Approved dual use child car seats

[bighal]

Originally Posted by alkel2730

Incidentally, it's airline approved too should you wish to bring it back with you and use it onboard.

See more...

You would still need to contact your airline as each one have different requirements due to different airline seats as to which seat is suitable for use on-board the aircraft.

[alkel2730]

Originally Posted by bighal

You would still need to contact your airline as each one have different requirements due to different airline seats as to which seat is suitable for use on-board the aircraft.

See more...

These are airline approved, a lot of USA seats are FAA certified as it's extremely common practice to fly in the USA with seats and it's a lot to do with the fitting as they need to be fitted with a lap belt FF. I know people who have flown TC, Virgin and BA with them. However, you are right in that it's very different in the UK going to the USA with uk seats, aside from infant carriers there's only two that I know if that are properly flight approved, the Britax Eclipse and the Diono Radian 5.
That said I've never carried one on board myself as we just don't have the capacity to carry car seats and it's not common practice. You can easily see which are approved though and that link I posted before gives lots of advice. My son has a cares harness for the flight.

[alkel2730]

Originally Posted by BevS97

Do you have then shipped to your hotel? How do you get to the hotel?

See more...

Yes shipped to hotel. We have a couple of options, we either get them shipped to people we know out there when then bring them to the airport (one is being stored for us) or we go on ME to hotel and pick car up next day. The latter is not ideal as obviously kids are in coach with no seat but the last time we went we got caught up in Irma and it all went wrong with our deliveries.
Sorry meant to say, or hubby goes to hotel gets seats and then comes back for us.

[alkel2730]

I know this isn't what you asked OP but as someone who's looked into this over and over again I'm yet to find a perfect solution.

Hire: pros: you can get at airport, you don't have to buy or carry a seat about. Cons: you've no idea of history or how to fit it.

Take your own: pros: you know it's history, how to fit it and how safe it is. Cons: it may not fit the car, you have to carry them and worry about them getting damaged, and as this thread has highlighted, there's the issue of legality.

Buy: pros: it's new, you know it's not been in an accident, you can pick the one you are happy with (we rear face so that's important for example). You know they are legal and designed for USA car fittings. Cons: you have to think about how to get it vs when you can your car, they are usually more expensive, you have to dispose of it, carry it back or store them afterwards.

It's a headache for sure!

[foxhillsteve]

I think buying from the USA is the way forward for me now personally. Safety is of paramount importance, but legality is also important. Will cost me more and will have to carry them, but will have the peace of mind all will be in order and safe. Thanks to all.

[ziggyzag]

Okay, had an email reply from Graco

Thank you for contacting us. None of Graco products sold in Europe carry the FMVSS213 approval. We always advise against bringing US car seats here as they are not certified and thus illegal to use in Europe. The same rule applies to the European car seats in Europe. It's not legal to use American seats in Europe, nor is it legal to use European seats in the United States. Car seats that are designed for the European market are subject to a different type of testing than seats sold in the United States market.

Although they often use the same name, ss, due to different compliance laws, the American products differ from the European ones, under no circumstances would we suggest adapting or importing a US car seat to comply with legal requirements in another country. Also the method of fixing car seats into cars will vary between countries. All car seats in Europe are tested and approved to the current Child Safety Standard ECE R44 (and R129/i-Size) only. Unfortunately they are not FMVSS certified. But please remember that with any car seat, the important thing to keep your child safe is to use a car seat that is the best for your child’s size, for your car’s size/shape and that you can use properly 100% of the time.



If I can be of further assistance, please reply to this email directly.



Thank you,

Maciej

Graco Consumer Service



So looks like I need to buy a seat out there!

[alkel2730]

Originally Posted by ziggyzag

Okay, had an email reply from Graco

Thank you for contacting us. None of Graco products sold in Europe carry the FMVSS213 approval. We always advise against bringing US car seats here as they are not certified and thus illegal to use in Europe. The same rule applies to the European car seats in Europe. It's not legal to use American seats in Europe, nor is it legal to use European seats in the United States. Car seats that are designed for the European market are subject to a different type of testing than seats sold in the United States market.

Although they often use the same name, ss, due to different compliance laws, the American products differ from the European ones, under no circumstances would we suggest adapting or importing a US car seat to comply with legal requirements in another country. Also the method of fixing car seats into cars will vary between countries. All car seats in Europe are tested and approved to the current Child Safety Standard ECE R44 (and R129/i-Size) only. Unfortunately they are not FMVSS certified. But please remember that with any car seat, the important thing to keep your child safe is to use a car seat that is the best for your child’s size, for your car’s size/shape and that you can use properly 100% of the time.



If I can be of further assistance, please reply to this email directly.



Thank you,

Maciej

Graco Consumer Service



So looks like I need to buy a seat out there!

See more...

That's what Cybex told us too. We have Cybex sirona M2s which are ridiculously heavy anyway so we couldn't practically carry both but I wanted to double check. They told me exactly the same last year, EU seats not legal in USA, USA seats not legal in EU. The USA seats all have chest clips for a start which are banned in EU. Both my kids hate those chest clips but needs must!

Incidentally, OP, when ordering your car seat ensure you put your name and arrival date on the delivery. I just ordered a Graco Extend2Fit last night and you have to put it in the extra box to get it to accept. This is on Amazon. Just a tip! Ours is being delivered to POR tomorrow and we ordered yesterday.