Is there an EU approved FF 5 pt harness seat for high weight limit?

FrauS · Feb 4, 2009

I live in Germany and it seems all the seats sold here only go up to 18 KG before you lose the harness completely and have to go to a booster.

Is there a FF seat for my 4 YO that will harness for a good while yet approved in the EU?

DS2 (2yo) is still RF in his Wavo seat and will be for a while yet but I need a FF seat for DS1.

Any help would be appreciated. I think there are some Swedish seats maybe but I can't understand Swedish.

Oops I meant EU in the title.

mommytojoshmadty · Feb 4, 2009

The only one that i know about is the special needsd britax traveller seat. Not widely available and only ever marketed as a special needs seat, but looks very much like the regent in the USA.

Jennifer mom to my 7 · Feb 4, 2009

I "might" be able to find out. It may take a day or 2 though. there is a lady on another board I frequent who also lives in Germany, and I go to her for all my German info

I know that the swedish seats just started getting there, and that the erf info is getting out in Germany also. I also know she uses a radian

I will see what I can find out for you.

finn · Feb 4, 2009

The Swedish two way elite (i think its called) rear faces to 25kg, I think it also harness forward facing to 25kg as well.

You could pm adventuredad he'd definitely be able to tell you

ketchupqueen · Feb 4, 2009

Someone in a thread about the Multi-Tech said that they saw it in Germany, and that seat will rear- or forward-face until 55 lbs.

finn · Feb 4, 2009

The multi tech only forward faces to 18kg / 40lbs then it becomes a booster. It rear faces to 25kg / 55lbs.

Adventuredad · Feb 5, 2009

The only seat in Europe which can handle forward facing in a harness past 18 kg (40 lbs) is Britax Two-Way. It's certified ECE R44 rev 03. It's a great combination seat which is very popular with foreigners, especially Americans. It can handle rear facing to 55 lbs (25 kg) lbs, forward facing with harness to 55 lbs, and forward facing with seat belt (as a high back booster) to 55 lbs.

The seat also has a high seat shell, 60 cm (just under 24 inches) which usually allows rear facing to at least 4 years of age. The only Swedish seat with a higher seat shell is Britax Multi Tech whis is 24.5 inches. Multi Tech has the same features as Two-Way but can only handle forward facing to 18 kg (40 lbs).

Britax Traveller Plus is a special needs seat which is extremely unusual and weighs a ton. It's not really an option IMHO.

If you need any more information regarding Swedish seats, please feel free to PM me or email me at ad@adventuredad.com (I'm located in Sweden)

FrauS · Feb 5, 2009

Thank you for all the info. I do have two Radians for travel and use back in the US but well, we all know they are illegal here. Hasn't stopped me from using them a few times but I would like to be legal if I can since we are not military!

I'll do some research and will probably come back with more questions once DH returns from a business trip and we make a decision.

Again thanks!

Eclipsepearl · Feb 8, 2009

I had the same problem here in France. I too, bought a Radian for my dd.

Sunshine Kids told me they wont sell the Radians here in Europe because there is no approval for 5 point harnesses past 18 kilos. Since this is one of the main marketing points, they don't bother. They did say they got approval though (can't prove that).

So that's why there are no higher harnessed seats here in Europe (except for Sweden, as far as I know).

Btw, I've driven in both Germany and France with the Radian (also a Scenera and Sit-n-Stroll) and the police couldn't care less. Heck, with the scary car seat use (or lack of here) they're just happy to see a child strapped in...

Adventuredad · Feb 8, 2009

Any seat can be tested and approved, it's just a question of strategy and money. Europeans don't use harnessed seats for older kids mainly because Swedish researchers say high back boosters are as safe. This works great in Sweden, where kids sit rf until age 4-5 and then switch to a booster. It does not work well in other countries since parents put kids who are way too young in boosters. It's not safe to have a 2-3 year old in a booster.

The Swedish seats are of course certified for Europe, ECE R44, but like in many other countries the information about rf benefits is not widely known outside of Sweden

Many countries in Europe have poor habits regarding car seat safety just like US. The further south you go, the worse it is......

It's already bad in Germany so you can just imagine how it is in Italy and Greece

The other day a very proud German father showed me photos of his daughter. He was especially proud she was now old enough to sit in the front seat without a booster and only using a seat belt. His daughter was 2 freaking years old......

FrauS · Feb 8, 2009

I can not tell you how many times, when picking DS1 (4) up from kindergarten(preschool) that parents just open the car doors and let their children climb in, front and back seats and do not buckle them into their carseat or seatbelt them. I know that this is a neighborhood preschool and so the farthest ride is 5 minutes on back roads but I can not drive 10 ft without my kids being buckled in properly. I just can't because what if someone ran that one stop sign, which I see happen often enough.

DH wants to just use the Radian and save money but I want to at least have one legal seat per child here.

Our friends all think we are crazy to still have DS2 2y4m RF. They placed their children FF at 8 months.

Adventuredad I will be contacting you with a few questions shortly.
Thanks again.

Is there an EU approved FF 5 pt harness seat for high weight limit?

FrauS

New member

mommytojoshmadty

New member

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member

finn

New member

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

finn

New member

Adventuredad

New member

FrauS

New member

Eclipsepearl

New member

Adventuredad

New member

FrauS

New member

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Sponsors

Forum statistics