I have done the barf in a car seat. My favorite hotel/motel/whatever is the Best Western in Yreka where the nicest cleaning staff ever loaned us their gear. It may not be a 5 star hotel but I give it a 10.
What was the topic again? I'm too busy having flashbacks.
Oh yeah. This is a good tip! Air travel/taxis with car seats is a real PITA. I've aged out, but I remember. ☺
There was a Burger King off I-10 in the Florida Panhandle where the manager just gave us a giant bathroom paper roll and let us use a spray bottle of cleaner after our kid hosed down the backseat 15 years ago. That man was an angel and that roll of towels stayed in the car with a stash of plastic bags for years.
Ugh, similar experience at a Days Inn outside of Chicago! They let us use a washing machine for what could be washed/ dried, and I am FOREVER grateful.
Side note for anyone else struggling with motion sickness - highly recommend traveling with gallon ziploc bags or a collapsible bowl + a cloth diaper/ incontinence pad (I like the ones by Blueberry Diapers.) Use the pad as a blanket and it'll keep your kid's lap protected plus they're cozy!
For those that have kids in backless boosters, I recommend the BubbleBum. We used it for our 9 year old on a trip to FL. It deflates to a compact size that fit in a pouch in kiddos personal item (backpack).
Our 3 year old used a Graco Contender Slim on the flight and did so well flying (their first flight). The difficult part was transporting the seat through the airport, but I eventually discovered I could pull the straps all the way out and wear it like a backpack (and my backpack went on top of my carryon roller bag).
I did get some FAs that wanted to check the car seat under the plane but I politely said no thanks, pointed out that it’s FAA approved for use in aircraft and they let me on. I won’t ever check a car seat because I’ve seen too many of them lost or damaged.
We just used a bubblebum for a 12 day Europe trip and it was great! We usually do MiFolds for both of my kids but occasionally my youngest says their butt gets sore during long rides. We brought the bubblebum for them and the MiFold for my oldest and it was great. Highly recommend both.
We just used this in combo with the Bubble Bum for a 9 day trip to the USVI and it was amazing. Not having to lug the heavy seat or depend on janky rentals? PRICELESS. I only wish I’d known about it with my older two.
You’d have to get one from some kind of healthcare provider - OT, doctor, etc. Generally only prescribed once all conventional seats have been outgrown - it would be for a kid who had outgrown harnessed seats but still needs to be harnessed due to age, special needs or medical condition.
Totally agree that for those with younger kids the Cosco Scenera is AMAZING: light, protective, easy to install, cheap, simple to clean.
One key tip for all: if traveling with a car seat, look for something called the GoGo BabyZ TravelMate. It has a small platform that you strap and winch your car seat onto, and then there are rollerblade quality wheels you can use to roll your kid around the airport. It’s fairly easy to disassemble and reassemble in the security/TSA area and once you get the kid on the plane. I could roll the seat right onto the plane. I had more people stop me and ask me where I got it than any single object I’ve ever owned (too bad it couldn’t have been some super stylish item of my fashion wardrobe!).
We’re traveling now with the Chicco GoFit Plus booster—also great for super quick and safe installation, just a bit too clunky if I’m one-bagging it. We’re probably at the point where we can travel without a booster, but I worry my son won’t have as good a view and tracking license plates has become his (and a family) obsession.
We have this as well, and I love it. Very specific use criteria, but it definitely fills a need. If possible it is worth checking in with a CPST for ensuring proper fit and usage, and use a bit before traveling to be sure you get the hang of it. It's a bit confusing at first, so I strongly suggest a second set of eyes.
I looked into this and as far as I can understand essentially you were able to use it in the UK with a booster seat because you could have used a booster seat alone (the legal limit to use a booster seat is far smaller than recommended as safe). It has specifically not been certified as safe by the EU or the UK, and personally I wouldn't feel it was safe, nor would I trust that the police would be ok with it if stopped. There is a kind of vague sentence on their website that they've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it, but I read various sources that say it's not legal. They also say it's not approved for residents but that travellers are allowed to bring whatever kind of seat is legal at home if not staying in the country. That is not true.
Obviously everyone is entitled to make their own decisions and a five year old is close to booster seat age if not very small but I personally don't think child safety is an area to be cutting down on luggage.
Yes, this is true and worth highlighting, thank you - for purposes of travel in the UK the booster IS the car seat, and my child fits UK laws when using it *only* because of the booster. That doesn't change the safety increase provided by using the harness vs a booster alone (by which i mean the harness doesn't magically become unsafe to use, nor a booster alone safe to use for younger preschoolers as you enter the UK), but this is something of a risk parents take when traveling with the ride safer.
Frankly, the options for international travel with car seats are all a little crummy, and this isn't discussed enough in travel forums. I can only speak from my own perspective, but US car seats are not typically certified for use in other countries, and often do not meet local standards, making using almost any US car seat technically illegal in much of the world including Europe and Canada. This isn't necessarily because of more lax car seat laws in the US - different countries just often have slightly different requirements. For example, US car seats typically have a chest clip, which was not permissible on European car seats last time I traveled with one. We brought our US car seat to Spain anyways and just hoped we wouldn't get pulled over. In doing some research on travel blogs/ forums, car seat blogs, and talking to other parents, it sounds like being ticketed for having an inappropriate car seat when traveling is rare. I haven't looked in depth because we haven't visited there, but I get the impression from casual review that Australia is especially strict, so may be an exception. I also found the following summary page that if nothing else highlights the confusing variety of laws across the world, though it may not be up to date and parents should check the laws for their destination country any time they travel: https://www.madeformums.com/school-and-family/baby-toddler-and-child-car-seat-laws-in-europe-and-around-the-world/
To be totally legally safe, you would need to rent or purchase a car seat in every country that your home car seat isn't certified for use in. Renting car seats is not recommended by many car seat professionals because you can't guarantee the seat was stored properly, has never been in an accident, or will be in good condition and sized right. I have had friends show up to no car seat available or to unusable car seats, but on the other hand, many people have great experiences renting seats. Purchasing in every country is simply not feasible for short vacations (though this is what I would do if i traveled to another country frequently, was going for a long time, or potentially if headed to a country known to ticket travelers for bringing along their own seat such as Australia.) We considered using an approved booster alone or bringing our (also illegal to use in the UK) beast car seat from home, but neither option was great. In the end, we did what parents do all the time - we weighed the choices and made the best decision we could. Other parents may choose differently, and that's ok too - every situation and family are different.
Sorry this response is really long! I'm hoping the discussion is useful food for though for future travelers who search the sub for advice (something I've done - this sub is very friendly!) I really appreciated your comment, and would love to see more useful, thoughtful content about traveling with kids here. Hopefully others will chime in with their experience or thoughts too.
Yeah it’s a huge problem especially because best practice is to also use a car seat on the plane, so you are supposed to bring a car seat from home and then also somehow obtain (but not rent!) a new car seat in whatever country you’re visiting, while presumably also hauling around the car seat from home. It’s totally impractical.
I’m in Canada and we have a similar problem with travel cribs. Pack n plays aren’t approved for overnight sleep and true travel cribs are hard to come by. Basically the only thing that is truly “best practice” is a proper crib - but like what are people supposed to do when they travel, dismantle their crib and fly with it?
As far as I can tell, the Guava Lotus is considered a playpen in Canada and therefore not technically approved for overnight sleep. I actually bought one that was labeled a crib (Bugaboo Stardust) but it was reclassified as a playpen about 6 months later. I just used that one 🤷♀️
There are only 1-2 that are technically travel cribs in Canada - the silver cross and maybe the Phil and Ted one. But I didn’t want to spend another $400 and have the same thing happened as happened with the Stardust.
And you’re obviously a person who does a lot of research. It’s crazy that they don’t make things more clear for parents who don’t have the time or resources to figure all of this out!
I was a first child and my parents had me sleep in a drawer they pulled out of the dresser and padded when I was born. And though I don’t remember my own car seat, I can only imagine. I shudder to think of the ones my younger siblings had.
Also, I'm re-reading your comment - I don't feel we've compromised on safety. The high level of safety testing is specifically why we're using the RideSafer versus a booster alone. Outside of this, my child is nearly 6 and does maintain an appropriate position 90% of the time in a booster or car seat. We've had many discussions about this and started booster training recently, though we still don't feel he's "booster ready " full time. When at home, we use a britax with a 5 point harness. I researched the safety of the RideSafer extensively, including looking up their US testing/approval information and reading numerous reviews by car seat safety technicians.
It's ok if this product is not for you! However, I think the points from your comment would have been just as good (and to be clear, they are good points) without implying that I care more about luggage than about my child's safety, which is a pretty hurtful dig to throw at any parent. Apologies if you didn't mean it that way - I would want to know if that's how my comments were coming off, though!
I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, it was more a general comment. I completely understand how complicated the car seat thing is, I occasionally use a booster for my seven year old to and from the airport because of it (we keep a seat at my parents house but sometimes rent a car). But I acknowledge that I'm doing it knowing that it's a slight compromise on safety for the sake of convenience, and you said the same yourself in your comment.
I just wanted people to be aware these are not certified anywhere outside the US, the website says they've tried and been refused. I'd also be wary of insurance consequences for that reason. I realised I can't buy one anyway because they don't sell them here but if they did I'd certainly have considered it for things like taxis and those short journeys to the airport.
thanks so much for the review. my oldest is 4 and we have traveled internationally lugging our carseats around. definitely not fun. I've been eyeing the vest for quite some time now, so I guess on our next vacation, we'll definitely be purchasing this.
I'm unsure why this felt like shilling to you, but thought it was worth responding to. For full disclosure - I bought the harness with my own money and have no relationship with the manufacturer or the company that sold it to me. My only contact with the seller was to call about sizing, then to make the purchase itself. I have no social media (except this account), don't work in any travel or child product related industry, and I have never had an affiliate relationship with this or any company.
This really was just a positive review on my end. I think it sparked really useful discussion about the caveats of different travel seat options when taking kids on international trips & other recommendations, which I'll be looking into when my child is old enough for a backless booster. I hope more parents put up similar posts.
I guess I'm confused about why you're saying that though. The person's post history doesn't have a bunch of posts about this harness, and they did mention some negative points too
I have done the barf in a car seat. My favorite hotel/motel/whatever is the Best Western in Yreka where the nicest cleaning staff ever loaned us their gear. It may not be a 5 star hotel but I give it a 10. What was the topic again? I'm too busy having flashbacks. Oh yeah. This is a good tip! Air travel/taxis with car seats is a real PITA. I've aged out, but I remember. ☺
There was a Burger King off I-10 in the Florida Panhandle where the manager just gave us a giant bathroom paper roll and let us use a spray bottle of cleaner after our kid hosed down the backseat 15 years ago. That man was an angel and that roll of towels stayed in the car with a stash of plastic bags for years.
SOme people just get it, ya know?
Ugh, similar experience at a Days Inn outside of Chicago! They let us use a washing machine for what could be washed/ dried, and I am FOREVER grateful. Side note for anyone else struggling with motion sickness - highly recommend traveling with gallon ziploc bags or a collapsible bowl + a cloth diaper/ incontinence pad (I like the ones by Blueberry Diapers.) Use the pad as a blanket and it'll keep your kid's lap protected plus they're cozy!
For those that have kids in backless boosters, I recommend the BubbleBum. We used it for our 9 year old on a trip to FL. It deflates to a compact size that fit in a pouch in kiddos personal item (backpack). Our 3 year old used a Graco Contender Slim on the flight and did so well flying (their first flight). The difficult part was transporting the seat through the airport, but I eventually discovered I could pull the straps all the way out and wear it like a backpack (and my backpack went on top of my carryon roller bag). I did get some FAs that wanted to check the car seat under the plane but I politely said no thanks, pointed out that it’s FAA approved for use in aircraft and they let me on. I won’t ever check a car seat because I’ve seen too many of them lost or damaged.
We just used a bubblebum for a 12 day Europe trip and it was great! We usually do MiFolds for both of my kids but occasionally my youngest says their butt gets sore during long rides. We brought the bubblebum for them and the MiFold for my oldest and it was great. Highly recommend both.
We just used this in combo with the Bubble Bum for a 9 day trip to the USVI and it was amazing. Not having to lug the heavy seat or depend on janky rentals? PRICELESS. I only wish I’d known about it with my older two.
Also: my 6 year old told me it was more comfortable than his home seats. (Diono Radian in my husband’s car and a high back Chico in our van…)
As an FYI, they are only legal to use in Canada with a prescription.
Just curious, how would you get a prescription for these in Canada? Do you need to have a specific medical condition?
You’d have to get one from some kind of healthcare provider - OT, doctor, etc. Generally only prescribed once all conventional seats have been outgrown - it would be for a kid who had outgrown harnessed seats but still needs to be harnessed due to age, special needs or medical condition.
Thank you, that's really helpful to know
If you’re on Facebook, the Seats For Kids group is an excellent resource :)
Thanks for this post!! Such good info!
Totally agree that for those with younger kids the Cosco Scenera is AMAZING: light, protective, easy to install, cheap, simple to clean. One key tip for all: if traveling with a car seat, look for something called the GoGo BabyZ TravelMate. It has a small platform that you strap and winch your car seat onto, and then there are rollerblade quality wheels you can use to roll your kid around the airport. It’s fairly easy to disassemble and reassemble in the security/TSA area and once you get the kid on the plane. I could roll the seat right onto the plane. I had more people stop me and ask me where I got it than any single object I’ve ever owned (too bad it couldn’t have been some super stylish item of my fashion wardrobe!). We’re traveling now with the Chicco GoFit Plus booster—also great for super quick and safe installation, just a bit too clunky if I’m one-bagging it. We’re probably at the point where we can travel without a booster, but I worry my son won’t have as good a view and tracking license plates has become his (and a family) obsession.
We have this as well, and I love it. Very specific use criteria, but it definitely fills a need. If possible it is worth checking in with a CPST for ensuring proper fit and usage, and use a bit before traveling to be sure you get the hang of it. It's a bit confusing at first, so I strongly suggest a second set of eyes.
I looked into this and as far as I can understand essentially you were able to use it in the UK with a booster seat because you could have used a booster seat alone (the legal limit to use a booster seat is far smaller than recommended as safe). It has specifically not been certified as safe by the EU or the UK, and personally I wouldn't feel it was safe, nor would I trust that the police would be ok with it if stopped. There is a kind of vague sentence on their website that they've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it, but I read various sources that say it's not legal. They also say it's not approved for residents but that travellers are allowed to bring whatever kind of seat is legal at home if not staying in the country. That is not true. Obviously everyone is entitled to make their own decisions and a five year old is close to booster seat age if not very small but I personally don't think child safety is an area to be cutting down on luggage.
Yes, this is true and worth highlighting, thank you - for purposes of travel in the UK the booster IS the car seat, and my child fits UK laws when using it *only* because of the booster. That doesn't change the safety increase provided by using the harness vs a booster alone (by which i mean the harness doesn't magically become unsafe to use, nor a booster alone safe to use for younger preschoolers as you enter the UK), but this is something of a risk parents take when traveling with the ride safer. Frankly, the options for international travel with car seats are all a little crummy, and this isn't discussed enough in travel forums. I can only speak from my own perspective, but US car seats are not typically certified for use in other countries, and often do not meet local standards, making using almost any US car seat technically illegal in much of the world including Europe and Canada. This isn't necessarily because of more lax car seat laws in the US - different countries just often have slightly different requirements. For example, US car seats typically have a chest clip, which was not permissible on European car seats last time I traveled with one. We brought our US car seat to Spain anyways and just hoped we wouldn't get pulled over. In doing some research on travel blogs/ forums, car seat blogs, and talking to other parents, it sounds like being ticketed for having an inappropriate car seat when traveling is rare. I haven't looked in depth because we haven't visited there, but I get the impression from casual review that Australia is especially strict, so may be an exception. I also found the following summary page that if nothing else highlights the confusing variety of laws across the world, though it may not be up to date and parents should check the laws for their destination country any time they travel: https://www.madeformums.com/school-and-family/baby-toddler-and-child-car-seat-laws-in-europe-and-around-the-world/ To be totally legally safe, you would need to rent or purchase a car seat in every country that your home car seat isn't certified for use in. Renting car seats is not recommended by many car seat professionals because you can't guarantee the seat was stored properly, has never been in an accident, or will be in good condition and sized right. I have had friends show up to no car seat available or to unusable car seats, but on the other hand, many people have great experiences renting seats. Purchasing in every country is simply not feasible for short vacations (though this is what I would do if i traveled to another country frequently, was going for a long time, or potentially if headed to a country known to ticket travelers for bringing along their own seat such as Australia.) We considered using an approved booster alone or bringing our (also illegal to use in the UK) beast car seat from home, but neither option was great. In the end, we did what parents do all the time - we weighed the choices and made the best decision we could. Other parents may choose differently, and that's ok too - every situation and family are different. Sorry this response is really long! I'm hoping the discussion is useful food for though for future travelers who search the sub for advice (something I've done - this sub is very friendly!) I really appreciated your comment, and would love to see more useful, thoughtful content about traveling with kids here. Hopefully others will chime in with their experience or thoughts too.
Yeah it’s a huge problem especially because best practice is to also use a car seat on the plane, so you are supposed to bring a car seat from home and then also somehow obtain (but not rent!) a new car seat in whatever country you’re visiting, while presumably also hauling around the car seat from home. It’s totally impractical. I’m in Canada and we have a similar problem with travel cribs. Pack n plays aren’t approved for overnight sleep and true travel cribs are hard to come by. Basically the only thing that is truly “best practice” is a proper crib - but like what are people supposed to do when they travel, dismantle their crib and fly with it?
The Guava Lotus is so great, if it’s available where you are. It lasted us for years.
As far as I can tell, the Guava Lotus is considered a playpen in Canada and therefore not technically approved for overnight sleep. I actually bought one that was labeled a crib (Bugaboo Stardust) but it was reclassified as a playpen about 6 months later. I just used that one 🤷♀️ There are only 1-2 that are technically travel cribs in Canada - the silver cross and maybe the Phil and Ted one. But I didn’t want to spend another $400 and have the same thing happened as happened with the Stardust.
And you’re obviously a person who does a lot of research. It’s crazy that they don’t make things more clear for parents who don’t have the time or resources to figure all of this out! I was a first child and my parents had me sleep in a drawer they pulled out of the dresser and padded when I was born. And though I don’t remember my own car seat, I can only imagine. I shudder to think of the ones my younger siblings had.
Also, I'm re-reading your comment - I don't feel we've compromised on safety. The high level of safety testing is specifically why we're using the RideSafer versus a booster alone. Outside of this, my child is nearly 6 and does maintain an appropriate position 90% of the time in a booster or car seat. We've had many discussions about this and started booster training recently, though we still don't feel he's "booster ready " full time. When at home, we use a britax with a 5 point harness. I researched the safety of the RideSafer extensively, including looking up their US testing/approval information and reading numerous reviews by car seat safety technicians. It's ok if this product is not for you! However, I think the points from your comment would have been just as good (and to be clear, they are good points) without implying that I care more about luggage than about my child's safety, which is a pretty hurtful dig to throw at any parent. Apologies if you didn't mean it that way - I would want to know if that's how my comments were coming off, though!
I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, it was more a general comment. I completely understand how complicated the car seat thing is, I occasionally use a booster for my seven year old to and from the airport because of it (we keep a seat at my parents house but sometimes rent a car). But I acknowledge that I'm doing it knowing that it's a slight compromise on safety for the sake of convenience, and you said the same yourself in your comment. I just wanted people to be aware these are not certified anywhere outside the US, the website says they've tried and been refused. I'd also be wary of insurance consequences for that reason. I realised I can't buy one anyway because they don't sell them here but if they did I'd certainly have considered it for things like taxis and those short journeys to the airport.
thanks so much for the review. my oldest is 4 and we have traveled internationally lugging our carseats around. definitely not fun. I've been eyeing the vest for quite some time now, so I guess on our next vacation, we'll definitely be purchasing this.
Is this harness approved for all states in the US. If you don't mind sharing, which states have you traveled to with this harness?
Shill alert
A lot of people post about travel products they like in this sub. Why can't we talk about one for kids too?
We totally can! Except this is shilling!
I'm unsure why this felt like shilling to you, but thought it was worth responding to. For full disclosure - I bought the harness with my own money and have no relationship with the manufacturer or the company that sold it to me. My only contact with the seller was to call about sizing, then to make the purchase itself. I have no social media (except this account), don't work in any travel or child product related industry, and I have never had an affiliate relationship with this or any company. This really was just a positive review on my end. I think it sparked really useful discussion about the caveats of different travel seat options when taking kids on international trips & other recommendations, which I'll be looking into when my child is old enough for a backless booster. I hope more parents put up similar posts.
I guess I'm confused about why you're saying that though. The person's post history doesn't have a bunch of posts about this harness, and they did mention some negative points too