Which carseat to bring/buy for travel, and airplane lap belt question

[OSLmom]

Hi!

First, I want to thank everyone for all your help in the past. We'll be traveling to Malaysia again in 2 weeks and I could use some advice.

DS is a little over 2 years old, 30 lb, 38", very long torso. We have a Britax Boulevard 70 CS (which I like), a Cosco Scenera (hate the harness, happy to keep it in storage/use as backup), and a Graco Snug Ride 35. He outgrew the GSR35 by height a long time ago, and he will outgrow the RF height limit on the BV and Scenera very soon. I wish we had known he was going to be such a tall kid! I know it sounds crazy to have 4 (or 5) car seats for 1 kid, but I would like to get another car seat with a taller shell so that DS can RF a little longer. We are planning on having a second child in a year or so. And I'm thinking we can bring a seat to Malaysia to keep in grandma's car. And the other grandma's car could use a dedicated seat as well. Also, once my husband's 18-year old POS 2-door Honda Civic bites the dust, we will replace it with a car that I feel comfortable putting the child(ren) in, and we will need extra car seats for that. Cost is not an issue (within reason).

I've been considering the True Fit and Radian (open to other suggestions) as I understand those 2 have among the tallest shell heights. I did look at a Foonf at a local store, but see no compelling reason to seriously consider it unless one of you tells me otherwise. What are your thoughts as to True Fit vs RN? Which model would you recommend of either? How do they compare size-wise to the BV, esp front-to-back (I believe they are both narrower side-to-side than the BV)? I'm leaning towards the RN because DS can use the airplane tray table in-flight. With 20+ hours in the air, that could be a significant plus point (DS likes to kick and is still a bit young to understand that it is annoying to the person in front of him, so having the tray table might lessen his kicking if he's distracted doing something else). We probably won't have 3 kids, but I would like the option of being able to fit 3 across the back seat. FWIW, we have a 2011 Subaru Outback--back seat humps make install a PITA, which is another reason to have extra car seats so we don't have to deal with uninstalling and re-installing before/after flying when we're rushing/stressed out/tired.

We normally fly Cathay Pacific, and their current policy is FF carseats only, for children under 3 years old. DS will be older than 3 for our next trip. So, if we fly Cathay Pacific again (very likely), this will be the last time we can bring our car seat on the plane to Malaysia. One option is to bring the BV or Scenera to Malaysia, leave it there, and get a CARES harness for the flight home. Or should we take the RN/True Fit with us and back, and don't fly Cathay Pacific after DS turns 3? Our next best choice of airline is Delta--a bit pricier, layovers a bit longer (47h vs 37h total travel time with Cathay), but since Delta is a US airline they have to let me bring a carseat onboard, and I wouldn't have to bother buying the CARES harness.

Another issue to consider is that Malaysian drivers are insane. So much so that my parents do not allow me or my husband to drive while we're there since we're not used to the driving culture. So, I feel like I should bring the safest car seat, which would be the RN/True Fit so that DS can RF while we're in homicidal-driver-land, rather than bringing and leaving behind the BV or Scenera, in both of which he will have to FF very, very soon. We will be using an intermediate-sized car (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_Perdana) while in Malaysia, so I wonder if the taller shells on the True Fit/RN will pose a problem. How do they compare front-to-back to the GSR35, which is beastly huge, as that's what we had last time and it worked fine?

One of the aircraft we'll be taking is the ER4, which has a 2+1 seat configuration. The ER4 is tiny but we've taken all 3 of our car seats on similar aircraft so I'm guessing the True Fit/RN will be fine as well. Any thoughts to the contrary?

And a final question: we've flown with both the BV and Scenera and several different airlines/aircraft. We always find that the lap belt buckle ends up underneath my son's bum while he's sitting in the seat, which is clearly uncomfortable. As far as we can tell, there is no way to avoid this, because the female end of the buckle is fixed. Are we missing something? We stuffed one of the thin airplane blankets over the buckle but we could still feel it. I wonder if this is one of the reasons our plane travels have been such nightmares - because DS does not sleep at all on planes (he sleeps just fine in the car). Should I bring a beach towel or something similar to pad over the buckle?

And a final comment, FWIW: I've never had success RF on board a plane, with any of my 3 car seats. They are just too big. And with the GSR35 (which can only be RF), at one point, the guy in front of DS forced his seat back, which pushed the GSR35 really upright. He was not cooperative. Sigh. I'm already stressed out about this upcoming trip.

I need to decide fairly soon if I'm going to bring the True Fit/RN/other since I have to buy online, as none of the stores in my area keep these seats (except the Foonf) in stock.

Thanks in advance!
-YM

 

[jjordan]

Let me get this straight.

You want one seat in Malaysia. (Just one?) You can bring it with you next time you travel and use it on the plane.

You want a new primary seat for your son that will allow him to RF longer.
You want a seat for your son in Grandma's car.
You will eventually want a seat for your son in dh's car, but not until his current car is replaced.

Do you definitely want your son to be RF in Grandma's car and in dh's car? What about in Malaysia? ETA: Re-read and saw that you do want him to RF in Malaysia.

As for the lap belt question on the plane, one thing you could try would be to get a seatbelt extender (ask a flight attendant) and use that. You can probably adjust it so that the non-buckle part of the extender is the portion of the belt going under your ds's bottom.

 

[Unregistered]

Thanks for your response! I know I wrote a really long post. Let me clarify:

I need a seat in Malaysia – do I bring one and leave it there because next time I fly Cathay Pacific I won’t be able to bring a carseat onboard, or bring one there and back and not fly Cathay Pacific again?

I want a primary seat that will allow my son to RF longer.

I don’t NEED a seat in either grandmas’ cars, just my justification for getting a 4th seat for 1 kid, lol!

Similarly, I will eventually need a seat(s) for the kid(s) in DH’s car, when it is replaced.

I would prefer DS to RF in Msia, but is it worth not being able to fly Cathay Pacific again?

We tried using a seatbelt extender but couldn’t figure it out. The female end of the buckle is fixed. The extender goes on the male end of the buckle. So the buckle will always end up under DS’s bum. And anyway, with the extender, how do you get it tight enough because now you have extra belt length?

Thanks again!

 

[rachelandtyke]

As for True Fit vs Radian, True Fit only has a 35 lb rfing weight limit, so with your little guy at 30 lbs already, you may not get too much longer with him able to rf in it. Now, I do have a TF and love it, but that would be my only concern.

 

[Brianna]

If there is another airline that will allow a car seat past 3, it would be preferable to fly with that airline. I wouldn't want to deal with any uncomfortable 3 year old on an overseas flight, and at only 30 pounds now it's not likely that the lap belt will tighten far enough to fit him once he's 3. I would likely pick the Radian because it can be easier to travel with when folded and you use carry straps.

 

[jjordan]

For a new primary seat, I'd probably go with a Radian over a Truefit for the same reason that a pp mentioned - your ds is kind of close to the 35# RF weight limit on the Truefit.

Actually, if you can swing it, I'd go with a Foonf. Mostly because I am NOT a big fan of Radians. But, at least try a Radian and see what you think.

As for the rest... only you can decide whether the extra cost of a different airline would be worth the advantage of being able to bring a car seat on board. I do agree with Brianna that it would be a LOT more comfortable (and at least somewhat safer, assuming he wouldn't really fit in the plane seatbelt at age 3) for your ds to have a carseat on board. But if the price difference were, say $500... well. Honestly I don't know if it would be worth an extra $500 to me.

If you do end up bringing a seat over with the intention of leaving it there, I might consider something relatively light and inexpensive that will keep him RF for one trip, but not necessarily as long as possible. Maybe an Evenflo SureRide? It looks to have a decent life for RF, though you could try your ds in it to see how much growing room he has. And then it is quite a long-lasting FF seat as well.

As for the car seats for the other cars, the first thing to decide is how important it is to keep him RF in the other cars. If it's really important, then again, a Radian (or Foonf) would probably be the prime option. If not, then you can move one of your current seats over to a lesser-used car and use the seat forward facing. I'd definitely wait on the seat for dh's car until you actually need it - new seats come out all the time!

Speaking of new seats... depending on how long you can wait before making a purchase, you might want to see what the Chicco NextFit is like once it's released. Last I heard it was expected around late spring, I think? It might be another option with more RF growing room than your current seats.

ETA: You are probably right about the seatbelt extender thing, I think I was picturing it wrong.

 

[twinmommy126]

On a flight that long, I would want the child in a seat that they could comfortably sleep in. So I vote car seat.

We have used CARES in the past for 1-2 hour flights and they were fine for that. If you decide to go that route, definitely rent or borrow one since the maximum height for CARES is 40 inches and you will likely not get a lot of use out of it.

Best of luck!

 

[Unregistered]

For our primary extended RF seat, I'm leaning towards the Radian RXT/GXT/120 because they have memory foam under the bum. Hopefully it won't be as uncomfortable if the plane belt buckle ends up there. Any thoughts on the pros/cons of those models?

Still haven't decided if I will bring the Britax and leave it in Malaysia, or bring the Radian there and back.

DS is such a bad traveler. He pretty much didn't sleep the entire trip there and back last time. He will sleep in the car RF, but I think FF on the plane is too upright for him. I have a feeling he might prefer being in the the CARES harness so I am going to get one to try.

Any thoughts on Radian vs Foonf for traveling? Do you think the tray table would come all the way down on a plane with the Foonf?

Thanks!

 

[jjordan]

The RF belt path on the Radian is separated from the seating surface by a layer of plastic. So, no worries about the kid feeling the buckle, BUT now that I think about it - not sure how much space is in the belt path to get the airplane seatbelt unbuckled. If you use it FF on the plane, then you probably would have a belt buckle against the kid's back.

As for which model, they are all pretty similar except for weight limits and head "wings."

 

[OSLmom]

I've decided to go with the Radian 120. My son is tall with a long torso, and I've been reading that the headwings on the RXT reduces the usability of the restraint by height compared to the 120.

I got a couple different luggage carts to try out. So I'll try both car seats and see which one works better. I think I will take the Radian there and back though, as having the tray table to use on the plane could be very helpful. This way also, my BLVD won't be stuck in Malaysia in case I want to use it over here, e.g. DH's replacement car, etc. I guess Cathay Pacific will lose my business if they don't update their policy.

Thanks so much for your help, and for all the information on this site, it is such a great resource!