My wife and I learned quickly that traveling with kids is not that easy or cheap. One of the biggest challenges is schlepping a car seat everywhere you go. And if you don’t take one with you, it can get pretty expensive. Most car rental companies charge $10/day for a cheap, dirty car seat that, in my experience, they don’t even install correctly. Rideshares (Uber, Lyft) only offer them in select cities, and when they do, charge $10/ride—even if you’re just going a few blocks.
Note: We usually get a car service like Blacklane (full disclosure: I’m one of their brand ambassadors) since you can specify the carseat you want and they don’t charge extra for one. Because it’s a premium service, you can usually count on the driver to set up the carseat in advance.
For this reason, the Doona has been one of our favorite travel gadgets to travel with. It’s a car seat/stroller and it’s super easy to convert and buckle into cars. But it’s only good for babies, because once a child reaches 35 pounds or 18 months, they’ve outgrown it.
Obviously, we wish there was a Doona for older/bigger kids, but there isn’t (I don’t think it’s physically possible). So in our quest to find the best new option for our growing boy, my wife and I did extensive research, which led us to the WAYB Pico Car Seat ($320). My wife got super excited about the possibility of a travel-friendly car seat that was lightweight and easy to travel with, and the folks over at WAYB kindly sent us a WAYB Pico Car Seat to review.
WAYB Pico Car Seat review
As anyone with small children knows, car seats are typically heavy, bulky and cumbersome to carry around. The crazy lightweight Pico Car Seat addresses that issue, weighing in at just eight pounds. It’s an especially attractive option for travelers looking to streamline the gear they’re carting all over the place. It’s made with aerospace-grade aluminum and mesh to keep it lightweight and it folds up to make it super compact. Its narrow design allows it to fit in an airline seat, or three-across in the backseat of a car. According to WAYB, which makes the Pico Car Seat, it passes all safety testing according to U.S. standards regulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
You can purchase a travel bag ($50) to make it easier to carry. Or you can use it as a backpack, roll it on top of your luggage, or use the handle to carry it. Because it’s so compact, you can carry it on the plane and stow it in the overhead bin. You don’t have to check it. Checking a car seat can be a bit stressful because you just never know how safely it’s being handled and if it will have sustained any damage when it arrives at your destination. The WAYB Pico Car Seat, carried onboard the plane with you, can ease this concern.
It’s great that companies are coming up with innovative new alternatives to common travel challenges. The WAYB Pico Car Seat is definitely a game-changer for families and can make life a lot easier on the road. It’s $320, which is a tad steep for a travel car seat. But in my opinion, it’s well worth the cost for the ease and convenience it provides. And don’t forget that you should get years of use out of it since it can be used for kids from two years old to five years old (depending on their weight, as mentioned above).
How to use the Pico Car Seat
Here’s a two-minute video to give you an idea of how to install it:
