[Juise]

Where does everyone get their info on which car seat is safer than other car seats? All I can find, including the sticky, is comparing ease of use. But despite all passing the government standards, there must be a difference in safety. Is this information available? We're trying to find a new car seat for our petite 10 month old.

 

[alegna]

There is no good source comparing that info.

For me, I look at:

individual safety features (rf tether, etc)
length of use (strap height, weight)
brand track record
ease of use

-Angela

 

[Jes'sBeth]

I hang out on www.car-seat.org to get info. You can post questions about what some good options are for you.

One of the reasons ease of use is talked about so much is because a MAJOR component of a carseat being safe is using it properly. A carseat that is easy to install and use is much more likely to be used properly than a difficult to use seat.

Other than that lots of seats are recommended because they rear face longer (to 30 or 35 lbs) they have nice high top strap slots (so your child won't outgrow it too fast and you can keep them harnessed longer without shelling out for a new seat) They are well liked by the kids that ride in them, they fit well in cars and so on.

With a petite 10 month old you still need a rear facing seat. Rear facing is always safer so if you choose a seat with high strap slots and a nice high rear facing weight limit you will get LOTS of use out of your seat rear facing before you need to flip it forward facing (you might get to 3 or longer!!! SO cool!) and then the same seat will be used until your child outgrows it by height or weight forward facing.

hope that helps!

 

[Jes'sBeth]

oh... and some seats can be used longer than others. Carseats have various expiry dates on them (some are 6 yrs others 9 yrs etc...) longer times you can use it is helpful if you have more children since you can pass the seat down.

 

[Smalls181]

The safest seat is the one that fits your budget, your child, your car, and one that you will correctly every single time. All car seats in the US pass the same crash test standards.

Britax is a wonderful car seat with all sorts of extra padding and foam and tethers RF and the company has a great track record of recalling before problems escalate. But if you cannot get it installed properly in your car, it is worthless in protecting your child. (The usually dont have problems installing, though. Just an example.)

There are certain car seats that those with experience do not recommend because we feel they are a waste of money. The Graco Comfortsport is one of them. It has a small shell and the harness straps are very low, so most kids dont make it much pass 3 in that seat before they are too tall. It also has installation problems. (If your DD is small, you could probably make it to 4 in that seat, but will need another seat to keep her harnessed longer.)

The other one not recommended are the 3-in-1's. They claim to RF, FF, and booster, but the problem with these is once again, the top harnessing slots are really low and most children will outgrow the harness by height long before they reach 40lbs. 4years and 40lbs is a bare minimum for boostering, but with these seats, parents are apt to booster even before that beause they spent the money on the seat.

 

[Juise]

Thanks all so much for your help! I do plan to keep her rear facing for as long as I possibly can. As far as budget, we'll be making our budget work around the car seat. There's nothing as important we could be spending our money on right now. I haven't weighed her in a month or so, but right now at 10 months she's probably around 16 pounds.

That's really frustrating that kind of safety info isn't made available. I mean, I could say between a jelly bean, a smartee, and a jawbreaker they all lasted in my mouth more than 30 seconds so they all pass my 30 second test, but that doesn't mean there aren't significant differences in the lasting power between a smartee and a jawbreaker

: kwim?

Okay, so I've heard a lot about he Britax Marathon, especially around here. Can anyone tell me what makes it so worth all the attention? I did notice it was the only one I saw that has steel reinforcements. But it only goes up to 33 lbs. RF and there are others that go to 35. Does it not have this shoulder strap problem? And is there anyone out there with a smaller car that can tell me about how it fits? We have a little Honda Civic hatchback, and I am a little worried about fitting the next car seat in. And a new car certainly isn't on the horizon anytime soon.

Are there any sort of car seat that goes over 35 lbs. RF? I haven't been able to find one. Is it suddenly, magically no longer the safest way for your child to ride after 35 lbs? Why aren't they out there?

Okay, sorry for all the questions, and thanks in advance for anything anyone may be able to shed some light on for me!

 

[azmomtoone]

[

Quote:

QUOTE=Juise;12764101] That's really frustrating that kind of safety info isn't made available. I mean, I could say between a jelly bean, a smartee, and a jawbreaker they all lasted in my mouth more than 30 seconds so they all pass my 30 second test, but that doesn't mean there aren't significant differences in the lasting power between a smartee and a jawbreaker : kwim?[\QUOTE]

ITA. Somewher on here someone did post a link to different safety ratings of different seats, I'll see if I can find it again....the title was something about safety ratings too.

Quote:

Okay, so I've heard a lot about he Britax Marathon, especially around here. Can anyone tell me what makes it so worth all the attention? I did notice it was the only one I saw that has steel reinforcements. But it only goes up to 33 lbs. RF and there are others that go to 35. Does it not have this shoulder strap problem? And is there anyone out there with a smaller car that can tell me about how it fits? We have a little Honda Civic hatchback, and I am a little worried about fitting the next car seat in. And a new car certainly isn't on the horizon anytime soon.

The Sunshine Kids Radian also has a steel frame and excellent safety ratings when tested to typical US standards (which doesn't include side impact testing for carseats right now) http://www.skjp.com/products/skjp_radian_65.php Click the link on the right for crash test results.... They are supposed to be coming out with one next year sometime that has the side impact wings but I don't know much about that. DH drives a neon, and with an older kid that can sit more upright (30-35 degree angle instead of 45 degree angle) both the Marathon and the Radian will fit RF in his car. At the 45 degree angle required for younger infants, neither one fits in his car.

Quote:

Are there any sort of car seat that goes over 35 lbs. RF? I haven't been able to find one. Is it suddenly, magically no longer the safest way for your child to ride after 35 lbs? Why aren't they out there?

In other countries, yes. In the US, not yet, although there are rumors of a 40 lb limit seat coming as soon as the gov't approves a 40 lb test dummy. (I think that's from Sunshine Kids as well, but I'm sure Britax and others will be right behind them). What remains to be seen is if they make other changes to make them practical for older kids, even the higher weight limit RF seats we have available now really are designed with infants in mind, maybe young toddlers; certainly not preschoolers & up. RF is safer for adults overall..... but more so for young kids because their head size & weight is so high compared to overall size & weight, and also because their bones aren't fully formed yet, so softer & weaker bones, combined with a heavy head on a tiny body, equals a huge amount of stress in even minor impacts when they are FF....where a harness will hold their body securely in place, but nothing restrains their head. RF, the LO's head, neck, and back are all supported and cradled by the carseat in an impact.

 

[azmomtoone]

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testin...3/213_2006.PDF

there's the link to the test results..... not all seats available are listed there but some for comparison.

 

[DahliaRW]

The newer marathons do rf to 35 lbs.

 

[an_aurora]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DahliaRW The newer marathons do rf to 35 lbs.

Yep! All of the car seats on the market (except 2) have a 35 lb RF limit, or will soon. The Radian is supposedly 35 lbs but they are stickered at 33 pounds so that caused alot of confusion

The Britax seats are highly recommended because they have a high RF and FF weight limit, tall top slots, and extra safety features like the RF tether.

Honestly, there are alot of options ont he market right now and I wouldn't automatically choose a Britax. There are plenty of seats with higher top slots and taller shells (which means more time both RF and FF) for less money

I would suggest looking at the First Years True Fit, Sunshine Kids Radian, Recaro Como and Signo, and the Britax Marathon and Boulevard. You can narrow it down from there

 

[azmomtoone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by an_aurora I would suggest looking at the First Years True Fit, Sunshine Kids Radian, Recaro Como and Signo, and the Britax Marathon and Boulevard. You can narrow it down from there

I would not recommend the Recaro seats if you plan to ERF.....they are very deep and hard to get kids in and out of, plus no leg room for older kids (there's a pic of my DS in one, in the thread here titled "Pics of ERF kids" or something to that affect

he's 22 mos old in that pic, he was 34" at 18 mos and 35.5" at 24 mso so somewhere between there and long torsoed, (so short legs) but there's no room for his legs....the sides are deep enough that he can't sit indian-style like in other seats, nor put his legs over the sides. The straps are very twisty too, which is not a huge issue but a pain nonetheless.
Maybe others have had a different experience though?

Here's a link to the pictures thread: http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1008259

 

[MacKinnon]

I would add the Evenflo Triumph Advance to that list. You could also do a cheaper conv. seat like the Scenera or the Titan and then a bigger FFing seat like the Nautilus. They really do all meet the same MINIMUM standards. The crash testing link shows loads as measured on the dummies. It is compliance testing by NHTSA, not certification or crash testing for a safety measure. Car seat manufacturs SELF CERTIFY before seats go to market. Although load bearing and head excurision is important info, it is hard to read and understand all the variables that go into seat performance and crash testing.

The best seat really is the one that fits your child correctly, your vehicle correctly and you can use correctly every time. I would go to somewhere like Babies r Us where you can SEE the seats, install them in the car, play with them, and really see what you like the best. Watch for rear-facing limits and forward-facing limits, in particular. And read CAREFULLY, alot of seats will say something like "5 to 100 pounds" but in actuality, it's booster mode ONLY from 40 to 100 lbs.

 

[an_aurora]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilovemyavery I would add the Evenflo Triumph Advance to that list.

I knew I was forgetting one

 

[Peony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by azmomtoone I would not recommend the Recaro seats if you plan to ERF.....they are very deep and hard to get kids in and out of, plus no leg room for older kids (there's a pic of my DS in one, in the thread here titled "Pics of ERF kids" or something to that affect he's 22 mos old in that pic, he was 34" at 18 mos and 35.5" at 24 mso so somewhere between there and long torsoed, (so short legs) but there's no room for his legs....the sides are deep enough that he can't sit indian-style like in other seats, nor put his legs over the sides. The straps are very twisty too, which is not a huge issue but a pain nonetheless. Maybe others have had a different experience though? Here's a link to the pictures thread: http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1008259

The Signo has other trade offs though.

We have one, and yes, there the leg room is not great for my rfing 2y old compared to our marathon, she has learned just to hang her legs over the side. But, my almost 6y old DD1 still has about another year of torso growth in the Signo and she outgrew her MA right after she turned 5.

 

[Juise]

Thank you everyone for all of your help and resources!

I don't feel quite so lost and bewildered now.