Crash tests

[Jdefazio1]

I have several questions. Currently, I'm looking for a convertible car seat for my 15 month old. She's small and I'd like to keep her rear facing as long as possible. She's in a britax chaperon that we will pass to our newborn in July. I was pretty set on britax again but in looking around I'm not so sure. The recaro pro ride seems like it is more thoroughly crash tested as it is tested by adac for side impact. Does anyone know if britax is? And does this mean anything?

Consumer reports only gives the two very good for crash tests, not excellent. And I'm wondering if anyone know why. The two convertible seats that cr gives excellent crash test ratings to do not get very good reviews on amazon. Why are some discrediting these crash test ratings from cr and where are they getting that info.

Bottom line, I'm looking for the carseat with the best crash test ratings. Can we find that info anywhere? And could someone comment on britax advocate vs recaro proride?

 

[wendytthomas]

Hi there.

There are no crash test scores released. That's why you're not finding anything. They all pass FMVSS213, which are the standards in the US. Testing or passing something else really doesn't mean anything since it's in a vacuum.

Neither the Britax nor ProRide are very well recommended here. The Britaxes are very short and expensive for what you buy. They're safe, but they may not rear face as long as you'd like. To give you an idea, they get most kids to about a 3T shirt.

The ProRides are taller, and on paper look amazing. But in real life they end up being very annoying for a lot of parents to use. They have less leg room than the Britaxes (which is saying something) and sit up on a higher base and have deep sides. So it's hard to lift kids in because there's not much space between the wings and the doorframe/backseat. There also isn't a lot of leg room. It's like trying to button up your jeans with your knees in your teeth. Doable, but if you could find a place where you could put your legs down that'd be easier day in and day out.

Both seats are safe and pass all tests. But if you give us your child's weight, shirt size, budget, and what car it'll be going into, we can probably give you recommendations that may be easier and longer lasting.

Wendy

 

[Jdefazio1]

Hi there.

There are no crash test scores released. That's why you're not finding anything. They all pass FMVSS213, which are the standards in the US. Testing or passing something else really doesn't mean anything since it's in a vacuum.

Neither the Britax nor ProRide are very well recommended here. The Britaxes are very short and expensive for what you buy. They're safe, but they may not rear face as long as you'd like. To give you an idea, they get most kids to about a 3T shirt.

The ProRides are taller, and on paper look amazing. But in real life they end up being very annoying for a lot of parents to use. They have less leg room than the Britaxes (which is saying something) and sit up on a higher base and have deep sides. So it's hard to lift kids in because there's not much space between the wings and the doorframe/backseat. There also isn't a lot of leg room. It's like trying to button up your jeans with your knees in your teeth. Doable, but if you could find a place where you could put your legs down that'd be easier day in and day out.

Both seats are safe and pass all tests. But if you give us your child's weight, shirt size, budget, and what car it'll be going into, we can probably give you recommendations that may be easier and longer lasting.

Wendy

Thanks for the info! My daughter is 16 months old and weighs about 23 lbs. She is currently wearing 12-18 months although still can fit into some 6-12 month old things--she's petite. We will be using the seat in a Volkswagen toureg. And the only reason we are moving her out of the britax chaperone is because we will be needing to put her baby brother in it in July. She still fits the chaperone just fine. What are the more highly recommended car seats on here? I'm still just learning to navigate the site.

 

[MommyShannon]

Here are some good recommendations. http://carseatblog.com/carseatblogcoms-recommended-car-seats/
I wouldn't rule out Britax for a petite child. They are shorter, but really nice and easy to install. I love Britax seats while my kids are little. I want to rf until 4. I'm not sure if my 3 year old will fit that long or not. She has a True Fit as her main seat and our baby uses the Britax seats now. The Radian, NextFit, graco Size4Me/MySize70, and Foonf are recommended for their height.

 

[Jdefazio1]

Thanks for the info. This may be my third reply. It looked like the first two didnt send

I did more research and decided I want to rear face as long as possible. I was sold on the graco my size 70 until I read the reviews on amazon. Some of them went so far as to say it needed to be recalled. Apparently the harness gets stuck behind the car seat and it makes it feel like the straps are tight enough when they really aren't. Have you heard anything about this? And do you know I graco fixed the problem?

 

[wendytthomas]

If you get a seat that has that problem (it's not universal) then you call them and they'll send out a new seat. So it's often not a dealbreaker for many parents, and most don't keep getting seat after seat after seat that's defective.

Wendy

 

[Jdefazio1]

If you get a seat that has that problem (it's not universal) then you call them and they'll send out a new seat. So it's often not a dealbreaker for many parents, and most don't keep getting seat after seat after seat that's defective.

Wendy

Thank you! I was also wondering if you thought the recaro performance ride had any more leg room than the proride... Would you consider it extended rear facing? It's going in a toureg for my 16 month old who is 5th percentile for height and weight. I'm still hung up on the whole race car thing. They must know how to protect. .

 

[wendytthomas]

They have the same amount of legroom. Recaro child seats and Recaro race seats share a name. Otherwise they're practically two companies. I met someone who worked for Recaro recently. I was so disappointed when he told me how segmented the company was. He worked in airplane seat sales and barely knew they made carseats.


Wendy

 

[AK Dad]

I've got both the Foonf and the Radian RXT - they're both great seats and will prob get your 5th percentile kiddo to Kindergarten RFd!

The Foonf is an excellent piece of equipment - pros are heigh weight and height limits, built in anti-rebound, and a wonderfully smooth and easy to tighten harness adjuster. Cons are it's a bit complicated, very heavy, and expensive, and very tall in RF config (if installing in car with low roofline it will be very close to the ceiling.)

Radian is also a great seat - build quality is well above average, but nothing comes close to the Foonf. Pros are much more portable (folds flat) and good height/weight limits (both seats limit at <44" standing height, but the Foonf has a bit more torso height available for the 1" rule.) Biggest con is the harness adjuster, which is annoyingly difficult to tighten, plus the lack of built in seatbelt lock offs. I personally think SuperLATCH is awesome (use up to 80lbs with post sept 05 vehicles) but some people don't trust it.

Bottom line, if you travel much, go Radian, if you don't and price is no object, Foonf!

 

[wendytthomas]

Radian is also a great seat - build quality is well above average, but nothing comes close to the Foonf.

Do you have links where I can read about this, please?

Wendy

 

[Jdefazio1]

They have the same amount of legroom. Recaro child seats and Recaro race seats share a name. Otherwise they're practically two companies. I met someone who worked for Recaro recently. I was so disappointed when he told me how segmented the company was. He worked in airplane seat sales and barely knew they made carseats.

Wendy

Ug. That is disappointing. But helpful for me. Graco it is. Thank you

 

[LISmama810]

I'm not sure being a segmented company is a bad thing. It doesn't mean they do anything wrong or "less" with their individual segments. Isn't Graco owned by Rubbermaid? I'm sure the container people and car seat people know almost nothing of each others' products, but Graco makes good seats and Rubbermaid makes good containers.

 

[AK Dad]

Do you have links where I can read about this, please?

Wendy

Sorry, should have specified just specified that's my subjective opinion - just feels significantly more "substantial" than anything else I've been hands-on with. Whether that translates into "safer" is of course debatable ...

 

[ald2012]

We just got the NEXTFIT which rear faces with a lot more room still available in our medium sized SUV. The only thing I don't like about it is that the harness is a little hard to tighten but hopefully it will loosen up over time. We looked at the Foonf and my physicist husband liked it, but ultimately the chicco fit our car better, is very very well made, and much more affordable. After we've had it for a while, we are probably going to get one for our secondary car, since it isn't $400. We considered the Graco My size 70 but just seems so much cheaper in quality. The Chico goes up to 40# rf and because of the way the head rest is designed should go up taller than the other small seats. The Recaro, Maxi Cosi, and radian were all too tall for our cars rf.