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OK, first and formost, all the normal DISCLAIMERS. Please do not regard this post as ANY sort of official endorsement of any seat, or anything like that. Thank you.
We do a lot of crash testing of baby seats where I work (I won't go into why a Navy aircraft R&D center does this, since I don't want to take up bandwidth with my rantings). I don't personally test them, but I've work with and talked with those who do (since 4 friends of mine have or are expecting babies).
From what I understand, you get what you pay for. There seems to be a good correlation between cost and quality with child seats. Britex, Fischer Price, and Graco are some of the ones they like. Besides just doing well in crash tests, the better seats have no sharp corners or nooks that can trap little fingers, and things like that.
Whichever seat you get, make sure it has shoulder belts, lap belts, and a crotch strap. The kind with a big padded "T" over the middle really aren't that great. Snug the lap belts down, then the shoulder belts (this is important, so that the lap belts stay on the hips, and don't come up onto the abdomen).
The frot teather anchor helps in rear impacts, and the anchor behind the rear seat helps in frontal impacts. I think a seat in the center (which is recommended for better side impact protection) that is anchored to all three rear seat anchors might do better in side impacts (since the outboard teathers will help keep the seat in place). However, we haven't considered this, and there's the issue of getting all those teathers on and off. Perhaps clipping all of them together w/ a carabiner? Like I said, we haven't thought of it much.
Speaking of rear impacts, having a big bar across the front of the seat (like the carry handle that folds down in front) is good, in that it helps keep the seat from smashing into the rear seat in a rear impact.
Also, the seats that have a base that stays in the car, and a seat that clicks into it seem to work pretty well. Just make sure there's a loud click or some other means of knowing that the seat is locked to the base. The seats that have retractable wheels (thus becoming a stoller) tend to have too much mass for the seat to withstand in a crash. They meet the gov't requirements, but not as well as those w/o wheels.
In any event, make sure the seat is in there really tight. Make sure the base is seated in there nice and firmly, and then literally get your knee on it and pull the belts tight. They'll stretch anyway in a crash. Also have it inspected by a trained inspector. Something like 90% of seats have something wrong with the installation.
Oh, and for infants, the backrest should be at about a 45-degree angle. Too vertical is not good, since they don't have enough neck muscle to keep the head from flopping down in their chest, and too horizontal is not good, since it makes it easier for them so slide out of the seat in a frontal crash.
Again, please remember all those disclaimers.
, Tue, 12 Jun 2001 18:27:23
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