renting car seats

[monkll]

taking a limo/van from phila to nyc to port ..traveling with an 11 month old.. wondering if I can rent a car seat or do I need to bring my own??:confused:

[TropicalSnowflake]

You will have to contact the limo/taxi company directly to see if they have any seats to rent. I know that rental car companies do rent them.

[Eclipsepearl]

I had a bad experience with a limo company and a carseat. I'm so not alone!

 

I had a year old child and they arrived with an old, dirty infant bucket thing. He was far above the max.

 

Rented carseats not only can be nasty but expired and you don't know their history. What if they had been in an accident? This seriously compromises their security.

 

Your child is precious. Don't take the risk IMHO, and those of most Car techs.

[crusinmama06]

A few questions for you...how much does you 11 month old weigh? Probably not 22lbs yet right? If the baby does weigh that much then you can buy one of these...

http://www.amazon.com/Eddie-Bauer-Portable-Bryant-Collection/dp/B000K53TFI/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5995810-0950469?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1180186445&sr=8-1

 

We always take Limo or towncar service when we land at airports. And we usually just get them to bring a car seat.

 

Honestly we've never had ANY situations with "old dirty car seats". The companies we use have always brought clean, new ones.

 

But this last time we flew into Miami, we didn't get a towncar cause it just didn't make sense to pay $120 (each way) plus the cost of the car seat to drive 3 MINUTES to the hotel/port.

 

So we ordered the Eddie Bauer Portable for our 3 year old who weighs 26lbs (she is on the SMALL side). It folded flat into our suitcase. We just pulled it out when we needed it in the taxi. And had no problems.

[Eclipsepearl]

The portable carseat doesn't have the best reviews for safety but do the research yourself. I picture it more for real "hard-core" travel, like multiple cities and lots of taxis when it's physically impossible to bring your own and the only other option is no seat at all.

 

For the same price, you can get a Scenera which is very recommended safety-wise, with full tether that can be used as a second seat and is light for travel. Bungee cord it to a luggage cart or a suitcase to get around with it.

 

You do have a long drive and consider if you'd use it on any of your excursions, plus the return home. If you were going from hotel to hotel, I'd say it was a tough call but once you're onboard, you can just stow it somewhere during the cruise.

 

If you're traveling with only one child and at least two adults, it's not that bad to take it along. It would also be much cheaper and safer to bring your own.

 

Remember you can actually decide last minute if you're leaving from home. If the limo arrives with something unacceptable, you can then opt to install yours' right then and there. If you opt to use theirs', be clear that you want the *same seat* upon your return. Always check the install or install it yourselves.

 

hth!