Car Seat Opinions

[2chatter]

DS is 5, 45", 43 pounds. We are flying for a long weekend to meet DH in Memphis next week. DS is in a five point harness at home. Do we curb check his regular seat after installing it in the uber to the airport? Or do I buy a bubble bum from Amazon?

I always do a five point until they outgrow the seats - for safety - and am leaning toward just doing that. But...it's kind of a small hassle. Not really a big deal.

We are picking up DH's car from the garage on the way back, so it would just get reinstalled in DH's car to come home. DH will uber home later that week when he returns. Rental car in Memphis FWIW.

[Covergirl82]

I tend to be paranoid about safety stuff, so if it were me, I feel like I would have to take the 5-point harness seat with me, even though it's a bigger hassle.

[indyrowergirl]

We bought a Graco LBB for these situations and check it with our luggage. (My kids did not find the bubble bum comfortable. ) We tried checking the 5point in the past but it's so heavy and difficult to install that DH swore he'd never do it again.

[k3am]

At 5, is your kid old enough to stay awake and seated properly for the car ride? If so, I'm not sure a 5 point harness provides additional safety vs. a booster. I'd go with what's easy for your trip and back to the regular seat when you're home.

Disclaimer: I don't know what a bumble bum is.

[2chatter]

Yeah, we have a million LBBs for DD because even though she's almost 10 she's 48". I could throw one of those in the suitcase.

He's in a five point so he doesn't move around (to hit his sisters, to hang upside down, to fall asleep and lean over). But it's not like we are doing a road trip in Memphis...

I already have an airplane bag to check the car seat if we do go that way.

I am so on the fence!!

[leap]

2chatter, I ordered a bubblebum for both of my girls for an upcoming trip. They should be arriving tonight. DD2 is 5 and about the same size as your son. I want to see how DD2 looks in the seat. If it doesn't seem like a good fit, I'm going to return it and lug along her regular seat. I'll let you know what I think.

[supertrooper1]

Can you get an Uber with a car seat so you don't have to install it in the Uber?

[2chatter]

supertrooper1 - we need one for while we are there, too. DH will have his rental car and we are going to run around for the weekend and do touristy stuff and see some of my friends and his colleagues.

[186momx]

I have a bubble bum and DD is okay with it but prefers her 5 point harness seat. I will say it has been a blessing this summer to have it for an extra seat for all the play dates, babysitter stuff we have had going on. That said if it was just a seat to use for the airport to hotel and back then it would be great. For lots of driving in crazy traffic not my idea of a good fit.

DD has used it to go to practice, dropping off one of the sitter's kids to work, to the pool so short distance no major traffic trips. So maybe 15-20 minutes sitting in it at a time.   She says it isn't comfy and she is nervous sitting in it.   DD is 6, 39" tall, and about 42lbs.

www.bubblebum.co/product/bubblebum-travel-car-booster-seat-black/
A link to what a bubblebum is

[mommyatty]

Lugging the car seat sucks ass. We will never do it again. We got a Baby Trend foldable HBB for each kid. They fit in the overhead bin and are awesome. Only complaint is they are wide, so buckling the seat belt is a pain in many cars.

[sunbutter]

I have DD (5), roughly the same size, in a 5pt harness at home.
However, on vacation, I rented a van and used the car rental supplied booster. We didn't drive a ton and rarely over 40 mph on the island. There are no highways and only one traffic light. She was instructed to sit up and behave, etc..

[billie]

We took a LBB with us in a similar situation, so that's what I would do.

[sdlaura]

Does your DH already have his rental car, or could he get a five-point from the rental car place? I don't trust baggage handlers to not damage our seats, so after we stopped bringing car seats on the plane with our older kids, we started just renting them along with the car. We're done it in several states and Canada, from a bunch of different car rental agencies, and sometimes I have to help the employee hunt down the seat I reserved, but it's always worked out well.

[2chatter]

I somehow didn't know that car rental places also rent seats. DH can totally handle that task.

[leap]

I've decided to keep the bubble bum for DD2. The lap belt fits where it is supposed to and that was my biggest concern. She rides in a HBB normally so it's not a huge change. And we won't be driving that much.

[mommyatty]

2chatter, you'll need to ask a lot of questions about the car seat at car rental agencies. I've heard horror stories of people showing up to discover an infant seat for their 4 year old or a kitchen chair booster when they had requested a booster. You can also call a local baby equipment rental place, and often they will meet you at the airport.

[sunbutter]

Aug 2, 2017 9:08:15 GMT -5 mommyatty said:

2chatter, you'll need to ask a lot of questions about the car seat at car rental agencies. I've heard horror stories of people showing up to discover an infant seat for their 4 year old or a kitchen chair booster when they had requested a booster. You can also call a local baby equipment rental place, and often they will meet you at the airport.

Yes. Most likely they have a standard car seat that your DS has grown out of. Unless you can get specific make and model info in the seat, I would go for a booster from them instead. For example, I considered getting a family Uber in NYC recently but the car seat did not accommodate older children.

[sdlaura]

In my experience the rental places have a variety of seat sizes. When you reserve the car you can choose infant seat, convertible, or booster. Sometimes they have pulled the wrong seat for me, but I just follow them back to the room where they keep them and select the right one for my kid's size. You do have to install them yourself since that would be a liability for the rental car place. I've done this probably 20 times with two kids and have always ended up with a right sized seat.

[sandandsea]

Can you rent a car seat with the rental car? Ds1 is the same age and size as your LO and we have done all of the options. Renting with the car was easiest. He's also not ready for a booster as he always sleeps on the car so I've never felt like that's a great option but we have done it when we won't be driving a lot.