Baby rental gear??

scuby20

Member
Hi all. I was wondering what you all thought of renting car seats for travel?? We are going to Florida(not Disney). We do this about once a year. My mom and I are taking the kids (1 and 3). Previously we brought their carsets. My mom is trying to eliminate taking so much stuff and suggested renting car seats. Both my kids RF, but my daughter turned 3 in April, so I would be ok with her FF'ing. My son still needs to RF. What do you all think about renting carseats?? I'm not liking the idea, because I don't know how the seats have been taken care of.
 
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LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
I'm not liking the idea, because I don't know how the seats have been taken care of.

Your instincts are correct. There is no way of knowing what you'll get, and we have all heard way too many horror stories about broken, disgusting, ill-fitting seats. Take your kids' seats on the plane. It's a little more hassle to get them through the airport, but actually much more convenient ON the plane, not to mention at your destination.
 
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scuby20

Member
Thanks!!!! Ya, I wasn't keen on the idea. I am also thinking of getting my daughter the car seat vest thing, which would ease the bulk. She uses the cares harness for the plane so I thought once we get there and get the rental car, she can use the car seat vest, and then we will only have the bulk of my sons seat.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
How big is she? Be aware that if she's just within the limits, it may not fit well, depending on her build. Some 30 lb. kids seem to fit, some don't.
 

DahliaRW

New member
If the vest won't work you could try the "go" (made by safety first now I think) as long as you're car will have upper tethers (which any rental car will). You could also get your ds a scenera to travel with, it's super light.
 

mylittlet

Senior Community Member
If you are using Cares on the plane, are you checking carseats? We don't recommend checking seats. Seats have been damaged when checked.

If you give us weights and how they fit current seats we can help you find lighter weight/easier to travel with seats.
 

Athena

Well-known member
Hi all. I was wondering what you all thought of renting car seats for travel??

You may want to check out this recent thread I started.
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=131320
Not only are there other potential risks to renting, but depending on the size of your 3 yo, they may not have a harnessed seat to fit her.

Thanks!!!! Ya, I wasn't keen on the idea. I am also thinking of getting my daughter the car seat vest thing, which would ease the bulk. She uses the cares harness for the plane so I thought once we get there and get the rental car, she can use the car seat vest, and then we will only have the bulk of my sons seat.

That's what we're doing for our upcoming trip. At age 2, DD2 will be in her marathon in the plane and in the car, hopefully RF in both. DD1 will be 4 yo by then and we are planning on using the vest for the car and may get a CARES harness for the plane. In the car, she should fit nicely in the middle next to the RF MA, something that is important to me given the vest provides no shell around her.

How big is she? Be aware that if she's just within the limits, it may not fit well, depending on her build. Some 30 lb. kids seem to fit, some don't.

Good point! We were lucky to have the opportunity to try one on our DD (thanks to one of the nice techs here) before ordering and she probably would not have fit it well at 30 pounds. I ordered one and will be trying it out and getting comfortable with it before we go. It is really different than anything I have used so I feel like that is necessary for me.

Good luck! Happy Travels!
 

Evolily

New member
I thought the new travel vests fit smaller kids well?

OP- if you have a baby bucket that your younger DD still fits in, I would bring that. Having the handle will help quite a bit :thumbsup: . Or buy one of those things that attaches the convertible seat to luggage :) .
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
The new ones definitely fit smaller kids BETTER than the old ones. I've yet to meet a 35 lbs. kid who would fit in the old style small (though I'm sure one or two exist, they are not within my range of personal experience.) SOME kids now fit at the stated weight limit of 30 lbs.; SOME do not. It's all dependent on build. It's definitely more likely to fit a kid at the bottom limit than it used to be, but that does not mean that it's definitely going to. :)
 

jnamommy

New member
So any idea of being able to tell if it will fit kids at the bottom of the limit? Is it more likely to fit thinner, taller kids, or chunker, shorter kids, or .... ?
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Kids who are built wider, in general, will fit before skinnier kids. It has to do with securing snugly around the torso. Even skinny kids should fit about 5 lbs. after the bottom limit though. :)
 

scuby20

Member
well my daughter is 36 lbs with clothes on...so hopefully she will fit just fine. She is tall torso'd, and just tall all together lol.

We will be checking my sons carseat......BUT I bought a suitcase for it. (my daughter actually rides in a radian xt in our car, and my son in a britax blvd, both RF'ing.) I am going to bring my daughters radian xt for my son, since it folds. We bought a very sturdy suitcase for the radian, and we pad it well....we did this on our last trip to Florida. I know you all don't recomend checking car seats....but I feel pretty confident that it is well protected....but also know that if something does happen, I will be running to the store to buy a light weight, but sturdy seat for him!

We are not purchasing a seat for him on the airplane...I know I know, it's the safest, but right now we only have a year left until we HAVE to....so we chose not to.

So anyways, hopefully the vest fits my daughter. I think my mom is going to order it here pretty soon. I'm actually happy about having the vest, because it's not as cumbersome as a car seat. Now in my van and my mom's car she has a car seat and still rear faces because she can, and having her in the car seat all the time is just easier.....But, sometimes when we are up at my parents house in Alaska, she wants to ride with Papa, and he doesn't have a car seat in his truck for her (a truck with a back seat)...and we just don't want to uninstall, reinstall, then uninstall and reinstall again for a quick trip to the store....so teh vest will be handy for that too.
 

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