Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
This post includes affiliate links.
Whether you travel to visit family, travel for relaxation (is there such a thing with kids?) or travel for entertainment (ahem, Disney), family vacations are a way to spend some quality time together. And traveling with young kids means some extra planning and packing.
While you are having fun, you also want your family to be safe. That means bringing along a car seat for any drive time you may have on your family vacation. Resort goers, this includes you even if you only have those two taxi rides back and forth from the airport.
What is not fun when traveling with your family? Lugging heavy car seats around. Many car seats weigh in at 25 pounds or more. With all the other bags and gear you have to bring, what parent wants to weigh themselves down more with a heavy car seat?
Enter travel car seats
These car seats are not necessarily designed specifically for travel. Some are everyday car seats that just weigh less than most. These seats may be narrower and have less features that weigh down heavier seats. Other travel car seats are designed for portability. We’ll get into our favorite picks later.
What to consider
Is it Certified?
First of all, you want to make sure you are shopping products that are certified child restraints that meet federal standards. There are a lot of knockoffs being sold online that say they are travel car seats but are not safe or legal to use.
If you intend to use the travel car seat on the airplane, you also need to make sure it is FAA approved and properly labeled as such. We haven’t personally experienced it, but other parents report that some airline employees will check the stickers to make sure it is FAA approved.
How Portable and what size is it?
Then you want to look for something light weight and portable. The most useful traits for a car seat for travel is being easy to carry and being narrow so it’s easy to fit in the airline seat. The average seat width in coach class on U.S. carriers is 17 inches to 18 inches!
The weight of the car seat really depends on the travelers. Are both parents traveling? How many children will there be? If you only need to lug one car seat maybe it doesn’t matter how heavy it is. Or you can use a travel cart to wheel the seat around the airport. If you have multiple seats, you may want to look for lighter weight seats or use travel vests, if appropriate for your child.
Ideally you want a travel car seat that is 15 pounds or less.
Is it for My Child’s Car Seat stage?
In addition, the travel car seat also needs to be appropriate for your child’s stage of car seat.
Most infant carriers can be used without the base so if your child is still in a rear facing infant carrier it may be easier to travel without the extra weight and bulk of the base.
For a bigger child still rear-facing, we recommend traveling with a convertible seat. (Convertible car seats can go rear facing and covert to forward facing when the child is ready.) If this is the option you choose, there are very inexpensive lightweight convertible seats that make travel easier. This is what we did when our children required rear-facing while traveling. We bought an inexpensive lightweight seat for travel and left our nice – heavy – one safe and sound in our car at home ready for our return.
Download our cheat sheet to learn the 4+ stages of car seats and which one your child is in.
Forward-facing children can also use a lightweight convertible car seat or a lightweight forward-facing only car seat. There are also some more portable options for forward-facing children.
Booster seats are pretty easy to carry for older kids, especially if you have a backless booster or one which you can remove the back. These cannot be used on the airplane but are easy to carry on and put in the overhead bin. Similarly, older kids can bring a travel vest for use as a car seat in the car when they reach their destination.
Is it easy for me to install and use?
Finally, the travel car seat you choose needs to be easy to install. Make sure you know how to properly install the new seat before you take it on your trip. If you are buying a car seat for travel you want to be sure it’s easy to install in vehicles with a seat belt. Most cars these days have LATCH system (or ISOFIX in Europe) but if you travel to a place that has older cars, you may only have a seat belt to install a car seat. Know how to install both methods.
Recommendations by stage
Rear facing infant carrier
We like the convenience of the Doona Infant Car Seat since the stroller is built in. It’s not as lightweight as we would like for a travel car seat but the convenience outweighs the weight. Just pull it out of the car, push the button and the wheels come down. It can be installed in the car with (using LATCH or seat belt) or without (using seat belt) a base so for travel you may want to leave the base at home.
Product weight: 17.2 pounds
Width: 17.4 inches
Child specifications: Newborn to 35 pounds and 32 inches tall
FAA approved: Yes
Rear facing or forward facing convertible
We used a much older version of this car seat when we traveled with our kids. The Cosco Scenera Next DLX Convertible Car Seat is still a great option as it is a lightweight and very affordable 5-point harness car seat. This seat can be used rear facing or forward facing. It is compact so fits well in airline seats.
Product weight: 10.4 pounds
Width: 15.75 inches
Child specifications: Rear facing 5 to 40 pounds and 19-40 inches; forward facing 22-40 pounds and 29-43 inches
FAA approved: Yes
Forward facing
We like the WayB Pico for forward-facing children that are perhaps too small for a RideSafer (next recommendation). The WayB Pico folds up compact so it’s not only easy to carry through the airport, it’s easy to carry down to a taxi or ride share. It is lightweight and easy to carry. It has a really slim design to easily fit in airplane seats. Install using LATCH or seat belt.
Product weight: 8 pounds
Width: 14.5 inches
Child specifications: Age 2+, 22 to 50 pounds and 30 to 45 inches
FAA approved: Yes
Forward facing and seat belt positioning
We are obviously biased on this travel car seat since we sell the RideSafer Travel Vest. Before we started selling the RideSafer, we used the it for traveling with our kids. That’s when we realized what a game changer it is for traveling with children. We just had to spread the word! RideSafer vests are the wearable, super portable travel car seat.
Product weight: vest itself 1.2 pounds, with accessories 2.75 pounds
Width: the width of your child
Child specifications: 4 different sizes; in all age 2+, 22 to 110 pounds
FAA approved: No, the manufacturer is working to get at least the XS size FAA approved
Seat belt positioning or booster
For travel we like the RideSafer better than a booster.
We don’t have a preference for a booster seat. If your child typically rides in a booster at home, we would say bring it along. It’s easier to move from car to car than a 5-point harness. A backless booster is easier to travel with than a high-back booster.
If you are using the RideSafer and want a booster also, then the TravelSmarter booster which is crash tested with the RideSafer is the way to go. Plus, the TravelSmarter is made from foam instead of a hard plastic shell like so many other boosters. This makes it super lightweight — 1.5 pounds.
We’ve never really liked the inflatable boosters but a lot of parents love them so… And while mifold has it’s place, we don’t recommend it for travel. There are too many vehicle/child combinations in which you can’t get a good seat belt fit with the mifold.
Final recommendation
We recommend bringing the car seat on the airplane with you to use on the airplane. Using a car seat on the plane can be more comfortable for your child and be safer in case of turbulence or a runway collision. You don’t hear of those much but you never know.
Bringing the car seat on the plane will also protect it from possible damage being checked. If you do check a car seat, put it in a bag to at least keep it cleaner. Even a large trash bag will help but there are travel car seat bags available.
We hope your family travel is memorable in all good ways.
By Amie Durocher, Creative Director at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Tech since 2004
Copyright 2022 Safe Ride 4 Kids. All rights reserved. You may not publish, broadcast, rewrite or redistribute this material without permission. You are welcome to link to Safe Ride 4 Kids or share on social media.
