[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by bblost

and tragedy strikes Chennai.
3-yr-old boy left inside car for three hours in city, dies - The Times of India

So unfortunate to see ignorance claiming a poor child's life.

[kadanaJ]

Few things annoy me more than seeing a mother allow her toddler to stand up and move around in the front passenger seat while she is driving.

It's bad enough irresponsible parents don't place their kids in the back-seat, but at least put a seat belt on your child.

[selfdrive]

^^ This was the most irritating point for me till I saw something else yesterday.

A Merc, a sunroof, 2 kids - mind you this is moving traffic and this happened for at least 2 kms.

The kids were already there when I saw the car first and still there when it turned into a side street at high speed. I couldn't bear to watch so stayed at a fair distance

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

This is very similar to the car seat we have.
and can definately vouch for the fact that you will be happy with this product
It's very comfortable, has a decent recline position. and is easy to wash too as it has a removable cover. The only slight drawback will be that it doesn't do upright too well. but nevertheless the folks at mothercare will be happy to give you a demo and install the car seat in your car for you.

Picked up the car seat on Friday from MotherCare @ Shopper Stop. Price: Rs 6995.
We had plans to travel the very next morning - 8-9 hour one direction.
My son sat in the seat for 95% of this time. He was very comfortable sleeping in the seat. The recline position is really good.
The upright position is not that great - as you mentioned - but putting a small pillow behind the head made him comfortable.

So far so good. I will try and post some pictures.
I am wondering if there is a way to fit the baby seat at the center in the rear bench. I just have a lap belt for that seat.

[basilmabraham]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

So far so good. I will try and post some pictures.
I am wondering if there is a way to fit the baby seat at the center in the rear bench. I just have a lap belt for that seat.

Trust me, that would be the best 7k you have spent on your car.

I had setup my sons car seat in the centre postion using the lap belt. The only problem is that the A/C vents in the centre could get pointed to the child. Our son faced this and after few hours of travelling was having a runny nose. So moved the seat back to the behind the drivers seat. The child would enjoy the center seat as he is in a commanding postion seeing the oncoming traffic. However, did not work out well for us. Try your luck.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by basilmabraham

Trust me, that would be the best 7k you have spent on your car.

I had setup my sons car seat in the centre postion using the lap belt. The only problem is that the A/C vents in the centre could get pointed to the child. Our son faced this and after few hours of travelling was having a runny nose. So moved the seat back to the behind the drivers seat. The child would enjoy the center seat as he is in a commanding postion seeing the oncoming traffic. However, did not work out well for us. Try your luck.

Can this not be resolved by directing the vents a little to the side or towards the roof?
This was my experience too, so I shut off one of the centre vents, directed the other to the roof and activated the rear AC vents (under the front seats). My son is happier in the centre rear seat due to the free entertainment on the road ahead.

For the centre seat, you could also try getting a top tether done; please check the previous pages of this thread.
PS - If you are able to get this done in Pune; let me know where you did it!

[mdsaab]

Absolutely correctly mentioned by @selfdrive
you need to get a top tether done in this case. Because the lap belt alone is actually not good enough. But where to get this done in Pune is another question. We place the car seat behind the driver's seat, so have managed to carry on without the top tether.
Directing the air flow can really be challenging especially when it comes to young children as they are more sensitive. directing the centre vents towards the front passenger and driver does help sort out this issue. But in many cases the rear does not get enough air flow and starts getting hot. So it's extremely tough to get the position of the vents spot on. try fiddling around with different vent positions till you get to the perfect compromise.

But still i would not recommend the placement in the centre with just a lap belt, either get the top tether done or place the car seat behind either front passenger or driver's seat.

If you think about it deeply though. Technically placing the child seat in the centre of the rear bench would actually work out to the safest position in the car for the child.

Am very happy that you went out and bought the child seat, and that your son is quite comfortable sitting in it. WAY TO GO DADDY!

Drive Safe!

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

So far so good. I will try and post some pictures.
I am wondering if there is a way to fit the baby seat at the center in the rear bench. I just have a lap belt for that seat.

Good decision indeed. As mdsaab and selfdrive mentioned, it may not be ideal to place the seat in the middle. I feel (and what I have observed) its best to have it placed in the left rear seat.

[smrtdvl]

Guys our angel is 5 months old and she'll be hitting the road soon along with us, can somebody direct me to the best VFM child seat ? Until I went through this thread I was thinking of keeping her in her mommy's lap at the backseat.

[basilmabraham]

I did not know about the top tether option. Anyway we placed the care seat in the center position for only few hours. Nothing happend then, will never place it there again.

My son is a little more sensitive and so he catches a cold quite easily. So positioning the vents to direct away from him does not really help.

Now a days we are facing another issue with the air in the car not being clean enough for my son. He has a tendency to be allergic to dust and long duration in the car makes him sick. I am planning to get the a/c vents cleaned this weekend, hoping this would solve the issue. But I am not sure how dirty the a/c vents can be on a 6 month old car. Also planning to open the windows for few minutes during long trips. Is there any other way to get cleaner air in the car? I had read about some ioniser that would run out of the 12v plug. Any reviews or recommendations?

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by smrtdvl

Guys our angel is 5 months old and she'll be hitting the road soon along with us, can somebody direct me to the best VFM child seat ? Until I went through this thread I was thinking of keeping her in her mommy's lap at the backseat.

It is great that you will begin to count your child as a separate person while driving in your car. For her safety, this is the basic pre requisite that you (and others in your family) should follow. IMHO, the child car seat should not be dispensable if you have to fit in another person.

Seating a child in someones lap is not safe (among other reasons) as:
- if the seatbelt is put across both the adult and the child, the child bears the brunt of the seat belt restriction every time you brake. The impact is more on their vulnerable bodies
- if the seatbelt is worn only by the adult, the child is bound to move around and even worse, more likely to be impacted by any sudden changes in motion

In fact it is advisable to start the child car seat as early as possible so that the child gets used to it as a way of life.
Please see the previous few posts in this thread for child car seats; I am not sure if the same shops/ chains are available in your city. IMHO, a few extra bucks spent on your child's comfort would go a long way in helping you clock many a safe mile together. This could also be via shorter and less number of comfort pit stops during longer drives.

Also, keep this thread updated about the buying experience in your city; it will help other prospective buyers too!

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

For the centre seat, you could also try getting a top tether done; please check the previous pages of this thread.
PS - If you are able to get this done in Pune; let me know where you did it!

I am trying to get more information on this.
I think this will require some welding in the car, right?

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Picked up the car seat on Friday from MotherCare @ Shopper Stop. Price: Rs 6995.
We had plans to travel the very next morning - 8-9 hour one direction.
My son sat in the seat for 95% of this time. He was very comfortable sleeping in the seat. The recline position is really good.
The upright position is not that great - as you mentioned - but putting a small pillow behind the head made him comfortable.

So far so good. I will try and post some pictures.
I am wondering if there is a way to fit the baby seat at the center in the rear bench. I just have a lap belt for that seat.

A few pictures of the car seat are now in my ownership thread:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2375534

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

^Checked out the following last evening:
1. Mothercare inside ShopperStop at Inorbit

Got two-three options -liked one of them
ShoppersStop.com - Mothercare Sport Car Seat - Red


2. Mom & Me:
Saw two options. The Graco seat was good - but very expensive. I did not feel it was worth Rs. 14,500. It did not recline much.

The other seat was from evenflow. This one was around Rs. 9,000. The cushioning was OK, but the head cushioning was not adjustable (there was a velcro by which it was to be attached and adjusted - not practical). The other aspect was the reclining position has to be selected before the baby is put in the seat. Again, I don't think this would be very practical when we want to recline after the baby dozes off without disturbing the baby.

3. Shopper Stop @ Wakdewadi
No seats.

4. Lifestyle @ Inorbit
Only one seat - very poor cushioning.

Most likely I would pickup the one in the link mentioned above today itself.
Only issue is that it is in red and no other colours are available.

Could not check out All For Small. It was getting late and was not on my route.

Curious - why not Chicco? Their Proxima model is quite nice and just a bit more expensive at 9k and is rather well made.

It certainly felt better than most of the stuff I've seen from Mothercare or even Graco.

[the VTEC guy]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

^Checked out the following last evening:
1. Mothercare inside ShopperStop at Inorbit

Got two-three options -liked one of them
ShoppersStop.com - Mothercare Sport Car Seat - Red


2. Mom & Me:
Saw two options. The Graco seat was good - but very expensive. I did not feel it was worth Rs. 14,500. It did not recline much.

The other seat was from evenflow. This one was around Rs. 9,000. The cushioning was OK, but the head cushioning was not adjustable (there was a velcro by which it was to be attached and adjusted - not practical). The other aspect was the reclining position has to be selected before the baby is put in the seat. Again, I don't think this would be very practical when we want to recline after the baby dozes off without disturbing the baby.

3. Shopper Stop @ Wakdewadi
No seats.

4. Lifestyle @ Inorbit
Only one seat - very poor cushioning.

Most likely I would pickup the one in the link mentioned above today itself.
Only issue is that it is in red and no other colours are available.

Could not check out All For Small. It was getting late and was not on my route.

I would also suggest Bonsai at Aundh. They stock good variety at reasonable price (compared to Mom and Me)