Seat for 45lb 2 year old in CANADA

[essnce629]

I'm posting this for a member on another board that I post on. Her son just turned 2 in August and weighs 45lbs and is 37-38 inches tall! She just bought him a regular booster seat since he outgrew his previous harnessed seat, but she terrified to use it since she's afraid he'll take the seatbelf off or slump forward if he falls asleep. She wants to know if there's any Canadian seats that allow a child to be harnessed past 48lbs. She doesn't want to buy another harnessed seat that only goes up to 48lbs since she says he's going through another growth spurt right now and she thinks it will only be a few more meals until he reaches 48lbs. Up until now she's had him in a harnessed seat that went up to 40lbs, which he outgrew some weeks ago. Any suggestions?

***Latia
Conner 8/19/03
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aug2003angel
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif Self-weaned at 24 months! http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/9870.gif

[Joolsplus2]

Did I already answer that? ;)... You know, LOTS of moms have Huskies illegally in Canada... or use the MA to higher weights... Don't tell anyone I said that.... :D

Canada's the pits for child passenger safety, it really is... tethers, shmethers, you can't rest on those laurels forever...
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[jujucb]

She could try EZ-ON http://www.ezonpro.com/index.shtml

They have a Canadian distributer that told me via email that they carried personal vehicle products. But then ignored me after that. Maybe if she's called them...

PERRY RAND
293 Hwy. 1
Cambridge, NS
Canada, B0P 1V0
902-679-7773
902-679-0659 fax
www.thebusboys.com
[email protected]

[hipmaman]

Since the EZ-ON is not approved for use in Canada (TC told me recently), then I would probably use the Husky/Regent -- if I have to choose between 2 'illegal' products for a 2 yr old. KWIM?

[bubbaray]

Julie, I have to disagree with you on your comments about Canada's child safety. I do NOT agree that Canada is the "pits" for child passenger safety. I think the laws here are very tough & rigid and do a wonderful job of protecting children in vehicles.

However, what IS the pits here is the selection of car seats offered by manufacturers. Yes, the market here is small and that's probably the reason more seats aren't tested here. But really, it drives me nuts that Britax doesn't get their line fully tested here.

For the amount of money car seats cost here, we should have a premium selection, not a crappy one!


Melissa


Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[hipmaman]

I would say there are a lot more that Canada can do to further protect children. We are so tough and rigid that changing regulations is as hard as moving a mountain.

For example, our carseat safety standards are written in the way that all carseats with harness must be capped at 48 lbs, regardless if they would be safe at a higher weight limit or not. All child restraint systems over 48 lbs, must be boosters. Harnessed carseats are just not tested beyond 48 lbs, because of testing standards. Hence, there are no 65 lbs limit on the MA nor the Husky/Regent for the Canadian market.

Another example, there are no such products legally available in Canada for those with lap-only belt. If a child is over the 48 lbs for a harnessed seat and the car has only lap-only seatbelts, he/she must legally sit w/o a booster seat or something like a harness vest (ie. EZ On vests). Now that's not safe!

It took Canada until 2001 to change rf weight limit in for rf convertible to be more than the old 20/22 lbs limit. The US already had that in place at least a yr to 2 yrs before we did. That personally frustrated me, because I had to use parental discretion to use our first ever Britax (RA) past the legal limit of 20 lbs to keep my child rf longer than she 'legally' could be. The same seat was safe for 30 lbs in the US, under the same use condition.

There are more things that we can tighten up or allow to further safety, but I think we are so bureaucratic that changing anything would take yrs to do.

[bubbaray]

But there ARE reasons why the laws & regulations are so tight here....

The issue really boils down to should the standards guide the marketplace, or should the marketplace guide the standards? I'm not saying that either choice is inherently better, just different.

In the Canadian context, tight gov't regulation is necessary. Consumer product litigation here is virtually non-existent compared to the US. Awards are generally in the thousands, vs in the high thousands to millions in the US. So, in the US if a company wants to introduce a product, there is a HUGE incentive to make sure it is safe (they don't get their butts sued off). That incentive towards marketing safer products would not exist in Canada were it not for the tighter gov't regulations.

I'm not saying the Canadian way is better. I'm not saying the US way is better. They are DIFFERENT. That was my point.

Also, to say that child safety laws here are the pits implies, at least in my mind, that children are less safe in Canada. I don't believe that to be the case. If there are statistics showing that there are more deaths or bodily injuries to restrained children in Canada, I would be very interested to read those reports.

I'm really not trying to be critical here. As a consumer, I would love love LOVE to have more selection of car seats (and other baby products). I think a lot of the seats don't make it here because the manufacturers are too lazy/cheap to have them tested. Other seats don't make it here because they fail the tests (ie., Triumph).

I don't think that it necessarily takes years for change to be effected. I would encourage you to write to Transport Canada if you believe there are changes that should be made!

Cheers,


Melissa


Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[hipmaman]

I'm aware of the systems and some individuals (at MTO, TC, SJA, etc.) and it does take a long time to get the issue on the table for discuss, let alone changing it.