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wilfy
08-09-2006, 13:13
I've a friend who is going with his family and grandchildren to Florida next year. They will have a 4 year old, a 10 month and 6 month old baby.
Is it ok to take a UK child car seat and use it in a hired car or do you have to hire the car rental's child seats.? If they do use the car rental companies child seats does anyone have an idea of how much they cost?

pieman790
08-09-2006, 13:19
We use ours all the time when we are in Florida. In fact we actually use our younger childs seat on the plane itself.
I much prefer to use ours from a safety point of view as i know that it has not being invloved in an accident or damaged in any way.

roger
08-09-2006, 13:58
There is no problem taking you own. In fact, we tend to recommend this to save you the approx $7 per day per seat.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by wilfy
I've a friend who is going with his family and grandchildren to Florida next year. They will have a 4 year old, a 10 month and 6 month old baby.
Is it ok to take a UK child car seat and use it in a hired car or do you have to hire the car rental's child seats.? If they do use the car rental companies child seats does anyone have an idea of how much they cost?


[/quote]

millie
08-09-2006, 14:35
The first time we took our little girl we used a car seat from Dollar. But I was terrified as it just did not seem to fit properly and looked very unsafe. Dollar would not even tell me how to fit it to make sure I had it right. I had to make do with faded instructions on the seat (maybe in case they get sued if we crashed!).
Anyway we ended up changing our car to one of the 7 seaters which had integral 5 point harness seatbelts which are great.
My advice is to either take your own, buy one from Walmart when you get there or get a car with an integral one.
Lx

floridadreamvilla.co.uk
08-09-2006, 15:15
We always did this when the children were smaller. It had the added bonus of them being in a familiar seat and thus settling a lot easier than they would otherwise do.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by roger
There is no problem taking you own. In fact, we tend to recommend this to save you the approx $7 per day per seat.

[/quote]

dawn burley
08-09-2006, 17:32
We also take our own car seats. It has never affected our baggage allowance either. A good idea is to cover them in clear plastic just in case it is raining when the luggage is being loaded and unloaded. That way you are guaranteed a dry car seat when you arrive in Florida. [msnsmile]

Sandy Beach
08-09-2006, 18:42
We always took my Grandsons Seat,double wrapped in extra strong bin liners.Not only kept it dry but also helped protect it.Don't forget to put a couple in your case for the return jourvey.

Sandra

MTP
08-09-2006, 22:12
We to have done a combination of taking our own and buying when over there. The downside with buying over there is that you don't have anything for that first journey from the airport to the villa.

When Mrs MTP was pregnant with number two child we bought a baby seat to bring back, from Babies'r'us - it is a Fisher Price and instead of it having a hard handle it has a shoulder strap that is extendable.

We have found this to be great with our second and third children, but they don't seem to do that style any more and we have had as many enquiries in America as at home over where we got it from, so I don't think that it was even a very popular style. The huge advantage is in the different carrying positions available and that I don't feel your arm is twisted in an awkward fashion to carry it.

We once rented a car seat on our first holiday with sprog in the USA, she was about 14/12 old then. Never again. The car seat had no cover so she was just sitting in the hard plastic and you do wonder if they ever give the straps a clean after use as children quite often have a good suck/chew on them!

vanessag
14-09-2006, 17:48
We always take our own with us, either put them in big strong bags and check them in on the plane, or put them in a suitcase. I have used the car hire ones in the past but as other people have said they are generally tatty (and pricey) Some of the people movers (not sure which ones) do have a pull down child seat with a harness.

Magical Dreams
14-09-2006, 20:41
We used to take ours with us, but have since bought 2 from good old Walmart.
They are there for our next trip!

At their prices, you can throw them away and buy new ones each time and its still cheaper than hiring them!

Plus if you use your own, you know where they have been!

Sazere
25-09-2006, 14:03
The first time we took our eldest son (9months old but very small as he was a prem baby) we hired a seat. It was totally unsuitable for a normal size 9month old let alone a small baby. We immediately asked for a swap at the counter (didnt even leave the counter with it) and it was a problem. In the end someone had to go and fetch a couple of seats for us to look at but all were really for babies that could sit unaided, with no recline facility. We had to wait ages for them to produce a car seat that could be used for babies rather than toddlers.

In the end the seat was OK, but very old, it had a huge bar thing that locked down over the top of the baby with a strap that plugged into the underneath of it rather than the harnesses we are used to here. My son actually liked being in it and slept great when we were out on the road.

But again there was no instructions with it and no-one could show us how to work it!

Second time we took our infant car seat for our daughter and hired toddler seats for our 2 boys but again the seats were really old and not so clean. They did not fit in the first van we were given as the seat belts came out of the ceiling and we could not figure how to strap the seats in, again no-one would show us how to do it.

So next time we go we will take our own seats!

wilfy
25-09-2006, 14:42
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Magical Dreams
We used to take ours with us, but have since bought 2 from good old Walmart.
They are there for our next trip!

At their prices, you can throw them away and buy new ones each time and its still cheaper than hiring them!

Plus if you use your own, you know where they have been!
[/quote]

Buying them at Wal-mart sounds good but what do you do before you get to wal-mart? Leave child and parent at the airport while someone makes a dash to go buy them.? I always thought it was illegal to have children especially babies in a car without a proper seat. I think the fhp etc would take a dim view if you got pulled over

roger
25-09-2006, 15:05
I know some people that have hire car seats for just the 1st day, then purchase new ones from Walmart, then dropped the hired seats off at Kissimmee depot.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by wilfy
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Magical Dreams
We used to take ours with us, but have since bought 2 from good old Walmart.
They are there for our next trip!

At their prices, you can throw them away and buy new ones each time and its still cheaper than hiring them!

Plus if you use your own, you know where they have been!
[/quote]

Buying them at Wal-mart sounds good but what do you do before you get to wal-mart? Leave child and parent at the airport while someone makes a dash to go buy them.? I always thought it was illegal to have children especially babies in a car without a proper seat. I think the fhp etc would take a dim view if you got pulled over
[/quote]