Most people will tell you that your baby shouldn't sit facing forward until she/he is at least one year old. However, most infant seats have a 22" or 22 lb limit, whichever comes first (geez, sounds like a car warranty!). At this rate, O will grow out of her seat before she is 9 months old! ***The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that the child be 20 pounds and one year of age before switching them to a forward facing car seat. Therefore, a convertible seat that can face both backward and forward would be an ideal choice for a baby who is over 20 lbs but under one year of age.***
After searching around on the internet, the Maxi Cosi Priori by Quinny is at the top of my list. There are actually three Priori models: the Fix, the XP and the SPS. All three models conform to the ECE R44/04 safety guidelines. The Fix comes with an IsoFix floor attachment for added stability in frontal crashes, while the SPS offers the most side impact protection out of the three. As far as I can tell, only the XP model is available in the U.S. at the moment. It features a padded seat and three reclining positions. The Priori is suitable for babies and toddlers 9-18 kg (20-40 lbs). Both Pacifier and Elite Car Seats sell them, although they have not been released just yet.
Quinny is also responsible for the wildly popular Buzz stroller, just recently released in the U.S. The base model comes with a one-touch folding frame and seat (in delicious colors!), and you can either add the Maxi Cosi Mico infant car seat and/or the matching Dreami Bassinet--each sold separately. The base model is $500; the infant car seat is $150; and the bassinet is $190. In the end, you would be spending less for the Buzz system than you would for a Bugaboo, and you are getting a lighter, easier to fold product. Not bad at all!
4 comments:
B outgrew his infant car seat at 5 months! His feet were dangling out of it. Now we use a convertible one (Britax Roundabout). We still have him facing backwards, which he can do until 33 lbs in the Roundabout.
Before you turn little O facing forward, you might want to read more about the safety issues involved ... It's something to do with the relative weight of their heads to the rest of their bodies; in an impact their heads jerk around and can cause serious neck injury. This video shows some pretty scary crash tests. After I saw that I decided to keep B facing backwards until 33 lbs even if he's over 1 year old.
On another note, I have been seeing that Buzz everywhere. My friend just got the Quinny Zapp -- not available in the US -- her father smuggled it across the Canadian border. :) It's super cute. They got it to fit in their Mini Cooper.
P.S. You can turn the sound off on that video and forward to 1:18 to see the crash tests ...
Wow, that is scary. Although I think physically speaking, part of the reason why the baby and the seat tip over facing forward is because there is no other restraint to counter the forward motion in a crash. A lot of European car seats have floor supports (such as the Maxi Cosi Priori Fix), which neutralizes some of the impact, but of course the models released for the U.S. market do not have this feature. Thanks for the video, Robin...definitely food for thought!
OK, one last comment. :) Some convertible seats have a top tether that goes from the top of the seat to a fixed point in the car, where it fastens tightly and keeps the seat from moving forward/backward in a crash. The Roundabout has this and I assume the other Britaxes do. Don't know what other seats have it. It's a little tricky to figure out for rear-facing, but I took the seat to the Car Seat Station at Children's Hospital and the tech there installed it properly for me.
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