Car Seat for 5 year old--Can you rent one in Europe or do we bring our own?
 

As you know many states have now passed a law that a child under the weight of 80 pounds has to be buckled into a car seat. We are going to Italy this May with our five year old child and are renting a car. I asked for a car seat for a 5 year old and I don't think it registered that this was for an older child. Should we not take any chances and bring our own? <BR> <BR>Thanks for all your help. <BR> <BR>kathy

Topping for Kathy because this is very important! <BR>Both my children rode in booster seats until they reached the height and were able to shoulder belts correctly. <BR>As an (ex-)nurse, I saw too many smashed up children , from not being buckled in properly. <BR>Kathy, who are you renting the vehicle from? <BR>Try calling them again and making it clear what you are looking for. <BR>If you cant get any answers to satisfy you, take your own, or maybe buy a inexpensive, smaller type of booster seat. <BR>Have fun in italy!! <BR>

Personally, I would take my own. First, you don't know what kind of condition the rental will be in (car rental agencies in the US don't seem to take care of theirs). Second, it would be a good precaution against any confusion as to the age of the child needing the seat. RightStart.com has some great carriers for car seats to make carrying the seat easier.

This topic seems very important. Personally, I would contrast this sharply with a slugfest that erupted on a (vaguely) similar thread in the past 24 hours. I don't know the answer to this, and I hope it won't seem that I am flip-flopping to say that I would like to see this question topped repeatedly, in hopes that it can get some very good answers. <BR>

Thanks for your input. I checked with rightstart and found one travel booster seat that we can get into a duffel bag. I think we are not going to take a chance buy it and and take it with us. Kathy

BRING A SEAT WITH YOU!! I flew into Rome from Ireland three years ago with my wife and 4 children. I had booked three booster seats and one other seat for my then two year old. The hire company had no seats for me. It took an hour of negotiation by the desk attendant with other desk attendants to get me a seat for the two year old. I had to leave the airport with no seats for the other three and bought some the next day. I noticed in the airport that all other travellers had their child seats with them. From my experience since then, there is no need to get the seat into a bag. It can travel as extra luggage, much the same as a childs buggy, and not be counted in your travel allowance. You should check this with your airline before travelling.

Our kids are now old enough to be out of all infant seats, car seats and booster seats, but dating back to when they were smaller, note that laws in the EU re all these seats are different than in the U.S., and a seat that's certified for use in the U.S. may not be certified in the EU. Theoretically, whether it's certified or not in the EU or U.S. won't effect the safety of the seat, but that will have to be your decision. But you might want to check the EU regulations and buy a EU-certified seat.

Good point Lexma90 - children's seats and boosters are required by law in most EU countries, and they must be EU certified. Though it is unlikely a US only certified one would lead to problems it is in theory illegal here.

The numbers you need to see on a seat are E44.03 or E44.04 to be legal.

I suppose you can get lucky or unlucky - we've reserved a car every year (twice most years) since our daughter (now 4) was born and never had a problem. To make sure they have the seat you need it might be worthwhile adding a note to your booking request or calling the office as has been suggested earlier.

All 5 year old children in Italy will require a car seat so I am not surprised that there were no questions when you asked for the car seat.

In European terms, the car seat you want will be either Group 2 or Group 3 depending on your child's weight / height. The measurements I could find on the web only mention weight and they are:

Group 2: for children weighing 15 - 25 kgs (33 - 55 lbs) roughly 4 to 6 years.

Group 3: for children weighing 22 - 36 kgs (48 - 79 lbs) roughly from 6 - 11 years.

Not sure if any of this makes any difference if you have already decided to bring your own! just thought i'd add my tuppenceworth...

jane