Car Seat Mega Thread! Please post all your car seat questions here!

ariana`

Ok, any parents of bigger kids have problems finding a suitable car seat for their little one? My son is 2.5yrs and has hit the weight limit for the 5pt harness on any Group 1 or Group 1-2-3 car seat that i can find on the market in Ireland.

I don't want to remove the harness as i don't feel he's mature enough yet.

In the USA there are car seats available will a 5pt harness for children up to 65lbs but i can't find any in Ireland. Here the max weight is 18Kg (40lbs) and my son is now 17.8Kg with no clothes on!

Is my only option to get a seat in from the states somehow

Hannibal Smith

ariana` wrote: »

Ok, any parents of bigger kids have problems finding a suitable car seat for their little one? My son is 2.5yrs and has hit the weight limit for the 5pt harness on any Group 1 or Group 1-2-3 car seat that i can find on the market in Ireland.

I don't want to remove the harness as i don't feel he's mature enough yet.

In the USA there are car seats available will a 5pt harness for children up to 65lbs but i can't find any in Ireland. Here the max weight is 18Kg (40lbs) and my son is now 17.8Kg with no clothes on!

Is my only option to get a seat in from the states somehow

Aren't the weight limits for the average group 1-2-3 36kg?

ariana`

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

Aren't the weight limits for the average group 1-2-3 36kg?

Yes for the seat itself. But you are supposed to remove the 5pt harness when the child is 18Kg and use the car's seat belt to restrain them. This is how they go from 9mths-12yrs. The 5pt harness is only strong enough to restrain a child up to 18Kg

My boy is tall & heavy for his age. He's not over-weight on the charts and the PHN/Doctors all tell me he's perfect, just tall for his age. His Mammy & Daddy are both tall.

January

Simon from In Car Safety should be able to give you advice on this. He's very helpful

http://www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk/

ariana`

Thanks January. I've dropped an email to him.

Lisha

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056722093

Hi

I had same issue with both my kids. I bought maxi cosi tobi for my daughter.

She is good in it has never climbed out of belt.

I had britax evolva for my son. when he was about 2.5 I removed harness from that. I amazed me that so many people did not know that harness must be removed at 18kg in most seats

best of luck.

caprilicious

As an alternative you could try a Kiddy car seat:



http://www.kiddy.de/en/childrens-car-seats/9months-12years/kiddy-guardian-pro-2.html

These are suitable up to 36kg/12 years of age & use an alternative system to the 5 point harness.

I have one I picked up new on Ebay for €180 (the same can be almost €1oo more in the shops here :eek:) & have been using it since my daughter was 18 months.

Edit to add: I just seen the place January recommended you contact sell these also:
http://www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/232?osCsid=u5l7vddug2hj3fno82n6fsmjo2

Lisha

that looks like a great seat

Little My

Britax two way elite 5 point harness till 25kgs.

I'm considering this one myself but haven't decided yet.

http://www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/30/products_id/46

I'm not convinced by the Kiddy - it has very good reviews on Which but I have read user reviews online saying that children wriggle out of the seat belt really easily.

Also, I contacted the incarsafetycentre about our problem, (we ideally want an extended rear facing car seat with isofix but without a support leg as our car has underfloor storage) and they got back to me straight away, so while I haven't actually purchased from them yet their customer service certainly seems excellent so I can recommend them from that point of view anyway.

caprilicious

Little My wrote: »

I'm not convinced by the Kiddy - it has very good reviews on Which but I have read user reviews online saying that children wriggle out of the seat belt really easily.

I read that too prior to buying the seat, though unless it's a different model I really don't understand how
Please God I won't ever find out either!
Thankfully despite having the worlds wriggliest 2 year old she hasn't managed to escape from it so far

Little My

caprilicious wrote: »

I read that too prior to buying the seat, though unless it's a different model I really don't understand how
Please God I won't ever find out either!
Thankfully despite having the worlds wriggliest 2 year old she hasn't managed to escape from it so far

Yeah I don't quite get it, but we do a lot of driving and cover a lot of distance so I'd still rather have a rear facer. My brother was given a Kiddy second hand by relatives in France and it does look good, but by the time I get his opinion on it I'll already have committed to another car seat for my son. He's just over a year now and nearly out of the baby Britax.

uck51js9zml2yt

I also found http://www.carseat.se/ very good.

After trying out a few seats, we got the Be Safe Izy X3 in dublin.For 40 euro difference it was worth it in case anything went wrong. Its ERF anf forward facing. Son is 2 and 3 1/2 ft tall.

Mods ..Would it be worth having a sticky for to list the car seats we have. We found this on another forum with the offer of going to look at peoples seats to help in the decision making.It really helped us avoid certain ERFs as shops didnt stock all makes.

caprilicious

Luella Few Gang wrote: »

Mods ..Would it be worth having a sticky for to list the car seats we have. We found this on another forum with the offer of going to look at peoples seats to help in the decision making.It really helped us avoid certain ERFs as shops didnt stock all makes.

Good idea....Not only do a lot not stock them, but as I found in a local toy store that sells car seats they're not aware of the existence of extended rear facing seats either.
when I queried them I was told "There's no such thing" :rolleyes:

Moonbeam

My daughter was in the be safe izi until she was nearly 3 1/2 and she is in the kiddy car seat now ,it also says remove the bumper when they are 18kg. She is about 102cm and 16kg.

uck51js9zml2yt

Moonbeam wrote: »

My daughter was in the be safe izi until she was nearly 3 1/2 and she is in the kiddy car seat now ,it also says remove the bumper when they are 18kg. She is about 102cm and 16kg.

My son is nearly the same height and weight and is only 2:D

Can we get a sticky going as I suggested above

ThisRegard

Cybex do a car seat similar to the Kiddy, a pallas 2. It's not the cheapest but we find it very good. I was initially sceptical my daughter would take to the lap restraint but she seems to like it, she uses it as a table or sometime rests her head on it. There is some research to say it's safer than the harness system.

It starts off as a group 1 seat but after around 3 years of age/15kg it can be changed to a 2/3 seat. I think the fact that it can be used up to the ago of around 11 as a booster seat outweights the initial high cost.

http://cybex-online.com/uk/carseats/pallas2.html
http://www.mamasandpapas.com/product-cybex-pallas-2-black/2221c8500/type-i/?cm_re=CarSeats-_-Topnav-_-ImageLink

wmpdd3

^^^ saw that too, a few shops here have it, but reviews say the material leads to sweating where as the Kiddy has breathable material?

ThisRegard

I also read that and was a bit worred as our daughter tended to sweat a bit in her previous seats. Bit I haven't noticed it an isue on this one yet, I think the ability to be able to lean forward meaning that she's not always held against the back of the seat must help, the air circulates around her more easily.

Moonbeam

Which have a good write up in the Kiddy seats and it is where we initially learned about them.
Car seats are nearly harder to pick then buggies and prams!! Safety then practicality then hoping that the seat that matches these suits your car and budget:-)

January

Stickied and made a mega thread.

seamus

Right, trying a "let's cut the bull" boards thread here to get some real-world opinions rather than politically correct ones.

As a soon to be new parent, like the majority of other parents I've taken a delivery of a maxi-cosi car seat and base.

I realised early on that what should be a very straightforward thing is in fact ridiculously complicated.

I have a stereotypical family car, a Renault Scenic. Isofix on the rear seats. Awesome, an isofix base clicks in and it's fine, right? Apparently not. The salesman tells us, "Oh no, the Renault scenic has a false floor (i.e. underfloor storage) which isn't safe with the base". This seems logical because the base has a foot which takes some of the force in an impact. If that's sitting on the lid of the storage compartment, it could break through it.
Consult the maxi-cosi website and it appears to confirm that you can't install this. Except that when you dig deeper, it simply seems that maxi-cosi just haven't tested it. They won't say it's unsafe, but they won't say it's safe either.
I would have gone along with this, except that the lids of the storage compartments are strong, and massively reinforced. The salesman also told us that, "If the leg of the base reaches to the floor of the compartment (i.e. open the lid), then you're fine". Except that the floor of the storage compartment isn't solid at all, it's just some felt carpetting over a hollow space. It would be safer on the lid.
So bull****-senses tingling, I investigate some more and contact Renault. They pretty much ignore any question I have about the storage compartments, but instead send on a list of recommended car seats. All Graco, and lo and behold the car seat bases have legs and recommend that you can place it using one of the seats that have the underfloor storage. So if it's OK for one manufacturer, it has to be OK for another.

I can't be the only one who's had to deal with this. I was checking the status of most other family cars and it actually looks like they almost all have this underfloor storage which is allegedly unsafe with a car seat base. I'm inclined to think that it's all hand-wringing nonsense to avoid being sued. Can anyone shed any further light on it?

The second part is actually on the verge of making me angry. Resigned to the fact that I can't put the base in the back, I was happy that it was perfectly safe to install in the front passenger seat, rear-facing, airbag switched off.
"Well, there is a chance that the airbag will deploy, even if it's switched off. And the government are planning on giving you penalty points for putting kids in the front at all. And you'll have to check with your insurance company, lots of them will cancel your policy if you switch off the airbag". Wait, what? That doesn't sound right.

At a course with a midwife a few weeks after that, she practically said the same things - "Some airbags deploy even if they're not switched off, and sure isn't Leo Varadkar now going to give you point for carrying your baby seat in the front? And if you switch off an airbag, you'll invalidate your insurance".

I googled it. There has never once been a single incident reported of a deactivated airbag deploying in a crash and causing an injury to an adult or a child. And no, Leo Varadkar is not planning on giving you penalty points for carrying car seats in the front.

Seriously, what is up with all the scaremongering? And I have never once read an insurance policy which will invalidate your insurance if you switch the airbag off using the manufacturer's switch.

In any case, my wife has already decided that the car seat base is going in her car, in the back, rather than in mine. Because apparently my car which si rated one of the safest family cars on the road is suddenly a death trap when you include an isofix base.

I definitely can't be the only one who's heard all this.

</rant>

Ellsbells

seamus wrote: »

what is up with all the scaremongering?

Welcome to the world of parenting. Its the world of conflicting messages and contradicting information. :mad:

January

I'm going to move this to the car seat mega thread in Newborn & Toddlers

But, as Ellsbells said, welcome to the world of parenting! In my opinion, I just wouldn't take the chance of finding out if it was safe or not to put it in with the underfloor storage. My Citroen Xsara Picasso has underfloor storage and I just have seat belt fitting seats and made sure they were installed properly at the car seat event Mothercare do every year.

Ickle Magoo

Yep, suddenly all these things which always looked so innocent turn into choking hazards and death traps in the making *head explodes*

We got the false floors and "legged" isofix seats don't go message too - I couldn't say with any certainty whether that is for good reason or not...my paranoia that crash testing had made them wary ensured we didn't take the chance.

Not helpful to you now but once out of rear-facing seating, there are other isofix seats which have a top tether type arrangement which negates the need for a base leg...it is rather a false impression pushed that certain cars are family friendly from day 1 tho.

leeomurchu

I have a Renault scenic myself same issue with underfloor storage and I've read all the same differing answers.

I figured why not just fill it in so in with a plastic bag and filled it up with plaster to remove the hollow so no longer an issue although to be honest I never saw it as an issue. The cover is well reinforced and I wouldn't say a car floor pan is made out of heavy gauge steel.

Personally I'd never carry a baby seat in the front regardless of isofix air bags being turned off but I won't go down that road it brings out all the crazies :eek:

You're constantly gonna come across these issues as a new parent wait till you get to the amber beads for teething that's a doozie on here

Enjoy and congrats on becoming a dad

likedaddy

ok first baby is yet to arrive and i've the first car seat organised but i'd like to know what ppls opinions on keeping baby rear facing for longer is v's the lap restraint one.
i want to keep baby rearfacing but my husband doesnt think any baby will sit rear facing for too long. They'll want to see whats going on around them.
i know in this country it doesnt matter if the car seat can stay rear facing till they're 6 once they start school they are not going to sit in a 'baby' rf seat when none of their friends are. so i've always said we'd turn them before they start but he may have a point. Also do their legs not get very cramped rearfacing for so long.
Has anyone got a rear facing one and i know they're safer which is why i'm pushing for it but how are they when you're living with them.
does the lap belt cut down on neck injurys in an accident or has that been tested.
Sorry this is our first baby and we are pretty clueless on the car seat side of things.

Moonbeam

If the child doesn't know any different then it is normal for them.
I had my 3 1/2 year old rear facing until recently and only moved her to the next seat because her baby sister was getting too big for the maxi cosi.
If you have a google you will find lots of sites explainnig the different types of restraints and seats and the issues associated with them.
I also found Which a good resource for helping once we had narrowed it down.

liliq

we have a rear facing. the way the seat is designed there is a gap for their legs to go down between the car seat and the back seat of the car.
the rear facing car seats (or many of them anyway) are higher up than forward facing, so the child can often see more out the back and side window than they could forward facing looking at the back of the front seat of the car.
the one we have goes to roughly 4 years, so he'd be out if it before starting school anyway

likedaddy

could you let me know which seats you have. i've been looking at the swedish carseat website and using google to look up the seats. some ppl on one of the english boards were saying which isnt great for comparing them as they take marks off for hard to clean and fit seats and dont only look at the safety elements.

liliq

I have the besafe izi combi x3. got it in tony kealys. there's a mention of an NI shop on this thread that are meant to be excellent for advice, so could be worth an email to them for opinions etc.

likedaddy

thanks for that. looks like it might be the winner. its a bonus that i can see it before i buy it. was fully expecting to be ordering from sweden.

uck51js9zml2yt

likedaddy wrote: »

thanks for that. looks like it might be the winner. its a bonus that i can see it before i buy it. was fully expecting to be ordering from sweden.

I have the X3 as well. great seat and also foward facing.
bought it in murphys of rathcoole. the 40 euro difference on the north wasnt worth it in the end,

liliq

if you're in dublin i cant recommend tonykealys enough, and its great to be able to call up if you're worried about the seat at all.

Moonbeam

Be safe izi x3 here to for the last 2 1/2 years.
No complaints at all and we got it from kiddicare.com.

LilMrsDahamsta

We have a Britax Hi-Way. It's great; smally loves it and it's easy to fit once you're used to it. Choose it over the Be Safe and others as our cars don't have isofix. Got it from Sweden; couldn't recommend carseat.se highly enough - checked suitability for each of our cars for us as they're too old to be listed in the Britax guide. Will be getting another as soon as the next one is ready for it.

liliq

LilMrsDahamsta wrote: »

We have a Britax Hi-Way. It's great; smally loves it and it's easy to fit once you're used to it. Choose it over the Be Safe and others as our cars don't have isofix. Got it from Sweden; couldn't recommend carseat.se highly enough - checked suitability for each of our cars for us as they're too old to be listed in the Britax guide. Will be getting another as soon as the next one is ready for it.

The britax is a lot neater than the isofix ones i think. that's the only prob i have with the izi combi, it's huge.

LilMrsDahamsta

liliq wrote: »

LilMrsDahamsta wrote: »

We have a Britax Hi-Way. It's great; smally loves it and it's easy to fit once you're used to it. Choose it over the Be Safe and others as our cars don't have isofix. Got it from Sweden; couldn't recommend carseat.se highly enough - checked suitability for each of our cars for us as they're too old to be listed in the Britax guide. Will be getting another as soon as the next one is ready for it.

The britax is a lot neater than the isofix ones i think. that's the only prob i have with the izi combi, it's huge.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. We got yer one in Tony Keeley's in Cork to show us the isofix izi as the didn't have the non-isofix one, and they seemed pretty similar size-wise. Certainly the front seats can't go back nearly as far as was possible pre-Hi-Way. Doesn't bother me, but the other half has had to change driving position.

liliq

Maybe I'm thinking of another one! There is one non isofix one that is neater.. I think. I still have baby brain a year on, so it's definitely possible that I'm dreaming!

iguana

liliq wrote: »

Maybe I'm thinking of another one! There is one non isofix one that is neater.. I think. I still have baby brain a year on, so it's definitely possible that I'm dreaming!

Maybe the Graco Duologic 2? Though that is both isofix and non-isofix and it comes in two parts so the infant seat can be clipped in and out quickly regardless of whether it's isofix or seatbelt. It's meant to be one of the most compact ERF seats on the market, IIRC.

We've decided on that one for a number of reasons. It passed the Swedish Plus test, it can go in just about any car due to it's size and seatbelt and isofix options. The infant seat can be taken out easily and even used without the main frame in another car, so it's handy if you are getting a lift with someone else or need to take a taxi. And while it wasn't a consideration in our choosing it, the fact that the infant seat has wheels and an extendible handle to pull it along with may prove useful at some point, especially as we'll be moving home by car and ferry at some point in baby's early weeks.

uck51js9zml2yt

iguana wrote: »

Maybe the Graco Duologic 2? Though that is both isofix and non-isofix and it comes in two parts so the infant seat can be clipped in and out quickly regardless of whether it's isofix or seatbelt. It's meant to be one of the most compact ERF seats on the market, IIRC.

We've decided on that one for a number of reasons. It passed the Swedish Plus test, it can go in just about any car due to it's size and seatbelt and isofix options. The infant seat can be taken out easily and even used without the main frame in another car, so it's handy if you are getting a lift with someone else or need to take a taxi. And while it wasn't a consideration in our choosing it, the fact that the infant seat has wheels and an extendible handle to pull it along with may prove useful at some point, especially as we'll be moving home by car and ferry at some point in baby's early weeks.

The difference with the duologic and the besafe is that the headrest in the duologic doesnt adjust and its not forward facing.
the besafe has an adjustable headrest which is important as kids grow:D and its also forward facing when that time comes.

iguana

Luella Few Gang wrote: »

The difference with the duologic and the besafe is that the headrest in the duologic doesnt adjust and its not forward facing.
the besafe has an adjustable headrest which is important as kids grow:D and its also forward facing when that time comes.

But the Duologic is never meant to be forward facing, it's rear facing until 18kg, roughly 4 years of age, which is the only way I want my child to face for many years. Our plan is to use the duologic on this baby as long as possible and when we have a second baby get a seat that goes to 25kg rear facing, move the older baby into that. I'm intent on keeping this child and any future child(ren) rear facing until 5-6 as that's the safest way for them to be turned.

uck51js9zml2yt

iguana wrote: »

Luella Few Gang wrote: »

The difference with the duologic and the besafe is that the headrest in the duologic doesnt adjust and its not forward facing.
the besafe has an adjustable headrest which is important as kids grow:D and its also forward facing when that time comes.

But the Duologic is never meant to be forward facing, it's rear facing until 18kg, roughly 4 years of age, which is the only way I want my child to face for many years. Our plan is to use the duologic on this baby as long as possible and when we have a second baby get a seat that goes to 25kg rear facing, move the older baby into that. I'm intent on keeping this child and any future child(ren) rear facing until 5-6 as that's the safest way for them to be turned.

the besafe is both rear and forward facing.
the duologic is only rear facing.

iguana

Luella Few Gang wrote: »

the besafe is both rear and forward facing.
the duologic is only rear facing.

Which is the only way I want it to face.

wmpdd3

iguana wrote: »

Maybe the Graco Duologic 2? Though that is both isofix and non-isofix and it comes in two parts so the infant seat can be clipped in and out quickly regardless of whether it's isofix or seatbelt. It's meant to be one of the most compact ERF seats on the market, IIRC.

We've decided on that one for a number of reasons. It passed the Swedish Plus test, it can go in just about any car due to it's size and seatbelt and isofix options. The infant seat can be taken out easily and even used without the main frame in another car, so it's handy if you are getting a lift with someone else or need to take a taxi. And while it wasn't a consideration in our choosing it, the fact that the infant seat has wheels and an extendible handle to pull it along with may prove useful at some point, especially as we'll be moving home by car and ferry at some point in baby's early weeks.

WOW what a brilliant seat? Where did you buy yours, ie is it available in Ireland?

iguana

wmpdd3 wrote: »

WOW what a brilliant seat? Where did you buy yours, ie is it available in Ireland?

I ordered mine through carseat.se, as it was the lowest price I could find for that seat, but as far as I know incarsafety in Belfast does them too. For some reason they are called the OY Kilppan Kiss 2 in the UK market but they are the same seat.

doubletrouble?

just a question on the positioning of car seats. we recently bought a people carrier. we have the twins side by side in the back rear facing. in other words one of them is in the middle passenger seat with the iso fix. now, my cousin said this was illegal and i could be done by the guards as both seats have to be behind the front seats in case anything happens. he was trying to point out that the back rests from the front seats would protect the kids in case of danger.
anyone any thoughts on if he's right or are they ok the way they are?

seamus

Your cousin is wrong. When installed correctly, the car seat should never come into contact with the back of the seat in front of it, so it's irrelevant.

He might be getting confused with the older middle two-point seat belts which make it impossible to fit a car seat. If the middle seat is ISOFIX and/or has a 3-point belt, then it's legal.

wmpdd3

I always wondered that, I love having the 2 babies facing each other side by side. I can't see a isofix thing behind the middle seat but I cant see any reason why you wouldnt put a baby seat there.

I must ask in monthercare next time. I know its not illegal, but I'd like to know if it is intended by the makers.
Usually when we have 3 in the car, the middle seat child is using a graco high back booster.

Moonbeam

Some manufacturers actually suggest that the middle back seat is the safest place for the car seat.
I have a 7 seater and only 2 isofix points I have one forward facing and one rear facing in the 1st row then the middle seat down and a forward facing in the 3rd row and they chat away happily together and pass (throw) teddies to each other which is kind of nice:) when new baby comes the 2 rear facing will be in the middle row and will face the 2 bigger ones in the back for every day and for long journeys the forward facing seat will be in the middle of the 2 rear facing ones.

If i ever get a new car I want 5 isofix points!!!

seamus

wmpdd3 wrote: »

I always wondered that, I love having the 2 babies facing each other side by side. I can't see a isofix thing behind the middle seat but I cant see any reason why you wouldnt put a baby seat there.

I must ask in monthercare next time. I know its not illegal, but I'd like to know if it is intended by the makers.
Usually when we have 3 in the car, the middle seat child is using a graco high back booster.

The middle seat in my car is narrower than the other two, so I don't know if it's wide enough to accomodate the booster seats, but it would definitely take a rear-facing car seat, strapped in.
For the boosters, the manufacturer might state a minimum width that the seat needs to be, which could rule out cars with narrow middle seats.

bstar

its not illegal at all or to do with the car seat manufacturers its actually the safest place in the car as side impacts will not hit the seat directly. The manufacturer only doesnt recomend it if rearfacing the car seat touches the front seats. Also here they recommend you put the child with the least protection in the centre seat.

Many people think its illegal due to when you couldn't install a car seat with a lap belt only but most seats can work around that now. I'm buying my next seat based on whether it can fit in the centre or not. We are also getting one that rearfaces to 45lbs and then can be used ff until 65lbs.

for the boosters some seats need the headrest so they would probably need to go in a side seat.