Child seats on vacation are one of the most annoying problems when traveling with kids. No more. with these 13 options you stay flexible and transport your child safely. Whether on a city trip or on a round trip.
It is 2 o’clock at night. At sydney airport.
But where is the driver of the shuttle service with our name tag?
The shuttle service with the child seats?
this is what happened to my friend anna last week. You have been on the road for 24 hours. With 2 small children. You just want to go to the hotel. showers. rest.
Except that now the shuttle is not there. And now?
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The short conclusion for those in a hurry: in cabs may children in some countries also without child seat drive. In buses too. Why actually?All cabs float in an invisible bubble that protects them from accidents?
Legal regulations are one thing – what makes sense is sometimes a completely different matter.
On top of that accident rates in many countries not as "good" looking as in germany.
Even with a pure city trip you rarely get out of the child seat problem. You also need to get to and from the airport safely.
Luckily there are better options than taking your child on your lap in the cab.
- The safest option taking your own child seat is.
- The best option is often different if you don’t want to carry the heavy clunky seat under your arm for the occasional cab ride the rest of the day.
- In addition to cabs, there are several services where you can also with child seats you can drive.
- There are foldable handy travel child seats. my favorites at the moment are the urban kanga (9-18kg) and the hifold (15-36kg).
Read on to find out exactly what your options are.
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1. The child seat solution for BABYS on vacation (always possible)
If your child is still in the infant carrier, get one stroller with adapter, on which you can attach the infant carrier (we use the joie litetrax with adapter).
So you can safely travel in any cab travel with baby and don’t need to carry the child seat.
That you do not have the child all day in there leave it, it is clear anyway. The little ones also want to be carried or crawl around. For a day trip this would be a reasonable option for us.
child seats on vacation are no problem for baby with buggy with attached baby seat
But what are the possible solutions for larger children?
Even if your baby has already outgrown the car seat, you have several options for child seats on vacation. The first question is whether you are traveling with or without a rental car. Below you will find several solutions for the child seat problem for both variants.
2. What are the 4 best child seat solutions WITH RENT A CAR??
2.1. Take your OWN CHILD SEAT with you on vacation
If you have a rental car, you can take your own child seat take from home.
That is then it makes sense, if you rent a car directly at the airport. We book rental cars almost exclusively through rentalcars.Com, because we almost always find the best price there with reasonable insurance coverage.
But back to child seats on vacation:
With your own seat you are safe from the first moment on and for longer trips with a rental car this is also the best solution cheapest option.
The disadvantage is that, depending on the airline, the seat may count as an extra piece of luggage and have to be paid for. With many airlines you can take a child seat for free (here you can see how it is with your airline).
The second problem is that luggage is not handled very carefully. My heart has been slightly panicked twice because our infant seat broke after a flight.
Child seat broken on the flight. What to do now?
Extra Tip: put the seat in a special child seat bag. This is how the luggage throwers see that it is a child seat. This increases your chances of more careful handling and that they are not lying at the bottom of the plane.
The other and safest option is to take your child seat with you on the plane and put your child directly in it. Your child must have its own seat and the seat must have the "approved for aircraft" mark.
2.2. RENT a car seat from the local car rental company
Another variant, if you have a rental car, is to rent a child seat rent a child seat at the same time.
That sounds quite practical, I thought at the time when I bought the child seat at the car rental had booked. When we arrived in montreal, however, I thought, this is absolutely outrageous. What happened was?
rental cars are also great as a changing table
We sat in the waiting room of a large well-known car rental company. So actually i stood and swayed our baby. It had been 4 hours since we landed. It was cold. Ice cold. I had a cold and a fever on the flight.
Actually we should have been at the hotel a long time ago. Around us sat 60 other people who also looked slightly annoyed. There were no cars. Without joke.
After half an eternity, cars came trickling in and we finally got our stroller. I casually ask "so, the child seat is already in the car then?? Or where do we get the?"the answer was:
Child seat? Like? That’s right, it says so right here on the booking. Hm. Yes. We do not have one right now.
My eyes almost popped out of my head! You have got to be kidding me?
Breathe. Take a deep breath. After another 45 minutes they had found a seat. mega worn and felt like the cheapest child seat you could buy in all of canada.
Child seats with car rental companies are usually "subject to availability", i.e. they are not guaranteed. By the way, the employees were not allowed to install the seat either. we had to find out ourselves how to do it with the foreign seat.
The prices are usually peppery too.
But, if you don’t want to or can’t take your own child seat on vacation, and you travel a lot by rental car, the car rental seats are a reasonable option. Just try to get it confirm beforehand to let. Best directly from the renter on the spot.
And remember how to get to the airport safely back home in germany.
2.3. RENT a child seat from an equipment rental company
If you want to avoid the risk of a worn or even non-existent child seat, but still want a full-fledged seat, the following options are available baby equipment rentals a good option.
In many places (z.B. on mallorca or in sydney) you can rent strollers, high chairs and even child car seats there.
Extra Tip: at mamipoppins you get an exclusive 10 € discount on the rental of a child car seat in mallorca if you enter the discount code MAMIPOPPINS-MAMASREISEHACKS when booking (from 65€ rental value).
This is mega practical. And the child seats are usually cheaper than at the car rental itself and in a better condition.
Make sure that the rental company brings the seats directly to the airport. If you have to come into town from the airport to get it, you haven’t won much.
2.4. Use a TRAVEL CHILD SEAT for short distances or city traffic
If you use the rental car more as a means of transportation from the airport and for smaller trips, a travel child seat like the urban kanga (9-18 kg) or the hifold (15-36 kg) is another good option. These are foldable and handy, but usually offer less protection than "normal" child seats.
We are still big fans of travel child seats, when we drive rather short distances or in town. They are just incredibly handy. Also for city trips they are simply ingenious. In the next chapter you can find out which child travel seats are available and which ones we liked best.
3. What are the 8 options you have when traveling WITHOUT a rental car (incl. CHILD TRAVEL SEATS)?
You don’t dare to drive yourself in the chaotic traffic? Or a rental car is just not worth it for the city trip? Even then you have to get safely from the airport to your accommodation, often by cab. Fortunately, there are many solutions to this problem as well.
3.1. What can you do if there are NO SEATBELTS at all??
Seat belts are sometimes shy. Especially in ASIA. And on back seats. Check under the seats first to make sure they’re not just tucked under there.
Often there are 3-point belts in the front, but not on the back seats. With the airbag turned off, the kids can sit in the front (plus point for the fun-factor ;-)).
Due to the lack of 3-point belts on the back seat, the minis can ride in the front (without airbag, of course)
Extra Tip: just ask other parents in facebook groups who have already been there.
3.2. URBAN KANGA travel child seat: the best solution for children from 9-18 kg
for children from 9-18kg there is the travel child seat from urban kanga.
The urban kanga is like a minimal version of your normal child seat. The child is attached directly to the seat and the seat is fastened with a 3-point belt.
The seat only weighs 3kg and you can folding and hang it on your stroller when you are out and about.
We have used it in china (and on many other trips) and just attached it in a flash in the cab.
I have put together all the advantages and disadvantages for you in child seats on vacation: with the urban kanga, finally a real solution for you. In this video you can see how it works.
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3.3. Child travel seat HIFOLD (15-36 kg): the best solution for children from 15-36 kg
Long have we waited for it. With the hifold, there is now finally a child travel seat solution that is not just a booster seat. It has also a side and back protection.
the hifold seemed like a little miracle to me, because it is like a slimmed down normal child seat, which you can fold up completely can.
It weighs about 4,6 kg, You can simply hang it over your shoulder and take it with you into the car carry-on luggage take.
The hifold is approved from 15kg for children from ca. 4 years. Just like other seats of the group II/III I would use him independently of these data but only then, when your child really stays in the seat. Even if it is only strapped in with the car seat belt and no longer directly in the child seat.
As your child grows, it grows with them, because you can adjust the width, height and head area completely flexibly. Ingenious for me.
As the only travel child seat he was so far tested by the ADAC. Andreas ratzek, project manager of the ADAC child seat test, was pleased that the foldable seat passed the test. The test grade of the ADAC was however only satisfactory.
This is also understandable, because although the hifold is designed as a everyday and travel seat of course, it is not as thick and firmly padded as a big clunky car seat.
In the words of the ADAC test director: "for parents who have the car outside and where the child seat always remains installed, there are better alternatives."
For parents who are looking for a child seat that is suitable for travel, the hifold is in my view, the best solution at the moment for bigger children.
Only one matching bag has me to the hifold currently still missing. Although you can hang it over your shoulder to wear. If you put it on the plane as a piece of luggage, I would be worried that it opens up. So i put it in a cover. There is already a matching backpack on the US market. Hopefully the also soon comes to us.
3.4. travel child seat BOOSTAPAK (15-36 kg): the practical solution for city traffic
the boostapak is a booster seat that also pulls the car’s shoulder strap down and fixes it at the height of your child’s shoulder.
For short distances and low speeds so a practical solution.
Transporting the boostapak is easy, because it is also a backpack. This is of course mega handy, because you can even put a few things for the road in it.
In this video I will show you how the boostapak works.
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3.5. Travel child seat MIFOLD (15-36 kg): the emergency solution for the handbag
The mifold grab-and-go (distributed in germany by klein AG) is a foldable child seat that fits in your handbag.
The principle is similar to a booster seat, but instead of putting the child higher, the mifold does the opposite. It pulls down the shoulder strap. It can be attached to a three-point belt and is approved according to EU standards like a simple booster seat.
the cool thing about the mifold is that it actually fits easily into a handbag. Now you might ask yourself: why don’t i just take the mifold instead of going through the trouble of all the variations above??
Have the mifold grab-and-go with you as an emergency solution
Quite simply, the mifold is from the manufacturer as emergency solution developed when no other child seat is available.
Like normal booster seats, it logically has no side impact protection and the belt can slip. My son has the new freedom of movement immediately gladly used. A normal child seat is therefore of course much safer.
If your child is still small and narrow, it may be difficult to actually pull the pelvic belt over the pelvis (instead of the legs).
For short trips within the city or for unplanned emergencies it is definitely better for me than not buckling the child in at all.
The ADAC also confirms that the use of the mifold "provides better protection in a head-on collision than if no child restraint system is used at all"."so before you don’t buckle your kids in at all or put them on your lap on the way to the hotel or your child-friendly vacation home, better get a mifold.
3.6. book an AIRPORT HUTTLE with child seat
Instead of taking a cab from the airport to the hotel, you can take an airport shuttle with child seat book. Sometimes you have to ask directly for the child seats.
so that you don’t end up like my friend anna, be sure to call them the day before to confirm your transfer – and that they will bring a suitable child seat (don’t forget to tell them the weight and age of your child).
Think also in Germany about child seats for the transfer to the airport, if you park your own car on one of the cheaper airport parking lots with shuttle. We often book airport parking in germany through airparks because we get a good overview there quickly.
If there are child seats in the shuttle, you have to ask for them almost everywhere. Or you can drop off a parent with child and luggage at the terminal and then take the car to the parking lot.
3.7. Take the PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION means
You have surely thought about taking the public transports. For city trips you can actually often take a train or subway into the city.
Just consider how much luggage you have, how well you can move it (backpack vs suitcase) and how far it is from the train station to the accommodation.
With luggage and children in tow, this is usually not the best option for us.
3.8. Use FAHRSERVICES with child seat (z.B. UBER)
Another variant is to use a uber with child seat order for children from 1 year. Uber is a kind of cab service that you can order directly via cell phone app.
This is not even much more expensive than a normal cab and so you are of course super flexible.
The child seat option is not yet available everywhere uber is, so ask dr beforehand. Google.
In some places there are also alternatives to uber, that offer special family services. In dubai and abu-dhabi, z.B., you can order a careem kids via app, which also has child seats on it.
You need internet to order it and there is usually only one child seat on board. So already with two children it becomes difficult.
Extra tip: create an account beforehand and ask in facebook groups if there are really cars with child seats available when you need them. the option alone does not mean that there are many cars with child seats..
4. Which child seats work in the REISEBUS?
For package tours often bus transfer including. Child seats are usually of no interest. Except you.
As a rule I try alternative to find a bus transfer as described above. But if you want to take the bus, find out beforehand if there are seat belts on the buses (call z.B. With the tour operator on site an).
It is important to know if it is a 3-point or 2-point harness. For 3-point belts you can choose one of the variants above.
If there is only a 2 point harness, you can use a seat that has the "approved for aircraft" mark (e.g. a seat with a seat belt).B. The kiddy guardianfix pro 2). or you can try to attach a cares belt to the seat.
5. CONCLUSION: our solution for child seats on vacation
We often choose the variant of taking a rental car to take our own child seat with us on vacation. Although it would have been much more comfortable to just get on the bus. I know the numbers.
I personally don’t rate the probability of getting into a traffic accident with injuries as high at all. But with a good child seat I can massively reduce the impact. And that is also the effort value, to look for a child seat for the vacation.
You only have to die once to be dead.
For city trips or when we are not going on a long round trip by car, we like to use our travel child seats (currently the urban kanga and the hifold).
but i admit that i might be the exception with my strict consequence. In the end you have to weigh this decision yourself. Depending on
- Situation
- Length of the trip
- Type of route
- Your personal safety needs.
And the child seat emergency of my friend anna? You have taken a cab without child seats. we didn’t know the mifold yet, so they had to carry the kids on their laps. Nothing happened to you.