Car seat for vacation in sister's Dodge Ram?

[kendramonk]

Hi there!

I'm not super active on here, but I've asked a few questions before and you all have been such a great help so I figured I would ask again.

I'm going on vacation end of June with my then-13 month old DD. Currently, she is happily rear-facing in a Radian in our PT Cruiser.

We will be flying into Calgary and my sister will be picking us up in her 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab vehicle. We plan to do a bit of traveling over the week and go into BC, etc.

So, I've got a few questions related to this:

1. What kind of car seats (if anyone knows) work well in a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab? I'd love her to be rearfacing if at all possible.
2. I found a place in Calgary that rents out car seats. Here's a link, but in case it doesn't work, the business is called "One Tiny Suitcase". http://www.onetinysuitcase.ca/NewCarSeatRentals.html They have the Britax Roundabout, the Safety 1st Scenera and the Britax Marathon. I can rent one of these for the week, or...
3. Is it more advisable to buy another car seat and bring it with us on the plane?

I think that's it. My DD is currently around 20 lbs and is a bit of a shorty.

Any and all help you are able to provide would be awesome, thanks in advance!!

 

[snowbird25ca]

At your daughter's current weight she isn't heavy enough to legally ff, and I wouldn't want a "just" 22lb child ff'ing if I could help it at all, so I would plan to have her rf'ing.

How many other adults are going to be in the back seat with her and does your sister have any kids of her own who will also need to have seats installed back there? (This is important to know if width might be an issue or if there could be seating positions that are out of the question.)

I'm not familiar with that company but we have some members in Calgary who may be. That being said, it is always my recommendation to buy a seat for the child and use the child's carseat on the plane - it's safer for everyone and the child is often happier with a familiar space around them. So that would be my #1 suggestion - bring a seat with you and use it on the plane, then in your sister's truck.

If you're not having to fit 3 across, you shouldn't have major issues so far as fitting a seat back there. Dodge trucks are generally fairly straight forward so far as car seats go if you're only needing to put one seat in.

 

[bubbaray]

I've installed in a number of newer Dodge Rams quad cabs. Easy three across, easy installs, particularly RFg. Your RN should wrk, esp if you have the angle adjuster. You could also try a lighter seat like a Scenara.

 

[mam521]

I've heard of One Tiny Suitcase but with any rental agency, I'd think twice. No one can guarantee the safety of a seat through a rental agency and $40 is half the cost to purchase a Scenera new.

I'd probably buy a cheap travel seat (Tribute is $100 at Canadian Tire). If you're not purchasing a seat for DD on the plane, I'd have your sister buy one here in Calgary and attempt to install it before you even get here. If she's having troubles, there's enough of us techs around, one of us should be able to help her out.

If you do decide to bring your seat and aren't using it on the plane, don't check it unless you have a box for it and package it up.

Center position should be fine to install a seat in that model of truck. My friend has one, so I'm not unfamiliar with it. Trucks are pretty carseat friendly these days!

 

[canadiangie]

I'm familiar with One Tiny Suitcase. The owner is a very nice person.

However, as a tech, I really can't recommend you rent a seat because of course there's just no way of knowing the history of the seat.

A Cosco Scenera is about $75 when on sale (Walmart has them on sale now, I believe) and that would work nicely in the truck.

I agree with pp who said have your sister purchase the seat here, seek our help if needed.. this assuming the baby is flying as a lap baby.

 

[kendramonk]

Thanks all! I can't believe I didn't reply to this thread until now. I really thought that I had before, whoops!
I've actually got a friend who is lending me a Graco Snugride 35, so hopefully we will have no trouble installing it!