Dd and I will be flying alone, home to Houston (3.5 hrs) and then Houston to HI (8 hrs). She'll be almost 14months, 31" and 23#.
Dh bought the cheapest seat he could find at a WalMart in L.A. last year - I think it is the older Scenara, but I'm not positive, I installed it in his car as the 2nd seat after that trip and haven't used it since. It was about $40, but doesn't look like the current Scenara pics I can find online. (And he's at work, or I'd go check!) It is a Cosco.
She rides regularly in a Wizard in our van, and I love the seat. The Cosco seat is a pain to install RF (FF it is easy!) with LATCH, but I can get it in pretty well with the locking clip in my 3rd row or with the locking seat belt in dh's car.
My questions - it's likely that I will have a space for dd to ride in her seat on the plane - MIL works for the airline and is going to do what she can to facilitate that, and there will be open seats.
Once in HI we won't be driving much, but the seat will be going in/out of at least 3 cars and on a few island hopping airplanes (as cargo, not for her).
SO...
Do I take the Wiz or the Cosco seat?
Will the Wiz fit RF in a plane w/o hitting the seat in front of it? I suppose I can put her FF for the flight, but I think it would be a lot easier to talk to her, amuse her, and play if she were RF next to me.
Pros and cons to the Wiz - it's an awesome seat, I can install it in the blink of an eye, it's far more comfortable than the other seat, the headwings will support her when sleeping,she's more familiar with the seat, BUT it doesn't fit on top of our stroller very securely, I'm worried the headwings will get damaged if it has to be put in the bins, and it's darn heavy. And I'd need to learn to install it w/o LATCH before we go.
Pros and cons to the Cosco seat - it's much lighter, fits into the stroller (I could probably buckle it down and put bags on top, I won't put dd in the seat int he stroller), BUT it's not as comfortable, not as easy to use, no head support when sleeping, it is a bit smaller, so I assume it will fit RF in the plane, while I don't know if the Wiz will. I am pretty good at the locking clip, and it meets minimum safety standards for a car seat. Can I add one of those head supports from the bucket seat that snaps around the harness straps?
Advice? Suggestions? If I had dh with me, I'd take the Britax for sure, as I could count on him to hold, carry, baby wrangle, etc. He will fly home with us, but the flight home is also at night the whole way, so it's likely dd will sleep most of that. The flight out is just me and her, as he is leaving this week for work out there.
I'm anxious enough about having to amuse her for 8 hrs over the Pacific, help me decide which car seat to take! Any other travel tips and ideas are more than welcome as well.
Thanks,
Lisa
Dh bought the cheapest seat he could find at a WalMart in L.A. last year - I think it is the older Scenara, but I'm not positive, I installed it in his car as the 2nd seat after that trip and haven't used it since. It was about $40, but doesn't look like the current Scenara pics I can find online. (And he's at work, or I'd go check!) It is a Cosco.
She rides regularly in a Wizard in our van, and I love the seat. The Cosco seat is a pain to install RF (FF it is easy!) with LATCH, but I can get it in pretty well with the locking clip in my 3rd row or with the locking seat belt in dh's car.
My questions - it's likely that I will have a space for dd to ride in her seat on the plane - MIL works for the airline and is going to do what she can to facilitate that, and there will be open seats.
Once in HI we won't be driving much, but the seat will be going in/out of at least 3 cars and on a few island hopping airplanes (as cargo, not for her).
SO...
Do I take the Wiz or the Cosco seat?
Will the Wiz fit RF in a plane w/o hitting the seat in front of it? I suppose I can put her FF for the flight, but I think it would be a lot easier to talk to her, amuse her, and play if she were RF next to me.
Pros and cons to the Wiz - it's an awesome seat, I can install it in the blink of an eye, it's far more comfortable than the other seat, the headwings will support her when sleeping,she's more familiar with the seat, BUT it doesn't fit on top of our stroller very securely, I'm worried the headwings will get damaged if it has to be put in the bins, and it's darn heavy. And I'd need to learn to install it w/o LATCH before we go.
Pros and cons to the Cosco seat - it's much lighter, fits into the stroller (I could probably buckle it down and put bags on top, I won't put dd in the seat int he stroller), BUT it's not as comfortable, not as easy to use, no head support when sleeping, it is a bit smaller, so I assume it will fit RF in the plane, while I don't know if the Wiz will. I am pretty good at the locking clip, and it meets minimum safety standards for a car seat. Can I add one of those head supports from the bucket seat that snaps around the harness straps?
Advice? Suggestions? If I had dh with me, I'd take the Britax for sure, as I could count on him to hold, carry, baby wrangle, etc. He will fly home with us, but the flight home is also at night the whole way, so it's likely dd will sleep most of that. The flight out is just me and her, as he is leaving this week for work out there.
I'm anxious enough about having to amuse her for 8 hrs over the Pacific, help me decide which car seat to take! Any other travel tips and ideas are more than welcome as well.
Thanks,
Lisa