[texens]

After an extensive research for a convertible car seat for my 4 month old, I have the following observations:
1. Most of the brands for which crash test ratings are available, are not available for sale in India. I'm referring to brands such as Clek, Cybex, Britax Romer, Nuna, Graco (only a select few models available), Chicco (again, only a select few models available)
2. The select few models of Graco that are available in India (on amazon.com) charge a heavy premium compared to purchasing the exact same model in USA, or other countries.
3. There are a few niche websites which have models from some of the above premium websites such as allthingsbaby.com, etc. But again, they charge pretty much double the amount that you'd end up paying in USA.
4. Most of the brands that are on sale in India use ECE R44/04 certification, which is older than the R129 certification. R129 is gradually phasing out R44/04.
5. Britax Romer had India operations, and a functional India website till some time back. But I don't see their India website. I don't see their products available on amazon/Flipkart/Firstcry either. So, in all probability they have wrapped up their operations. Graco also used to have a good number of models available on sale on Amazon, but now they have only a select few models available on Amazon, and reading the reviews on amazon as well as on this forum, it looks like they're all pretty old stock (more on this a little later in the post).

Moral of the story is - if you are looking for a premium brand car seat, it's better to get it from US or Europe. You get a lot more choices, and will get it at a cheaper price as well.

A couple days back, I found that Graco Extend2Fit 3-in-1 was back in stock, so I booked it without wasting time. I received the product today morning - the box was totally damaged, and inside the box they had sent in an infant car seat instead of the model that I had booked, there was no plastic covering or any sort of protection for the product. Rats had eaten through the 5 point harness, and the seat looked very dirty. My guess is that it was sitting deep down in some godown for several years. I was so looking forward to installing this car seat and going on some longish drives with wife and kid - I've been badly missing it (my existing hand-me-down luvlap infant car seat is not at all comfortable and my son hates sitting in it). Anyways, I filed for a return with Amazon, drove to the Chicco Indiranagar store (Bangalore) and tried the only 2 carseats they had in stock - Nextfit Zip and Unico Plus. Nextfit zip had better cushioning, but will last only till 30Kg, whereas Unico Plus will last till 36 Kgs. Decided to go ahead with Nextfit Zip primarily because of two reasons - firstly son's comfort, and secondly Nextfit zip has been crash tested, and reported (it's no match for the likes of Cybex and Nuna, but at least it has been tested by an independent lab). I ended up paying about 34k for Nextfit Zip. Unico plus costs about 22k. I could have bought a Nuna Rava in USA for less than 34k, but it is what it is. My son is quite comfortable in Nextfit Zip. He slept like a baby (pun intended) on our way back home. I'll try and share a more extensive review in a couple weeks. The installation was a little tricky - the store folks helped out with the installation but this seat doesn't have a belt lock off. So, in order to get this seat very tight, two fully grown adults had to put in all their muscle to get a tight fit. I'm just glad I'm not going to have to touch this installation for next 2 years until my son is ready to move to front facing car seat.
I am hoping that in the long run, as more and more people get aware of the significance of car seats, either of two things will happen - home grown companies will spend more on R&D and have them tested at independent labs and upgrade to more recent safety certifications, or established brands like Nuna, Cybex, Britax Romer will start catering to the Indian market via direct sales channels - providing us with choice, quality at reasonable prices.

[moto_noob]

Hi Folks,
I was blessed with a baby boy last week. I'm in the Market for new car seat for my 1 week old baby. My car has isofix points. Where better than teambhp to ask for valuable suggestions. Most of the seats I saw are for around 1 year old.

Please help me on this with your experiences

[vikramvicky1984]

Originally Posted by texens

Graco also used to have a good number of models available on sale on Amazon, but now they have only a select few models available on Amazon, and reading the reviews on amazon as well as on this forum, it looks like they're all pretty old stock (more on this a little later in the post).

Moral of the story is - if you are looking for a premium brand car seat, it's better to get it from US or Europe. You get a lot more choices, and will get it at a cheaper price as well.

A couple days back, I found that Graco Extend2Fit 3-in-1 was back in stock, so I booked it without wasting time. I received the product today morning - the box was totally damaged, and inside the box they had sent in an infant car seat instead of the model that I had booked, there was no plastic covering or any sort of protection for the product. Rats had eaten through the 5 point harness, and the seat looked very dirty.

And after you returned it was back in stock (1 unit only), and I was the one who got it.
It’ll be returned today. There is one each of graco seats models ( extend 2 fit, snugride lite, booster) which are damaged and 2020 models. All without original box, manual or plastic. They keep going out of stock once someone orders and after few days post returns are back in stock. Buyers beware- I bought and returned all of them.
Now trying to source from abroad
These are the links:

https://amzn.eu/d/cdnK3zu

https://amzn.eu/d/aKqV6aB

https://amzn.eu/d/fKv2eFs

One important thing I learnt during my research- all car seats sold in US will work with 2 point seat belts. It is mandated by law. Also they’ll have safety certifications.

[PrasadS]

Went ahead and got the Graco 4ever DLX for our bundle of joy. So far I'm very happy with the product and seems like the baby likes it too.

Of all the seats I shortlisted, this one was the most expensive. But given the quality and usage options, rear-forward-extend back booster-only booster, i can easily use it for 10years(as per manufacturers) or more(as per people using it for 2 generations ignoring the manufacturer).

This seat is rock solid and heavy and somewhat big! Luckily, it sits easily in my Rapids boot when not in use.

The first day took me 1 hour of fiddling to understand various ways of using it. This seat can be used in almost any car as it supports 2 point, 3 point and isofix

Couldn't try isofix as both my Innova and Rapid lack the option, but both 2 and 3 way works perfectly and sits firm. It has different access slots for front/rear facing and also has a tether at the top for front facing(only in cars where there's tether option near the rear headrests).

All the attachable options are easy to remove and reattach. There's the water bubble marker to check the level of the seat which makes it easier to decide what level to use depending on the slant of the particular vehicle seat. If i remember correctly Rapid needs level 2 and Innova level 3. Please note that Rear and forward facing levels are different and the range is marked with blue and red color respectively.

After a couple of uses, now it takes me only 2 minutes to attach the carseat on both my vehicles.(Actually 1 minute to attach and 1 minute of my OCD trying to shake it up and see if it moves despite knowing it won't)

A couple of things I've been doing which helped:
Before latching the baby to the seat, i ask my wife to sit beside the empty seat and distract him while i latch him. This thing has 5 point harness, and everytime i do this, i feel as if I'm putting my kiddo in a formula 1 car seat lol. The baby sits snug and way more comfortable than in someone's lap.

Put the ac on and make the car comfortable before putting the baby in the seat.

Remove the sun blinds, as he enjoys watching the scenary outside. He loves watching other cars, mostly SUVs, as sedans are not in his Line of sight yet. And big trucks make his eyes go round when i move past them.

Experience:
Feels safe and comfortable and we've done 1 hour trips so far.

He dozes off in the seat naturally by himself. Wish this happened at home, sparing my back and saving me from doing the tribal dance to rock him to sleep.

The headrest support cushion dimensions are slightly large. He sleeps like we do in Mumbai locals, sitting straight and head lopsided, so i just make it more snug by inserting a cloth between the padding at one end. This keeps his head nicely cradled.


I tried putting the seat in the middle of the rear bench in my Rapid, with the 2 point belt. An adult cannot sit next to the seat, as the seat overlaps exactly where the passengers arm will rest. So the rear centre is a BIG NO.
This seat will occupy 1 complete adult seat, so effectively making my Rapid a 3 adults+1 car seater and the Innova a 5 Adults + 1car seater.
He sits on the middle captain seat in Innova, so 2 adults at the back can take turns playing with him and keep him occupied.

The bottom line is, I'm extremely Happy so far with the purchase, despite the high cost. My parents were sceptical at first, but now they see how beneficial it is, and even brag about his throne to their acquaintances.

Bikers and other cars get a glimpse of a happy baby in a car seat and I've caught him smiling at the funny faces people make at him through the window. I Hope this view creates more awareness for other people and encourage them to buy car seats.

[vikramvicky1984]

Has anyone carried car seats on domestic flights? How is it treated. Will airline allow it inside cabin? Are they accommodating with the extra weight of checked in.

[mathewspaul]

Has anyone used this carseat - Graco airpop

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09S3NH88J?...0JDJ30GF32YBEG

As per description, can be used from 1 to 11 years old. Is this a genuine Graco product?

[sidoxic]

Originally Posted by PrasadS

Went ahead and got the Graco 4ever DLX for our bundle of joy. So far I'm very happy with the product and seems like the baby likes it too.

Of all the seats I shortlisted, this one was the most expensive.

In the market for this - where did you buy it from and how much did it cost?

[PrasadS]

Originally Posted by sidoxic

In the market for this - where did you buy it from and how much did it cost?

I got it from Amazon for around 36k if i remember correctly.

[D'Ro@dSt@r]

Hello there,

my 6 yr old has out grown his luvlap car seat and now we are looking at having a booster seat for him, but the option that we see online for r-rabbit and Luvlap doesnt have good cushioning at the base and I feel he may not be comfortable in longer trips.
Anyone who is using a booster seat (without the back) can pls suggest with leads to check those options will be helpful.

Thanks
Darpan

[harikr]

Originally Posted by D'Ro@dSt@r

Hello there,

my 6 yr old has out grown his luvlap car seat and now we are looking at having a booster seat for him, but the option that we see online for r-rabbit and Luvlap doesnt have good cushioning at the base and I feel he may not be comfortable in longer trips.
Anyone who is using a booster seat (without the back) can pls suggest with leads to check those options will be helpful.

Thanks
Darpan

I am also in this situation now. My son has outgrown his regular child seat. So, looking for a booster seat. As you mentioned, I am also finding LuvLap and R-Rabbit. Reviews says that cushioning is less (which was the case with their normal child seats also). Could not find detailed information online also.

[Az_Dan]

Hi All, I did go through quite a few pages of this thread and have shortlisted the following for my 8 month old baby, the car it'll be used in is an Octavia'22 model:

1. Graco 4Ever DLX 4 IN 1 (first preference, 39k on amazon)
2. Graco Extend2Fit 3 in 1 (shows only 1 unit available on amazon; I believe its the only piece which has been returned by a few BHPians and is in poor condition/old stock, 30k on amazon)
3. Chicco Nextfit Zip (35k on chicco.in)

Is there anything else worth considering. I am looking to use it for long and would like to steer clear of Indian brands. The prices for these are steep on amazon, is there any other place I should be looking at for a better deal? Any input will be of help. Thanks.

[jomson13]

Originally Posted by Az_Dan

Hi All, I did go through quite a few pages of this thread and have shortlisted the following for my 8 month old baby, the car it'll be used in is an Octavia'22 model:

1. Graco 4Ever DLX 4 IN 1 (first preference, 39k on amazon)
2. Graco Extend2Fit 3 in 1 (shows only 1 unit available on amazon; I believe its the only piece which has been returned by a few BHPians and is in poor condition/old stock, 30k on amazon)
3. Chicco Nextfit Zip (35k on chicco.in)

Is there anything else worth considering. I am looking to use it for long and would like to steer clear of Indian brands. The prices for these are steep on amazon, is there any other place I should be looking at for a better deal? Any input will be of help. Thanks.

Did you finalize / buy any of these? If yes, would be great to get your review.

I too am looking to buy a car seat for my 2.5 year old son. The existing one is a hand me down seat which is not very comfortable on long drives (4+ hours)

Are there some physical stores where I can go and check out these seats? I would prefer to get a feel of the seat and also to see how it fits in my car.

[texens]

Originally Posted by jomson13

Are there some physical stores where I can go and check out these seats? I would prefer to get a feel of the seat and also to see how it fits in my car.

Most of the premium brands, except for Chicco don't have a physical presence in Indian cities. You may try locating a Chicco store in your city (All of Bengaluru has just 1 Chicco store). Other option is to go to some of the niche baby care store such as Mothercare etc. They may have Joie or Graco on display. Another option is to connect with the importer/wholesaler and go down to their warehouse and try it out.
If you have somebody coming to India, from abroad - that's your best bet to get better quality car seats at less than half the price (even Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. have a larger spread of brands to choose from, compared to India).

[sreerknair]

Originally Posted by jomson13

Did you finalize / buy any of these? If yes, would be great to get your review.

I too am looking to buy a car seat for my 2.5 year old son. The existing one is a hand me down seat which is not very comfortable on long drives (4+ hours)

Are there some physical stores where I can go and check out these seats? I would prefer to get a feel of the seat and also to see how it fits in my car.

I had done extensive research before buying one for my son when he was 6 months and bought the Chicco NextFit Zip. Bought it from Amazon. If you can't check them out at any physical stores, buy from Amazon or Chicco website and both have a reasonable return policy. I have traveled with him for 7 to 8 Hrs in a single journey with a break every 1.5 to 2 hours in between. It is not safe to keep kids on child seat for more than 2 hours at a stretch. The main negative I saw in many reviews for Graco was that the baby's head hangs down while he or she sleeps. Haven't faced that in the NextFit.

[texens]

Originally Posted by sreerknair

The main negative I saw in many reviews for Graco was that the baby's head hangs down while he or she sleeps. Haven't faced that in the NextFit.

This shouldn't happen in Graco either. Since your son is 6 months old, I'm assuming you've installed the seat in a rear-facing setup, and not front facing.