Do Not Make This Mistake When Traveling with Baby

If you'll need a carseat, bring your own.

Despite the hassle of lugging your monstrosity through the airport, and risking its wear and tear at the gate, it is well worth the trouble.

We had to rent a car when we got to Denver International. We were money consciouis (er, cheap) and rented from Dollar Rent-a-Car. This was mistake #1.

When we showed up, their computers were down and we were 6th in line. We waited 45 MINUTES before talking to a human being behind the counter.

After a loooong, inane conversation with said h.b., we received the keys to a vehicle, and also received a car seat. (Agreeing to rent a car seat from Dollar was mistake #2). The car seat was a COSCO (here's a list of all the COSCO car seat recalls in the last 14 years) and looked like it had been through 16 food fights, 11 cross-country vacations, and, at least, 2 world wars. I said to the man who'd "helped" us, "This looks really old...Do you have any others?"

A FEMALE employee down the counter piped up right away and said, "They're all less than a year old."

I turned the car seat sideways on the counter and found the manufacturer's date. "Um. It says 2005?"

She ignored me. I demanded a new carseat. I got a new one. Manufacturer's date: 2006. Better, but, you know, not less than a year old. Anyway, I lugged it out to our rental vehicle.

For the next HOUR, Tim tried to install this piece of garbage in our vehicle, without a manual (not provided by Dollar). Though this car seat looked in somewhat better shape, it would not recline and I knew if Aidan was in it, and fell asleep, he might choke himself.

Local time: 8:30pm.

Now, I'm sure many people have COSCO car seats. They are inexpensive. The cheapest car seat at Target currently retails for approximately $43. But imagine a 2-3 year old COSCO car seat at a car rental place and how much that might be worth (nada?) and how completely destroyed it might look.

To make a long, long story short, we were delayed 2.5 hours at Dollar Rent-a-Car because of their crummy car seats. We finally got a new, in-the-box car seat from them, but it was still a COSCO, and not what we were used to.

We rolled into Estes Park when it was pitch-dark, missing the beautiful canyon views.

Lesson learned? Bring your Britax or whatever you own. At least you trust it and you'll know how to install it.

* Many thanks to the sweet Dallas couple who showed us how to wrap a Britax with packaging tape so it won't get damaged at the gate. Thanks guys! We'll do that next time!