Car Seats

deutschbaby

Starting a new discussion because there is some misinformation in the other thread, and some downright unfactual claims. Also the other thread got derailed, and car seat safety is important. 

I am a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) certified through SafeKids and NHTSA here in the USA. I have extensive knowledge about European seats as well.  I'm happy to answer car seat safety questions for you all. I'm at work, but will try to answer as I can. First some important resources (for USA moms):

You should have your car seats inspected by a CPST (USA moms). This is usually a free service.  The tech should NOT install the seat for you, but should teach you how to do it. You can find a CPST near you here: https://cert.safekids.org/find-tech-0

These websites are great resources, and most also have FB pages.  Please note that CSFTL can be very judgmental and heavy handed on their FB page, but their information is correct and their intent is good.  The CSFTL & the Car Seat Blog websites provide good reviews of car seats. The Car Seat Lady is a very well respected pediatrician and CPST in NYC.  I know Dr. Baer personally, and her advice is fantastic.

https://thecarseatlady.com

https://csftl.org

https://carseatblog.com/reviews/

https://www.safercar.gov/parents/index.htm

https://www.safekids.org/car-seat

https://www.car-seat.org

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/on-the-go/Pages/Car-Safety-Seats-Information-for-Families.aspx

CMSullivan326

This really didn't need another thread.

KonaCoffeeBean

Thanks, I've been meaning to look up a lot of this info. It's handy to have it all one place.

deutschbaby

Please note: You CANNOT legally use a non-USA car seat in the USA if you are a resident of the United States.  Foreigners on vacation are free to use foreign car seats in the USA. The same is true in Europe.

This means that if you live in the USA, you must use a NHTSA approved car seat that meets the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) while in the USA.

If you live in Europe, you must use a car seat that meets the ECE 344 car seat safety standards and regulations.  There are 2 exceptions to this: 1- Americans visiting Europe may use their American car seats while on vacation in the EU. 2- Americans living in Europe on official orders (US military families) may use their American car seats while in the EU. 

If you live in the USA, I repeat, you cannot legally import and use a foreign car seat. This has nothing to do with one continents seats being safer or anything. It's just a federal regulation. 

deutschbaby

CMSullivan326 said:

This really didn't need another thread.

Then ask a mod to delete it.

IMO car seat safety is extremely important. Car crashes are the LEADING cause of accidental death in the United States for people between the ages of 1yr and 40 yrs. These are mostly preventable deaths.

75% of car seats in the USA are installed incorrectly.  This is also something that can easily be fixed. The links are helpful, and can help parents educate themselves and get the resources they need. I felt they were important enough they should not get lost on the 3rd page of a thread that had devolved into a "who had more money/who is a stalker/who is a bigger asshole/who is a showoff" thread.

Trampslikeus

What I believe megron was referring to in the shitshow thread was European STYLE seats, not actually seats imported from Europe. The distinction, as pointed out on Lucies List, had to do with the tether and seat belt placement if I remember correctly, but obviously many of those seats are sold and marketed in the US and meet the regulations.

My friend is also a CPST and suggested the nuna pipa because I asked her about a good lightweight seat that would fit in my small Toyota. It's listed as a European style seat, but obviously meets US standards as it's sold here.

taboullio84

What is the safest car seat for a baby that can be removed from the car? I seen britax and chicco had highest rating. Do you personally have a suggestion?

** I buy a new seat when they start trying to sit up BC they don't like staying in the infant seat outside the car.

nicnnatesmom

Opinion on the maxi cosi AP infant seat? It's what we are leaning towards this go round. But there aren't a whole lot of reviews on them.

karaelaine1991

Thank you for making this and for taking the time to point us toward some helpful resources! I'm bookmarking them so I'll have them as needed down the road.

mathistm

Thank you @maplebaby‌ for posting this information. I appreciate having it.

ajgerber

I think this is worthy of a thread simply because questions will be asked about a million times between now and June.  It will help to be able to refer questions back to this link.

karaelaine1991

@maplebaby - On the CSFTL site, is it safe to assume that any car seat in their "compare rear facing only seats" section is recommended by the site? It looks that way to me, but I couldn't find confirmation of this on their page. If you have further information about this, I'd appreciate it! 

For the record, the car seat I've had my eye on is the Graco Snugride Click Connect 30. If it comes recommended by CSFTL, it looks like I might be on the right track! If you (or anyone else responding to this) has personal experiences with this carseat and would like to give me some feedback, it'd be very welcome! FTM here, so my experience with anything carseat related is very limited, haha. 

deutschbaby

taboullio84 said:

What is the safest car seat for a baby that can be removed from the car? I seen britax and chicco had highest rating. Do you personally have a suggestion? ** I buy a new seat when they start trying to sit up BC they don't like staying in the infant seat outside the car.

Officially as a CPST I can tell you that the safest seat for your baby is the one that fits your car, fits your child, (fits your budget) and that you can use safely & correctly every single time. 

Mom to mom, I can tell you that we are getting the Britax B-Safe 35 Elite Infant Seat (will be released in Feb, but you can pre-order now). My second choice (and what we planned to get before Britax announced the new B-safe) was the Chicco.  The Keyfit 30 is a fantastic seat. Easy easy easy to use, lightweight (as far as infant seats go), and fits newborns (even preemies) really well.

The B-safe 35 elite has all that, plus additional side impact protection, a no-rethread harness, and additional rebound and downward force protection with the safe cell technology.  

deutschbaby

Trampslikeus said:

What I believe megron was referring to in the shitshow thread was European STYLE seats, not actually seats imported from Europe. The distinction, as pointed out on Lucies List, had to do with the tether and seat belt placement if I remember correctly, but obviously many of those seats are sold and marketed in the US and meet the regulations. My friend is also a CPST and suggested the nuna pipa because I asked her about a good lightweight seat that would fit in my small Toyota. It's listed as a European style seat, but obviously meets US standards as it's sold here.

Ahhh! I see! Thanks for clearing that up.  The nuna pipa is a GREAT seat for small cars.  Plus the load leg is a really nice added safety feature.

deutschbaby

nicnnatesmom said:

Opinion on the maxi cosi AP infant seat? It's what we are leaning towards this go round. But there aren't a whole lot of reviews on them.

It's really lightweight for an infant seat (even lighter than the Chicco key fit).  I like it a lot, and it fits smaller babies well too.

deutschbaby

karaelaine1991 said:

@maplebaby - On the CSFTL site, is it safe to assume that any car seat in their "compare rear facing only seats" section is recommended by the site? It looks that way to me, but I couldn't find confirmation of this on their page. If you have further information about this, I'd appreciate it! 

For the record, the car seat I've had my eye on is the Graco Snugride Click Connect 30. If it comes recommended by CSFTL, it looks like I might be on the right track! If you (or anyone else responding to this) has personal experiences with this carseat and would like to give me some feedback, it'd be very welcome! FTM here, so my experience with anything carseat related is very limited, haha. 

Yes, to your answer on the CSFTL recommendations.

I had a Snugride back in the day when I had my son nearly 13 yrs ago :-)  It's also a good seat.  It can be a bitty heavy, but that really only matters if you live in a city and plan to carry it a lot. In most suburban environments you would take it from car to stroller, so weight is less of an issue. The 30lb weight limit is nice, because my giant chunkier of an exclusively breastfed kid outgrew his Snugride 22 at just 4 months (yes he was 22lbs at 4 mo!).  

Again, I still recommend getting your install checked by a CPST.  They can give you all kids of information specific to your vehicle as well.

karaelaine1991

maplebaby said:

karaelaine1991 said:

@maplebaby - On the CSFTL site, is it safe to assume that any car seat in their "compare rear facing only seats" section is recommended by the site? It looks that way to me, but I couldn't find confirmation of this on their page. If you have further information about this, I'd appreciate it! 

For the record, the car seat I've had my eye on is the Graco Snugride Click Connect 30. If it comes recommended by CSFTL, it looks like I might be on the right track! If you (or anyone else responding to this) has personal experiences with this carseat and would like to give me some feedback, it'd be very welcome! FTM here, so my experience with anything carseat related is very limited, haha. 

Yes, to your answer on the CSFTL recommendations.

I had a Snugride back in the day when I had my son nearly 13 yrs ago :-)  It's also a good seat.  It can be a bitty heavy, but that really only matters if you live in a city and plan to carry it a lot. In most suburban environments you would take it from car to stroller, so weight is less of an issue. The 30lb weight limit is nice, because my giant chunkier of an exclusively breastfed kid outgrew his Snugride 22 at just 4 months (yes he was 22lbs at 4 mo!).  

Again, I still recommend getting your install checked by a CPST.  They can give you all kids of information specific to your vehicle as well.

Thank you so much! I definitely intend to get mine installed by a CPST as soon as we get it. I actually already checked the first website that you recommended, and we have one about two blocks from my apartment - yay! 

annatta79

I want to second the recommendation to get your installation checked out by a CPST. My husband and I are both fairly intelligent people and our convertible seat was installed incorrectly. I also learned that our infant seat base had been installed incorrectly the entire time we used it Note - in most cars, you cannot use the LATCH system in the middle seat. Our manual didn't say we couldn't, so we thought we could. Nope.

It didn't cost us anything but some time and it is absolutly worth it.

taboullio84

Where do you pre-order? Thank u for the information:)

deutschbaby

I know that Babies R Us had the option to pre-order the B-safe Elite the last time I was in the store.  Not sure if they have it online though.

alcrimmins

maplebaby said:

I know that Babies R Us had the option to pre-order the B-safe Elite the last time I was in the store.  Not sure if they have it online though.

Target is actually selling them already. I saw than in-store a few weeks ago.

deutschbaby

Amazon has it too, for $199.99 

https://www.amazon.com/Britax-B-Safe-Elite-Infant-Seat/dp/B00OVSBVH8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422560676&sr=8-1&keywords=britax+bsafe+elite

Ships in Feb or March.

Claire&Cub

I love Recaro Racing seats for adults and my nephew has loved and been kept safe in his Recaro Pro Ride Convertible seat as a baby/toddler. My SO and I are planning on getting the Recaro Performance Denali travel system. I read the reviews and people have definitely rated them as highly as the Chicco and Britax systems.

mrs1374a

Thank you for making this thread. I don't have any questions because my husband is a tech too (he is a state trooper so he uses it for work and for us). But it's great that you're answering important questions!!

ksimo6

We have a CPST at our local firehouse.  He was extremely helpful and took a lot of time to teach me how to install our seat.  I was so glad I went!

Emilywooddesign

I was looking at the orbitbaby G3 car seat. I like the idea that the base swivels so you can get baby In easier. I know absolutely nothing about car seats and what's good or not. What are your thoughts on a swivel base? Thanks for starting this thread, Very helpful.

taboullio84

maplebaby said:

I know that Babies R Us had the option to pre-order the B-safe Elite the last time I was in the store.  Not sure if they have it online though.

I ordered the cactus green one. I think it said it would be here no later than the beginning of March. One more thing out the way

Just for whomever needs the info.. They were only $199.99 on amazon . I seen they were more pricey on some other sites.

ashley0769

Albeebaby.com has them on sale right now.

ashley0769

@maplebaby‌ what do you think about the Cybex Aton Q?

taisree

ksimo6 said:

We have a CPST at our local firehouse.  He was extremely helpful and took a lot of time to teach me how to install our seat.  I was so glad I went!

This is the case for us too. Great resource. When I was a FTM, I was completely clueless and we took a lil while to figure out how to install the car seat.

Our hospital is actually not supposed to allow you to leave until they have verified you have the car seat installed correctly (or so i had heard). Then again maybe it was my baby nurse messing with me. But we made sure we were prepared!

My crazy aunt loves to tell me "how times have changed" and back when I was a baby she'd have me in a laundry basket in the front seat beside her.

klkonwi

Chicco key fit 30 is what we are going with !!!

amhowell14

What about Uppa Baby Mesa? It has really good ratings. Had Chicco Keyfit with DD #2, and it was ok, just heavy.

missjenniebean

karaelaine1991 said:

@maplebaby - On the CSFTL site, is it safe to assume that any car seat in their "compare rear facing only seats" section is recommended by the site? It looks that way to me, but I couldn't find confirmation of this on their page. If you have further information about this, I'd appreciate it! 

For the record, the car seat I've had my eye on is the Graco Snugride Click Connect 30. If it comes recommended by CSFTL, it looks like I might be on the right track! If you (or anyone else responding to this) has personal experiences with this carseat and would like to give me some feedback, it'd be very welcome! FTM here, so my experience with anything carseat related is very limited, haha. 

FTM here as well. We are using a graco snugfit, part of a travel system. Lightweight, good ratings. We will see how we like it when the kid is here!

Trampslikeus

@nicnnatesmom‌ The AP was too big for my car so make sure you check sizing first - they also have the Mico, which would have fit, and was super lightweight ( and comes in adorable colors), however, I wanted one that could snap in to a lightweight stroller base, and the Maxi cosi stroller option...frankly I thought it sucked.

karaelaine1991

missjenniebean said:

karaelaine1991 said:

@maplebaby - On the CSFTL site, is it safe to assume that any car seat in their "compare rear facing only seats" section is recommended by the site? It looks that way to me, but I couldn't find confirmation of this on their page. If you have further information about this, I'd appreciate it! 

For the record, the car seat I've had my eye on is the Graco Snugride Click Connect 30. If it comes recommended by CSFTL, it looks like I might be on the right track! If you (or anyone else responding to this) has personal experiences with this carseat and would like to give me some feedback, it'd be very welcome! FTM here, so my experience with anything carseat related is very limited, haha. 

FTM here as well. We are using a graco snugfit, part of a travel system. Lightweight, good ratings. We will see how we like it when the kid is here!

Yep, that's the one I think we're gonna go with!

nicnnatesmom

@Trampslikeus‌ We have a suburban so I'm not that worried about space
But we do have the britax B ready stroller. I'll have to check and see if the adapters will work for this stroller/car seat combo. Hmmm...

porklump30

STM tip for bargain car seat shopping - once you decide on a model, check kohls.com to see if they carry it. You can frequently stack coupons for free shipping, 30% off and even earn Kohls Cash back ($10 for every $50 spent I believe). You may have to have a Kohls charge for some of the deals though. I was able to get a Graco Size4Me convertible for under $100 that way. Regular price is around $170.

deutschbaby

ashley0769 said:

@maplebaby‌ what do you think about the Cybex Aton Q?

This was our first choice until the B-Safe Elite came out. It has a load leg, which is great, but it is very heavy when you life the seat in person.  Otherwise it's a great seat, and has a neat side impact protection design. My husband really liked the look of it.  If we were living in Germany the EU version of the Aton Q would be my first choice of infant seat over there (identical seat, just no chest clip). 

deutschbaby

Emilywooddesign said:

I was looking at the orbitbaby G3 car seat. I like the idea that the base swivels so you can get baby In easier. I know absolutely nothing about car seats and what's good or not. What are your thoughts on a swivel base? Thanks for starting this thread, Very helpful.

Honestly I've only ever seen/installed one Orbit infant seat in person and that was a few years ago.  It has some nice features, but for the price, I think there are some better/easier to use options on the market.  

deutschbaby

amhowell14 said:

What about Uppa Baby Mesa? It has really good ratings. Had Chicco Keyfit with DD #2, and it was ok, just heavy.

I like the Mesa, LOVE the stroller :-) We are getting the new 2015 Vista stroller.

ajgerber

Just a note, I've had good luck with finding deals on Albee Baby and Diapers.com for some of the large items.  Sometimes they offer extra off if you are a new customer and also usually have free shipping.  I've been getting emails from Albee so they may be having sales right now.  I haven't compared deals yet.