Calling all parents

[tommyboy12099]

Leaving for Disney in 3 days:sohappy: Anyway we are going with 4 adults and 4 children under 5:zipit: I got a call from our towncar company that they can only accomodate 2 car seats for our commute to ASM. That leaves us needing 2 more seats. Now my question. Do you bring your own car seats on your trip? It will be a pain lugging car seats along with all of our luggage. The 2 oldest are 4 years old and I believe the car seat law is 7 in FLA. Any suggestions? What would you do?

 

[Maria]

What if you hire two vans for your party? Is the difference in $$ too high? Maybe if you split, you will go more comfortable and they will be able to accomodate the other three kids? Have you begged for more childseats?

 

[tommyboy12099]

We kind of wanted to stay together since this family has never been to Disney before. I am the "lifeline" of this trip. Scary huh Great suggestion as usual Maria.

 

[Maria]

No problem. I would still think about splitting for the airport ride though... I would hate to be carrying extra stuff in my luggage that are not shopping bags :animwink:

 

[Momx3]

We're going in 3 days too! What about using booster seats insted of car seats. I'm not sure about the law but in Ohio over 40 lbs doesn't need a car seat but I have two 4 year olds and am using boosters for safety. Baby stores sell luggage especially made for car seats. I have one that I used for another trip and it worked well and was actually a place for more stuff. I just looked up car seat laws on Google and found that Florida law says for ages 4-5 a car seat or seat belt may be used. You''ll just need to decide what you want to do.

 

[MouseMadness]

I'm... kinda confused now. We've used a very reputable company, which I guess I won't mention by name so as not to get anybody into trouble... but last trip (november of 02) we had a van, and 3 kids under seven, and only had the baby in a car seat. The driver didn't mention anything about the others needing a car seat. Hmmmmmm... I will have to do some investigating, I suppose.

 

[LongballMG]

make sure you let your children go barefoot for a little while while at WDW. Some kids don't do this enough at home

 

[The Mom]

I believe the Florida law exempts "jitneys" or any other transportation companies. (But not day care companies) This is how babies and toddlers can ride in buses, etc.

I've always flown with a carseat or booster for my children. (when they were little) so it was never an issue. And yes, it was a pain, but I also didn't have more than one at a time.

So, you are not LEGALLY required to have a carseat for all of the children. I assume that this is just for the ride to and from the airport?

 

[MouseMadness]

Originally posted by The Mom
I believe the Florida law exempts "jitneys" or any other transportation companies. (But not day care companies) This is how babies and toddlers can ride in buses, etc.

I've always flown with a carseat or booster for my children. (when they were little) so it was never an issue. And yes, it was a pain, but I also didn't have more than one at a time.

So, you are not LEGALLY required to have a carseat for all of the children. I assume that this is just for the ride to and from the airport?

Ohhhhhhhh that's a relief! I always have one car seat with me, too, for the baby. We use it on the plane. But I feel better now.

And Longball (you a golfer??) I can't seem to get my kids to keep their shoes on!! :lol:

 

[The Mom]

Originally posted by LongballMG
make sure you let your children go barefoot for a little while while at WDW. Some kids don't do this enough at home

Is this a joke? Or do you mean in the room? I don't let my children go barefoot outdoors, except at the beach or at the pool. Hookworm is endemic to this area, and an unprotected foot is also more prone to injury.

 

[Maria]

...not to mention blisters and burns in the hot pavement.

 

[RogueHabit]

Our sone hasb't had a car seat since he was 4. Last year when I checked with the Dollar guy (Our sone was 6 at the time) he told me that the age requirement was 4 and under.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I agree with momx3 and the others, bring booster for the older kids. They don't take us much room and can be packed in our luggage.

It really depends how comfortable YOU are with them not having car seats.

One step ahead has a small portable car seat for children 20 to 40 pounds that is an last resort option, it cost around 30$ and folds down the size of a small bag. (I wish we had got it for our last trip.) Our town car company forgot the car seat both coming and going to the air port, they did manage to get one both times, but it wasn't pretty. We didn't have problems in March of 2003, just Aug of 2003.

 

[tommyboy12099]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I live in PA and the law is 7 years old or 70lbs for a child to be in a car\booster seat. Florida is very lenient and a 4 year old can be in a seat belt. Im going to play it safe and buy a small booster seat as suggested. Thanks again. 3 more days......

 

[Dwarful]

Glad to hear your going with the boosters. Here in Illinois the law is 8 years or 80 lbs. I have a 45 lbs 7 yr old and no one even knows she is in her booster seat, except she sits higher up in the van than she would if she weren't in it. The boosters are mainly to help the seat belt fit the child properly so if you are in an accident your child wont suffer internal injuries from a seatbelt designed to fit a 150lb adult. Its just not worth the risk to save $20-$40. have a safe and fun trip!


ps. this does make you wonder, why don't we have a federal guideline on this..sort of like 18 to vote, 21 to drink. there is a big difference between 4-8 yrs old and 40lbs-80lbs as well.

 

[tommyboy12099]

I was wondering that myself. Illinois has 8 yrs old and Florida only requires a seat for undre 4 yrs old. Its just not worth the risk. I could never live with myself if something happened.

 

[Bagheera]

Our son is finally big enough that he flies without his booster seat, but it gets packed in the special car seat/booster seat bag and flies under the plane. We install it in the rental and he rides in it the whole trip, then it goes back home in the bag.