[selfdrive]

Yes, the rear centre seat is supposed to be the safest if everyone else is also buckled up and there is not other unsecured luggage or objects (even on the dashboard etc). The only case where it is unsafe is in the case of external objects piercing the front windshield such as from tailing a truck laden with iron rods or bamboos for example.

Nevertheless, a child is only safe in the car seat if it has been secured properly according to instructions. Else he would be at more risk than if he was just buckled up in the normal seat. This is what I have been told in several countries (not India of course!)

I gave a lift to my manager once. He looked at the child car seat and told me it was very nice and if I got it made to order. (kahaan se banwaaya?!)

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by aneezan

Hey guys, I just got a used child seat for my 3 year old son from a close friend of mine. However, I am unable to figure out how to install it in my car. Could you please help me with a link for installation steps or instructions for various types of child seats?

Hope you have figured it out already. If not done and if you are near to HSR Layout area, I can help. I've been using car seats for last 5 years.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Yes, the rear centre seat is supposed to be the safest if everyone else is also buckled up and there is not other unsecured luggage or objects (even on the dashboard etc). if I got it made to order. (kahaan se banwaaya?!)

I haven't been able to source a child seat that can be fitted in the rear centre. Checked at Mom n Me , they are clueless.

Any idea on where can I order these from ?

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Www.precared.com also sells these child seats. They buy used products , sanitise them and rate them on their website buses on the wear m tear.

I saw products worth 12000 INR being sold for 4-6.5 k INR. Though I haven't bought from the. , like their customer service response to my emails.

Wow !! Just stumbled upon this thread and post, when I needed the most !!
I have a 4 months old kid and was checking some of the child seats at Mom n Me and My Baby Store in Bangalore. Things were in the super pricey range !! This website just fits the bill. The only thing that puts me to thinking is the durability of these refurbished seats. My wife asked me a question which made me a bit emotional.
She asked "How do you know that one of those seats is not extracted from a wrecked vehicle ?"
So my ask is, how durable are these seats ?
I would prefer a giveaway car seat from someone known. Or rather, put in a huge sum and get a safe brand new seat.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Wow !! Just stumbled upon this thread and post, when I needed the most !!
I have a 4 months old kid and was checking some of the child seats at Mom n Me and My Baby Store in Bangalore. Things were in the super pricey range !! This website just fits the bill. The only thing that puts me to thinking is the durability of these refurbished seats. My wife asked me a question which made me a bit emotional.
She asked "How do you know that one of those seats is not extracted from a wrecked vehicle ?"
So my ask is, how durable are these seats ?
I would prefer a giveaway car seat from someone known. Or rather, put in a huge sum and get a safe brand new seat.

Hey,
I am in the same boat..searching for a good car seat for my 7 day old one. I was thinking of buying one a bit later, but had a scary braking experience yesterday on our first Dr visit and decided to buy one right away.

I agree with you that a good one is pricey. What we need is a rear facing one and I find it difficult to get a good rear facing one in the sub 5000 range. I was told that JC road in Bglr has some shops where car seats are relatively cheap, planning to checkout JC road tomorrow

The second option is pre owned one. My suggestion is to stay away from online shops where you cant inspect in person. I heard about a guy who does the same refurbishing work near Whitefiled, I am waiting for more info. I will passon his details as I find it.

Regarding your wife's Q. Once you inspect a used car seat, you can easily make it out. Car seats are made out of hard plastic pieces. In case of a major wreck affecting a car seat, it will leave its marks on the car seat in terms of breakage or deep scratches which cannot be repaired due to the fact that its hard plastic. So my suggestion - Stay away from used car seats which has cuts or deep scars or missing major pieces. People handle car seats gently because most of the time a baby will be inside and such marks cannot come from normal use. A physical inspection is a must after removing all the padding/soft materials.

I happened to see car seat in action and how it saved 2 kids who are close to my family while in US 3 years back. My friends 2009 Camry hit a median @ 70mph and did somersault 3 times before finally coming to a rest. Car was totalled. Only impact was a broken small finger for him due to the airbag deployment. His wife, 6 year old daughter and 1 yr old daughter literally walked out; thanks to Camry's structural rigidity, seat belts and car seats. We inspected the car seats afterwards and found that the booster seat had some scratches and rear facing one was in perfect shape. The police officer also suggested (unofficially) that they can continue to use those car seats. They were so thankful to those car seats and continued to use it for 2 more years until their return to India.

My car seat usage for last 5 years also taught me that fixing a car seat in the right way is as important as the car seat itself and a properly fixed low priced car seat is much better than a loosely fixed high priced one. its like a helmet - if one don't buckle it, his/her chance of survival is lean.

Also try to buy one which could be converted as front facing with a larger weight rating.That way your total cost of ownership over the next 4-5 yrs will be less eventhough you spend high initially. Booster seats are cheap to buy and need not be considered now.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

I haven't been able to source a child seat that can be fitted in the rear centre. Checked at Mom n Me , they are clueless.

Any idea on where can I order these from ?

I don't think its safe to secure child seats with the lap belt in the rear middle seat. The best option will be to fit it on the outer seats, as per the instructions provided in the manual.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by vb-san

I don't think its safe to secure child seats with the lap belt in the rear middle seat. The best option will be to fit it on the outer seats, as per the instructions provided in the manual.

if attached properly, rear middle is the safest and recommended place for a rear facing car seat as it is the farthest place in the car in a front or side impact.
The problem in India is that not many B & C segment cars have no anchor/provision to attach the top tether. I worked around this in our Indigo by achoring at the rear seat base over the seat.

In US, one can get the car seat fixing inspected by the local police officers free of cost. Its completely optional. When I went for my car seat check, they suggested me to move the rear facing car seat to the middle.

The following link should help
http://thecarseatlady.wordpress.com/...01-the-basics/

[amit1234singla]

Originally Posted by arjithin

if attached properly, rear middle is the safest and recommended place for a rear facing car seat as it is the farthest place in the car in a front or side impact.

This is true provided you have a 3 point belt in the rear middle seat or proper anchoring points for the seat. Not available in majority of Indian cars so usual preference becomes rear side seats. I think one should prefer a properly secured child seat at rear side than a not so properly secured one at rear middle.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by arjithin

if attached properly, rear middle is the safest and recommended place for a rear facing car seat as it is the farthest place in the car in a front or side impact.
The problem in India is that not many B & C segment cars have no anchor/provision to attach the top tether. I worked around this in our Indigo by achoring at the rear seat base over the seat.

Agreed, and the highlighted bit from the quoted post is the key. Currently, in the cars sold in India, this comes as a luxury and is only available in cars which cost 15 lakhs or above (Jetta, Fluence etc.).

The example you have provided (from your own experience) is indeed a workaround, and when it comes to childseats my recommendation will be to avoid any kind of workarounds, and follow the instructions as provided in the manufacturer's user manual.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Agreed, and the highlighted bit from the quoted post is the key. Currently, in the cars sold in India, this comes as a luxury and is only available in cars which cost 15 lakhs or above (Jetta, Fluence etc.).

The example you have provided (from your own experience) is indeed a workaround, and when it comes to child seats my recommendation will be to avoid any kind of workarounds, and follow the instructions as provided in the manufacturer's user manual.

I guess we both are on same page, except on how willing to go for workaround. For me a proper knot on the rear seat frame is as good as the clip on the strap; hence I prefer the middle seat. I make sure that the car seat doesnt move sideways or front more than a finger width under heavy pressure. We loose the practicality of the clip, but thats the price of the middle seat fixing.

For someone without proper knowledge on how to properly fix the car seat, following manufactures guidelines and fixing it in side seat may workout better than incorrectly fixing it in the center seat.

Any idea which cars in the B&C segment comes with LATCH as standard? Someone mentioned Ertiga has it, not sure if its correct.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Any idea which cars in the B&C segment comes with LATCH as standard? Someone mentioned Ertiga has it, not sure if its correct.

I had written to Graco ,they said child seats can be fitted in the rear center if there is a lap belt in the middle. I think most new cars have these lap belts in the rear

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Wow !! Just stumbled upon this thread and post, when I needed the most !!

Originally Posted by arjithin

Hey,
I am in the same boat..searching for a good car seat for my 7 day old one. I was thinking of buying one a bit later, but had a scary braking experience yesterday on our first Dr visit and decided to buy one right away.

I agree with you that a good one is pricey. What we need is a rear facing one and I find it difficult to get a good rear facing one in the sub 5000 range. I was told that JC road in Bglr has some shops where car seats are relatively cheap, planning to checkout JC road tomorrow

You can check at first cry as well,
http://www.firstcry.com/strollers,-p...FZF04god6ywADQ

10 months back, I was able to find a good one at MomandMe for Rs.3600( can be used upto 10-13Kg or 9-15 months). My son is very comfortable with this one. We have done few long drives as well without any issues. Check the below link for pics,
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post2984658

Also, it is better to buy at the earliest so that the kid will get used to the child seat. Buying late means, they will start resisting.

Also try to buy one which could be converted as front facing with a larger weight rating.That way your total cost of ownership over the next 4-5 yrs will be less eventhough you spend high initially. Booster seats are cheap to buy and need not be considered now.

Even I was looking for a covertible model. But I was not convinced with the recline position especially when we are going to use it for a one month old baby. Hence I went ahead with a 0-15 months old one which had a better recline position for infants.

[BackInTheFold]

Try Mothercare also. We bought one car seat from there which has been great VFM. We also use it for our trips by air since it is fairly light. The other car seat is a Graco convertible, which I highly recommend. I bought one in the US with the ISOFIX option and it can be solidly secured if your car has the provision.

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Also try to buy one which could be converted as front facing with a larger weight rating.That way your total cost of ownership over the next 4-5 yrs will be less eventhough you spend high initially. Booster seats are cheap to buy and need not be considered now.

Thanks a lot arjithin for clearing some of my dilemas. I am still struggling with understanding the difference between a regular car seat and a booster car seat ? I googled a bit, but unable to understand much. Any insights ?

Originally Posted by arun_josie

You can check at first cry as well,
http://www.firstcry.com/strollers,-p...FZF04god6ywADQ

Thanks a lot Arun. I checked the seats. Prices have hiked, but still within affordable ranges. I am seeing the various options and the pricing. I will be visiting Mom n Me (in BTM) near my house to see the various safety features of different models.

Also, it is better to buy at the earliest so that the kid will get used to the child seat. Buying late means, they will start resisting.

Ahh, we never thought of that. Indeed they could start resisting as they grow up !

After going through couple of posts in this thread, I have made up my mind to buy a car seat that is fully capable of front and rear facing.
I had thought of buying a model which I could carry also, but then dropped the plan because I found that the seat itself was very heavy.

A little bit of off topic thing below, but wanted to share with all the parents.
We bought a Baby Sling Carrier recently from My Baby Store (HSR Layout, near Reliance Autozone, B'lore).
The only little problem I see with the carrier is, when he is wearing a diaper, the groin area becomes a bit tight while sitting in the carrier. He doesn't show any discomfort, but we feel bad just looking at it.

Brand: MeeMee
Price: Rs.1900

A quick pic from our Team-BHP Meet last weekend (29th Sept)

[selfdrive]

Both of my kids seem to have outgrown their respective car seats.

My 7 year old son is using only the booster part of his seat. The detached rear part is kept in the boot. But he is at a stage where the booster seat is not really required and if he sits in the normal seat without any booster, the seat belt irritates him around the ear. Is he old enough to sit in the front seat where the seat belt is height adjustable? Front passenger airbag deactivation is not possible in my car

My 14 month old daughter is a bit too tall for her rear facing seat. So we can move her to my son's seat (booster + removable back, grade 2,3).she holds her head stable enough to be in a front facing seat. However, we cannot find the arm slings/ straps for the back of the car seat. This is for that Ferrari car seat, don't remember the manufacturer. Any chance they sell only the straps separately?
Or is there a possibility to turn around the rear facing seat and use it in front facing position?

I appreciate your tips for both the cases