4 year old--carseat or booster?

[crenee44]

Our will be have just turned 4 before our trip. What do you use at that age especially in port?

[travelhound]

Our dd will turn four a few weeks before our March cruise and I've already bought the Bubblebum inflatable booster. Can't wait to use it and stop bringing bulkier seats. We've tried it out at home and she loves it. The air comes out and it rolls up into bag. Very compact and really fast to install. http://www.bubblebum.co/us/

[RTRMom]

We don't bring anything, we usually do boat rides to the excursions or just walk. We drive to port, so we leave the car seats in our car.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would ask your child's pediatrician. They know what age and weight is the standard for switching to a booster.

[flhokie]

DD will be 4 next week. We have never taken her car seat. We either stayed in the port area or walked/took water taxi. Going forward, now that she will be four, we will be getting a Bubblebum for any travel.

[RCKM43]

One thing to consider with a booster is that it needs a shoulder belt. Many cars we got into only had a lap, if any not a shoulder.

 

 

Cruising Celebrity since 1993, with some other lines in the mix like NCL and Princess.

[Sparkygirl]

We are bringing a bubblebum with us on this next cruise, she is 4 years old, 43 lbs and 43 inches meeting the minimum requirements for the booster seat between the airport and our hotel as well as the hotel taxi to the cruise ship. I've not found cars I can strap our seat or even the saferider we brought last year while cruising.

[Lerin]

Neither because most transportation in ports won't have proper belts to strap your child into anyway.

[Trend]

We are traveling with our grandson who will almost 3 my kids do not want to drag the car seat with. In ports like St. Maartin and St. Kitts what do you do? Want to go to a beach but how?

[flhokie]

We are traveling with our grandson who will almost 3 my kids do not want to drag the car seat with. In ports like St. Maartin and St. Kitts what do you do? Want to go to a beach but how?

 

In St Maarten take the water taxi from the dock. It will drop you off in Phillipsburg, right by a fairly nice public beach.

[mikesteg]

I would ask your child's pediatrician. They know what age and weight is the standard for switching to a booster.

 

If there were anything approaching a standard... they'd probably still give you their opinion. :rolleyes:

 

Unfortunately, laws in the U.S. vary dramatically:

http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/childsafety_laws.html

 

If we believe that this is accurate and somewhat comprehensive, it appears that many states don't even distinguish between a 5-point and a booster seat.

 

Quite sad to see that a fair number of states only levy a $25 fine, and some even less than that. Of course, quite possible there is a $100 'administrative fee' to be paid also.

 

~~~

 

OP: The only time we've taken our car seats on the ship, we had flown and spent a couple days on land in advance so had the seats for the rental car. They took up enough space in the room that we rented seats the next time we ran into that situation. We have never taken them into a port. As others have said, most tour vehicles won't have LATCH anchors or even seat belts. That said, we typically don't go far with the kids in tow anyway.

 

We just moved the kids into high-back boosters, and I'll remove the back so we can take the booster along on future trips. I doubt will take them on any tours however, since they'd be worse than useless with no seat belt to hold the child.

[mikesteg]

In St Maarten take the water taxi from the dock. It will drop you off in Phillipsburg, right by a fairly nice public beach.

 

Which brings up the next question: life jackets? :D

[bride13]

As a car seat technician I strongly recommend using a 5pt harness for a 4 year old. Most 4 year olds are not mature enough to use a booster seat even if they do meet the minimum size requirements. Booster seats are safe as long as the belts are positioned correctly 100% of the time. If you do go with a booster I'd do a high back booster as you are unlikely to get a very good fit with a backless boster and a 4yo. I don't like using rental seats because you do not know the history. Also, if you are flying into the port you can use the car seat on the airplane, whereas you can't use a booster seat on the plane.

[CI66774]

We are bringing a bubblebum with us on this next cruise, she is 4 years old, 43 lbs and 43 inches meeting the minimum requirements for the booster seat between the airport and our hotel as well as the hotel taxi to the cruise ship. I've not found cars I can strap our seat or even the saferider we brought last year while cruising.

 

The Bubblebum is terrific! Inflates and meets all federal motor vehicle safety standards (not for airplane use, though). Fits (deflated) in my carry-on bag and if I need a taxi, etc., I inflate it and voila! More convenient than bringing those bulky booster seats along.