Infant car seats, trying to figure out safest one?

[acmstell]

Hi, I am writing to see if anyone can help me figure out which infant carseat to buy. I aware of the infamous and flawed Consumer Report and then it's follow up test. But, I can't help but lean towards the Graco snug ride(without any Side Impact Protection), and the baby trend for the fact that they passed the initial CR tests even with the higher speeds when none of the other did including the Peg Perego viaggio sip which does have the side impact protection. But then when CR did their follow up testing, the snugride and babytrend were not their top three recommended seats. The top three were the Chicco keyfit, britax companion, and the peg perego viaggio sip ( I know that they judged these seats on ease of use), but what I would like to know is which carseat is the safest? I am not so much concerned with ease of use at this point.
Thank you so much for helping me decipher all of this!!!:)

[o_mom]

The safest seat is the one that fits your car and is used correctly every time, so ease of use is a big part of making a seat safe. Some seats make that easier than others which is why they get recommended more often. All the seats pass testing and any rear-facing seat is very safe.

If you do not have LATCH or want to install in the center with a lap-shoulder belt a seat with built-in lockoffs will be easier to install correctly (you cannot use LATCH in the center of most cars). The Keyfit, SafeSeat and Companion have these (one other may, but I'm not sure - not the Snugride, for sure). Other seats may require a locking clip when using a lap-shoulder belt to keep the base from tipping.

Being able to leave the handle up on the seat is also a big plus. You can usually fit it in a smaller space that way. Also, if you or someone else doesn't remember to put it down it is still fine. The Combi seats must be up. Graco and Chicco allow it up. All the others must have the handle down in the car.

[Joolsplus2]

You're going to want to kick me for saying this, but the SAFEST carseat is the one that fits your car, fits your child, and that you use properly on every single trip.
There's not a shred of real life data to indicate that any seat is safer than any other when they are all used correctly. Now, I do have a bias against Evenflo infant seats (Yeah, CR gets to me, I've seen way too many of them fly off their bases and way too many handles collapsing over the years on those Evenflos to ever recommend one... ). Of the 6 infant seats I owned for my own kiddo, the Chicco Key Fit was by far my favorite (best fit to newborn, best fit to my car, easiest harness adjuster, handle can be left up in car), and the Graco Safeseat 1 was my second favorite (my baby LOVED to sleep in it, it was a breeze to install, handle can be left up, and it fit my kiddo till 20 months old and about 23 pounds). Here's my dd in her seats... http://picasaweb.google.com/joolstag/Leahincarseats

On top of the fit to car and baby recommendation, the EPS foam is probably a very good safety feature...no real extra need for side impact protection for a rearfacing baby in a foam-lined bucket, the headwings on seats labeled for 'SIP' are probably comfortable, but also sort of a gimmick, IMO.

:)

[Joolsplus2]

LOL, O-mom, you beat me! (at least we have consistent advice... :) )

[klc92201]

I fiddled with these seats over the weekend and the snugride does have to be used with a clip which I hate. The safeseat has the seatbelt locking device so no clip is needed.

Heather

[MontrealMum]

As the others have said, the safest car seat is the one that fits the best in your car, and is installed correctly. You can take your car and its carseat to many police and fire stations, and the CAA (in the US - AAA) to have the installation checked. Also, some car garages are able to check it for you.

We went with the Graco Snugride because it rates well for use in older, non-Latch cars, and we are dealing with a '95 Corolla, and '98 Jetta. I realize that not many people are still driving cars that old nowadays, but remember, you can always install any carseat the old-fashioned way...with the belts. In fact, all carseats get a higher rating by CR when installed with the belts, than they do with the Latch system. It's just that many more points securing the seat to the car. If you are really concerned, you can do both, many of my friends with Latch cars have.

Keep in mind the height and weight dimensions for each seat too. Some of the seats with bigger limits nearly swallow some newborns at first. It all depends on the size and growth rate of your particular child. The safest carseat it the one that not only fits your car when installed correctly, it also fits your child.

[klc92201]

montreal mom~you are so right but if you don't have latch I might look at the seats like the graco safeseats that have a seatbelt locking mech, that way you don't have to mess with that clip.

HEather

[Joolsplus2]

I have to agree... the snugride would be my last choice for a car with lap/shoulderbelts. If you have it in the center with the lapbelt, that's fine, but the Safeseat 1 is about 100 times easier to install properly than the Snugride when you have Emergency Locking seatbelts.

:)

[Joolsplus2]

It's just that many more points securing the seat to the car. If you are really concerned, you can do both, many of my friends with Latch cars have.


.

That's a very bad misuse of the seat..it may or may not be dangerous, but it's misuse nonetheless. The manuals pretty clearly state not to use both, and they have a reason for it (we may not know it, but I don't think we want our kids to be crash test dummies, right?) :(

[o_mom]

LOL, O-mom, you beat me! (at least we have consistent advice... :) )

I did learn from the best ;)