Advice needed - baby car seat questions (merged)

ckerrd

Shouldn't need to be tested.

You could be in any number of cars so just not practical

IMHO

Gingham_Ribbon

It's not that it needs to be tested in your car. It needs to FIT your car and it is vitally important that you get one that will fit in your new car as most of them will only fit in so many cars, and not in others.

A badly fitted car seat can be as dangerous as not having one. One alternative is to hire a car seat for now until you get your new car.

When you get a car seat, someone must show you how to fit it properly. There shouldn't be buckle crunch for example (ie the seat shouldn't be resting against the seat belt buckle) as this can cause the belt to open in a crash. Also, you should be able to give a sharp bang on the back of a rear facing seat and not move it towards the back of the car for obvious reasons.

Some reports suggest that half of car seats are incorrectly fitted. It's worth getting it right.

hollydays

ckerrd wrote:

Shouldn't need to be tested.

You could be in any number of cars so just not practical

IMHO

Of course it needs to be tested,or tried in the car, to see if the seat belt aligns properly,etc!Just because a seat is safe in one car ,doesnt mean it will be in another.I would suggest contacting the car manufacturer and telling them the make of carseat you have.Alternatively your County Council run Road Safety Department might be able to offer you advice.

Which manufacturer makes this system? I dont think this is Britax,but they have a brilliant facility on their site to input your Britax seat and car and it tells you if its compatible.Some cars eg have very bucket shaped seats which cause buckle crunch as mentioned above,is their any chance you can put your order on hold till you have checked this out.Its got to be really important.edit-our posts just crossed g.r.

ckerrd

hollydays wrote:

Of course it needs to be tested,or tried in the car, to see if the seat belt aligns properly,etc!Just because a seat is safe in one car ,doesnt mean it will be in another.I would suggest contacting the car manufacturer and telling them the make of carseat you have.Alternativley your county council run Road Safety department might be able to offer you advice.edit-our posts just crossed g.r.

Sorry - I may have picked up the OP incorrectly.

It should fit properly otherwise it will be potentially dangerous.
The OP should know how to fit it correctly to any vehicle.

Agree with all of the advice given.

One thing that amazed me is how quickly some kids can grow out of a seat you think is going to last for years.

funky-footprints

ckerrd wrote:

Shouldn't need to be tested.

You could be in any number of cars so just not practical

IMHO

awful advice !!! we went into Mothercare on saturday to buy our new carseat for number 3 and the sales assistant insisted on coming out to fit it in our car, we ended up getting a different sort of seat, as although it fitted properly the handle on the carseat made it a huge squeeze.

http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/advice/index.htm



if you follow above link, it tells you where you can take your current seat and they will advise of its compatibility with your vehicle and show if it is safe. that shold help when it comes to changing your car.

Do you know which vehicle you will be getting ? ? ?

all the best for babies arrival.
x

WestonDave

What few people appreciate is that seat belt lengths can vary from individual car to car let alone between makes - a short belt in your car can mean that you either have to choose a different car seat or have the belt changed. That is before seat shape comes into play!

When we went for our second car seat for DS (i.e. first forward facing one) we actually ended up with a choice of just one that would fit properly in our current car, because the next best one suffered from buckle crunch and would have been dangerous. That was despite the latter being listed on the seat manufacturers website as being suitable for our car.

At the risk of sounding holier than thou. this is not an area for money saving. Wait until you've got the car, take it to a local specialist with experienced staff and get them to demonstrate that the seat fits properly in the car. Believe me when that baby arrives and you are settling it into its seat in the car for the first time, you will want to be certain that it is 110% safe and a few quid will mean nothing!

hollydays

The problem is though,as with a lot of parents,the Op will need the buggy (which the carseat often fits onto) and feels the need to buy it first.If the op wants to pm me at any point i will give him the telephone number of someone who will probably be prepared to give some very helpful advice over the phone,as they are experts. Because otherwise,once she has bought the seat,she has either the option of waiting until local safety checks are advertised (could have a bit of a wait) or taking it to the retailer to get it checked,and maybe being told its unsafe.Most stores wont check it unless they have sold it to her.Congrats on your impending arrival.

markdavey

hollydays wrote:

The problem is though,as with a lot of parents,the Op will need the buggy (which the carseat often fits onto) and feels the need to buy it first.If the op wants to pm me at any point i will give him the telephone number of someone who will probably be prepared to give some very helpful advice over the phone,as they are experts. Because otherwise,once she has bought the seat,she has either the option of waiting until local safety checks are advertised (could have a bit of a wait) or taking it to the retailer to get it checked,and maybe being told its unsafe.Most stores wont check it unless they have sold it to her.Congrats on your impending arrival.

The other slant on this is that it is not recommended to have baby in a car seat for longer than 1.5 hours at a time meaning that using a travel system as your primary mode of transport is not ideal (contrary to the hundreds of these for sale at the moment).

New borns should lay flat wherever possible meaning long periods in a car seat (ontop of a travel system) is not good. Eg If you go shopping, assume 30 mins travel there in the car (in the seat), at least 3 hours shopping (again in the seat ontop of the travel system), and 30 mins home, that is 4 hours scrunched up in a car seat!!

I know that these travel systems are convenient but they are not necessarily good for baby.

We opted for a Britax Cosy Tot Premium (with ISOFIX) and a Silver Cross cobination lie flat pram/puchchair as we decided not to scrimp on either system and decided to buy a car seat that was not trying to be anything else. We believed that, in order to be all things, there would naturally be a compromise somewhere (suggest checking out the Which? site for reviews).

I agree completely with the advice that you should get the seat fitted in the car(s) that you are going to be using prior to purchasing (even with ISOFIX which I would not be without now!).

hollydays

markdavey wrote:

The other slant on this is that it is not recommended to have baby in a car seat for longer than 1.5 hours at a time meaning that using a travel system as your primary mode of transport is not ideal (contrary to the hundreds of these for sale at the moment).

New borns should lay flat wherever possible meaning long periods in a car seat (ontop of a travel system) is not good. Eg If you go shopping, assume 30 mins travel there in the car (in the seat), at least 3 hours shopping (again in the seat ontop of the travel system), and 30 mins home, that is 4 hours scrunched up in a car seat!!

I know that these travel systems are convenient but they are not necessarily good for baby.

We opted for a Britax Cosy Tot Premium (with ISOFIX) and a Silver Cross cobination lie flat pram/puchchair as we decided not to scrimp on either system and decided to buy a car seat that was not trying to be anything else. We believed that, in order to be all things, there would naturally be a compromise somewhere (suggest checking out the Which? site for reviews).

I agree completely with the advice that you should get the seat fitted in the car(s) that you are going to be using prior to purchasing (even with ISOFIX which I would not be without now!).

Couldnt agree more.And one of the things most shops conveniently forget to tell us.

funky-footprints

hollydays wrote:

.Most stores wont check it unless they have sold it to her.QUOTE]

your local council will check the carseat for you, you dont need to go to a store. see previous post.

we went with the Britax cosy tot premium too, the Britax rock a tot proved too complicated with the carrying handle !