anZel/Arden

Archive for the ‘Car Seats’ Category

minivan family

In our preparation to welcome Miss. Arden Zhen, we emptied the remainder of our bank accounts and purchased a new car and car seat.

First, the big car purchase. Before we went for “car shopping,” beeber and I looked each in the eye and decided that “we will NOT buy a minivan!” There’s nothing wrong with the minivan and the folks who drive them, we are just not a “minivan family!” The other requirement we had was that it has to have 3 rows of seats because we will almost always carry 6 people (dAd, beeber, anZel, Arden, grandma Helen, grandpa Sam) in it.

With that in mind, we got some recommendations from our friends. The one that kept coming up was the Mazda5. It’s supposedly not a minivan AND it has 3 rows of seats!!

We checked it out a couple of times and also checked out the Kia Rondo, which is supposedly the equivalent of the Mazda5. The Rondo was actually shorter than the Mazda5 and the two doors were not sliding doors. It didn’t quite work for us as there would be no room at all to put anything once the 3rd row seat is used.

So after much deliberation and negotiation with the Mazda dealership, we broke down and got the Mazda5 Sport with a 6 CD changer. As we were waiting in the dealership to get all the papers signed, I looked down at the tag that was attached to the key and noticed that it said “Body Style: Van”!!!!!! And as we finished signing the paper with the finance lady, she shoke our hands and said, “Congratulations on your new MPV”!!!!! WTF, she thinks the Mazda5 is the new MPV, a freaking miniVAN!!!

I am forever doooomed…we are now a minivan family!

With a new car, it’s time to get a new car seat for Arden as well. We purchased a Britax Marathon from baby catalog before so we checked them out again. They still have the lowest price around, $209 no shipping (to CA) and no tax!!

Carseats and stollers: one more try

So last week we were so excited we went ahead and gotten the car seat and stroller from Babies R Us.

After we came home, I started doing more research and found this site that could have saved over $130, no tax and no shipping!!!

For that much $$, we decided to go ahead and re-order the Britax Marathon car seat (Portland, $219) and Peg-Perego Aria (Safari, $159) from this site. We promptly returned the other ones to Babies R Us.

Today (<1 week) both the car seat and stroller arrived and I got both of them setup and ready to go.

In search of car seats: final decision

This is the month to get everything ready. We have been buying all the stuff we’ve been researching about. This time we bought the final big piece, the car seat.

After going over many car seats and spending hours at Babies R Us, we’ve decided on the Britax Marathon Convertable Car Seat.

We’ve decided not to get an infant car seat. Instead, we will use the Marathon along with a sling (we have one from B33b3r’s sis-in-law.) It will be a bit of a hassle to have to pick up anZel each time but B33b3r wants to hold anZel all the time, so this will work out.

We were originally considering the Britax Boulevard, but it seems like anZ3l will be a bit tight when he grows up, especially if this is suppose to hold him until 65lbs. The price wasn’t really an issue here since the Boulevard is only $30 more than the Marathon, retail.

We never really looked at too many car seats other than the Britax car seats. I think we have made the right decision.

In search of car seats: crash testing

Another tidbit that we found out during our trip to Babies R Us: European car seats such as Britax are crash tested at 75 MPH, whereas the American counterparts such as Graco are tested at 45 MPH.

It’s no wonder that the European ones are so much more expensive!!!

In search of car seats: Graco Infant SafeSeat™ (Step 1) 8A00PSN

As anZel gets closer to come out, we are back in the search for car seats again. Today we revisited Babies R Us in Union City. The lady over there was very helpful. She explained quite a few things to us including

- Today all children are, by law, required to sit in some type of car seat or booster seat until they are six years old and 60 lbs. They are planning on changing the law sometime soon to require children to stay in a booster seat until 8 years old and 80 lbs.

- The Graco Mosaic is going to be discontinued. The Mosaic LX we saw before are still in the market.

- All Graco infant seats will snap onto the Peg-Perego Aria that we saw a while back.

We saw a new car seat today, the Graco Infant SafeSeat™ (Step 1) 8A00PSN.

It’s $129.99, weighs about 15 lbs and the baby can stay in there, rear facing, until 30 lbs.

We are now considering buying this car seat and then use it with the SnugRider Infant Carseat Frame that we already have.

Don’t put your child in the car seat with bulky coats

Someone on the pregnancy.org forums gave this great tip!

someone mentioned easy to adjust harnesses which makes it easy to adjust them when the baby is wearing a bulky coat… please take your baby’s bulky coats off in the car. In a crash, the coat will compress and your baby could fly out of the seat and coat.

Some more discussions here, here and here.

Car-safety.org has this:

Q57: Can my child wear a winter coat in their carseat?

Generally, no. For safety, the harness straps must remain tight on the child’s shoulders regardless of any clothing. You can put a blanket over the child, OUTSIDE the harness straps or put your child’s coat on backwards after they are in the seat. For infants in cold weather, an aftermarket “cozy” that zips over the infant carrier rather than fitting under the child is another solution.

In search of car seats: don’t buy used car seats

As I am researching the pros and cons of various types of car seats, a warning that I see most is - Don’t buy used car seats! There are several major objections to buying used car seats.

First, you never know if the car seat has been in an accident! Even the smallest fender-benders can have the potential of damaging the plastics of a car seat. Some of these fractures may not be visible without really close inspection and even then, sometimes they can be missed.

Second, the plastic, over time, can break down due to temperature change or extended exposure to the Sun (UV). This is especially true if you live in a climate that has very hot or very cold temperatures. These little cracks, again, may not be visible immediately. Be extremely cautious if you are looking at a used car seat that’s over 5-6 years old. That’s usually the time when cracking will happen.

Third, the car seat in question may have been involved in a recall that you are not aware of. This one is easier to check. Take down the brand and model number, check the manufacturer’s web site to ensure it has not been involved in recalls. It’s especially easy these days with all these search engines around, so don’t be lazy!

Fourth, car seats are dated and they expire!! After the expiration date, the car seat should be disposed. Also, safety standards can change from year to year, so an up-to-date car seat is very important in keeping your child safe.

Fifth, sanitation can be a huge concern for many people. As you all know, babies can output in many different ways and in many different forms (top, bottom, liquid, solid, etc, sorry for being so graphical). Who knows what that used car seat has been through. Even though it may look clean, it might have little things called lice that are running around.

Last but not least, used car seat may be missing necessary manuals or pamphlets. These documents allow you to figure out how to properly use the car seat. It may not sound like a huge deal, but again, it’s better safe than sorry.

At the end of the day, your child’s safety is the most important thing. If you get a nice convertible, even if it’s a bit more expensive (e.g. $200), it can last for 3-4 years. That’s only $50-$60 a year. That’s really nothing compare to your child’s safety.

In search of car seats: research links

Useful links - must reads.

• How Child Car Seats Work - Probably one of the best articles on how car seats work. Very detailed and lots of pictures
• Consumer Reports - Babies & Kids - A wealth of information on various test ratings.
• ConsumerSearch Family Product Reviews and Reports - A very good collection of articles and comparisons for various children equipment.
• Convertible Car Seats - Very good summary and comparison of convertible car seats.
• Car Seat Strollers - Very good summary and comparison of car seat and stroller combos. Even though I don’t recommend this type of combos, it’s good research material nonetheless.
• Child Car Seats Safety for your Kids - Learn how to choose the right car seat for your child. Great collection of articles
• Carseat Compatibility Database - A good collection of reviews for the various types of car seats.
• Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2005 - Good summary of safety tips
• Car-Safety.Org Vehicle and Carseat Safety Information - Buying Guides and Articles, Car Seat Checkup Events and Fitting Stations, and others useful information
• Berkeley Parents Network Car Seats - Reviews, installation guides, and advices
• How to Buy Baby Car Seats! - A list of eight things you should consider when buying a car seat
• Car Seat Inspector - Are you using your car seat correctly?

Misc links - read these if you feel like you need more info, but the above sites should give you what you need.

• Buying a car seat for a newborn or older infant
• Carseats and Car Safety
• So Many Car Seats, Only One Kid!
• What works series of articles
• car seats for children
• Car seat buying guide
• Top 3 Convertible Car Seats - An ok article, but about.com has a lot of other useful links, so check them out as well.
• Most Children Are Improperly Restrained

In search of car seats: 5 types of car seats

With the 4 phases of car seat information in mind, there appears to be several types of car seats out there:

• Infant car seats
• Convertible car seats
• Combo car seats
• Booster seats
• Do-it-all seats

Infant car seats are rear-facing car seats generally used by child when he’s under twenty pounds. After that, the child can then switch to a forward-facing car seat. However, the child usually outgrow an infant car seat with in 6 months, so it’s really not practical to buy this type of car seats.

Convertible car seats are ones that can convert from rear-facing to forward-facing. Given that is safer to have the child sit rear-facing, a convertible car seat should have a high rear-facing limit. For example, many of the Britax products including the Britax Roundabout have a rear-facing limit of 33 lbs.

Combination car seats combines a forward-facing car seat and a booster seat in one.

Booster seats are single-use car seats that can only be used when the child is in the 3rd phase.

The do-it-all seats combines rear-facing, forward-facing and booster seats all in one. However, these usually are very expensive and not as good as the others.

So, there appears to be a lot of choices. The best choice as I see now is a convertible car seat. However, given that I have to do some research on strollers next, I may change my mind later if I find some car seat-stroller combo or something.

I wonder what other people’s experience has been when researching this. I will post all the links I used to research this topic probably tomorrow.

Stay tuned…

In search of car seats: 4 phases of car seats

I have been assigned the task of researching car seats, strollers and infant carriers. After going through a bunch of information on the web, I am starting to get a general picture of the various type of products.

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, all children go through 4 car-riding phases.

First, the child sits in a rear-facing car seat. Rear-facing car seats are generally used by children from birth to at least 20 pounds and one year of age. However, many researches have shown that rear-facing is the safest position the child can ride in. So you should try to keep your child in a rear-facing car seat as long as you can. This means you need to find an car seat that has a much higher rear-facing limit.

Next, a child who is at least 20 pounds and one year of age can sit in forward-facing car seats. They can stay in the forward-facing car seat until about 40 pounds and approximately four years of age.

The third phase happens when the child is about 40 pounds. At this time, you should use a belt positioning booster seat until the child can sit with his or her back straight against the vehicle seat back cushion, with knees bent over the vehicle’s seat edge, without slouching (approximately 4′9″).

The last phase a child goes through is when the child sits on the car seat with the belt fitting properly. This is usually when the child reaches about 4′ 9″ in height and is between 8 to 12 years of age.

Additional information about the proper use of these car seats can be found on American Academy of Pediatrics’s Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2005.

Stay tuned….