With the holiday season in full swing, we have booked our trip and are ready for quality time together as a family. As our trip drew closer, it was time to start thinking about what travel with my children would look like. Would we take a cab from the airport or rent a car? Without kids, we didn’t think too long and hard about it, but with two kids under five, our transportation needs are at the top of the list!
Amongst my group of friends, the conversation always goes the same way… what will you do when you get to your destination? Will you bring a car seat or rent one? Can you take a car seat on the airplane? This year, we decided to travel with our Britax car seat, using the Britax Car Seat Travel Cart and Britax Travel Bag, which made it so easy. The travel cart made it a breeze to pull the car seat through the airport, while the travel bag kept it safe and clean when we checked it during the flight. Check out the video on our Facebook page to see just how easy it was to travel with our Britax in tow.
Whether you are traveling somewhere near, far or simply staying in the city, it’s always important to make sure that you are keeping your kids as safe as possible in their car seats. Living in a city with very cold winters, the question that’s always at the top of my mind is whether or not my children can be in their car seats with their jackets on. The Britax website has a great post on winter travel safety tips to answer this question and so many more. The first and most important part of car seat safety is the straps, no matter what the season. When buckling your child in the carseat, you must ensure that you cannot pinch the straps at the collarbone. If you are able to pinch the slack, you need to tighten the straps until you are unable to pinch any of the strap. Once you know what a secure strap looks like, then you can determine if your child’s jacket is safe to wear in the car seat.
Place your child in the car seat with their jacket on and tighten the straps appropriately, as discussed above. Once that is done without any slack, open the car seat and remove your child without loosening the straps. Take off your child’s jacket and place them back in the car seat. Do up the buckle without tightening the straps. If the straps are snug and you cannot pinch them, then the jacket they were in is appropriate for the car seat, but if there is slack and you can pinch the straps, your child is not safe in the car seat in that jacket.
If your jacket is too thick for the carseat, here are some tips to try from Britax to keep your kids warm during car travel:
– Preheat your vehicle
– Place your child in the car seat and then put the jacket on your child backwards
– Cover your child in the car seat with a blanket
– Try a coat made out of thin, but warm, material
When going in the car with my kids in cold weather, I start the car a few minutes before we leave and I put them in thin coats. Before they get out of the car, they change into their thick winter coats to keep them toasty in the cold winter weather! While it takes some additional planning and preparation, I know that I am making the best decision for my children’s safety when we head out on the icy roads.
There are so many fun activities to this winter and while travelling with a car seat may seem overwhelming, I can tell you that it was no big deal! My son loved being pulled in the car seat as well! Stay tuned for clips on Instagram and Facebook as our trip continues!
We did receive product to review and photograph for this post. This post is not otherwise sponsored.
