To think you get what you pay for with car seats?

[KenAdams]

Stemming from the recent Which article regarding the Nania Trio Plus and the Kiddicare Maxi SP.

It makes me a bit when people spend hundreds on first birthday presents and parties but only £25 on a car seat. Surely if you can afford a car you can afford a car seat?

Not everyone can afford to spend hundreds on a car seat. When I bought mine I didn't read which reports I, probably wrongly, assumed if a car seat was on sale it had to be safe.

It is also not necessarily true that if you can afford a car, you can afford a car seat. People may need a car to get them to and from work, so yes they have a car, but more as a necessity.

I think you do to some degree. I bought a nania one for dd2 when she was about 5 months, she hated the infant carrier so much. All seemed fine until I took the cover off to wash and the polystyrene parts disintegrated.
Sometimes though the prices are inflated, I've had all britax ones apart from the nania debacle, and they were not overly expensive, but were good quality and lasted well. The maxi cosi one I bought recently has been no better and no worse than the britax ones despite being considerably more expensive.

I've spent a fortune on car seats over the last 5 years (3 under 3, only the infant carrier has been reused) and don't regret a penny. I don't get it when people buy a posh seat for their own car and then get a crap one for the grandparents', who drive the dc once or twice a week, car. Just because they're in the car less regularly doesn't mean an accident is less likely, or less likely to be serious!

I don't think it necessarily follows that the more expensive the seat, the safer it is.

You are also to a certain extent paying for things like the colour and the the fabric used, the padding, the marketing etc etc.

They all have to pass the same safety test - and you can't tell 100% from the price whether they have gone the extra mile to make the seats as safe and hardwearing as possible, or whether they are just trying to sucker you in with an expensive price tag and luxurious-looking fabrics or an impressive sporty-looking shape.

It should be perfectly possible to design and manufacture a basic seat which is still very safe, and easy to fit.

1. Not everyone reads Which.

1. Not everyone who buys a car sear owns a car.

1. Not everyone does extensive research into car seats, prams, cots etc. Lots of people just go to the shops and come home with items.

1. The car I am currently driving cost £300. £25 for a car seat seems more than enough to me.

1. If a car seat is on sale and has a BSS, then it is perfectly adequate.

1. Do what you want for your own child. Don't try to make other parents feel bad for not doing the same as you.

YANBU

I'm also a bit at on-line retailers that show customer star rating next to really dodgy car seats.

A couple of years ago I read a Which? report saying that a particular car seat was so crap your child would be less likely to die in a crash without it (the positioning of the straps would be a strangulation hazard on impact).

Yet the same car seat was on several websites with 5 star reviews, based on customer feedback on irrelevances such aesthetics, with comments such as "My little princess just loves this putrid pink seat"

Anyone purchasing in a hurry might see the 5 stars and think it's a perfectly acceptable seat, but not be aware the experts view on how the seat actually performs when needed most.

DS's car seat cost £25. It's a narnia one, it's light weight and secures well into almost every car. I don't drive, it gets used sometimes once a week, sometimes it can sit in my conservatory for months. My mum has a heavier one in her car permanently, though that was second hand from a friend.

I don't drive, I can't afford to spend hundreds on anything, especially not on something that mainly spends its time gathering dust. I'm also disabled, so one of the heavier ones is a no go.

They all go through the same testing process, and they wouldn't be on sale if they weren't safe to use. A lot of these companies - and not just car sear retailers, anything related to childcare - get away with charging ridiculous prices because they are a known name.

But then I also got judged on here when I said I use a taxi to get DS to playschool some mornings, because he's just sat in the seat next to me.

I've a kiddy and a spare £25. The kiddy one is amazing best thing I've ever bought for my son, its sturdy (was) the safest on the market, really clever and not the most expensive.
The £25 one, flimsy, big bulky, doesn't fit in the seat like the kiddy, its no way as safe.
So I do agree to a certain extent but I think it's what suits you, your needs, your budget and your car.

I think you can tell by looking at most seats to be fair..

If its dirt cheap, really light and sounds just like plastic when you tap on the cover... It's crap

You can pick up decent car seats for £80 ( once saw an ERF for £90!!) if you get them on offers because the colour is now discontinued so down from £150+ ish...

You have 9montha to save up for a infant carrier and again at lest 9months for the next stage not that any of mine have needed to be out of the infant carrier before a year old

You wouldn't let your child into a building site with a play hard hard... Don't do it with carseats!

I spent a fortune on a brittax car seat for my dc thinking more expensive is safer but the car seat was a right pain. It was so bulky and difficult to use not to mention my dc figured out how to unclip it within weeks. I ended up getting one from Argos for 40 pounds and its great less bulky, dc can't un clip it and its not so padded that he comes out sweating, like he used to in more expensive seat.
I figured that as all car seats have to comply with the same safety regulations the cheaper ones can't be dangerous or they'd fail checks...

All carseats meet a "standard" your right but that standard is pretty much a garden chair with straps and a cover... I'd rather have more than a garden chair protecting my child..

I understand what you're saying, OP - it's not just about the money, it's about priorities.

We don't resent paying more for things like car seats (bloody RF Group 1 are horrendously expensive); good mattresses; shoes etc. and yet DD's nursery is definitely a work in progress and we buy a lot of used clothes from Ebay.

Obviously some people can't afford to pay for expensive car seats, but I agree with the OP - if you have some available cash to spend on DCs kit it should go towards their safety first.

We bought an expensive Mamas & Papas infant seat for DS1 - this was way back and there wasn't a lot of comparison information available, so we went for a brand. It was a PITA to use and he outgrew it by length well before weight.

We bought a £40 Mothercare own brand one for DS2. It was a Which? best buy and really easy to fit in the car snugly.

Once you get up to booster seat level, most of the price difference is in comfort. With all forward facing seats, there are badly designed ones that are too top heavy or difficult to fit correctly at all price points and ones which perform well at all price points.

my understanding is that all car seats have to pass the same safety tests. Other than that it is about comfort, looks and brand name. Weight has little to do with it certainly. Mine have the Kiddypro ones with the "torso shield" rather than internal straps. They are very light, just plastic and polystyrene but are considered v safe. We need to get a booster now for DS and am looking into this because actually the Nania one from Asda has far more padding on the seat than the Britax one. We spend a LOT of time in the car so this is important for us. Like or it or not, many people really CAN'T spend more on even these very important thing, regardless of how long they have to save. Many people have no spare money TO save and the cheapest seat on the market has the same kite mark as the most expensive.

Good God, I'm in a panic now.

DD has a Babyweaver carseat, which I have just googled and it seems like they are made by Narnia.

I generally do my research and we're the sort of people who only buy her expensive shoes etc but this has slipped my radar.

Having said that, we don't have a car and only keep the car seat in the cupboard in case she ever is in a car. This happens about 8 times a year for a short journey. Obviously the more time you spend on the road, the more likely you are to be in an accident but then if you happen to be so unlucky to be in an accident (during one of those 8 times a year in a car), you'd never forgive yourself if your child got killed due to an unsafe car seat.

Argh, not sure what to do now. My plan was always to keep the spare seat until we have a car and then buy an expensive rear facing one, like the ones in Scandinavia.

Where can I find safety ratings for all the car seats. This sort of thing doesn't seem to be very publicised in the UK.

it's also about ease of use. I had a £30 Tesco job for a visiting small person - solid and evidently comfortable, but a pain to do up the clip. (although there was no way she could undo it).

second-hand gets flamed because 'you don't KNOW that it hasn't been in a crash'. Sounds like you don't KNOW that new ones are much good either.

I think the anger here needs to be directed at the manufacturers. It isn't simply a case of you get what you pay for. The standards are there and should be raised if the minimum isn't adequate.

All carseats meet a "standard" your right but that standard is pretty much a garden chair with straps and a cover

No it isn't. Stop dramatising. Safety Standards

Of course there are minimum safety standards for most products like electronics/appliances/technology/automobiles etc., but that doesn't mean some aren't safer than others.

I don't know whether this service is available all over the country, but in Bristol there is a council run centre where you will be shown a variety of car seats and they are all checked and fitted in your car, you are advised on which is the best but you DON'T buy them from this place, you go to your own retailer and do so. This means that they are under no pressure to push any one make/ model. I've found them a God send, when looking for car seats. Our car is an import and we had real trouble finding a seat that fitted properly. I found them online, through using Google.

OP, you are not BU. If you have money to spend on your DCs then their safety should always come first! Think of it like this, if you were transporting a wedding cake from A to B, you would pack it in your car with much care. You wouldn't leave it to slide from side to side in your boot, you wouldn't put it in a carrier bag. You would pack it in a strong box, make sure the box can't slide around/ off the seat etc.

If Which feels some car seats are not safe they should campaign to get the British Standard certification changed.

If unsafe seats are meeting the standard then is the standard set too low.

As with a lot of things, part of cost goes on marketing and brandname, so no I do not think you get what you pay for, sometimes you pay for a brandname. Expect even Which has tested some brandname seats and found them lacking.

Safety should be the concern not price but a higher price does not always mean safer. So safety standard needs changing so that retailers and parents know that the seat they are buying regardless of cost does offer a high standard of protection in front, side and rear impact RTCs.

If you read all the Which test results you'll see that price is NOT an indicator of safety.

Yes, this ONE very cheap chair was tested and is unsafe, but beyond that there doesn't seem to be a correlation (I have recently looked at all the which results as I need a new car seat).

All seats DO have to meet a standard, but Which have decided that standard isn't high enough and have crash tested to higher standards. Hence why they say do not buy this one seat.

Anybody who is panicing - pay the subscription to Which for their results. It's very clear. You can cancel your subs again after the first month.

I mean there's £300 Britax chairs in the Don't Buy from which.

Do we still have British Standards or is it all European now? Changes to European standards may be tricky but not impossible, so contact your MEP to get the standards reviewed.