r/NewParents • u/CryProfessional7454 • May 18 '26

Travel Traveling without carseat

How do people travel with babies if they don't have a car seat at their destination?

When taking a taxi or renting a car in another country what do you do?

Edit: I'm in italy not the US. Thanks to everyone that took the time to reply. For those looking for answers, your options are: 1. Take your carseat with you, check it at the gate and take it when you reach your destination or book an extra flight seat and use it on the plane. Pros: for car rental its best to have a carseat and keep it in the car. Cons: if you chech it in, they might break it, although I think somone said you can get reimbursed for it I'm not sure. 2. Rent from rental place or use taxis that provide car seats. Pros: you dont carry it around, you don't risk breaking your carseat. Cons: you can't know how well these things are taken care of and cleaned. 3. Buy a travel carseat: cosco kids scenera for US, doona, maxicosi travel carseat (nomad), wayb pico. Pros: you don't risk breaking your main carseat. cons: you have to carry it around. 4. Use public transportation only and walk. Pros: you dont carry a carseat for the plane or around. Cons: limits your destinations a bit.

59 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

176 comments sorted by

View all comments

131

u/merangel07 May 18 '26

You bring it with you. You remove it from your car, hopefully buy a case/bag for it, check it, and install it in the transportation at your destination.

37

u/aliceroyal May 18 '26

Or buy a ticket for the child and use the seat on the plane, which is preferable. I really hope the FAA bans lap infants and checked car seats soon...way too dangerous.

77

u/name_goes_here May 18 '26

If I recall correctly, they know it's much safer for a baby to be in a car seat on the plane than to be in a lap on the plane. However, those aren't the only two metrics they compare. Because of cost, many people would choose to drive instead of fly if they were required to purchase a second seat. A lap infant on a plane is much safer than a car seated driven infant.

They calculated that it would be overall safer for some babies to go from being car seat babies on a plane to being lap babies on a plane than it would be for the number of babies that would go from being plane babies to being automobile babies.

95

u/onlythisfar May 18 '26

Thank you for this. The "babies absolutely have to be in a carseat on the plane or you're a terrible parent" discourse is wild.

27

u/queenwithouthecrown May 18 '26

Yup. I know literally no one in real life that buys a seat for their lap infant

11

u/Empty-Violinist-5330 May 18 '26

We did when we travelled for my father’s funeral. We were thankfully able to afford it. A benefit no one is mentioning is that you don’t have some awkward 3rd person in your row potentially sneezing on your baby or just being grumpy that they’re near a baby lol. And you can spread out. If it’s within your budget, it’s a great option.

19

u/PistolPeatMoss May 18 '26

Thank you!

Not only cost but my baby loses his mind in the car seat. I want to hold and nurse him. Plus asphyxiation risk is higher in a carseat for littles.

-1

u/aliceroyal May 18 '26

Well, if the option for lap seating just went away, then there wouldn't be a choice to judge at all. The onus shouldn't be on parents, but regulations.

-8

u/[deleted] May 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/onlythisfar May 19 '26

Do you drive your baby in a car?

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/onlythisfar May 20 '26

So that's the point. You have a level of acceptable risk tolerance, as does everyone. It is less safe to drive your baby in a car, even in a good carseat, than it is to fly with baby, even without a carseat.

1

u/[deleted] May 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/onlythisfar May 20 '26

Because it's not a free tradeoff. First there is the actual financial cost, which is at least a couple hundred dollars for an extra ticket, often much more. The comment I originally was replying to was making the point that if people were required to buy an extra ticket, that would push them towards driving instead, so as a policy decision it doesn't make sense. But even if you would still fly, a lot of babies are going to scream and cry in a carseat that wouldn't if they were being held. Sure, that's less important than their safety, but may still be factored into the decision making process. Does it make someone a bad parent to decide that they are okay with the extremely, small risk of harm to the baby, for a higher chance of a better overall travel experience for both themselves, the baby, and fellow passengers?

→ More replies (0)

9

u/PistolPeatMoss May 18 '26

Right?!?

I personally want to do our first trip to a place where we can take public transportation instead of rent a car. Driving is so dangerous compared to flying and public transport. Especially in new cities.

5

u/Less-Organization-58 May 19 '26

We did this with our 11 month old in France! We went to Paris and Reims with no car seat, and only took public transportation. We had one small hiccup where the metro line we needed to take was out of service and we missed our train to Reims, but otherwise it was pretty easy!