Doona - Doona X

Flight to the UK, here. Oh we had a lot of attitude when we brought our approved-for-plane Doona onboard. The flight attendant was so snooty about it too. "You'll never fit it on the seat" he told us. Except it fit on the seat perfectly. Showed him the sticker and everything. He left in a huff. Though, they had the last laugh because the second pram we actually had checked as baggage got lost. It was with Norwegian Air and I was so salty about the whole thing I never flew with them again.

The Doona. It’s amazing that first year.

We hired the doona from tinyexplorers at that age for a holiday to Turkey. Our hotel was about an hour from the airport so didn't want to rely on the car seats provided by the transfer company. I think it was about £60 for the week? We received a brand new one which was excellent but I don't think that's common! We checked it in at the plane door. It was a bit scuffed up by the end of our holiday but the company never said anything. Just boxed it up and dropped it off to the post office.

As far as car seats go, there are some travel car seats like the RideSafer on Amazon that are easy to pack and take with. There are weight requirements for them, so not sure on the 1yr old, but the 4yr old is probably a good fit. If you don’t want to spend more money on that, your other option is to get car seat bags and check them on your flight to Florida. Obviously there’s pros and cons to that as well. We have two kids, 9mo and 2.5yrs, we took our Doona car seat and a RideSafer on the last trip, it works fairly well. Pro tip: get the RideSafer out and adjusted at home before you leave on your trip. Trying to harness up the little one right before you leave is not a fun experience… For transportation, you can do an Uber XL or hire a private shuttle. Some hotels near the ports will have shuttle service, but you’ll want to call in advance to confirm. Typically shuttles range from $15-25 per person. Privacy will totally depend on your party size, your willingness to pay a bit extra, and if there are other travelers in your hotel. When traveling for a cruise, especially with kids, I’d recommend coming in the night before and staying at a hotel so you have some flexibility and don’t miss your embarkation.

I got a Doona to make my life easy until I absolutely need something bigger. It’s amazing!

Absolutely love our Doona

Are you willing to carry around your car seat and possibly stroller all day? I went on trip lugging both around, it was such a hassle that I eventually rented the Doona overseas.  You could consider renting the Doona just for your trip too. My baby is around your baby’s length and it was only slightly cramped. (Our longest car ride was 1 hour, it wasn’t that bad for baby.)

Doona!!!!!!!! Especially if you travel. You don’t need anything extra.

My kids lasted to a year. It depends on how long your babies are.

CPST here- do not get a doona for a 10 month old. Get a Chicco fit2 with a chicco frame stroller. You’ll get a year of use from it. And it’s a better car seat and a better stroller.

The doona is hard to install correctly and most people do it wrong. I’ve installed it at least 50 times, never once have I seen a family install it correctly. It has no storage so people attach stuff to it which is unsafe. The Chicco frame stroller has a huge storage basket. Also the fit2 is outgrown at 35 inches, the doona is outgrown at 32 inches. Without knowing how tall this child is, there’s a far lower chance of the seat being too small if they go with the higher limit seat.