US car seat - Baby Trends Expedition LE

[ckaystruggle]

We just received the Baby Trends Expedtion LE as a gift. The product is a jogging stroller with the detachable bucket for the car seat. The problem is the gift was bought in the US and doesn't meet Canadian car seat regulations.

Does anyone know what the difference in regulations are? Or if we would be putting our new baby at risk if we used this product? The reviews I've read have been pretty good.

The one difference that I have seen in the product is that the latch system connects with straps as opposed to the metal rods I've seen on other car seat bases.

[Joolsplus2]

It's technically illegal for a Canadian citizen to use a US seat, but the certification procedure for infant seats is exactly the same. I think Baby Trend has ditched it's rigid latch system in favor of this new "Flex loc" system so it fits more cars better, but they've been hard to buy lately anyway, so I'm not really sure what's up (Baby Trend and Britax are the only infant seats that ever had the solid bars... all other infant seats have straps and always have, just FWIW).
So...is the seat safe? Yup, it'll work just as well in your car as any other car, and it meets the same standards. It just doesn't have Canadian labels (they are supposed to be in French and Englsh, and maybe one or two other minor issues), and it's not sold in Canada at all (other seats are sold in both countries, but Baby Trend never paid the money for testing and such to get it on the market there).
So, it's not 'legal' to use, and from what I gather from other Canadians, some don't care at all, and happily use US seats, and some are very nervous that the public health system will fail to cover their child should they be injured while in an illegal seat. I haven't heard of it actually happening, but it is apparently really a possibility that it might.

You might want to check the laws on the Transport Canada site, they might have some good info.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[ckaystruggle]

Thanks for the information!