Rear facing carseat for new baby - do any come with 5 point harness?

[KirstyJC]

Hi All

We are looking for a rear facing car seat for new baby due in 6 weeks. We borrowed ones for both previous babies and tbh can't remember much about them!

Looking around now, I'm finding most seem to only have a 3 point harness, ie over both shoulders and between legs. Is there such a thing as a 5 point harness in this type of car seat? We only need the first stage one as by the time baby has grown out of this, s/he will be able to use the one DS2 is currently in. I see that some carseats suitable from birth have 5 point harnesses but these are the forward-facing group 0-1 and I really want rear facing.

If anyone could point me in the right direction I would be most grateful!

Thanks

They are all 5 point harnesses, the extra two are where the shoulder straps meet the seat down by their sides IYSWIM

Three point harnesses don't exist

Thanks for your reply, unfortunately now I'm proper confused!!

The majority I have seen on various websites are labelled as 3 point harnesses, and show only 3 straps - one over each shoulder, going into the clip, and one between the legs going into the clip. The pictures clearly show only 3 straps and don't have the side straps that you mention going from the shoulder strap to the side of the seat. (I know what this looks like as DS2's car seat has these side straps too).

Like this picture - www.mothercare.com/Maxi-Cosi-CabrioFix-Infant-Carrier-Blue/dp/B0036OQDOY/sr=1-31/qid=1297701195/ref=sr_1_31/275-1396731-5467354?_encoding=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=44450031&mcb=core

There are only 3 straps here, aren't there? I can't see anything at the sides too.

I have seen a couple on Mothercare's website - Roccaro and Jane - which say they have 5 point harnesses, and which show side straps in the pictures too, but they are super expensive .

OOOOOOOOH YEAH!!! I am confused too now!! I thought you HAD to have a 5 point harness up until they are 15kg.
We had the Graco one and it had a five point harness, have tried to look for a pic but they are all black so you can't really tell.
How strange, I would ask in a shop, not mothercare though they are next to useless and rude to boot!
Good luck

This one has a 5 point harness.

http://direct.tesco.com/product/images/?R=210-6433

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.210-8253.aspx

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.207-5686.aspx

http://www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/car-seats/baby-safe-plus-ii

http://www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/car-seats/baby-safe-plus-shr-ii

Thanks Guys, that's really helpful. Sorry to confuse you too propercrimbo!!

I think these are all out of our price range sadly. I assume since all car seats have to meet the UK safety standards that all of them, even those with 3 point harness, are OK and considered safe to use. So, I think we'll go for a cheapy Argos one in that case!

am sure the recaro babyseat has a 5 point harness,there is another too but cant remember the name sorry.
other thing you could go for is the britax first class or the concord ultimax which have 5 point harness.
my dc's seats all had 3 point harnesses(infant seats)

although all carseats sold pass uk safety tests,the safety tests are pretty minimal (seats dont even need side impact protection),there are some seats which are tested beyond the uk legal standard.
so although they are all labelled as 'safe' there are some which dont even offer side impact protection,and if you have a look on you tube you will see that although they pass the frontal crash test at 30mph,at 40mph its a very different story.

I have the Britax baby safe for ds2 and it has 5point harness.

My friend has the Graco Logico S, that a 5point harness.

There is a childminder at our local toddler group who uses an O'Baby Zezu that has a 5point harness.

We have the maxi cosi Opal. It has 5 point harness and will go rearfacing and front later on.

We previously had the concord ion too (it came with the buggy) and it does have side straps too.

I think the 3 points or 5 points refer to the number of places the belts are attached to the seat, not the number of belts.

So what you describe are 5 point harnesses. 3 points is the regular car seat belt, which attaches top, bottom and across (at buckle), as you would use with a booster. 2 points is the old-fashioned lap belts like you have on a plane.

As far as I know all baby seats from birth have 5 point harnesses. once they move onto boosters at 3-4 ys old they use the regular car seat belt and so are secured at 3 points.

ecobatty - infant seats used to all have 3 point harnesses - 2 straps come from above baby's shoulders and the buckle makes the 3rd strap in between baby's legs. - thus 3 point harness.
a 5 point harness has 2 extra straps which go around the waist too.

9m-4y - forward facing seats all have a 5 point harness
birth-4y - have 5 point harness because of the fact they forward face later on

some infant seats are now made with the 5 point harness now too,they used to all be made with a 3 point harness.

Ah, OK. I thought she was confused because it's the same strap that goes from the shoulder attaching point to the point on the sides now too....

http://www.preciouslittleone.com/product-information/36/10046/nania-driver-sp-car-seat---granite/

Kirsty, I'm afraid I can't really recommend a cheap seat with a 5 point harness, I don't know of any.

There's a lot of confusion about the terminology here, but I understand what you mean - some infant seats have waist straps and some just have shoulder and crotch straps, i.e. 3 straps. I'm not sure what that's called though. A regular seat belt is also called a 3 point harness, which is where the confusion comes in.

I'm just curious about what is wrong with the 3 strap harnesses for a baby? The most popular seats seem to have them and I've never heard of them being unsafe.

Having said that, I have a Britax Baby Safe Plus SHR II with a "proper" 5 point harness and no complaints about it. It's one of the more expensive seats, but it lasted well for my daughter and we're going to use it for the new baby too.

NickiAndAlex - I'm sure there's nothing wrong with a 3 point/strap harness - I just assumed that all baby seats came with 5 straps like the older seats do. I only want a cheap seat as this is our last baby and we have the next stage seat already, so it doesn't really need to last.

THanks for all your replies - I will check out all the links and just pick something!

NickiAndALex - the more points of restrain the safer a car seat is (obviously having legs and arms restrained would be even safer but bloody uncomfortable for baby).

With a 3 point belt the hips aren't restrained as they are with a 5 point belt making the baby move more in an accident.

most important thing,is to make sure it fits in your car properly.
mothercare to their own brand one which is pretty good,
if you have a look on ebay they often have 'reconditioned' ones.
i got a maxicosi cabriofix from there for £55,was new with the tags on it :)

I always find it strange that the cabrio hasn't got a 5 point harness when it's supposedly one of the best.

I have this one which is a 5-point harness and fairly cheap. It's super fiddly though, although now I have got used to it I hate it less than when DS first arrived.

AKMD - this one is labelled as 3 point harness - does it definitely have 5? You can't see from the photo!!

Says 5 point on mothercare

Thanks for all your help. I have just bought a 3 point infant seat from Babies R Us - it was cheap at 39.99 but has side impact protection and fits in the car well.

Now I just need to find a narrow booster seat to fit in between the new seat and the other baby seat.....who thought 3 kids was a good idea?!?!

Look on kiddicare.com, they've got a sale on and have 0-4 seats that go rearfacing for about £45?

We've got a Graco up to 9kg one which was cheapish and has a good harness, have a look around online. Good luck!

d'oh! They might have a booster seat for you though.

if its a basic booster your after,tesco do a black one, 'voyager' make,about £8,really narrow.