Website that lists safest car seats?

[Chag78]

Anyone know of any good sites to get this info? Thank you.

[arivecchi]

There are many safe car seats. What are you looking for? Infant seat? Convertible seat? How old is the child that will be using the car seat?

[Chag78]

There are many safe car seats. What are you looking for? Infant seat? Convertible seat? How old is the child that will be using the car seat?

I actually have 2 and would like to see a list of the top safest seats. Do you know of any gov't sites or things like that?

[Joolsplus2]

No, there's really no such thing. The government does an 'ease of use' rating that is actually quite incomprehensible and useless, but there's no ratings.

Which two do you have? As long as they are used properly and installed properly, they are probably very safe.

[jjordan]

All seats pass the exact same minimal government standards. Some manufacturers claim that their seats have added safety benefits, but those statements are not regulated nor tested by a third party.

The safest seat is one that fits your child and is installed and used properly. Some seats are more highly regarded because they are easier to install and/or use properly, or they last longer than other seats and thus are a better bargain. In addition many carseat techs do agree that certain added features do improve the safety of a seat. But again, you are just going on their opinion (albeit a highly educated opinion). There is no official list that ranks the safety of various seats.

[Chag78]

I have the Safety 1st Avenue and the Maxi Cosi Priori.

[codex57]

As long as they're installed properly, they're fine.

Are you looking to replace them or something? If it's just idle curiosity, well, there's no such list. However, there are seats that are preferred over those for a variety of reasons. Typically, the main criteria we prefer are how long a seat realistically lasts (you go by how high the top harness slot is; weight limit means little) and how easy it is to use/any special safety features.

[Chag78]

As long as they're installed properly, they're fine.

Are you looking to replace them or something? If it's just idle curiosity, well, there's no such list. However, there are seats that are preferred over those for a variety of reasons. Typically, the main criteria we prefer are how long a seat realistically lasts (you go by how high the top harness slot is; weight limit means little) and how easy it is to use/any special safety features.

Well for the 2 that I have, I was wondering which was "better."

[GraceH]

Which seats do you have?

[Joolsplus2]

Both are fine when used properly. THE #1 hands down safest thing you can do for your child is to keep them rearfacing as long as possible (till the weight limit of the seat is reached or the head is within one inch of the top of the seatback. At least age 2 is the minimum, some seats allow rearfacing to as old as 4 or 5. When you must go forward facing, be sure to top tether the seat, it's a very important safety feature.

:)

[MoJo]

I think the last two posters may have missed the OP's question:

Of the Safety 1st Avenue and the Maxi Cosi Priori, which is the "better" seat?

I have no idea, but I'm hoping this will help you!

[Joolsplus2]

The safest one is the one that installs the best and gets used properly every time :)

[AnnieW625]

I just want to say that you might want to think about returning the Priori if you can. About 18 mos. ago I tried DD in the Priori and at not even 2/1/2 (I think she was maybe 32 to 34" tall then) the straps on the bottom were too short on her. We had her in a similar sized Evenflo Triumph 5 (discontinued) until she was almost 39" tall and 3 years old. If you really need a small seat I'd look at the Britax Roundabout, or the Combi Cocorro, and maybe an Evenflo Tribute 5 (it looks to have a smaller shell than the Triumph Advance). Most people can get their kids to almost 3 in a Roundabout (even it it's just FFIng) and I have seen some pics of 3 year olds in the Cocorro on the Car-seat.org boards. Good luck!

[Piglet]

The safest seat is the one that is installed correctly, fits your car and fits your kid. There is a good databse for compatibility for cars http://www.carseatdata.org/. This board is a wealth of information on everything you can possibly ask. The government could never test "safest" seats becasue 1) they do not know which car you will be using and 2) it is largely only as safe as the install/user error. The government deems all carseats SAFE. Moms that use carseats every day and techs that install carseats every day are much better resources for ease of use and ease of install. There are some features that make some seats safer (side impact protection for example), but again, your best bet is a wel-installed carseat that fits your child. And as the techs will point out, a RF seat is 5(!!) times safer than a FF -seat.