Mvic

The sit and stroll was great, use it onboard and in cars and then just pop it open to use as a stroller, no need to even wake the child and perfect for airports like heathrow with long walks to passport control.

Anyone have any rec.s for a travel friendly booster seat for a 3 yaesr old who is more the height and weight of the average 5 year old.

Thanks.

USSky

Dear Sir/Madam:

As a flight attendant for US, the booster seat is one the more challenging issues in complying with Federal Air Regulations.

Currently, booster seats (which have no back and thus no internal restraint system) are not permitted for takeoff and landings. Each airline has it's own policy regarding inflight use. US does permit the use inflight.

In terms of overall safety, your child is best protected against inflight turbulence sitting normally in the seat with the seat belt low and tight around the waist (I know, bet ya heard that line before). However, in terms of comfort the child booster can be useful.

You may hear divergent responses depending on the carrier. But to avoid any unpleasant encounters from some of my less than gracious counterparts, the booster should be overhead for takeoff, approach, and landing, and used at your discretion inflight.

Best, USSky

"Attempting to save the sanity of the frequent flyer... ."

kdp

I've had the booster seat problem too, esp. since they can't be used on-board, it's another thing to carry. I wanted to get something as compact as possible without compromising safety. My suggestion would be to get one of the Britax boosters (www.childseat.com). They make the Starriser (3-8 yrs, 30-80 lbs) which we got for travel. The back folds down or detaches, so you can just use the seat if trying to reduce size/ weight. Another option is the Roadster (4-10 years, 40-100 lbs.). This was our other option since the seat back actually slides into the base for transport, but the seat is slightly wider than the Roadster. There are travel vests made but the ones I've seen only go to 30lbs.

Mvic

Thanks for the responses and good info. I love Britax and have started off with their Roundabout and upgarded to the traveller plus (essentially what they now call a husky minus some accessories) when my child out grew the roundabout at 2 years old. However these are just not practical for travel as they weigh a ton. I am thinking more for taxi and rental car use the other end in Asia where I can not be sure of the rental companies providing car or booster seats. The collapsable booster seats Britax makes might be just the ticket. Thanks again.

bmr12

When mine got to the point where she outgrew her under 40 lbs. seat, we just started checking the larger booster and using the regular seat belt. One less thing to haul onto the plane, and you've still got it for any cars on the other end.

JS

I find the easiest thing to do is use just the lap belt on the plane, and rent a car seat with the rental car at the other end. Don't get too worked up over safety on the plane -- a regular seat belt is just fine, since it's an airplane, not a car.

Mvic

Trouble is that if you are not renting a car but using taxis you still need to bring a booster seta and also not all rental agencies all aourind the world offer a child seat rental let alone a booster seat rental. Finally another reason to bring your own light weight booster seat is that often the ones provided by the rental companies are low end and uncomforatble. I have bought the britax and am happy with it, it will be very easy to take on my upcoming trip to Asia (will not use it in the plane).