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Confused about car seat regulations? Find baby car seat advice here.

Car seats

Why don't car seat come with regulation's

31 replies

SeaNanners · 03/03/2014 06:03

Hi all been wondering since LO was born, why don't car seats come with some sort of back support or a physicians approval ? in all the years baby car seat's have been around it doesn't seem as if they have improved or advanced at all well apart from in price that is, people always say never leave babies in car seat's for more than 2 hour's etc but it's impossible if your on a long journey down the motorway to see relatives even with breaks my friends have told me there LO's back seem sore and stiff and no amount of rubbing help them its really sad that manufacturer's deem this acceptable car seats should be made laying down or with memory foam or something
i own a Jane Matrix that converts from flat and sits up it cost £260 which is ridiculous for a bit or plastic in my opinion
manufacturers really need to stop taking parents for a ride with the prices they charge for things we cant do without and have no choice to buy :( rant over

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MinesAPintOfTea · 03/03/2014 06:14

Car seats do come with back support: its designed to save your baby's life in the event of a crash.

Our families live 3.5 hours away: we used to stop a lot more for breaks when DS was small. And its no more than one hour in a car seat without a break.

Its not a lack of padding that makes them unsuitable for long periods of time, its that they are holding the spine and internal organs in a position to maximise changes of surviving a crash.

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meditrina · 03/03/2014 06:30

I think you can still get the strappable lie-flat (bit like a carrycot) for use in cars?

Most parents prioritise safety above all else though.

Which? Magazine reviews are usually a good starting point when looking for Best Buys (safety, features, vfm).

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SeaNanners · 03/03/2014 08:16

If it hurt's baby at all then it isn't safe ?? and i have the Jane lay flat carrycot and baby is protected and laid out flat like a baby should be the sides are very tall and padded and the roll cage is very secure my front seat is also against it holding it even more secure i think that car seat should be made safer and less expensive with more lie flat positions in Germany they don't let babies lie upwards at all until 6 months apparently

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littleredsquirrel · 03/03/2014 08:19

How do you and your friends know your babies' backs are sore and stiff?

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MyNameIsKenAdams · 03/03/2014 08:24

£260 for a bit of plastic

That is designed to save their life. How much did you spend on the pram? Something entirely cosmetic and more fitting of the description "a bit of plastic"

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LIZS · 03/03/2014 08:24

It isn't about backs so much as a SIDS risk, recommendation is to take a break every couple of hours which is perfectly doable. don't think you're right about Germany btw , Maxi Cosi and Roemer(Britax) infant carriers are popular just as here. There are regulations for design based on safety and child development, iirc EC44 and TUV in Europe.

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SeaNanners · 03/03/2014 08:28

Because i have witnessed them in their seats and when they are taken out they are always they stiff to move i felt my best friends LO's limbs and he was all bent up where as he was they floppy and content before he went in the seat for 3 hours with 5 breaks on the way he was also very grizzly and looked a bit peaky my friend was certain he had sore limbs a mother knows through instinct when he baby is hurt or un-comfy the poor little mite didn't settle or eat properly for the rest of the day and usually he is very easy to settle and feed he is a pleasure to babysit i'm always telling my friend how lucky she is my LO is very hard to feed and settle sometimes

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littleredsquirrel · 03/03/2014 08:28

Seriously if you think your baby's back is sore and stiff and no amount of rubbing helps it you break up your journey more and give them a break out of the car seat.

But I doubt your baby's back is stiff and sore with no amount of rubbing helping it. Thats just a bit odd unless your baby is old enough to tell you that.

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SeaNanners · 03/03/2014 08:30

I chose the jane MuuM travel system to go with the carseat carrycot as it has a nice padded deep seat that is high up a pram is just as important as a car seat and they are made from metal not plastic Confused

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ilovepowerhoop · 03/03/2014 08:31

sounds like a bit of projection to me. My 2 loved their car seats and would go to sleep if we went on a long drive. You can get car seat liners, maybe they would help with comfort

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littleredsquirrel · 03/03/2014 08:32

Crossed posts.

Well then she needs to get a new car seat but frankly this seems weird. How can she possibly know its back pain and not something else. If she does know its back pain then why on earth not get another seat.

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SeaNanners · 03/03/2014 08:34

Do you even have a child ? a baby doesn't need to talk to tell you when something is wrong they cry and they grizzle and are generally un co-operative then that means they are saying "mummy i am not feeling well it hurts" only they cant say where but by feeling the LO'S joints and how stiff and un-moving they were we could tell his limbs were stiff and hurting him it isn't rocket science

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littleredsquirrel · 03/03/2014 08:34

Definitely projection.

Tell you what. Buy your friend an expensive Jane system just like you have and then you'll both be happy.

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BertieBotts · 03/03/2014 08:35

I live in Germany and that is bollocks, everyone uses maxi cosi type car seats, same as in Britain.

If you don't like it then don't take your baby on long journeys? Confused I don't see what the issue is. The car seats have to be the way they are because that's what's safest in a crash. It's nothing to do with backs, anyway, it's to do with oxygen saturations. It's hard to breathe with your chin pushed onto your chest, try it. If a baby is in a seat for more than 2 hours at a time their oxygen sats can drop to dangerous levels, which is why you need to take them out. However you only have to take them out for a few seconds to let their oxygen sats go back up to normal levels, so it's not inconvenient at all.

The back thing is more to do with babies being left in car seats all day and never holding them. It doesn't mean you can't ever do long journeys.

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littleredsquirrel · 03/03/2014 08:36

Yes I do have children and they were cared for very well as babies thank you very much. I'm not a doctor though, presumably you are?

Anyway I'm off I don't need a row first thing in the morning.

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BertieBotts · 03/03/2014 08:36

I have never ever heard of a baby with stiff limbs. Sorry.

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SeaNanners · 03/03/2014 08:39

She has a maxi cosi cabrofix recommended to her by countless people i have told her to ditch it and get the same as mine where baby can lay flat
www.thelocal.de/20111104/38647
i came across this when i was pregnant about the german love of babies been laid flat

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SeaNanners · 03/03/2014 08:40

who said i was starting a row where did you even pop up from ?? strange person

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littleredsquirrel · 03/03/2014 08:40

Of course she should get the same as you. Then your purchasing decision has been validated.

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AnythingNotEverything · 03/03/2014 08:42

I'm sorry OP, I'm struggling to follow your point due to the lack of punctuation in your posts.

A comma or full stop occasionally help the reader break up the information into chunks and take a much needed breath.

I was discharged by the midwife fairly recently and current guidelines give no strict time limit, but do advise you to be sensible about breaks when baby is in a car seat.

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littleredsquirrel · 03/03/2014 08:43

I'm not a strange person at all and I didn't just pop up, I have been on here for many many years.

I didn't say you were starting a row I said I didn't need a row with you. I simply believe you just want to feel like your purchasing decision was better than hers and you are both inventing strange baby stiffness issues that don't seem to exist amongst the rest of the population.

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BertieBotts · 03/03/2014 08:44

In prams, not in car seats. It's the same in the UK, it's just that little old ladies are a bit more forward about giving actual advice rather than passively aggressively tutting.

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littleredsquirrel · 03/03/2014 08:44

And memory foam is never recommended for babies. Apart from the fact that it is full of chemicals it can cause suffocation and overheating.

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BertieBotts · 03/03/2014 08:46

Did you know BTW that the Jane Matrix gets a "Don't Buy" from Which?

They deemed it unsafe in the lie flat position. Whereas the Cabriofix gets one of the best ratings out of all the baby car seats currently on sale for safety.

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Nocomet · 03/03/2014 08:46

Most children over about 10 probably younger, spent all day in their car seats, many of them napped in them, they attached to their pushchair frames and no one in their right mind woke a baby on a long car journey.

Did we ever hear of any ill effects, of course we didn't.

Personally I'd take the new advice with a pinch of common sense.

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