Should you bring your own carseat when traveling to France?

You’ll need a carseat while traveling around France, especially if you are renting a car. You will have to decide whether or not to bring your baby’s car seat with you, or to rent one when you get there. We have done both.

Here, I discuss the pros and cons of bringing your own.

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Pros

1. If you are flying with it, you’re done. If you buy a separate ticket for your child, you can put them in the carseat during the flight. In fact, that’s what the FAA recommends. Once you land, you’ll be ready to go.
2. It’s free to check. Most (if not all) airlines do not charge to check carseats. So, if you want to bring your own, you won’t be charged. I recommend buying a carseat travel cover if you want to check your car seat. This will protect it from damage during transit.
3. You will save money by not having to pay rental fees for a carseat for the duration of your trip. For reference, the last time we rented car seats (October 2019), the rental car company charged 8 Euro per seat, per day. That can really add up.
4. No adjusting a new carseat. You know that your own car seat is the right size for your child’s height and weight, and it is already adjusted to fit them.
5. Compatible with your stroller. If your baby is still in an infant seat that clips onto your stroller, and you chose to bring your own stroller, this can make things a lot easier for bringing baby around.
6. American carseats are more robust. American standards for carseat safety are more stringent than those in France. So, carseats in the U.S. tend to be more padded and bulky than their French counterparts.

Cons

1. Carseats are heavy, and a huge pain to lug around an airport. Those for an infant or toddler can weigh anywhere from 10-30 pounds on their own. You’ll be carrying it, as well as a diaper bag full of breast milk or formula, your luggage, a stroller, and any carry-on bags that you have. We’ve done this. It was not easy.
2. You aren’t just carrying the seat from your car to check-in. You’ll have to collect it when going through immigration and customs in the next country, and coming back into the US. This can slow you down significantly if you are rushing to make a connection.
3. Your carseat goes everywhere with you. This is no big deal if you are renting a car from the airport. But, think about getting on and off a shuttle bus to your hotel, holding your baby, luggage, stroller, etc. while also holding a car seat. Also, if you are thinking about taking public transit, to get to and from the airport, you are really going to be sorry that you have one more, really heavy thing to carry.
4. Your carseat could get damaged. This has happened to us. It will undergo a lot of handling. Placed on and off the airplane, multiple times, if you aren’t flying direct. The cost of replacing our carseat was far more expensive than what we would have paid to rent one.

If after weighing the pros and cons, you decide to leave your carseat at home, there are a couple of different options.

1. You can rent one from a rental car company. This is what we have done, and it works well.
2. Use a business like Baby’tems, which has lots of baby gear that you an rent in Paris, and all over France.

Hopefully this will help you make a decision on bringing your own carseat, or leaving it at home. Whichever one you chose, the important thing is that your baby will be safe!

You can find more tips on traveling with kids here.