[shifu]

Originally Posted by sbalagru6

I am in the market for car seat for my son who is 3.3 years old and weighing around 13 kgs. I intend to use the seat for next ~6 years or so i.e. till he reaches around ~30 kgs, and ideal choice would be booster seats.

Going through the previous posts on this thread and some research online, best bet would be Britax car seats. But since they are not easily available in India, next best bet would be from Graco/Evenflo/Chicco.

Evenflo Securekid Lx Booster Car Seat (5 point harness) ~Rs.17000
Evenflo Maestro Booster Car Seat (5 point harness) ~Rs.13000
Evenflo Rightfit Booster Car Seat ~Rs.13000
Evenflo Chase LX Harnessed Booster Car Seat (5 point harness) ~Rs.11000
Evenflo Big Kid Lx High Back Booster Car Seat ~Rs.8000
Evenflo Big Kid AMP Booster Car Seat ~Rs.7000
Evenflo AMP High Back Booster-Criss Cross ~Rs.4000

Graco Affix Highback Booster Seat ~Rs.10000
Graco Junior Maxi Booster Car Seat ~Rs.6000
Graco Highback TurboBooster Car Seat ~Rs.5000-9000

Chicco Gro Up 123 Baby Car Seat (5 point harness) ~Rs.15000

Above are the options i have come across, which fits my budget. So what are all things I should consider before finalizing the model? It is so confusing because similar seats/features are available in wide price range.

I am in the same boat. However, one thing I understand is that for kids <5yrs, a 5-point harness is the safest. A booster seat uses the car's 3-point seat belt and that is not safe - young kid's have a fragile skeleton and an impact can cause internal bleeding. I was about to buy the Graco Highback Turbo Booster seat for Rs 4k when I read this.

Evenflo Chase LX Harnessed Booster Car Seat with the 5-point harness seems to be good. I have read good reviews about this. Now, I just need to convince folks at home about spending Rs 12k on the car seat.

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Great find. In an over priced market, I think this site has at least some reasonable options. The Government should make importing these items duty free since it is a about safety of kids and plus there are no local manufacturers here.

They are charging about 2-3k for shipping. It negates the benefit of having reasonable prices...

[sbalagru6]

Originally Posted by shifu

I am in the same boat. However, one thing I understand is that for kids <5yrs, a 5-point harness is the safest. A booster seat uses the car's 3-point seat belt and that is not safe - young kid's have a fragile skeleton and an impact can cause internal bleeding. I was about to buy the Graco Highback Turbo Booster seat for Rs 4k when I read this.

Evenflo Chase LX Harnessed Booster Car Seat with the 5-point harness seems to be good. I have read good reviews about this. Now, I just need to convince folks at home about spending Rs 12k on the car seat.

I bought Chicco Gro-Up 123 booster seat for my son, it has 5 point harness. You may have a look at the same,

http://www.chicco.in/products/805866...car-seats.html

I got it for around ~12k in Flipkart discount sale.

[Jaguar]

Just an FYI, I saw Child seats for sale at a nearby Hyundai showroom (Advaith Hyundai, Bangalore). Other Hyundai outlets might also stock them. Since I don't have any need, didn't bother with the price, brand and other details.

[joy_swift]

My little one is 6.5 months old and I intend to buy a car seat.

Can anyone suggest whether the fitment would rear facing or front facing?Her neck seems relatively stable and so I was thinking to go for a front facing one,I maybe wrong.

Was thinking of going for this.

http://www.flipkart.com/chicco-elett...mduzdt54z2dhc2

Any feedback on this or any alternate brand would be invaluable.

[akj123]

Originally Posted by joy_swift

My little one is 6.5 months old and I intend to buy a car seat.

Please go for rear facing at that age. Generally recommended till age of 1-2 years. In some places (abroad) laws are being changed to mandate it upto 2 years.

One option is to look for convertible seats - that can be used both rear and forward facing. Do look at the age, weight and height ranges when finalizing.

[ssateesh]

Originally Posted by joy_swift

My little one is 6.5 months old and I intend to buy a car seat.

Can anyone suggest whether the fitment would rear facing or front facing?Her neck seems relatively stable and so I was thinking to go for a front facing one,I maybe wrong.

Was thinking of going for this.

http://www.flipkart.com/chicco-elett...mduzdt54z2dhc2

Any feedback on this or any alternate brand would be invaluable.

I am using this model for past 2 months for my 1 year old kid in rear facing mode. You should use it in rear facing atleast till 1.5 years age for safety reasons. It's a very nice and comfortable baby seat with 3 recline positions. Following are the -ves which may or may not affect you

1. Even in the farthest recline position the baby seat looks almost upright in my car rear as the rear seat is slanting upwards. so when my son sleeps his head tilts towards the front sometimes.

2. For taller kids the feet may be hitting the rear seat back and may require legs to be bent and may not be stretched. This might not be comfortable for long runs.

Both these -ves will dissappear once we start using the seat in front facing position.

[joy_swift]

Originally Posted by akj123

Please go for rear facing at that age. Generally recommended till age of 1-2 years. In some places (abroad) laws are being changed to mandate it upto 2 years.

One option is to look for convertible seats - that can be used both rear and forward facing. Do look at the age, weight and height ranges when finalizing.

Thanks,I will then go for rear facing.

Originally Posted by ssateesh

I am using this model for past 2 months for my 1 year old kid in rear facing mode. You should use it in rear facing atleast till 1.5 years age for safety reasons. It's a very nice and comfortable baby seat with 3 recline positions. Following are the -ves which may or may not affect you

1. Even in the farthest recline position the baby seat looks almost upright in my car rear as the rear seat is slanting upwards. so when my son sleeps his head tilts towards the front sometimes.

2. For taller kids the feet may be hitting the rear seat back and may require legs to be bent and may not be stretched. This might not be comfortable for long runs.

Both these -ves will dissappear once we start using the seat in front facing position.

Thanks a lot Sateesh,this is really helpful.Probably I will go for Chicco Eletta Comfort B and use it rear facing atleast till 1.5 yrs of age.Will bug you if I have any questions.

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by joy_swift

My little one is 6.5 months old and I intend to buy a car seat.

Was thinking of going for this.

http://www.flipkart.com/chicco-elett...mduzdt54z2dhc2

Any feedback on this or any alternate brand would be invaluable.

Been using this for over 3 years, since my son was under 3 months old . We used it as rear facing till 1 years and a couple of months and been using as front facing since. The instructions say the same as well, if you are in Bangalore, you can see it at the chicco store in indiranagar.
We have been quite happy with it, son is so used to his own seat that all I need to do is open the car and he is ready in front of the back door

[joy_swift]

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Been using this for over 3 years, since my son was under 3 months old . We used it as rear facing till 1 years and a couple of months and been using as front facing since. The instructions say the same as well, if you are in Bangalore, you can see it at the chicco store in indiranagar.
We have been quite happy with it, son is so used to his own seat that all I need to do is open the car and he is ready in front of the back door

Thanks Sammy,hope my daughter also gets used to this

[akj123]

I have been looking into purchasing a car seat for my son who is soon going to outgrow his Group-1 front-facing seat. Spent many hours on one weekend researching the various options, and am attempting to describe details on the options in this post.

The main issue is that while there are plenty of car seat options available in retail stores for new-borns and the younger ones (1-4 years), it’s slim pickings for the kids who cross that age limit. The stores I checked with simply did not have any front facing harness car seats for this age group, although booster seats are available. Since I wanted a seat with front-facing harness, the only option available was to purchase from amazon.com or eBay Global Buy and get it shipped internationally. Unfortunately this means I don't have the "luxury" of physically trying out the car seat before purchasing it, and so have to depend on online reviews

First, some salient points that I have come across (those who already know about them, kindly excuse):

• The car seats are technically called “child restraint” seats. This is the terminology used in the user manuals.
  
  
• There are usually 4 modes in which car seats can be used:
  - Rear-facing (RF): This is recommended from birth till as far as possible. In some places, it is mandatory till age 2.
  - Front-facing harness (FFH): In this mode, the child is front facing and secured with the car seat’s inbuilt belt, which could either be 3-point or 5-point.
  - High Back Booster (HBB): In this mode, the car’s seat belt is used to secure both the seat (which has back support) and the child. Usually the seat will have belt guides near the shoulder area for proper fitting of the seat belt onto the child.
  - Backless Booster (NBB): In this mode also the car’s seat belt is used to secure both the seat and the child. The seat has only a bottom portion for increasing the child’s height.
  
  
• Based on the supported modes, car seats are grouped into these categories:
  - Rear-facing only (also called Infant seats)
  - Convertible seats (Rear-facing and Front-facing harness modes)
  - Combination seats (Forward facing only – harness and high back booster mode)
  - High Back Boosters (some of them can later be converted into backless booster mode)
  - Backless Boosters only
  
  
• When a car seat is installed in front-facing harness mode, it is recommended to also secure them using an additional tether (using either ISOFIX top-tether anchor or a support leg). This helps in reducing the amount of forward & side movement the car seat will undergo if an accident happens: http://thecarseatlady.com/latch-101-...-need-to-know/
  
  
• There are a couple of quick tests to check for a proper install - the car seat should not move more than an inch in any direction and there is also a "pinch test" for the harness straps not being too loose. In general each car seat's manual will have detailed info.
  
  
• The height of the harness straps and child matters. My understanding is that when rear-facing, the shoulder straps should be at or lower than the shoulder. When front-facing, the harness's shoulder strap should be above the child's shoulder. Hence, as the child grows taller, the harness's position should be adjusted. Probably this is where seats that advertise "no rethread harness" have an advantage, as it's easier to adjust the harness height. For my son's current seat, I had to uninstall the seat, take it home, search for the user manual, study it and google for videos, and finally take out the straps to manually fit them into the higher slot.
  
  
• Car seats can be installed using either seat belts or the LATCH/ISOFIX lower anchors. They generally should not be installed using both! Both LATCH and ISOFIX refer to the same type of anchors, I believe the latter is the name used in Europe from where this anchoring system emerged.
  
  
• When car seats are not being used (the child is not travelling), the seat should still be locked into the vehicle. This is to prevent the car seat from becoming a projectile and hurting other passengers. Depending on the seat, this can be done either via the car’s seat belt or lower anchors.
  
  
• There have been recent changes in the USA guidelines on weight limits for using ISOFIX based installation in the front-facing harness mode. The regulation now is that the weight of the seat plus child must be within 65 lbs. When it goes beyond, the car’s seat belt must be used for installation.
  http://carseatblog.com/20202/weight-...eath-of-latch/
  
  
• Car seats come with an expiry date! This depends on each seat, I have seen ranges like 6-10 years. This should be checked before purchasing the seat, and this is why it is generally not recommended to purchase second-hand seats (or atleast check the manufacturing and expiry dates when doing so).
  
  
• Car seats are suggested to be replaced after an accident. This depends on the manufacturer and I presume the nature of the accident – best option would be to contact them and ask.
  
  
• In the west, there are trained technicians (CPST – Child Passenger Safety Technician) who help out with education, fitting the car seats and so on. I believe firemen also get trained on these.
  
  
• Car seats can also be used during travel *inside* the plane. There are FAA certified car seats which can be installed on top of the plane seat, although I don’t imagine trying to do that here. We mark the seat as “fragile” and check it in whenever we travel with them. Has anyone tried using a car seat in domestic flights ?
  
  
• There are a few third-party rankings and checks for car seats:
  - IIHS Best Fit rankings (they check how well car seats fit).
  - NHTSA Child Safety Seat Ease of Use Ratings
  - www.consumerreports.org does crash testing (reports hidden behind a pay-wall).
  
  
• Additional Resources:
  - In general, I found these websites to have good car seat reviews and lot of useful info:
  - www.csftl.org
  - www.thecarcrashdetective.com
  - www.carseatblog.com
  - www.thecarseatlady.com
  
  - The facebook group “Car Seats for the Littles” has trained technicians as well as end users like us, who help out with suggestions on car seats, whether they are properly fitted etc.
  
  - Amazon.com reviews for each car seat are useful to read through to know the pros/cons parents faced when using the seat on daily basis or while travelling with it.
  
  -The User Manual for car seats is usually quite detailed with instructions and photos on how to install and use the car seat.

Car seat comparison table (click image to see a larger version):


Key for the Car seat Modes (this is my terminology for brevity in the table):
RF - Rear-Facing
FFH - Front-Facing with seat's inbuilt 5-point belt
HBB - High Back Booster, with Car's seat Belt
NBB - Backless Booster, with Car's seat Belt

I can provide links to reviews for these seats, but this post has already become too long. In general in-depth reviews for these seats can be found on the blogs I posted above under "Additional resources" and Amazon.com user feedback.

I have placed an order for the Harmony Defender 360, primarily due to it's narrow width and weight. It is a recommended seat on the "CSFTL" facebook group and generally has good reviews from parents. The only issue is it has to be assembled with a screw-driver on arrival, which hopefully I should be able to manage (there is a youtube video available). This seat just received the IIHS 2015 Best fit rating also. We are now waiting for the order to be processed and shipped. Hopefully the car seat will be received in pristine condition, it will be a challenge to handle returns etc.

DISCLAIMER:
I have tried my best to consult the user manuals and other sources to make sure the information in this post and table above is accurate. Please treat the above as indicative only and do your own research. In all cases, please read the user manuals for the exact details and more details on constraints. Will be happy to correct any factual errors in this post

[bblost]

My son's child seat has a top tether that connects to the car. The solidity of this arrangement is fantastic. It never lets the seat move and I am glad its there.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...ml#post3734252

Let me know if you want a picture of the tether's connection.

[comfortablynumb]

My 2 year old daughter has outgrown her rear facing seat now, and I am looking to buy a new one that she can use for a few years more. I have a Scorpio which doesn't have ISOFIX. I like the Chicco GroUp 123 - any other recommendations?

Also, I would prefer to buy it from a brick & mortar shop, rather than online - could any Pune members guide me as to which shop has a decent variety?

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

My 2 year old daughter has outgrown her rear facing seat now, and I am looking to buy a new one that she can use for a few years more. I have a Scorpio which doesn't have ISOFIX. I like the Chicco GroUp 123 - any other recommendations?

Also, I would prefer to buy it from a brick & mortar shop, rather than online - could any Pune members guide me as to which shop has a decent variety?

I also use the Chicco gro up and find it to be good. My daughter likes it as well and it is sure to last her "car seat" life. Its retailing at around 15K I guess. I bought it when an offer was running for around 13k. Dont know about Pune but the choices which I have seen here in Chennai are very bad when it comes to brick and mortar shops

[JD1]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

My 2 year old daughter has outgrown her rear facing seat now, and I am looking to buy a new one that she can use for a few years more. I have a Scorpio which doesn't have ISOFIX. I like the Chicco GroUp 123 - any other recommendations?

Also, I would prefer to buy it from a brick & mortar shop, rather than online - could any Pune members guide me as to which shop has a decent variety?

I got mine from Flipkart in August (seller = ws-retail). Its also available on Firstcry.com. Probably also on Amazon.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

I also use the Chicco gro up and find it to be good.

Originally Posted by JD1

I got mine from Flipkart in August (seller = ws-retail). Its also available on Firstcry.com. Probably also on Amazon.

Thanks guys. I bought the Chicco Group 123 model today from Firstcry for 13.5k and awaiting delivery now. None of the shops in Pune had a decent variety of child car seats, so had no choice but to buy online.

I just hope it fits okay in my Scorpio.

Cheers,
Vikram