"Child seat" for kids

[Thad E Ginathom]

Nothing's perfect. The rear-facing child could still suffer whiplash injury in case of a car being rear-ended --- and lots are. However, we have to do the best we can, with the best gear that we can.

jinojohnt's post about head and neck is very well reasoned. Another factor can be added though, which is that the forward-facing child is thrown forward against the straps of their seat belt. True, this is a lot, perhaps life-savingly a lot, better than being thrown forward without it, but it it still a lot of pressure against a much smaller area than when a child is thrown backwards against its seat, where the whole body takes the strain.

The strain, also, can be minimised by making sure that the child's belts are absolutely snug. It's better if the child is not thrown anwhere, not even a fraction of an inch.

Imagining the following experiment should be enough...

--- Open a door an inch or two. Put your fingers against the door post, and gently flick the door shut with the other hand. You'll just catch the door.

--- Open the same door six or nine inches and flick it too on your hand. This one might get an ouch!

--- Open the same door two or three feet. Shutting it on your hand now would be almost as silly as not wearing a seat belt, or restraining your child properly, in a car.

[vb-san]

Saw this Trunki backpack / child seat (4-12 yrs) in the Mothercare store here (in Singapore). Not sure if this is available in India, but I found the concept quite interesting.

http://www.trunki.co.uk/categories/boostapak_9

[smrtdvl]

Phew finally got a rear / front facing child seat for my angel and to our surprise 90% of the times she doesn't mind sitting on it. I've heard lot of stories about all the tantrums thrown by those little warriors in order to get out of the child seat once they are put in. But for us it was a dream come true and no nightmares

Brand: Chicoo
Cost: 9500 MRP 9990



She is totally comfortable in it and we made sure she gets used to it by making my wifey sit next to her for a few initial drives and now she is all excited once I put her in the child seat as she knows that we are going out on a drive.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by smrtdvl

Phew finally got a rear / front facing child seat for my angel and to our surprise 90% of the times she doesn't mind sitting on it. I've heard lot of stories about all the tantrums thrown by those little warriors in order to get out of the child seat once they are put in. But for us it was a dream come true...

She is totally comfortable in it and we made sure she gets used to it by making my wifey sit next to her for a few initial drives and now she is all excited once I put her in the child seat as she knows that we are going out on a drive.

Please persist with it even if she throws the occasional tantrum. it's important, and will become as natural as wearing a seat belt is to us.

[arvind71181]

I have got a car seat which I am using for my 3 month old. The seat can be used both as a forward and rear facing one. Right now it is being used as a rear facing one. I just wanted to know if there are any general guidelines on when the rear facing one has to be changed to be forward facing. Thanks

[bblost]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

I have got a car seat which I am using for my 3 month old. The seat can be used both as a forward and rear facing one. Right now it is being used as a rear facing one. I just wanted to know if there are any general guidelines on when the rear facing one has to be changed to be forward facing. Thanks

The child seat, I have, has a sticker that recommends using it rear facing till the child weighs at least 10 kilos.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by bblost

The child seat, I have, has a sticker that recommends using it rear facing till the child weighs at least 10 kilos.

Thank you. One more query which I had. How will I tie the seat belts around the same car seat when it becomes a forward facing one? Right now I am able to take my seat belt around the specific points where I have to fit them but I fail to comprehend how the same can be done when the seat is forward facing. How do we do this?

[bblost]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Thank you. One more query which I had. How will I tie the seat belts around the same car seat when it becomes a forward facing one? Right now I am able to take my seat belt around the specific points where I have to fit them but I fail to comprehend how the same can be done when the seat is forward facing. How do we do this?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post2478250 ("Child seat" for kids)

If you look closely you can see red dots and blue dots.

The seat belt runs thru red dots when seat is forward facing and blue dots when rear facing.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by smrtdvl

She is totally comfortable in it and we made sure she gets used to it by making my wifey sit next to her for a few initial drives and now she is all excited once I put her in the child seat as she knows that we are going out on a drive.

Good to hear about this.
But, based on the photo, it seems that there is lot of lateral movement of head possible.
I think an inside cushion/ pad would be supplied with the car seat.
Why aren't you using that? It will reduce the free space for lateral movement of head, plus the padding will be very soft compared to the padding at the sides (where the baby's head is resting in the photo).

[smrtdvl]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Good to hear about this.
But, based on the photo, it seems that there is lot of lateral movement of head possible.
I think an inside cushion/ pad would be supplied with the car seat.
Why aren't you using that? It will reduce the free space for lateral movement of head, plus the padding will be very soft compared to the padding at the sides (where the baby's head is resting in the photo).

Yeah there was a cushion supplied along with it. In fact the cushion is super soft compared to the sides. But it reduces the seating place so I thought it's better to remove it but will give it a try again.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by smrtdvl

Yeah there was a cushion supplied along with it. In fact the cushion is super soft compared to the sides. But it reduces the seating place so I thought it's better to remove it but will give it a try again.

The idea is to fit them babies snug and cosy in the car seat. and not leave any space around
I recommend putting it in there as soon as you can. Once the child is used to the extra space, he/ she may start tugging at the cushion to remove it!

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by bblost

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post2478250 ("Child seat" for kids)

If you look closely you can see red dots and blue dots.

The seat belt runs thru red dots when seat is forward facing and blue dots when rear facing.

Went yesterday and checked out my child seat and saw that it is only a rear facing seat and I can keep my daughter in the seat till she reaches 13kgs. Assuming that the kgs will equate to around a year, I am now having a doubt of whether the child will be able to fit into the rear facing seat for that long. Guess I will have to buy another one for her soon

[bblost]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Went yesterday and checked out my child seat and saw that it is only a rear facing seat and I can keep my daughter in the seat till she reaches 13kgs. Assuming that the kgs will equate to around a year, I am now having a doubt of whether the child will be able to fit into the rear facing seat for that long. Guess I will have to buy another one for her soon

Most kids are just around 8-10 kilos on their first birthday.

[dynomite]

Well my son is about 9 months old and he weighs 9kgs.

The car seat that we have is a rear facing Graco (see below) - problem is not the weight, but that he is getting too long for it.



Each car seat has a particular specification (weight/age range) - he is within the weight range for the seat, but we will still need to get a forward facing one because he is getting too long for it.

I saw a forward facing seat from Chicco that can adjust - from 9kg onwards, all the way up to 16kg. Costs Rs 9k, but worth it IMO.

cheers

[S_U_N]

^Talking about height of child, my kid (3 years, 13 KG, 3 ft) still getting used to the child car seat (after 8 months).
Of late, we find that there is no place to rest his legs which keep hanging in front of the child seat and behind the driver seat.
So, whenever possible, we put a small plastic basket behind the driver seat and below his legs. This gives him some support to rest his legs and is useful for long journeys.
What works for us:
1.He is more comfortable when AC cooling is increased.
2. We put thin cotten towels on both windows to prevent sun rays from getting in (our sunfilms are 5 year old)
3. We put a small square pillow behind his head to give him some head support.
4. We have also removed the inner cushion, but our child is much bigger and really cannot fit in with the cushion in place.