anyway. Either that or buy one Radian and take the Marathon too or buy one Radian and a Compass B510 folding booster (store the whole thing in the overhead bin).

wendytthomas said:

I'd probably take the Marathon (get a belt extender to make your life easier on uninstalling the seat) and get a Compass folding booster for your older daughter. That way you can put it right in the overhead compartment, you don't need to worry about packing anything.

Or buy one Radian, use it for the 5.5 year old, and bring the Marathon as well. Then when the Marathon expires pass down the Radian and you can reevaluate the 5.5 year old then, since she'll be over six years old and probably a few pounds heavier.

Wendy

Click to expand...

I looked at the compass. The folded dimensions (I forget now which site I read them at) measure to 53 linear inches. The airline only allows 51 to be carried on. I thought about trying anyways, but don't want to get stuck having to check it last minute and not being prepared to pack it properly to protect it.

Do you have any airline experience with the compass, will they let me slide if it is a few inches above their limit??

abacus2 said:

Which slot is the 5.5 yr old using in the Husky? If she fits in the Radian, I would lean towards buying two Radians since you need a new seat for your 2.5 yr old soon anyway. Either that or buy one Radian and take the Marathon too or buy one Radian and a Compass B510 folding booster (store the whole thing in the overhead bin).

Click to expand...

She's on the second slot from the top. I think about 1/2" from needing to move to the top slot.

Anyone else?

I measured the 5.5 yo's torso at 16.75". That was against the wall criss-cross applesauce (that's the right way, correct?).

I would recommend the purchase of one Radian and taking that along with the Marathon onboard.

Another option might be the Frontier, if you're interested in that. You can use it on the plane in harness mode, and then use it as a booster or harnessed at your destination. It also has a 9 year expiration date. You could replace your MA, when it expires, with a Husky, and give oDD the Frontier (or move the younger into the Frontier).

Raechel

Update - we went to USA Baby today and they had all the seats I wanted to see, except the Compass. I tried both girls in the seats.

My younger dd is very close to the second to the top slots in the Radian. Another 1/2-1" and she'd be on the top slots. So I'm thinking she won't get enough use out of it to justify the purchase. She's three slots down on the Husky (I tried her in a Regent at the store, I'm assuming the slots are the same or close).

So I'm leaning towards one Monterey to bring with us. If I take it apart, I think I can carry both pieces on as two different carry on's and I won't have to worry about checking any seat (or partial seat).

Thanks everyone for the advice!!

I'm late on this but that is exactly what we did with my son's Monarch on a recent flight. We just carried on both pieces. It fit like a dream in the overhead bin. :thumbsup: