Question Moving to Netherlands, seat recommendations?

beckyjenner

New member
Hi all,

There is a good chance we will be moving to the Netherlands (Holland) in the next few months. I am looking for recommendations for car seats once we arrive. These are my children (or approximately will be when we arrive):

11 month old ~18lbs
3 year old ~27lbs
6 year old ~50lbs

Now I would really like to keep my youngest RF for as long as possible, but it seems that there are not a heck of a lot of seats in the EU that are convertible. Either that or I am looking at pay 350 EU for a seat. So I would be hoping to find something like a convertible to 65lbs, a toddler to big boy seat from 22lbs to booster, and a booster. Something like that...

Does anyone have some good recomendations? Big things for me are head support for sleeping as we do travel quite a bit, easy instalation, and SIP.

Thanks for everyone's help in advance.
 
ADS

Adventuredad

New member
- Your oldest will be fine in a regular high back booster. Britax Adventure would be a cheap and good alternative. Safest sat would be a Bitax Kid Fix, if your vehicle has Isofix.

- Your two younger ones should ideally be rear facing. One alternative for a convertible seat is Britax Two-Way which which can be used rear facing and forward facing until 25 kg (55 lbs). It has a tall seat shell so kids can use it until 5-6 years and a height of about 25 cm (50 inches). It's also the only seat in Europe allowing harnessing forward facing until 55 lbs in case you prefer that instead of using a seat belt in later years (safety is the same for both methods).

Do you know what car you will be driving?
 

beckyjenner

New member
No we don't yet know what kid of car we will be driving. Likely we will have a company rental for the first while. I have a bit of time to scout carseats for the kids. The folks from the expat community said it was all right to use my North American seats in the Netherlands for no longer than 3 months (I hope this is correct). The problem I have is I have three big seats that will not likely fit in most (if any european car). I have a RF Britax Boulavard, a FF Frontier and a graco booster, all wide seats.

So I need to get all the information that I can in case I can't get the seats to install properly and have to run out and quickly buy something.

My other question would be, what make and model of vehicle in the Netherlands would i be able to get and fit three car seats in?

I lived in the Netherlands in 2004-2005 and only had one child then so our toyota 5 door hatchback was fine, but I am not so sure something like that would fit all three of my kids....

thanks for your hele
 

Adventuredad

New member
Using US seats in Europe is illegal, doesn't matter if it's for a day as a tourist or a year as an expat. All seats must be approved ECE R44 to be used.

Let me also mention that chance of anyone noticing you are not using ECE R44 approved seats is basically zero. Just like using ECE R44 seats in US.

When fitting three seats it helps if one of them is a FF booster. It's difficult to say which seats will fit without narrowing down choices and knowing type of car.

Three seats across is in general not a good idea and we try to avoid it. One issue is difficult of buckling/entering child in middle rear. Another is to have one child behind drivers seat. Overall we count on safety being the same for all positions in the car. But using space behind drivers seat means entering/exiting children in traffic which is never a good idea. A tall driver could also complicate things.

Using front seat with deactivated airbag would be your best choice. It's practical for space and as safe as the rear. A large percentage of cars in Europe have a button/switch for airbag, having this in your car will be a good idea. Placing youngest child in front seat normally works best but the other children will be just as safe in the front as well compared to the rear.
 

Morganthe

New member
So I need to get all the information that I can in case I can't get the seats to install properly and have to run out and quickly buy something.

My other question would be, what make and model of vehicle in the Netherlands would i be able to get and fit three car seats in?

I lived in the Netherlands in 2004-2005 and only had one child then so our toyota 5 door hatchback was fine, but I am not so sure something like that would fit all three of my kids....

Since you've lived there before, you're probably aware that driving a larger vehicle isn't that difficult. (unless you're driving in downtown Amsterdam :p) It's not like being in Italy where roads are extremely narrow and vehicles are double parked as a matter of course. In fact, I like the roads up north. Fascinating to keep an eye on the GPS altitude level. Driving under sea level is a bit unnerving. ;)

I don't know if you'll be looking for a minivan or a wagon, but if you take a manufacturer's name and add .nl to it (mazda.nl) you'll come up with their website. My German neighbors somehow fit 3 seats (rfing convertible, booster + harness FF'd) into their Citroen Picasso. It's considered a 'large' vehicle, but it's very strange to see them all fit like that. My US passat wagon is a bigger car, but I don't see it happening. :eek:

Road & Traffic Safety Ministry page might help you with information. Personally, I wouldn't worry about using US seats over there for however long you decide to do so. No one is going to stop and scrutinize what seat you have... the Police are too busy for that kind of enforcement. As long as your children are safe & secure, they'll leave you alone. I have to say, it's so nice not being paranoid about the Police while driving as I am in the States.

Where in the Netherlands are you headed? If you're on the border with Belgium or Germany, your shopping choices might have more options.
 

newyorkDOC

New member
If you're expating there shouldn't the company pay for new seats? Or are you military?

They actually sell the nautilus in Europe but with different weight/height specs. Not that I recommend FF the 3yo... I was just reiterating AD's point that no one will notice in all likelihood.
 

beckyjenner

New member
We will be living in the Northern Netherlands. Either Assen or Groningen (my sons school will be in Groningen and my husband will be working in Assen, so we have to decide which area to live in). So yes we will be very close to the German border. So most seats that sell in the Netherlands (for example at Assen's Baby Planet) are FF from 9 months, which I am very much not happy with! When we lived there in the past my son had a Maxi Cosi Priori XP which he was in before a year. As parents at the time we didn't know any better and believed that lady in the store. I am so thankful that we never got in an accident while he was in that seat while FF.

The reason we want to buy new seats is we want to leave our North American seats here at my moms house for when we come home for visits. The reason for this is that airlines now charge for you to take a car seat (unless you child sits in them on the plane). So having car seats both places is just less hassle (especially since there is a good chance I will be traveling with my three kids by myself many times).

I am hoping to get a mini van or wagon type vehicle while we are living there. We will either lease (if we qualify) or buy a used vehicle.

Anyone have suggestions for a type of van or wagon to fit my family?
 

beckyjenner

New member
Oh an we are trying to work the cost of the car seats in to the contract when we move...so I am really not that worried about price. Here in Canada all but one of my seats are one of the most expensive seats available here....I would rather my child be the safest they can be, the seat be easy to use and install and the seat have a long expiry life (like Britax Boulavard and Frontier are 9 years here). So not only are you getting a great seat, but also a long life seat....well worth the money as far as I am concerned....
 

mylittlet

Senior Community Member
The boulevard is only good for 6 years.

What are your plans for air travel? The 2 younger kids need some kind of seat on the plane. They won't fit the seatbelt.

Are you planning on getting the baby his own seat on the plane?

Stefanie, cpst in iowa - mom to 4 great kids
 

newyorkDOC

New member
AFAIK there are very few places that sell the Swedish seats and I think those are pretty much the only ones in Europe that will allow ERF. So your choices are basically the ones AD sells. I think that the only one he doesn't carry is the britax fixway.

Re: airlines - they should not charge you to bring you seat(s). This summer I flew NYC-Milan with delta and I brought TWO seats and only one child. I brought one on board and checked one in a box. I didn't pay for either (DD was ticketed). Car seats are considered special items just like strollers.
 

beckyjenner

New member
The flights are yet to be figured. I am hoping to get the baby a seat on the plane as it make our lives as parents so much easier :). Also yes we would likely take carseats on the plane. The problem arises when i am traveling alone with three kids and two carseats and there are no direct flights from the Netherlands to where we are from. Therefore this means hauling carseats during layovers. I may end up dealing with this regardless, but that is for the future to see.

right now I am just more concerned with what decent seat I can get in Holland or even in Germany. I have talked to some other Expats there and they say Swedish seats are very hard to get there, but I am not happy with what I see at the local baby stores as very few RF after 9 months.

This is what I see on the local sites:

Stage 1 & 2
RecaroYoung Sport
Storchmuhle Starlight

Stage 1

Maxi-Cosi Pearl
Romer King Plus
Maxi-Cosi Tobi
Maxi-Cosi Axis
Maxi-Cosi Priori SPS
Romer Duoplus

Stage 2
Romer Kidfix
Romer Kid Plus
Cybex Solution X
Maxi-Cosi Rodi

SO far this is what I found from baby stores i am familiar with in the Netherlands.
 

newyorkDOC

New member
Is your infant still in a bucket seat?
If so I would probably use either a ride safer travel vest or CARES harnesses for the two older ones in flight. Bring a seat for the baby. Order 3 seats from AD to be ready and installed into the car by your DH (who will already be there?). If you don't want to pre-order the seats, you could use the vests and infant seat while you look around. The vests will need a 3 Pt seatbelt since most cars in Europe don't have top tethers.
 

beckyjenner

New member
Yeah I am thinking the best plan is to order from AD and have my Dh install for when we get there....He will likely be there 6 weeks before we arrive...No my infant is not in the bucket anymore...she is in the boulavard. We travel alot and she was not happy in the small seat....
 

mylittlet

Senior Community Member
newyorkDOC said:
Is your infant still in a bucket seat?
If so I would probably use either a ride safer travel vest or CARES harnesses for the two older ones in flight. Bring a seat for the baby. Order 3 seats from AD to be ready and installed into the car by your DH (who will already be there?). If you don't want to pre-order the seats, you could use the vests and infant seat while you look around. The vests will need a 3 Pt seatbelt since most cars in Europe don't have top tethers.

The older kids could use the CARES on the plane. The safe rider vest is for car use only.

Stefanie, cpst in iowa - mom to 4 great kids
 

Adventuredad

New member
- My preference for flights have always been lap baby and later on child without car seat. Using a car seat on the plane is irrelevant for safety which is very clear from all stats. Car seats on the ground is the priority.

- Netherlands is like most other countries in the world 30 years behind in car seat safety. It's all forward facing seats. The earlier the better is the mentality in Netherlands. FF at 9 months is considered great.

- Britax Fixway is no longer sold. It's a safe seat but not a good technical solution since it uses Isofix and also tether straps. The seats are large and child is sitting in a weird position. Fixway is similar to Recaro Polaric which also isn't a "real Isofix" seat since it also is using tether straps.
 

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