Travel / vacation car seat: my annual conundrum

[jhamman]

Hi...

We have a short vacation coming up, and once again I'm waffling about car seats.

We have a four-hour flight each way, and we'll be renting a minivan at our destination.

DS is 5 years old, just over 44" tall and 44 lbs.
At home we use Regents in each car, and plan on staying harnessed as long as possible.

I've ordered a Compass B540 as a possible seat to use for this year's vacation,
so if it seems to fit him well:

1. At this age, will DS be safe enough on the plane only using the plane's lap belt?

2. Would you feel safe using a high-backed booster like the B540
for a child of his age/weight/height, for a long weekend?

These might seem like dumb questions, but I have been so thoroughly harness-itized by reading these boards,
that I'm really nervous about using a HBB for the first time!

Should I just buy a Frontier and get it over with?
(We used a Radian last year, and didn't really love it).

Thanks for any advice you might have!

[mom2binsd]

I don't think I'd get a Frontier for travel. He doesn't need anything for the plane.

What about a Ride Safer Travel Vest for the car?

I think that the Compass booster has lost some of it's appeal lately, seems like the Vivo and Turbo Booster are the more rx HBB lately.

I think it will feel strange, but not having the 5pt harness is totally fine in a child with those stats.

[codex57]

I wouldn't worry about the plane. I think a seatbelt if fine for a 5 yr old on a plane.

I'd really only consider a booster if he can pass the booster tests.

[spunkybaby]

We recently flew 5-6 hours on a plane. DD1 is 5, and she seemed fine in just a seatbelt on the plane. We bought the Ride Safer Travel Vest and are happy with it. Much easier to bring when traveling than a booster seat, and now we can use it for DD1 to squeeze into tight spaces where a typical carseat won't fit.

[801kelle]

I recently encountered the same dilemma. I have been flying with my DD who is now 6 yo since she was 9 months old quite frequently. I always took my carseat on the plane and had her sit in it. Now she sits in a Frontier and I was willing to lug it and take it on the plane. But I decided to do a trial and see how it went. Meaning if my daughter would stay seated in her airplane seat.. if not I was going to go back to lugging carseat on plane to help keep her restrained. BUT IT WENT VERY WELL.. Now in this dilemma I was asking my self and my dear anal carseat friend (right along there with me) Beth.. what am I going to do when we get to our destination with having a carseat for her for the car? So I researched and read up on the Ride Safer Vest and decided to buy one..

IT was awesome.. I stuck it in the front pocket of my suitcase... very easy access after arriving at destination and getting luggage .. it was easy to pull out.. Now of course we practiced installing at home before our trip.. It was great to use on the trip.. I put my daughter in it and buckled her in and away we went. Much easier than lugging a carseat . So maybe you should consider that.


Here is website for Ride Safer Vest:

http://www.safetrafficsystem.com/

The main reason why I bought it was because I feel like there are confirmations on this site from some of highly respected Carseat techs.. so I figured it has to be pretty safe..

SO I hope this helps you with your dilemma..

It was so nice to not take a stroller and carseat through airport.. lug carseat on plane and gate check stroller and do it all again at arrival and departure on the way back. Even if I would have taken carseat on this trip.. I would have gate checked seat.. but still that is a pain... so it was so nice not to have all those extra pieces to deal with!!!