Car seat - best in test ? (legal, infant, weight, parent)
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Hi,
Im looking for a new car seat for my baby ( she is 9 months now). I want a good car seat - and one I can use in Europe as well ( ECE approved ), I'm from Denmark and move back to Denmark in December.
I am trying to find some car seat test but haven't found anything yet.
Can anyone here help or recomend a good car seat ? I like Recaro even thoug its kind of expensive... but in Denmark Recaro is a good brand.
I did a few weeks worth of research and decided on the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio car seat. Based on all the professional reviews, parent feeback, consumer reports I went with this one. Wasnt too expensive as I think it was around $250 and it fits perfectly into our Bugaboo camelion stroller.
The only this is, if you child is over 30lbs or 30 inches long it may not be suitable for you. Its actually an "infant" car seat.
I did a wee bit of searching on this for you, and it appears that may not be legal to use a US carseat in Europe unless you are just there for travel. If you live there, you need to use a European seat. And the reverse seems to be true also about using a European seat in the US. Sorry. There may be a few exceptions though. You may need to buy one seat to use in the US and then another seat when you move to Denmark. Will your current seat last you until Dec? Or will your child outgrow it by then?
From what I just read, it looked like the Scandanavian Britax seats were supposed to be very good, but different from the American Britax seats.
This site may help you with the European seats, if you can read it!
ÖAMTC - Kindersitze (http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/pages/channel/pages/1100118.php - broken link) http://www.oeamtc.at/refresh/framese...06/gesamt.html
Sorry, me again. It looks like the European seats have a different kind of harness system. In the US we have the chest clip, but that seems not to be used in Europe? Also, the Scandanavian seats in particular rear-face longer than US seats, which is great because it is so much safer, and they have mechanisms to better stabilize the seat while RF and also give the child more leg room while RF. I think if I were you I would definitely get a Scandanavian seat once you get there (I'm assuming that would be available to you...).
Here are some pics where you can see how those seats look different from ours in the harness and in how long they rear-face. I found this all very interesting.
Location: In my own little corner... sittin' in Jax FL
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ADVentive is correct. You will find it very difficult to find a seat that will suit your needs both here and in Europe. The ECE and the FMVSS 213 are very different in what they require.
I would explore the possibility of a good, safe, seat for the remainder of your time in the US and then get the seat you want in Europe. If you look at Consumer Reports, you will get an idea of what is available.
Please keep in mind that the higher price seats are not always the best choice for your situation. The best seat is one that fits your child (at their current weight, length, and stage), fits your car, and is easy to use so you use it right every time.
Also remember that your little one needs to remain rear-facing. Here in the US the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation is up to the maximum capacity of your rear-facing seat. They are suggesting up to 2 years and beyond. However, once you head back to Europe, you will find that they keep children rear-facing even longer with specially designed seats... just for this purpose. Rear-facing is so much safer for our kids!
As a few pp's have already mentioned, European car seat requirements and harnessing is different than here in the States.
With that said, you will probably have to buy a car seat once you arrive in Denmark.
I did a lot of research on car seats because I am planning on keeping our children rear-facing for as long as possible. I ended up getting the Early Years True Fit convertible car seats. They have one of the highest height & weight maximums for rear-facing so that was ideal for our needs. Both my children are in the 80-90%tile in height and then DS is in 85%tile for weight - the TF gives us "room to grow". Also, it is a very comfortable seat which they have been in since ~5 months. Even though they are almost 15 mos, they are still RF and still able to stretch their legs out with touching the back of the seat. I've flown with this seat twice now & had no problems with installation and the FA's have been great about letting me install them RF.
Recaro is a great seat but be sure that if you buy a Recaro you've confirmed that it's not the model/s that were recently recalled.
Location: In my own little corner... sittin' in Jax FL
589 posts, read 1,636,394 times
Reputation: 331
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sampaguita
Recaro is a great seat but be sure that if you buy a Recaro you've confirmed that it's not the model/s that were recently recalled.
Great post!
Just wanted to mention that any seat you buy new in a retailer should not be recalled. They have to remove them from the sales floor / warehouse (for e-tailers). If you find one, please please please bring it to the attention of the manager!
Just wanted to mention that any seat you buy new in a retailer should not be recalled. They have to remove them from the sales floor / warehouse (for e-tailers). If you find one, please please please bring it to the attention of the manager!
One of the reasons I mentioned the recall was that if anyone was thinking of buying a EUC or NWOT car seat that it could be a recall.
Your wording of "...any seat you buy new..." reminded me that when I was doing my research & posting on carseat.org and asking about the merits of the TF vs Recaro, Britax & Radian all of the "experts" on the board agreed that all the car seats must pass a certain standard before being put on the market. More or less, it was the "bells & whistles" and long-standing reputation of the brand that differentiated each seat from the other - not how "safe" they are.
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