VICST has been around for 4.5 years now…and we’ve never really gotten around to branding ourselves. We think it’s high time!
Sadly, we lack both imagination and creative design skills. That’s where you come in. A logo contest! Or a trade, or barter, if you’d prefer.
To the winner: your choice of a Graco Dimensions, Evenflo SureRide, Graco MyRide, or possibly something else that you need. If you win we’ll chat.
The rules:
You design and create an original logo or set of logos for our use. If you are the winner you agree to give us complete ownership of the images so we can use them as we see fit. If you submit a design it must be your original design.
The logo must be proportioned to fit in standard Facebook or Twitter profile pictures (square), and ideally would also be able to be used in header format. Perhaps there are some basic design elements that can be creatively combined in different ways! We don’t know…you see why we haven’t done this before?
One day maybe we’ll print it on a banner so a high res file would be good. Ideally it would also print well in black and white for those times when we photocopy stuff. We would prefer if it could be produced as a vector file but don’t require it.
We are under no obligation to choose any winner. We may extend the deadline if we haven’t received sufficient entries. Open to Canadian residents of any age, void where prohibited.
Please submit to info@vicarseattechs.com by 11:59pm Pacific time on Sunday May 15th. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
The Pipa advertises a five-second installation and in many vehicles that is in fact true. “Yeah right,”you say! Watch here for a video tour and see it in action.
Seat Specs:
Rear-facing only seat to accommodate children 4-35lbs and up to 32″ tall and whose head is at least 1″ below the top of the carrier
Three harness positions:
Lowest harness position with low birth weight insert: ~5.5″
Highest harness position with all inserts removed: ~8.5″
Two crotch buckle slots with multiple positioning options. Note: measurement indicates approximate depth to crotch buckle location: ~3″ (with ability to shorten for small babies and both inserts in place) / 4.5″ with single insert in place / 6.5″ / 7.5″
Flexible seat padding options:
low birth weight under-bum pillow that tucks tidily away; reduces space between baby’s crotch and crotch buckle for an excellent newborn/preemie fit
full-body insert in plush fabric; machine washable
optional harness pads
optional crotch buckle pad
Seat Features:
The Pipa features a long list of premium ease of use features that are sure to delight the most discerning parent. Look for photos below this list of highlights.
True Lock installation with rigid UAS makes for a quick and easy installation with lower anchors (note – vehicle must have lower anchors in the seating position of choice)
Included funnel guides for UAS installation (photo below)
Dream Drape for privacy and protection from the elements (and touchy feely strangers)
Well-placed mesh ventilation and peep holes to keep an eye on babe from any direction
Elegant fabrics in sophisticated colours and textures that are well-fitted, snugly sewn, and machine washable. Currently available in two fashions: Graphite (shown here) and Night (black).
Allows a European belt routing when installed baseless (more on that later in the “fit to vehicle” section)
Lightweight carrier with comfortable handle
Compatible with many strollers with either Nuna or Maxi Cosi adapters
Seven year useful life period from date of manufacture, or date of purchase with original receipt
Available online and in store at boutiques across Canada for $399.99; extra bases also available
True Lock installation with rigid UAS is truly lightning fast in many vehicles. A red/green indicator button makes it clear whether the installation is complete. The included optional funnel guides (black plastic casing on split image) make a UAS installation easier for vehicles with buried lower anchors by exposing them. They work particularly well on flatter vehicle seats.
The Dream Drape tucks away ingeniously into the seat’s canopy and when zipped up looks tidy and neat. Best used for the smaller occupants who don’t have the ability or awareness to kick it out of place, or for an older child who is sleeping. It might also be handy to keep curious older siblings out of baby’s space when seated next to each other in the car. The lower tabs are magnetic and attach easily and snugly to the outer edge of the carrier with no velcro or buckles to fuss with.
Well-placed mesh ventilation in the canopy and Dream Drape allows one to keep an eye on sleeping babe from all angles.
Elegant fabric in attractive colours and textures make for a stylish ride. Featured throughout this review is Graphite (grey), also available in Night (black).
Ergonomic handle makes for an easier time carrying baby. There is sufficient clearance between the raised canopy and the handle to easily fit a hand. If you prefer to carry in the crook of your elbow lowering the canopy is likely necessary.
Easy carrier release located on the base (not the carrier like many other seats). Not a pro or a con per se, just different.
Fit to Child:
The Pipa fits a broad range of children, providing a customizable fit with flexibility in crotch buckle positioning, included inserts, harness pads, and crotch buckle pad. As always consult the manual to know when and how to adjust these features. The Pipa fit my newborn/preemie doll (approximately a 5-6lb, 18″ baby) beautifully. At the other end of the fit spectrum a 24lb 11 month old was nearing both the standing height and clearance above his head. Like most seats the Pipa will be outgrown first by height, but with the 32″ limit and tall shell it’s a market leader for longevity.
The largest child I tested at 24lbs and 31″ tall, this 11 month old had ample harness length left (sometimes a concern at the top end of a seat), and no issues at all with crotch buckle length or ease of buckling. If this was his seat I’d be advising his parents to get shopping for the next seat to continue to rear face him in. Shorter-torsoed kids will last to the full standing height but it’s important not to exceed any stated limit for a car seat.
At 3 months and 14lbs, 5 months and 18lbs, and 9 months and 20lbs these cuties demonstrate nicely just how great the fit is in the Pipa for differently shaped babies. The parent testers liked the feel and fit, and huge thanks to them and their offspring for giving the Pipa a go. Use of cloth or disposable diapers will affect whether any inserts are needed at smaller sizes but you can see with the youngest baby that she already fits without it. That bodes extremely well for the teeny tinies who sometimes don’t fit well in seats.
Fit to Vehicle:
Fit to vehicle varied widely. I loved the Pipa very much in vehicles with lower anchors (anything 2003 or newer), and with vehicle seats that are not extremely sloped. In most of the test vehicles I tried it installed really well, sometimes in as little as seconds. In others I needed to adjust the recline angle but was still relatively simple. If you are considering the Pipa it should be for its strength for use with rigid UAS. It is light weight (9.4lbs fully decked out with canopy and all infant padding), and really compact front-to-back.
If you do not have lower anchors in the seating position where you want to use it, if your vehicle seat is extremely sloped, or if you have a tight three-across seating situation I would strongly urge you to try this seat before you purchase it. Take the time to visit a boutique store and install it. The seat belt installation is challenging, and can not be used at all with seat belts “forward of the bight,” meaning seat belts that anchor forward of the natural crease between seat back and seat bottom.
UPDATE Sept 2018: a recent change to the recline angle required on the Pipa is resulting in many seats installing too reclined. If this is the case for you please take photos, and contact Nuna for advice and assistance. Photos and commentary in this review address the original 2016 version of this seat, and may not apply to currently available product.
Despite the seat belt challenges, the successes were many. In all vehicles the front seat was either all the way back, or sufficiently back that my 5’8″ self could very comfortably sit in the passenger seat. If you are significantly taller or like to lean your seat way back (not safe for you – don’t do that!) you might not find it quite as roomy as I did.
2016 Acura MDX behind the passenger and centre (this vehicle has centre UAS).
2016 Mitsubishi Lancer
2016 Mitsubishi RVR (white) and Outlander (black)
2016 BMW X5 was ultimately successful but required some effort and technique to achieve the correct recline (yellow noodle is there for that purpose). Initially the base ‘hovered’ as shown in the first picture. Don’t despair – it weights down once the carrier (and baby) are in place, and is simply an artifact of the rigid UAS.
A similar “hover” was experienced in a 2012 Ford F-150 extended cab but again, with the weight of the carrier in place it settled down and was an excellent fit, leaving lots of room in the passenger seat AND being narrow enough to tumble the 60 side of the 40/60 split. The amount of overhang shown here is permitted, just. Be wary if you have very shallow back seats.
Fit in a 2012 Odyssey was terrific, both in the 2nd row captain’s seats and the 3rd row outboard seats. The UAS installation is demonstrated in the video tour here. Pictured below is a baseless installation with Euro routing. This routes the shoulder belt around the back of the carrier, tucking into the bracket made just for this purpose, and enables a snug installation even baseless. While extra bases can be purchased, a baseless installation is a handy skill to learn.
If you have a lap belt only, or your lap/shoulder belt isn’t long enough to route as shown don’t fret – traditional routing is also approved. Already a compact seat, a baseless installation means the Pipa will fit in even the smallest of spaces, and makes this 2012 Civic look enormous!
Should you find yourself wanting to do a seat belt installation there is a large, easy to open and close lock-off for this purpose. It clamps the belt and holds it tightly. I had difficulty achieving a tight installation at the appropriate recline, while keeping the seat belt flat in the lock-off in the vehicles I tested. While doable, it’s not easy to accomplish, and is not where the Pipa shines. If you must use a seat belt in your vehicle it would be worthwhile to consider other options unless you can try in advance and know the Pipa will work for you.
Final thoughts:
We first laid eyes on the Pipa at a trade show last year…and we’re so glad to see it finally here! It’s a
very good option in many vehicles and features some lovely finishing touches that we like a lot.
Pros:
lickety split UAS installation that truly couldn’t be easier — provided the seating location has lower anchors and the vehicle seat isn’t crazily sloped
beautiful finishing details on fabric and inserts
long lasting for height and weight
fabulous fit to child
Cons:
challenging seat belt installation may result in it being incompatible in seating positions without UAS
UPDATE Sept 2018: a recent change to the recline angle required on the Pipa is resulting in many seats installing too reclined. If this is the case for you please take photos, and contact Nuna for advice and assistance. Photos and commentary in this review address the original 2016 version of this seat, and may not apply to currently available product.
If I knew for certain that this seat worked where I wanted it to in my vehicle (and a baby was in my future…alas, I am done!) this seat would absolutely top my list. It’s lovely in many circumstances but where it isn’t…it really isn’t. Consider it for your family if you can be sure ahead of time that it works in your vehicle, or better yet, try it for yourself. It will be well worth the time and effort to do so because if it is an option for you…it’s dreamy.
Big thanks to Nuna Canada (here on Facebook) for providing the seat used in this review, but as always, all opinions are our own.
HUGE thanks to Nuna Canada for offering up another one for YOU! Enter to win a Nuna Pipa in Night (black) by using the Rafflecopter widget below. Please note that comments are moderated, meaning yours won’t show up immediately.
Collision Dynamics: Dissecting Impact, by Angela Stacey
(Physics disclaimer: Assuming ideal conditions, friction out of scope, assuming no loses to H/L/S, decel/accel out of scope).
It’s the moment we CPST’s fear most. Impact from a vehicular collision. And rightfully so! A lot goes on in the milliseconds leading up to, during and after an impact. But by growing our understanding of how these timeframes play out, we can help to better protect the occupants of our vehicles and those of the families we help. And hey, physics is fun! (Don’t believe me? You’ll see).
First, let’s start with some basic physics: Newton’s Laws of Motion. Not a math lover? Never been one for complex equations? Well, you’re in luck, Newton’s Laws are simple to interpret and apply to everyday situations. These three laws govern the motion of anything and everything, including your vehicle. These laws will be the main tool in our impact dissection kit, so let’s take a look at them.
First law: Every object in a state of uniform motion or at rest will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force.
Second law: The relationship between an object’s mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors (meaning they have both a magnitude and a direction).
Third law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That is, when one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.
Not so bad, right?
Let’s put ourselves at the scene of a rear-end collision. For simplicity, we’ll say that they are both the same model of vehicle, with the same mass*. We have been told that the vehicle traveling behind (a silver vehicle) has impacted the vehicle in front (a blue vehicle) as the pair were coming to a stop at a red light. No one is badly injured, but both drivers seek to better understand why their necks hurt.
In order to better understand what happens in a collision at the moment of impact, we must first look at what happens before that moment. Our bodies, our children and our trunk full of groceries are all traveling at the same speed as the vehicle. Now would be an excellent time to read Newton’s First law of motion again. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
The objects in your vehicle are traveling in a state of (relatively) uniform motion in the moments before the impact. They will carry on that way until…something acts to stop them or change their course. The silver vehicle impacting the blue vehicle serves this function. As the vehicles impact one another, the contents of the vehicles impact the surfaces adjacent to them. The force with which objects contact one another is equal to the product of the mass of the object (in kilograms) and the acceleration of the object (in m/s2 ), which is Newton’s second law: F = ma. I will point out that units are very, very important!
So that bottle of windshield wash in the foot well of your vehicle? It’s time to put that in the trunk to make sure it doesn’t continue in uniform motion and impact someone in the event of a collision!
At the moment of impact, everything (and everyone) moves toward the point of impact. Give Newton’s third law another read. In a collision between two objects, both objects experience forces that are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. The person in the silver vehicle will feel a force “coming back” to them that is equal to the force they hit the blue vehicle with, but again, in the opposite direction. This is why the person in the rear vehicle will move forward in their primary post-impact movement, and the person in the front vehicle will move backward, pressing into their seat. Occupants of both vehicles will move toward the point of impact because of the equal and opposite forces described by Newton’s third law. Take silver vehicle’s force to be directed –> this way, then the blue vehicle’s force would be equal and oppositely directed <– this way. Giving you: S–> <–B
Rear end collisions also involve the consideration that both vehicles are moving in the same direction, though one has unfortunately “caught up” with the other. This affects the outcome such that both vehicles will continue to move along that path until they come to a stop, their original direction of travel being the same means that their force vectors (think of these as arrows that represent the direction the vehicle is moving, with a length proportional to the mass multiplied by the acceleration of the vehicle) will add. Yet another reason why rear end collisions do not represent a large amount of overall collision injuries.
A video may help, see above: (silver vehicle = silver bottle, blue vehicle = blue bottle)
I hope that this short explanation has helped to increase your understanding of the basic physics of a collision, and will serve as a motivation to learn more about physics!
*Something to note: In accordance with Newton’s second law of motion, the acceleration of an object is dependent upon both force and mass. Thus, if the colliding objects have unequal mass, they will have unequal accelerations (or rather, decelerations) as a result of the contact force that results during the collision. This is why you will see a small car slide across the road when hit by a Hummer. Mass is (sometimes unfortunately) directly related to force.
Introducing the Grow & Go, Safety 1st’s new 3-in-1 fresh to the market. The Grow & Go can accommodate children rear-facing, forward-facing, and as a booster. We’ve tried it here in all modes and given it our usual thorough treatment!
Safety 1st’s manual, and matching colour coded labeling on the seat, is an excellent first glimpse at what the seat can do. Very clear, very easy to follow along, and a super way to get an overview of the seat and understand how it might work for your family.
Seat Specs:
Rear facing: 5-40lbs AND between 19-40″ tall AND at least 1″ of head rest above the head
Forward facing: 22-65lbs AND between 29-49″ AND harness coming from at or above the shoulders AND at least two years old
Booster: 40-100lbs AND 43-52″ AND at least four years old
Lowest harness height on infant harness routing (with required body padding): approximately 5.25″
Lowest harness height on no-rethread harness routing (with optional body padding): approximately 9.5″
Highest harness height (without optional body padding): approximately 17″
Maximum seated height while rear-facing: approximately 26″ (chances are the 40″ standing height limit will be reached first however)
Three crotch buckle positions: approximately 4.75″, 6″, 7.25″
Highest booster belt guide position: approximately 18.5″
No-rethread “Quick-Fit” harness (except for when the infant routing is used – babies grow fast, don’t worry!)
Dual cup holders
Sleek styling with a grey herringbone fabric
Lots of leg room rear facing
Easy to convert between modes of use
More – see photos below!
Really handy harness holders so you don’t have to dig the buckles out from under your child. Two ways to use them: hook the harness over top (we found this easiest) or pop the buckle tongue into the slot made especially for it.
Colour coded, easy to read labeling on the side of the seat. Blue for rear-facing, red for forward-facing and booster (there is some overlap in instructions with these two modes hence the doubling up of colour). One handed, super-smooth recline adjustment for rear- and forward-facing, and large visible indicator of position.
Easily removable soft goods and seat cover (not an iPod plug-in as I thought when I first glanced at it). The fabric is nice and feels like it would not pill or snag. The padding provides ample body and head support. Most is optional so customize fit to your liking. Harness pads are a new design and are longer on the underside and shorter on the outside. They were easy to position, and removed quickly with velcro.
Rear Facing:
Great news – this seat will fit from birth, and quite easily. The harness tightens fully, the harness is slightly below the doll’s shoulders, and the fit is good. Setting the seat up for newborn use requires re-routing of the harness to both shorten and lower it. Safety 1st has found an ingenious way to make the seat actually fit a newborn through a school-age child. Pay careful attention to the steps in the manual to set the seat up for newborn use (and the reverse when ready to move to the no-rethread “Quick-Fit” harness system). It’s not difficult nor time consuming, but does require manual reading and following the steps as indicated.
Modeling the seat we have a newborn doll, a ten month old, a 25 month old, and just turned 3 year old (the 3 year old in the green sweater is 38″ tall for reference).
Kids liked the dual cup holders, ample leg room, and squishy padding. Parents liked the harness covers, attractive fabric, nicely positioned headwings that provide head support but don’t block the view, and low profile of the seat shell itself that enabled easier loading. One parent noticed that the harness release button is discreetly tucked away to make it just a little bit harder for those Houdini kids to wriggle out.
Forward Facing:
The features that appealed rear-facing also appeal forward! Dual cup holders, easy to adjust no-rethread harness, and squishy comfortable fabric. The crotch buckle pad is optional, as is the body padding and extra head pad. All are easily removable. This seat can not be used forward facing until age two, and should fit most kids in harness mode through at least age five. Shown here is aged 2.5-5, approximately 30lbs through 42lbs, all of whom declared it comfy. Of course all kids come in different sizes and proportions so shorter torsoed kids will fit in harness mode for longer (blond girl in summer attire has always been long in the torso for example).
Booster Mode:
The Grow & Go may be used as a booster once a child reaches the minimums for this mode but we’d recommend you keep kids harnessed as long as they fit, and then ensure they’re mature enough for a booster. If that describes your child, then carry on! Belt fit is quite good on the kids we tried it in but there isn’t much time for booster use (by torso height) beyond when it’s outgrown in harness mode.
At 5.5, 46lbs, and 45″ tall (pink sweater) and 7.75, 55lbs, and 50″ (blue tartan) these two both fit in booster mode. The older child is just squeaking in (her shoulder is grazing the head wing). Lap belt fit on both is excellent. Use of the upper shoulder belt guide is optional if needed to properly position the shoulder belt centered on the shoulder, and on the buckle side both lap and shoulder belt should tuck under the harness storage tab as shown above. The booster weight limit of 100lbs is hugely overstated in our opinion – as you can see height is much more of a limiting factor than weight.
UAS and tether are not to be used while the seat is in booster mode – follow storage instructions, and teach your child to rebuckle the empty booster when it’s not occupied so it doesn’t become a projectile in a crash. It is a very simple process, however, to switch between harness and booster mode. No unthreading of the harness necessary – tuck it behind the red plate as shown in the photo. Then a quick removal of the crotch buckle, tuck the tail of the harness adjuster under the seat pad, and remove all padding and accessories. Our tip: stow it all together in a labeled Ziploc bag so you don’t forget what seat it belongs to.
Fit to Vehicle:
The Grow & Go installed quite nicely in our test vehicles. Two important aspects to note for rear-facing however: the red bracket shown below, and the rear facing level line. Both of these elements are shown in the following installation pictures but they are important enough to highlight here so they aren’t missed later on.
Our representative small sedan is a 2012 Honda Civic. A centre installation allows a decent amount of leg room up front – enough for an average driver – but those requiring the seat all the way back are going to want to use an outboard position (more on that shortly). Installing centre means a seat belt must be used (most vehicles do not allow the use of UAS in the centre, check your vehicle manual to know if yours does).
The single recline line rear-facing means that this is how it will fit for the entire time spent rear facing. Make sure this setup suits your family; there will be ample room in medium-large vehicle interiors. If your vehicle seat is too sloped to achieve the needed recline a small tightly rolled towel or chunk of foam pool noodle cut to length can be placed at the seat bight to further recline the Grow & Go. The base of this seat is nice and slim, and at 9″ wide should fit easily between the plastic hinges present in many vehicle interiors.
Note the proper belt routing here relative to the red brackets. Slide only the lap portion through – it’s easily accessible and the webbing slides freely to tighten, but must be routed through the red guides for proper installation.
For comparison here is an outboard installation with UAS. Driver’s seat is all the way back, with dazzling pink running tights showing off the resulting front passenger room for a leggy 5’8″ person when the seat is properly installed behind it. It is important to note that the UAS strap (when used) also routes through the red guides on both sides.
Forward facing installation is very straightforward – quick and easy whether you are using UAS or seat belt. The adjustable head rest sits slightly forward of the seat shell and will limit interference with forward-leaning head restraints in vehicles. Always check your vehicle owner’s manual for proper tether routing (under, over, or around a vehicle head restraint). The belt path is high enough that installation should be simple in most vehicles.
Overall Impressions:
For families wanting to buy one seat for use from birth through to the high back booster stage this is a very attractive option. Those of you with medium-large vehicle interiors should have no trouble attaining the required recline rear-facing through that use of the seat. High five to Safety 1st for blazing the trail to require a minimum age of two to use the seat forward-facing. This seat should reasonably last for most kids through age 6 if not longer, depending on proportions. If you have one of those immensely long torsoed children — something you won’t obviously know if you are shopping while still pregnant! — you can always cross that bridge when you come to it. At a minimum you will need a backless booster to last your child through age 10-12 when their boostering days are over and they pass the Five Step Test for seat belt fit.
The finishing is nice, the features are easy to use and clearly labeled, and kids and parents alike find it comfortable and user-friendly. It has to be rather difficult to design a seat that truly will fit a newborn AND a 6 year old well – but Safety 1st has done it.
To celebrate this accomplishment our generous friends at Safety 1st are giving away one Grow & Go to you, lucky readers! To enter please use the Rafflecopter widget below. Thank you to Safety 1st for providing the seats used in this review, but all opinions are our own.
Winter is here…brrr! No matter what part of Canada you live in we want to help the whole family be safe and warm in the car. With a few tips, some explanation around why it matters, and no need for fancy or expensive gear, your whole family can be riding safely no matter what Mother Nature has in store.
Keep the harness (or seat belt) close to the body
By close we mean close…super close! When car seats are crash tested there are strict rules around exactly what the test dummies wear, and it’s not much. Remove bulky layers that interfere with the harness being close to the body. With bulky layers removed make sure the harness passes the pinch test, and for booster riders and adults ensure the lap belt is under any coat or sweater, and then snug up the shoulder belt and place it against the chest.
What defines “bulky?” That’s a bit tricky. Anything big, lumpy, thick, oversized…will it interfere with proper harness placement or positioning? That’s the ultimate question. At the end of the day it’s a judgment call and requires some common sense and critical thinking. It’s notoriously difficult to gauge simply from a photo whether something is “too bulky” or “poorly fitting.” It can help to buckle a child in regular clothing, undo the harness without loosening it, dress in whatever layer is in question, and attempt to rebuckle. If you can – carry on! If you have to loosen a hair – probably also carry on, because that layer doesn’t disappear like magic in a crash! If you have to loosen quite a bit then it’s not a good choice because the looser the harness, the further away it is from the body. Make sense?
How to keep the harness (or seat belt) close? Thin, insulating, well-fitting layers
We don’t want anyone half naked, or under-dressed, because that would be…well, cold. You can be smart with your layers and here’s how: choose items that retain heat, such as fleece, down, wool, and other performance synthetics. Cotton does not keep you warm if it gets damp (if you’re sweating for example) but wool and fleece will keep on doing their thing. They’re also quite dense so if they fit well and aren’t overly thick, they won’t get in the way of how the harness (or seat belt) sits against the body, and they won’t disappear or compress much in a crash.
Do you prefer the convenience of a full body suit?
Many brands now make thin, warm fleece suits (typically avoid the lined ones, and certainly avoid any with filling or padding).
Look for something that is trim in cut (avoid the wide boxy ones).
Don’t size up because you don’t want it to be lumpy and bumpy and get in the way of the harness.
Try your child in it to make sure you can still get an excellent harness fit! What works for one child in a particular seat may not work for another. Babies and kids come in different shapes and sizes.
Same goes for “car seat safe” coats. These are not parkas, rather they are paper-thin compressible down jackets or suits that are handy for in and out of the car while running errands but won’t likely cut it for serious winter play. More brands than ever are making it affordable to go this route – look for something labelled “packable.” If you shop at Costco (in August!) look for packable down coats for around $35 (available is kids’ sizes 4 to adult XL). Other options include the Cozywoggle coat (sadly discontinued now but maybe you’ll luck out on a swap site), something like the “Road Coat,” or a car seat poncho that you can make yourself without any sewing skills.
After a child is buckled, put their coat on backward, or a blanket over top for added warmth.
A visual demo because we like pictures.
Thin, packable coat (in blue on the left) or a fleece jacket (in pink on the right), fleece pants, mitts and a toque – safe and warm. Layer up with a blanket or bring along the winter coat. Note: five year olds make awesome fashion choices.
NOT okay. With a bulky parka and snow pants the harness can not be properly positioned or tightened. Furthermore this child would overheat very quickly and can’t remove layers as the car warms up. Note: grumpy face was not at our direction. She really did not like this one bit.
How about boostered kids (or adults too)? Same principles apply. Always put the lap belt under any top layers. Dress in thin, well-fitting layers such as the blue packable jacket, open bulkier coats so the lap and shoulder belt can touch the body without interference, or remove bulky coats and cinch the belt tight over thin-to-medium weight snow pants.
NOT okay – the belt is sitting much too far off the body. Note: self-inflicted grumpy face here too. “Mom, I’m squished, let me out!”
Why does it matter? What’s the big deal?
Air is the enemy here!Avoid puffy, bulky items that are warm because they’re full of air. Great for the toboggan hill, not for the car or booster seat. You know those vacuum pack bags to store clothing or extra bedding — how you can make a previously gigantic piece of clothing quite tiny by sucking all the air out? That’s basically what is going on in a crash. Crash forces are extreme and compress the bulk and air so much so that suddenly your child’s harness is really loose, no matter how much you tighten the harness to begin with. Loose enough to cause injuries, or allow partial or complete ejection. Bad stuff you don’t want to experience.
Parents worry that if they are in a crash and their child is dressed only in a fleece they’ll die of hypothermia before help arrives. Remember that your child is not dressed only in a fleece, but rather thin, warm layers, and that the first goal is to survive the crash. Injury from ejection is immediate — hypothermia is not. Survive the crash, and then worry about the rest.
Keep Warm Stuff in the Car
Keep a fleece or wool blanket in the car, permanently. Thrift shops are great places for really warm stuff for cheap as chances are you’ll get snow, winter slush, and other assorted kid detritus on the blankets so they don’t need to be fancy — just warm. Kids will toss them off once they warm up.
If you are going somewhere to play outside bring the bulky layers with you! Is it a pain to try to dress a squirmy kid anxious to get sledding? Why yes, yes it is….such is life with a toddler (dang, someone should have told us that before we had kids!).
What if you break down and have to walk? Have an emergency kit that stays in your car, and includes spare layers. While half of us are based on Vancouver Island, we have all lived, or live, in places where -40C° happens. We are not supermoms, just regular parents like you. We can do it, and so can you.
A sample outfit for any age: tights or leggings, topped by fleece pants. Wool socks (tip: Bass Pro has thick wool socks in kid sizes in their “Red Head” line, for a reasonable price). Undershirt or tank top, long sleeve thermal shirt, thin fleece sweater, topped by a trim fleece jacket. Or a super thin down jacket (compresses to basically nothing, often called “packable”). Toque, mitts, and a blanket in the car? Presto chango, warm and comfy.
A fun way to recap some products new to market, and highlight our tried-and-true favourites! And did we mention a contest? YEAH! We will offer up giveaways for some of the below listed seats…but the window for entry will be short so you’ll have to check back often! See below for complete rules.
Is your child’s seat not on this list? Don’t despair – it’s just a quick, fun recap. We have LOTS of favourites and you can check them all out here! If you’re shopping for a new one and plan to buy through Amazon please start here so a small portion gets referred back to us at no cost to you. It helps funds our seat donations throughout the year.
1. Best new convertible under $150
The Cosco Scenera NEXT wowed and amazed us with its small size and amazing abilities. $99 at Walmart and in six cute colours it fits in places we never thought a rear-facing seat could go. Dorel is making some waves in the industry with a minimum age of two for forward-facing. Fist bump Dorel – carry on.
CONTEST #1: Congrats to the winner, Charlene C. from B.C., who won a Cosco Scenera NEXT.
2. Best new convertible under $300
Graco Dimensions (with its slightly less well-dressed sister the Contender) came onto the market in late summer at $269 and available most places Graco seats are sold (Contender is a Canadian Tire exclusive). Despite the 35lb rear-facing weight limit it’s crazy tall and super compact, making it a top notch choice for rear-facing a l-o-n-g time for those slim but tall kids, even in small cars. The Dimensions has nice features like premium push on UAS and harness pads. Video tour here.
CONTEST #4: Congrats to the winner, Stephanie H., from Ontario, winner of a Graco Dimensions.
3. Gold star for consistent awesomeness
Booster fit is ALL about belt fit, and that is completely dependent on the specific seating position in a vehicle (3rd row bench versus 2nd row captain’s seats for example) and the child who will occupy the seat. The Graco TurboBooster, the high back version specifically, is such a tried and true performer that if we know nothing about the vehicle-kid combo this seat is a pretty safe bet. Found most places for around $70-80 and frequently on sale for less it is easy to use, lightweight, and provides consistently good belt fit on most kids. Is your child booster-ready? This will help you decide.
CONTEST #2: Congrats to our three winners, Tennille, Sheena & Jill, all from Ontario. We gave away one each of a high back Graco Turbo, a high back Evenflo Amp, and a backless Harmony Youth Booster.
4. Best booster we don’t talk about enough
Another seat that is a good bet in many circumstances is the high back Evenflo Amp. Readily available at many retailers for around $70 its particular claim to fame is being a good bet in vehicles with long buckle stalks, as well as being one of the very few that work in the 3rd row outboard of current body style Dodge Grand Caravan (and clones Chrysler Town & Country and VW Routan), or 3rd row of the Mazda 5.
CONTEST #2 now closed – congrats to the winners!
5. Best infant seat we don’t talk about enough
Small but mighty the Evenflo Embrace is amazingly long lasting, pretty compact, and well-priced. It’s $140 at Walmart, and accommodates kids 4-35lbs or 17-30″ tall. It’s lightweight, fits tiny humans beautifully, and is a breeze to install.
6. Best new combo seat
A much anticipated addition to the combination (forward-facing harness-to-booster) seat lineup is the Harmony Defender. With a cool cover name of Pirate Gold we had high expectations – and were not disappointed. Exceptionally long lasting with a lot of features we’ve come to expect from pricier seats and on the shelves at most Walmarts for $159 it has a lot going for it.
CONTEST #5: Congrats to the winner, Amelia I. from Nova Scotia. Enjoy!
7. If we had another baby and skipped the infant seat we’d use…
a Clek Infant Thingy plus Foonf or Fllo. Clek released their “Infant Thingy” last spring and like their other products it was well thought out, well-executed, and just beautiful. It allows a truly magnificent fit for a newborn in a seat that can otherwise accommodate most kids to age four rear-facing, and to six+ forward-facing. None of us are expecting – but if we were the Infant Thingy would be at the top of our list for the newest VICST CPST-in-training.
8. If we had another baby and used an infant seat we’d use…
a Chicco KeyFit 30 (pronounced KEE-ko, for real). Smooth, simple, compact front to back yet long lasting for height and weight (4-30lbs or 30″ tall), and just all ’round easy to install and use, the KeyFit 30 is a super choice for many families. It’s also three-across friendly, meaning the straight edges of the base make it a good option when trying to fit three seats in a tight space.
CONTEST #3: Congrats to the winner, Sarah D. from B.C., who won a Chicco KeyFit 30!
9. We can’t believe this is less than $20
Did you know that most kids get out of a booster seat far too soon? Despite provincial laws that allow a child to ride in only a seat belt at age 8 or 9 the provincial law ALSO requires the seat belt to fit properly. For the vast majority of kids that won’t happen until at least age 11. For a mere $18 the Harmony Youth Booster (and any other booster that provides good belt fit) can dramatically decrease horrible life-altering injuries to the 6-11 year old crowd. We really like the Youth Booster.
CONTEST #2 now closed – congrats to the winners!
10. What we’re excited to get our hands on in 2016
What fun stuff will 2016 bring us? Already on the market but not yet in our hot little hands is the Nuna Pipa, an infant seat with some neat features that we previewed in the fall at a Toronto Trade Show. We hope to have more info about it soon. Also at that show was the Recaro Performance Booster and Performance Sport combo seat, and we liked the looks of them. We’ve also heard rumours of the Graco 4Ever coming to Canada but no info on it yet. What else will come to market in the next year?
And huge thanks to you for reading and sharing and getting good quality child passenger safety info out there in the world! Here’s hoping that 2016 is a good one for us all.
Contest rules: open to residents of Canada age 18 or older except where prohibited. Not open to the four admins of VICST or their immediate family members, nor to anyone who won something from us in 2015 or their immediate family members. One entry per household please. Entries must be completed in full, and winners must respond within 48hours to claim their prize. Entry time period varies by seat/day so check back often. Winners will be chosen randomly with the help of random.org.
The product offered for the giveaway is free of charge, no purchase necessary. By providing your information in the contest form, you are providing your information to VICarSeatTechs alone. We do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of verifying and contacting the winner.
If you have any additional questions – feel free to send us an email! (info@vicarseattechs.com)
In case this is as far as you read here are our Take Home Messages:
The BEST seat for you is the one that fits your child, fits your vehicle, fits your budget, and that you can use properly EVERY TIME. That “use properly” bit is key as misuse piled on top of misuse is going to increase the risk of injury to your child.
Take extra care to ensure the car seat is installed tightly with 1″ or less of movement at the belt path, and that your child is buckled in without bulky clothing so that the harness passes the pinch test.
Please remember that Consumer Reports is testing American car seats. Up here in the Great White North our seats are often a little different as our testing requirements are different. Even seats that appear to be identical often aren’t. Canadian seats tend to have more padding in the head area, have some form of anti-rebound control when rear-facing (most commonly anti-rebound bars, or a modified shape to the front edge of the car seat compared to US seats), and always require the use of the tether when forward-facing. Our weight limits are lower, and sometimes height limits too. We also have much less selection…but really, tons more than we used to! US seats are cheaper but Canadian seats are made for Canadian requirements and it’s illegal for Canadians to use foreign seats here.
It is really important to understand that ALL of the seats tested are SAFE. Let us repeat that – if they’re for sale on the shelf they are safe.
Furthermore the final ratings given to the seats are an amalgamated score combining CR’s idea of “ease of use” and “fit to vehicle” with the crash testing.
Why did Consumer Reports (CR) change the testing method for crashworthiness evaluation? According to them it was because they wanted to provide comparative information to consumers to aid in the buying process, and to develop a test protocol that was more representative of modern vehicles. Great ideas, but no need to panic at the results if your child’s seat isn’t on the top five list.
Good news! 2 of the top 5 seats are excellent budget options. What if you have a seat that isn’t on that list? Don’t freak out. Between the four of us we own…um…a lot of car seats and have absolutely no intention of swapping them out for seats on the Top 5. None. Because first and foremost we know we are using them correctly and THAT is far and away the most important element when it comes to our children’s safety.
Want to double check that you are using your seats properly? Meet with a CPSAC-certified CPST near you. Some charge a fee for their time and others volunteer but either way it’s time well spent.
It’s been just over four years since we started providing online help via Facebook and this website. FOUR YEARS of good stuff! It’s been awesome. Four busy moms with ten kids between us we hope our passion for child passenger safety has shone through with kindness, knowledge, and no judgment. Maybe you’ve enjoyed our silliness, or nabbed a seat on a super sale. Maybe one of our posts helped you to make an important decision for your family’s safety?
We’ve enjoyed fantastic relationships with manufacturers as we bring real, useful reviews to Canadian readers and have written about and given away more than 22 seats to lucky winners in our weird and wonderful contests.
What we also do, and could not do without your support, is provide seats to families who need them. Families who want to make sure their children are safely seated in the vehicle and need a little help to be able to do that. Over the years we’ve given away many seats to grandparents and parents. Other kids have received booster seats or harnessed seats at roadside stops. Sometimes we hear of a family by referral, or sometimes a seat is given out at a roadside stop in cooperation with local law enforcement. We are so fortunate to work with community partners who seek to educate and connect families with the resources they need!
We purchase seats with referral funds that don’t cost you anything extra when you shop at Amazon.ca (for anything, not just car seats), or when you sign up for and make a purchase from shop.ca or via an ebates.ca account. Alternately, if you’re feeling extra generous, we’d love to ensure that a new-in-box car seat or booster seat that you want to purchase for a family gets to someone who needs it. Be in touch if that’s the case, we can make it happen.
We post sales every Friday morning — more often if there’s a super car seat deal — and shopping via those links contributes too.
Do you know of someone who could use our help? We’d like to be a resource for local Vancouver Island families. A few conditions apply:
The family, ideally the whole family or everyone involved in child transport, needs to meet with a tech to learn how to use and install the seat. This means you need to be near a technician, or willing to travel to a technician.
The family needs to be open to the idea of best practice, meaning exceed the bare minimums. What that means will depend on the child, the vehicle, and the family’s needs but we’d like to have that conversation, and provide a seat(s) to allow best practice to happen with ease! Of course we can’t make anyone do anything, nor do we want to. Our style is gentle education while providing the tools and knowledge to make it work for the family.
In consultation with a family we will help to choose an appropriate seat. Where choice exists we’ll provide it as best we can. Often this means we need to know who else rides in the vehicle, including the children’s ages, weights, and heights. A family’s privacy is important so this information is used only to enable the selection of a suitable seat.
Are you in need of a little help? Do you know of a family who would appreciate a new seat but can’t quite swing it on their own? Please tell us via this form. Info we collect is used solely for the purpose of doing our best to get seats to kids who need them, and we will absolutely respect the privacy of any information you submit. Please understand that we can’t possibly fulfill every request but we sure will try our best.
Alainna and Jen (and their future CPST helpers, plied with food, play dough, and cameo appearances with My Little Ponies Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle) spent yesterday wandering the Toronto Baby Time Show looking at products, chatting with sales people and manufacturer reps, and ogling new stuff.
We matched, of course. That’s how we roll.
Recaro was an exciting first stop for us. Brand new to Canada they’ve brought their convertible (infant/child) seat to market. So far Canadian Tire is carrying the Performance Ride for $299, and we got to explore it while chatting with their experts. We will have more info on the Performance Ride, the combination forward-facing child/booster seat Performance Sport, and high back booster Performance Booster really soon.
5 years old and tall in the Performance Ride – still plenty of room left by torso height. She proclaimed it super comfy and we agreed. Lots of padding, really nice finishing details.
Happy to oblige by sitting in the high back Performance Booster (not quite on the market yet) we were pretty impressed with the height in this seat. No comparison shots yet but it’s a tall, cushy option that does not require a vehicle head restraint behind it. It does have lower anchors to secure it to the vehicle when unoccupied.
We visited Clek as well, spotting the gorgeous new “capri” colour from afar. The 2016 Foonf and Fllo come with extra padding in the head rest and seat pad areas, as well as a new style of harness cover that is longer, soft and cushy with snap closures. Capri will also be available on Oobr and we forgot to ask if it will be on the backless Olli as well. We hope so – it’s beautiful.
Clek has also updated the design of the rear-facing lock-offs. Compared to a ski boot closure or my own favourite, a Grolsch bottle, it’s easy to use and should make a seat belt installation even smoother.
Tokidoki fans rejoice – a new space-themed print. My 5 year old spotted the unicorn straightaway.
A stop by the Nuna booth saw Alainna lounging on the job, and then getting to it with her helper. We’re interested to see the Nuna Pipa in action. It comes with a lot of nice features including lovely fabric, rigid UAS, a super easy to use lock-off for seat belt installations, high height and weight limits (4-35lbs, up to 32″ tall), and really quite a lot of flexibility when it comes to usage rules. For those familiar with the Pipa in the US the Canadian version does not have a load leg. Don’t let that stop you though – it’s got a lot going for it. For those who want an infant seat in the $400 price range this won’t disappoint.
Our kids ran out of steam and we drove home…but not before spotting this through the ceiling of the convention centre. Until next time!
We are pumped to announce a fun contest in honour of child passenger safety week…but you have work at it a bit to earn an entry! And work fast…contest closes Saturday night at midnight Pacific (Sept 20th at 12:01 am).
Up for grabs: a seat of your choice!
The conditions:
it is from our favourites lists, unless there is a good reason for something else
it is available to order online from a Canadian retailer, and for free shipping
is in stock
$400 cap pre-tax but should you choose something pricier you can pay the difference
your choice of colour within reason…for example if another colour of the same seat is significantly less than others we have the final say
other fine print in the terms on the Rafflecopter
you MUST leave a blog post comment on this post to qualify, and you MUST record your entries on the Rafflecopter widget. Comments are moderated which means they won’t appear immediately, but proceed with the Rafflecopter anyway once you’ve left your comment.
To qualify:
Craft a haiku or a limerick that is car seat, booster seat, or otherwise child passenger safety related. We aren’t judging on creativity or poetry-writing skills but making one is your ticket to entry and you MUST submit it as your “blog entry” and then record it on the Rafflecopter below! Submissions must be original, suitable for a general audience (no PG-13 or more adult submissions please, leave those Nantucket references for elsewhere!), and may be shared on our Facebook page.
Updated March 2019. Note for all photos: Dorel is updating the angle at which a rear-facing seat may be installed. Newer versions of the seat may not be permitted to go so upright. Read your manual carefully, and follow the one that came with your seat.
Lightweight, colour options, inexpensive ($99), narrow, and long-lasting YES PLEASE! What’s not to love!
Dorel, parent company of Cosco, has brought the Cosco Scenera NEXT to the Canadian market and it is a fantastic addition to our line-up. They are also bringing some interesting features that are unique, so like always, you must read your manual. Available at Walmart, Babies R Us, or at Amazon you’ll like what you get for the price.
Seat Specs:
Rear-facing 5-40lbs, 19-40″, 1″ of clearance above the top of the head now required (March 2019) – follow what is stated in your manual. Forward-facing 22-40lbs, 29-43″, top of the ears level with the top of the shell. If your manual also states a two year minimum then you must follow that.
We very much like the layout in the NEXT manual – clear, concise, easy to follow. And to highlight an important minimum on the original batch of seats: a child MUST be at least 2 years old to forward-face. Go Dorel! This a trend we expect to see on more and more seats in the Canadian market. Update March 2019: newer seats have removed that requirement, but it is still recommended to rear face as long as possible.
Machine washable and dryable cover
Removable cup holder
Weighs less than 8lbs
Use of lower anchors (UAS, LATCH) for the full harness weight of the seat
It is also extremely important to note that if you use this seat to the max rear-facing, as we encourage you to do, it will not be usable at all forward-facing. You may not know this looking at the specs and so it’s important to understand why. When rear-facing the harness comes from at or BELOW a child’s shoulders, keeping him down and contained within the seat during a crash. When forward-facing the harness comes from at or ABOVE a child’s shoulders. The design of the NEXT is such that a child will fit longer rear-facing than forward…and that’s okay. It does it extremely well, so read on!
Here is the same child rear- and forward-facing: At age just-turned-two (the minimum to use it forward-facing), 35″ tall, and 28lbs it is outgrown already forward-facing as the harness is no longer at or above his shoulders…but LOTS of room left rear-facing.
Take home message here Consider the NEXT a rear-facing only seat, something it does with ease. Kind of like an infant seat with no handle. It is highly functional in rear-facing mode so that is what we will focus on.
Fit To Vehicle…
…is spectacular. Truly. It fits in small spaces. It’s on the narrow side. It’s lightweight and easy to install. When mine arrived I dangled it from a digital fish scale (everyone has one of these, right maybe it’s for luggage…) and it came in a 7lbs 10oz. Amazing!
The NEXT has a line on the side that must be parallel to the ground for children who can not sit up unassisted – this is to protect the child’s airway and enables them to keep their heads properly tilted back.
For children who can sit up unassisted the NEXT can be installed more upright, and this is where its amazingness comes out. It can fit in extremely small spaces front to back, leaving ample room for front seat passengers. Update November 2018: Cosco has updated the rear-facing angle instructions, read more here.Update March 2019: Canadian seats may not be installable more upright at all. Read manuals carefully and follow the instructions in yours.
Those of you who had a second child and felt the only way to have room to drive was to turn your child forward Rejoice! Chances are excellent that the NEXT can enable rear-facing a good long while yet. Pretty awesome eh? Some visual examples of just how much room it gives; even more front to back space can be gained installing with this body positioning technique (a different seat is shown but the pelvic brace + peeling the cover back is what you’re after). We also like that the harness adjuster mechanism (that button you push to loosen the harness) isn’t buried when rear-facing.
2012 Ford F-150 extended cab with rear-hinge doors – my tallish self can sit in the passenger seat no problem even with the NEXT at the fully reclined newborn angle.
2012 Ford Focus hatchback. With the NEXT at the newborn angle behind the passenger I had more room in the passenger seat in this car than I have had with any other rear-facing seat. Install it more upright in the middle and both driver’s and passenger’s seats can be all the way back.
NEXT also makes a 3-across pretty doable. This is of course dependent entirely on the vehicle and what seats it is beside but the compactness plus narrow shape at the bight (the part that makes contact with the vehicle seat back and bottom) is very 3-across friendly. Furthermore it leaves room to buckle a booster next to it.
3-across in a 2012 Ford Focus hatchback.3 across in a VW Jetta – NEXT is the blue one in the middle.
Bottom line is it installed everywhere we tried it. While I’m sure it is possible to have an incompatibility out there somewhere we haven’t yet discovered one rear-facing.
Truth be told…we didn’t much bother with forward-facing. If you’re going to forward-face an under-two then you can’t use this seat to do it, and if your child is average-to-large in height or torso length chances are it’s nearly outgrown forward-facing so again, not the seat for you! Plenty of other rear- and forward-facing options on the market though.
Fit to Child
Like all things car seat, reading your manual is SUPER important. The NEXT has very specific, very unique harness routing and crotch buckle routing for use with a newborn. If you use the lowest harness position you MUST route as directed. This is to shorten the harness sufficiently for a newborn, enabling proper tightening. With the 5lb minimum weight, and low harness height, combined with ability to properly shorten the harness, we expect it will fit the average newborn quite well.
2 weeks old, 7.5lbs, 20.5″ long this wee one is already on the second-lowest harness slot!
NEXT does not come with infant padding but please do use rolled receiving blankets, such as pictured here, for side support if needed. Don’t put anything behind or around baby’s head — no aftermarket head positioners as they’re not approved for use with this seat.
6 weeks old; 11.5lbs, 22.5″ long.15 months, 22lbs, and 31″ tall.2.5 years old, 25lbs, 34″ tall.
This evenly proportioned child is right near the height limit at 39.5″ tall and 35lbs…but at 3 years, 9 months he fit for a long time, with ample leg room.
Longevity and fit also depends, of course, on child proportions. In the green shirt: 2.5, 30lbs, 37″ with a long torso. In the purple shirt: 4 years old, 31lbs, 38.5″ tall. Loads of leg room too! Although these kids are similarly sized the long torso on the younger child means he won’t fit in the seat quite as long as his older sister. Most seats require at least 1″ of shell above the head (in addition to being within height and weight limits); the NEXT allows a child’s head to be even with the top. Both of these kids have lots of room left by shell height and weight but are coming close by standing height. The seat is outgrown whenever ONE limit has been met, so keep an eye on all three!
Other points to note:
We quite like the new look of the manual. Easy to follow and hopefully easy for parents to use properly. Please read your manual – car seat and vehicle – before installing!
NEXT is a super option for airplane travel. Remember it weighs less than 8lbs so not only will it be easy to transport through the airport, it will be easy to carry on to the aircraft. The compact size and ability to be more upright can be a handy feature. If you’ve never traveled with a car seat before please consider it for your next trip; your child can sleep in a familiar place, and s/he can be safely restrained in case of turbulence, rough landing, or aborted take-off. Bonus! Rear face that kiddo and no worrying about stopping him from kicking the seat in front of him.
The seat padding is pretty comfy, and the cover is machine washable and dryable. You have to remove the harness to remove the pad but that’s quick and easy. We love that it’s available in six different cover options !
Do you love colour? Patterns? Prefer for your car seat to match your upholstery? Want something to best camouflage kid dirt and detritus? You have lots of choice with the NEXT! We love choice.
Overall Impressions:
Superb value and longevity in this seat provided you use it as a rear-facing only option. That is its true use, and it will easily get most kids rear-facing past age 3. If your child is long-torsoed and hugely tall then you might want to explore other options. The NEXT will enable those of you with small cars to keep on rear-facing your kids even behind a tall adult. Easily removable cover, detachable cup holder to store treasures, cute covers, and lightweight shell make the NEXT a winner in our books.
Now…want to win one? Thank you to Dorel Juvenile Group for providing one Scenera NEXT in the colour of your choice (based on availability) to one lucky person in Canada!Giveaway is over – thanks to all who entered, and congrats to our lucky winner!
Route the belt, remove the slack,
Remind them always to sit back.
It makes the seat belt fit just so,
Snug on the hips, nice and low.
It’s comfy, padded, sleek and slim,
Fits really well on her and him!
Sit up tall, nice and straight, Maturity matters, there’s no debate.
Boosters aren’t for everyone,
Although they might seem kind of fun.
Wiggly kiddos? Under five?
Consider a harness for the drive.
Boosters for 40lb+ kids who are
Able to sit well in the car. Use the booster, we do request,
Until they pass the Five Step Test.
Are we silly? Yes. Did we get your attention? We hope so, even if it took some lame rhymes to do so!Is the Harmony Youth Booster (aka Lite Rider, its old name) the only booster we like? Of course not!Belt fit is what matters 🙂
It’s not very often that a new seat blows me away…but that honour goes to to Harmony‘s new forward-facing only harness-to-booster seat: the Defender. It appeared in the US quite a while before hitting the Canadian market and we could.not.wait for it to show up here. Our patience, or lack thereof, was rewarded with an exceptional product at a superb price point.
Available online and in store at Walmart, or direct from Harmony, the Defender is $160, and with that comes a tremendous number of features often found only on higher priced seats.
Defender Specs:
With harness:
For children who weigh between 22-65lbs AND are between 27-57″ tall AND whose shoulders are at or below the top harness position of about 18″ (18.75″ if you remove the foam in the seat area with a child over 50 lbs retroactively updated to 40 lbs)
As a booster:
For children who weigh between 40-110lbs AND are between 34″-57″ tall AND whose ears are below the top of the high back booster seat in high back mode, or the top of the vehicle head restraint in backless mode. The seat belt must fit properly on the lap and shoulder. Highest high back belt guide is about 20″ (20.75″ if you remove the foam in the seat area with a child over 50 lbs retroactively updated to 40 lbs).
The Highlights
Lightweight. Move your seat often? Save your back!
Use of UAS to a child weight of 46lbs (unless your vehicle indicates a lower limit)
Long-lasting by torso height, often the measure by which a seat is outgrown
No-rethread harness – adjust on the fly for multiple children
Excellent price point of $160
Harness pads for added comfort at the child’s neck
Lots of bum padding
Two crotch buckle positions
Easily adjustable up-front recline adjustment to mesh with vehicle seat
Award for cover name. Whoever named the debut fashion deserves a high five and a plate of cookies (for real, whoever you are, I can bake like nobody’s business, and I will put some in the mail). “Pirate Gold” might be my most favourite cover name ever.
The Lowlight (singular)
Comes partially assembled (scroll down for a picture tutorial) and requires two Phillips screwdrivers (the X shaped ones) at the same time to put it together. Because of that you MUST read the directions and FOLLOW them. Carefully. It is not IKEA furniture. It’s a lifesaving piece of equipment. Take 10 minutes and read the steps and do it properly. It’s not hard, nor time consuming, just important that it is done properly and with care. If you have difficulty following step by step instructions and assembling things…find a friend who can help.
Assembly:
Let’s get the potentially scary part over with first, shall we? Assembly. Harmony has worked hard to bring a high-featured seat to the Canadian market at a very good price. To do so the Defender ships partially assembled which saves on shipping. But don’t worry, you can do this. Get yourself two Phillips screwdrivers (the X-shaped ones) and a spot on the floor to spread out and work.
Make sure you have all of the washers and screws and bolts, and the long metal rod.
Follow the step by step instructions in YOUR manual to orient the loose parts, and line up the seat bottom with the seat back. You are installing a screw set into each hip area, and a long metal rod through the lower back area. Make sure to use all of the parts in the order as indicated!
Hip area: make sure the sticking out bit of the black plastic screw is pointing DOWN and nestled into the space intended for it.
Lower back area: long metal rod goes here, and is secured with a washer and screw. Tighten both ends simultaneously with a screwdriver in each end.
And that’s it. Not so bad eh? Even while pausing for photos it only took a few minutes. Now on to the good stuff.
Fit to child:
The Defender fits a broad range of kids. Really broad. The littlest here is just big enough to use this seat at 24lbs and 13 months old…and to be honest it’s hard for us to even put a child this little in a forward-facing seat (rear face as long as you can!). The largest child (green jersey) is 7.5, 53lbs, and 54″ tall, pretty close to the top end by height and weight.
The Defender is a nice fit on small kids for those who choose to forward-face that early (not what we’d recommend), and on the upper end there is still plenty of harness length left for the bigger kids. Those who have reached 50lbs but need more torso height can remove the EPP foam pad under the bum for another 3/4″ or so of growing room. The head is well contained within the wings, and while the seat is narrow there is ample room for sitting cross-legged.
Child fit in harness mode
Our kid testers liked the harness covers to make it comfy at the neck, and the cup holder (removable, it swivels, and can attach on either side for convenience). The crotch pad is optional and can be removed (most kid testers pulled it off but that is common on a lot of seats). Most have found it quite comfortable. Although a sore bum is possible in any seat this one is well-padded, and it’s worth experimenting with the recline of the seat itself, in addition to considering foot support if your child complains. For those who have slept in the Defender it provides nice side-to-side head support and so far no head flop. This will of course vary by child and angle of install.
Our parent testers especially liked the ease of adjusting harness height – squeeze the handle at the top of the head rest and slide to adjust. The handle is a bit hidden inside the fabric cover but it is there. The harness must be at or above a child’s shoulders at all times. The crotch buckle slides along a channel and has two options, at ~6” and ~8”. Choose the position at or just in front of your child’s crotch.
Child fit in booster mode
Harmony is well known for having booster seats with excellent belt fit, and the Defender in booster mode was no different. While the belt fit was truly great it’s not as easy to use in booster mode as their dedicated boosters that we love (Dreamtime 2 and Youth Booster). Our 7.5 year old experienced booster rider found it comfortable but had difficulty buckling. The distance from the vehicle buckle to the front edge of the arm rest was greater than she was used to and although she is mature, practiced, and tall, she had difficulty reaching that far to buckle. The space between the arm rest and seat pad is also very closed so she had trouble sliding the seat belt into the space. Once buckled though she found it very comfortable, but struggled with the lack of independence she was used to, and that frustrated her. The younger booster tester also had magnificent belt fit but as she has no experience riding in a booster all buckling was done by an adult. The Defender is so great as a harnessed seat but that seems to mean a little bit of convenience is lost when moving into booster mode.
Converting the seat from harness mode to booster mode and back was tedious and not something I would be keen to do on a regular basis. I’m really much more of a fan of dedicated boosters though, and don’t really consider this a deal breaker. If you do use the Defender as a booster you’ll convert it and leave it. Make sure to save all of the parts and store them clean and dry for safe use later on. I admit to not taking the extra steps needed to convert from high back to backless mode. It meant removing the metal rod and hardware from the assembly steps above, and I just didn’t want to. I was looking at Harmony’s Youth Booster sitting next to me and my professional and parental opinion is that once you get to that stage of boostering you’ll be pleased to spend $18 for the convenience of a dedicated booster, passing down the Defender to a child who still needs to be harnessed.
Fit to Vehicle:
We tried the Defender in a wide variety of vehicles and are very pleased with the ease of installation. If you have lower anchors in the seating location of choice you can use UAS up to a child weight of 46lbs (unless your vehicle states a lower limit).
The Defender requires use of the top tether at all times, as does every other forward facing seat in Canada, NO EXCEPTIONS. The Defender’s tether adjuster mechanism is slim and easy to use and should not be a problem at all in vehicles where the tether must be passed through a small space. If you vehicle’s head restraint interferes check your manual to see if it can be removed and stowed.
Up to 2” of overhang off the front edge is permitted. Whether you have any or not will depend on the depth and shape of the vehicle seat.
Experiment with the recline of the Defender using the up-front knob to make it best mesh with the vehicle seat. Aim to minimize gaps behind the seat back wherever possible, as you want maximum contact between vehicle seat back and Defender seat back. If you have overly large gaps either at the lower back or upper edge of the seat take a photo and send it to Harmony; they are best positioned to advise consumers as to what is acceptable. Those of you with fixed and forward-leaning head restraints might run into issues, but unfortunately this is the case with most forward-facing seats in vehicles with that unfortunate design feature.
Seat belt installations and UAS were both successful. Pro tip: most seats have some way of exposing the belt path. Doing so will make installing infinitely easier. On the Defender this can be accomplished by separating the cover at the lower outside corner and peeling it back. Tighten the belt from the inside of the seat – this works for the UAS strap as well as the belt. Clever body positioning means you can get maximum leverage without requiring herculean strength to tighten.
Will it install perfectly everywhere? Of course not, but no car seat will. It was a nice fit in the vehicles we tried it in though, using a mixture of UAS, lap/shoulder belt, or lap belt (not all at the same time of course — pick one!)
2009 Dodge Grand Caravan – installs well in all seating positions with a tether anchor (captain’s chairs and 3rd row centre)
2012 Ford Focus
2003 Honda Civic
2003 Honda Odyssey – installs well in all seating positions
2012 Ford F150 Super Cab (extended cab with suicide doors) – installs well and just fits on the vehicle seat without too much overhang.
2011 Honda Odyssey- fits like a glove in the middle ‘8th’ seat 2nd row centre, leaving room for the passenger side seat to flip forward
2010 Jeep Patriot – works well centre, not so much outboard with the really protruding and non-adjustable head restraints. A nice option in a 3-across!
2010 Jeep Patriot2011 Honda Odyssey2009 Dodge Grand Caravan2003 Honda Odyssey2012 Ford Focus2012 Ford F-150 Super Cab on the ’40’ side of the 60/40 split
Removing the Cover
I followed the manual to the letter to remove the cover for cleaning, something I like to try with new seats to see how it washes up and how the process goes. The manual directs a parent to remove the harness and then remove and wash the cover…but I had a lightbulb moment and after conversation with Harmony they are behind this alternate method and intend to update their manual or online FAQ with this simplified method for cover removal. This method avoids re-threading the harness at the shoulder and is much easier for parents to accomplish.
1. Lay the seat on its back and locate the rectangular metal plate that holds the harness under the hip.
2. Gently separate the harness from the metal plate with a flat-head screwdriver.
3. Use the screwdriver to carefully pry up the metal plate from the plastic base. The metal plate is now hanging loose from the shell.
4. You’re then going to pop that metal plate up and through the bottom of the seat. To start fold it like the below photo shows.
5. Insert the metal plate into the slot in the seat pan.
6. Pull it through to the other side and it’s free!
7. Now the harness is still attached to the seat at the shoulders, but is loose at the hips. The cover can now be quickly and easily slipped off around the harness; wash per manual instructions. Reverse the process when putting it back together.
Overall impressions:
Harmony aimed to produce a long-lasting, comfortable, easy to use seat at a very attractive price point. They nailed it, absolutely, and it positively shines as a harnessed seat. The biggest potential issue is assembly, but don’t let that scare you. You get enormous bang for your buck here if you can round up two screwdrivers and few minutes of your time. We love it in our house and has been the main ride in our vehicle for the last month.
Are you super pumped about the potential of this seat? Yay! Win one for yourself or grab one at Walmart. Thank you to Harmony for providing a giveaway prize to one lucky winner, in your choice of fashion, subject to availability (Pirate Gold or Raspberry) – all opinions here, however, are our own. To enter use the Rafflecopter widget below. For your entry to be valid you MUST comment on this blog, answering this question: what feature of the Defender do you find most appealing? Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway
Introducing the Evenflo Symphony LX, an “all-in-one” seat that is a 2015 Today’s Parent approved product (based on TP’s opinion of quality, ease of use, and value for money).
Evenflo has packaged a number of attractive features into one bundle, available in the LX (reviewed here) and DLX versions. It does a pretty decent job of all of the stages (rear facing, forward facing, booster) and that’s not a statement we throw around lightly. To be clear it’s perhaps not the only seat you’ll ever need; at a minimum you’ll at least need a backless booster once your child outgrows the booster function. We DO think it’s a good bet for those who transport multiple children…such as grandparents. In fact this is an ideal seat for the casual transporter, and will accommodate average/large-sized newborns up to the 6-8 year old crowd, at which point a backless booster is a very reasonable (and inexpensive) option.
The Symphony is designed to accommodate children who fit the following criteria:
Rear facing:
5-40lbs and 19-40″ and the child’s head is at least 1″ below the top of the child restraint head rest in either of its two lowest positions. NEW! Retroactive change to increase the height limit to 40″.
Forward facing:
22-65lbs and 28-50″ and the tops of the ears are below the tops of the child restraint head rest and child is at least one year old and the harness is coming from at or slightly above the child’s shoulders.
Booster:
40-110lbs and 43.3-57″ and the tops of the ears are below the tops of the child restraint head rest and child is at least four years old.
Features:
up-front easy-to-use recline mechanism
up-front easy-to-use head restraint adjuster mechanism
premium UAS connectors (LX has SureSafe connectors, DLX has SureLatch connectors)
included funnel guides for easier use with UAS
harness buckle storage pockets for easier loading of child
infinite slide harness
infant body support included
cover is easily removable for machine washing
use with UAS until child weighs 40lbs (unless your vehicle states a lower limit); after a child weight of 40lbs install with the seat belt
cushy fabric and well-padded
Fit to Child:
At 7lbs 12 oz and 4 days old this average-sized newborn (left) and 11lbs and 4 weeks old (right) fit nicely in the Symphony with the harness tabs sitting at shoulder height, and included infant insert that aids in fit and positioning. Use is for rear-facing only, and optional.
If there is too much space between baby’s crotch and the crotch buckle, allowing baby to slouch down and potentially compromising the airway, try using a crotch roll (small rolled cloth or receiving blanket) to fill the space. Ensure first that the harness is adjusted tightly to pass the pinch test and then slide the cloth into place. Once baby is older (and larger) a crotch roll likely won’t be needed to maintain position.
Children may rear-face in the Symphony until a standing height of 37″ or until the top of the head is within 1″ of the top of the movable head rest in either of the bottom two positions. A standing height of 37″ will get a 100th percentile child past age two, the minimum we recommend for turning a child forward-facing.
Forward-facing children can be accommodated from 22lbs and 28″ but we strongly recommend (as do Transport Canada and other child passenger safety advocates) to rear face as long as possible. So don’t rush things!
Our model here — a fairly representative 50th percentile 6 year old girl — is 44lbs, 45″ tall, with a torso height (bum to shoulder) of about 16″. She has about 1/2″ of torso height left before the seat is outgrown as the harness must be coming from at her shoulder level. Of course shorter torsoed children will last longer, and the long torsoed ones will outgrow it sooner.
The no-rethread “infinite slide” harness will come in handy when using this for multiple children – simply slide the red tabs to the needed height AT your child’s shoulders.
Booster fit is where most so-called 3-in-1s fail in either fit or realistic longevity – but not the Symphony.
From left to right:
At 44lbs she’s heavy enough for a booster but at only 3.5 she’s much too young (and wiggly! see the hands?) and still fits with oodles of space in the harness – absolutely how we’d recommend she still ride. However it is encouraging to see that the belt fit is good on the lap and shoulder for those kids who are her size at a booster-appropriate age (5-6ish or so).
At 44lbs, 45″ tall, and 6 years old our model in the fancy dress also has great belt fit, low and touching the hips and centered on the collarbone. She has two “clicks” to go in head rest height, giving her more room in the torso to grow and still fit this seat.
At 56lbs and 49″ tall, and 8 years old this tester also has some space left height-wise, with one “click” to go to the tallest position.
Fit to Vehicle:
The Symphony is neither the most compact seat nor the largest, falling somewhere in the middle for how much space it takes up front to back when rear-facing. As always we recommend trying before you buy wherever possible. The seat has three recline positions and it’s critical to make sure that it is fully reclined to position 1 when rear-facing. Furthermore look for a raised arrow on the base of the seat and make sure it is parallel to the ground. Use a tightly rolled towel to assist in achieving the needed angle if you have very sloped vehicle seats.
Premium UAS connectors store handily on easily accessible rings on the side of the seat, seen here in the “SureSafe” version on the LX. Evenflo includes two plastic “LATCH guides,” aka funnel guides, to make installing their seats with premium connectors a breeze in vehicles with buried UAS anchors. No more digging around in the seat bight, the LATCH guide makes it simple.
Buckle storage slots and dual cup holders round out the convenience features found on the Symphony LX. The Symphony DLX features “SureLatch” self-ratcheting UAS connectors plus OUTLAST temperature regulating performance fabric.
Overall Impression:
Many seats on the market claim to be a “3-in-1” or to cover all stages of seating for your child from birth through booster use. While an appealing idea for parents – buy only one seat and be done with it – it’s not a realistic expectation for most seats as they often fall short in one or more modes. We’re pleased to discover that the Symphony shines, and does all modes well.
It’s not the seat for you if you plan to rear-face your off the charts child to age 4, if junior has the world’s longest torso, or if you have a tight 3-across and need to eke out every spare inch of real estate.
We think its true niche is for people who frequently transport a variety of ages and sizes of children. Switching between modes is not tedious, and it has a reliably good fit across the whole range of children the seat is made for. Grandparents (and aunties and uncles!) we’re looking at you!
Pros:
you can use lower anchors and tether in booster mode, eliminating the need to buckle the seat when empty
when the seat is in booster mode there is an on-seat storage location for unused parts (harness, crotch buckle) so no risk of losing parts.
8 year life span
the belt fit is great on all of the kids we tried it on
up to 20% overhang of the base is permitted in all modes
the harness is not removable or replaceable (potentially a concern if your child is really, um, leaky)
not ideal for tight seating scenarios as the Symphony is on the wider side.
Due to its width and height it will be challenging for smaller booster riders to reach down and around to buckle.
Thank you to Evenflo for providing this seat for review – but all opinions are our own.
Now we’d like to send this seat out to one of you! The only requirement is that the seat must be destined to a location where it will be used by more than one person. Maybe Grampa wants a seat in his car for when the kiddos visit? Maybe you’re a daycare provider and would enjoy the flexibility of quickly and easily adjusting a seat for multiple kids? Tell us! And then maybe you want to meet up with a tech near you to learn to install it like a pro!
A fantastic new option in high capacity infant-style seats snuck onto the shelves recently, but we’re about to blow its cover. Because we LOVE it, and we’re here to tell you why.
Introducing the Evenflo Embrace 35, available at Walmart for $140. This is a rear-facing only infant-style seat with stay-in-car base and removable carrier. It is meant for children who are between 4-35lbs and 17-30″ tall.
You know us – we like to chatter on about fit-to-child and fit-to-vehicle and show you lots of pictures of same. But let’s start with the highlights:
Exceptionally good fit on low birth weight babies. Expecting multiples? Unexpectedly find yourself with a preemie? The Embrace is a very good bet, and readily available on your local Walmart shelf.
Long-lasting specs: the average child will fit until 30″ tall, and with most seats on the market it’s the height limit that will be reached well before weight.
Easy to use and lightweight. It’s simple and straightforward with some ease of use features often found on higher end seats.
Now for the nitty gritty, the detailed analysis you know we will always provide.
Fit to Vehicle:
The Embrace installed quickly and easily in the test cars we put it in. We tried it with lower anchors, with seat belt, and without the base. We’re quite good at it of course – but it’s straightforward and there’s nothing tricky to contend with.
03 Honda Civic – front seats all the way back!
03 Honda Odyssey – front seats all the way back again.
3rd row of the same Odyssey – the 2nd row slides forward enough to leave ample room for the Embrace.
03 Civic installed baseless – so much room you could have a party in there.
03 Civic behind the passenger, with the driver’s seat all the way back for reference. If this seat is installed behind a vehicle seat (i.e. not in the middle) you must leave 1.5″ of clearance between the top of the car seat shell and the vehicle seat. Even so, plenty of room in the front for my 5’8″ self.
The Embrace (and many other Evenflo seats) now come with these nifty little additions. Evenflo calls the little plastic guide a LATCH Guide but they are also generically known as funnel guides. They make it easier to quickly secure a premium connector onto a buried lower anchor. Photo on the left is what the seat bight looks like. The anchor is there but you have to dig for it. Photo on the right is with the LATCH Guide in place, enabling very quick access to the lower anchors. You won’t need them on vehicles with exposed lower anchors, and should not use them with simple hook-style connectors (you’ll never get them out again) but this is a very nice option for those of you with Evenflo seats who move your seats often.
Another handy feature that aids in successful installation is the recline indicator, easily visible on the base. You want to make sure it’s all in the green, always. For a newborn recline it as much as possible while still staying green; this will protect the airway and prevent chin to chest head flop. Use the built-in three-position recline adjustment on the base, or a rolled towel if needed to achieve the needed positioning.
Perhaps you’ve heard that only a certain amount of a car seat can overhang a vehicle seat? For most seats no more than 20% can hang over the edge. Some don’t allow any at all. We expect the Embrace to be a good bet on shallow vehicle seats such as extended cabs because it’s quite compact.
Fit to Child:
The Embrace is a a spectacular fit on very small babies and should be a go-to option for those needing to fit a low birth weight baby. There are two important steps that need to be done to ensure the harness is adjusted properly.
1. Shorten the harness and route it properly onto the splitter plate. The manual describes this but here is a photo showing the proper orientation of the excess length.
2. Shorten the crotch buckle to best position it for baby, which will also further shorten the harness. This means you can tighten it sufficiently for a wee one. There are special routing instructions for how to do it, so check the manual carefully.
Overall fit features:
The Embrace has three harness heights (the lowest is around 5.5-6″), and four crotch buckle positions (including the special newborn position as described above). The harness length is both short enough and long enough, meaning it fits properly at both ends of the spectrum. The harness adjuster is smooth and easy, and the cover is well-padded with energy-absorbing foam. Handle positioning is smooth – no fighting with release buttons, and must be in ant-rebound position toward baby’s feet at all times while driving.
This is Lucy, my small newborn tester. The harness is adjusted short and on the lowest setting, and the crotch buckle is set for a newborn, and I still have room to tighten the harness further. The included head pillow is optional but fills the interior of the car seat nicely.
I got to hang out with not one but two adorable babies to model this seat. Babe on the left is about 11lbs, 8 weeks old, and easily on the 2nd harness position already. Mom found the carrier light weight (7.5lbs). Babe on the right is also about 11lbs at 7 weeks old and with her long torso she easily fills out the seat.
At the other end of the spectrum we wondered would the seat actually fit a child to the height or weight limit? This 18 month old model is right at the height limit – 30″ – but at only 21lbs she has outgrown it by height. She’s evenly proportioned and has the required 1″ of shell above her head still. Long-torsoed children might outgrow it by that measure before reaching the standing height limit. There was still ample harness length left as well, so a bulkier child would fit too.
Premium Features:
Storage compartments for the buckle tongues to hold them out of the way while loading your squirmy offspring.
Smooth and simple carrier release. Push the top of the release bar in and the carrier can be lifted easily out of the base.
Quick connector with pull release (the red loop) makes for a nice fast uninstall, and works beautifully with the LATCH Guides mentioned above.
Final thoughts:
You get a lot of bang for your buck with the Evenflo Embrace. Lightweight, easy to use and install, with some nice features all in a tidy, compact, well-priced package — it absolutely has earned a place on our favourites list. Big thanks to Evenflo for providing the seat used in this review, but as always out opinions are completely our own. Will it be the perfect seat for you? Maybe! Best to check it out at Walmart, and wherever possible try installing it in your car before committing.
The other day was National Heat Awareness Day. It’s a thing.
The below story was shared with us recently and it we found it really struck a nerve. It just sounds so normal. And because of the normalcy it is terrifying. Think you could never leave your child in the car and forget? Brace yourself.
I love my children a great deal. But I’ll tell you what — last summer our routine was hubby always dropped our daughter off at the day home. We both had to drive past it on our way to work but he left later than I did so he would take her. Then he was away for 2 months so I had to start taking her. I was 16 weeks pregnant. Working shift work in an understaffed ER. I was sleep deprived and stressed. It was about the 3rd day after he left, 6 am driving to work. My daughter had fallen asleep in the 5 minutes it takes to get to the day home. I was 5 blocks past it before for no reason in particular I remembered I had her. Thank goodness. I have tinted windows. She’s rear-facing. I park on a side street about 5 blocks from the hospital. If she had stayed asleep and I HADN’T suddenly remembered her? I’m quite positive I could have very easily driven to work, parked, walked in and never noticed. And no one would have seen her. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about how differently that day could have gone if whatever random thing that reminded me I had her, hadn’t happened.
Am I bad parent? Am I neglectful? Do I not love my child enough to remember her? No. Absolutely not. I know I’m a kick ass parent thank you very much. But I would never be naive enough to say “I would never do that”. Now my habit is to put my bag in the back seat on the floor behind her seat. Do I value my bag more than my child? Of course not. But when I’m on autopilot my bag is part of that routine., and my child isn’t always.
Car seat techs are a funny bunch. For fun we do things like check online stores for sales. Once we found a spectacular deal on Graco MyRides for $88 and several hundred of you bought one – score!
So imagine the frenzy that ensued when this showed up:
That’s right. $3.94 for a car seat that is usually in the neighbourhood of $250. It’s not our favourite seat because it’s quite large rear-facing at lower weights, and the booster fit isn’t great — but when used properly it’s just as safe as any other seat.
So one tech, intending to donate them all to a seat giveaway program, ordered a whole bunch.
She was a bit perplexed because the shipping weight on her order confirmation was quite low. She wondered if the order would be canceled due to the obvious error. But who knows. She waited.
And then this showed up at her door.
Obviously 8 car seats would never fit in a box so small. What was inside? Camels. CAMELS! 8 of them.
What’s a gal to do with eight camels? Why — make camel jokes of course!
Canadian techs chat, learn and support each other in a private group called CCSN, the Canadian Car Seat Network. Too easy.
We wondered how many would fit 3-across in a car.
We wondered if the non-elite version (it was the “elite” version that was on sale for $3.94) lacked any camel humps and was actually a horse.
Want your own $3.94 “car seat?” It’s still here, but sadly out of stock. No camels for you.
Another tech managed to buy one before it sold out online, but she hasn’t received hers yet. We’re all waiting anxiously, wondering if she’ll get a car seat or a camel. Odds are on the camel.
Have a camel joke to tell us…somehow related to car seats? Please, tell us. You’ll make our day.
Update: turns out camels are quite popular on the internet.
Camel statue in China.
Camel crossing sign. Huh.Camels and their shadows in a stunning National Geographic photograph.
A quick and dirty run through of how to make sure your boostered kids are as safe as can be! Want to read in more detail? Start here. Do you drive other kids? Send yours with others for a carpool? This might be handy.
Don’t Rush In. Don’t rush to get your child out of a 5-point harness and into a booster seat. It is not a milestone that you want to celebrate early. Prematurely moving to a booster is a very high-risk time for injuries. Boosters do much more than just enable a child to see out the window. They reduce fatalities by ensuring proper belt fit, and also reduce injuries for the same reason. Life-altering, debilitating injuries.
Maturity Matters.How’s your child’s impulse control? Do siblings squabble in the back seat? Is your child fidgety or wiggly (who can say no to that)? Once in a booster seat the child becomes responsible for their own safety. They must sit with their bum scooted back. They must not wiggle. They must not lean. They must not mess with the belt. They must remember to do this the entire ride and not get distracted and forget. Even when asleep. And that is really really hard to do until kids are at least 5 or 6, sometimes older. “Forgetting” at a crucial moment could have disastrous consequences.
Think “B” – Boosters are for Bones and not Bellies.Feel for your hip bones (for real, right now); that is where the lap belt should make contact when properly seated in a well-fitting booster seat, and preferably low and under them. If the belt is riding up on the belly when you crash, you risk something nasty called seat belt syndrome. The seat belt has nothing hard (hip bones) to contact and instead causes major damage in the abdomen and through to the spinal cord. Not good. Shoulder belt fit matters too – BONES again. Collarbone to be precise. Not on the neck or face, and not off the shoulder. Centered nicely on the strong parts of the body and touching the chest.
Lap/Shoulder Belts ONLY.Never, ever, ever just a lap belt. If you need to rearrange who sits where to ensure the boostered child gets the lap/shoulder belt please do. Lap belts are handy to install car seats with but they’re nowhere near as safe as a lap/shoulder belt for anyone else to use. Avoid them.
Weight. No Canadian booster seat can be used with a child under 40 lbs (18 kg for you metric users). Some have a higher minimum weight limit and a max as high as 120 lbs! Kids must also be consistently 40 lbs to safely use a booster. Not 40 lbs dressed in heavy boots and all their clothes before using the bathroom and after a big meal. Nope, not enough of a buffer. Ensure that a child is holding that weight before moving to a booster.
Go Shopping Together. With your child and with your car. Try booster seats out to check for good belt fit. Does the booster sit properly in the vehicle? Is the belt able to be buckled properly? If your child leans a bit (not ideal, but we all do it) does the shoulder belt retract back without hanging up and causing slack? Have your child try. Most kids who are ready to ride in a booster are also ready to learn to buckle themselves. How’s the lap belt fit? How’s the shoulder belt fit? If at first you don’t find the perfect combination try and try again. Here are a few we often recommend.
Misc Bits and Features. Your booster seat will come with a manual. Read it. Find out what those miscellaneous bits and pieces are that came with it. Find out how to use any special features on your seat like lower anchors or a belt guide. Find out how to wash the cover. And then store that manual somewhere handy (like the glove box) so you can easily double check if you forget something.
Head Support. This can come in the form of a high-back booster (that has the added benefit of often providing superior shoulder belt fit and a place to rest a sleeping head), or a vehicle head restraint (head rest). All boostered kids require head support up to at least the tops of their ears (adults too by the way). Some high-back booster seats require a vehicle head restraint in behind them too. How will you know? Read the manual of course!
Belt Routing. Every booster seat comes with this nifty little picture on the side called a belt-routing diagram. Study it. Show it to your child. Teach your child proper belt routing, and practice, so that if they ever ride with someone else they will know how and not have to rely on an adult who doesn’t. Not all booster seats have arm rests, and not all seats route the belt the same way. If your child is riding in an unfamiliar booster they should look for this diagram and follow it. Tips for carpool drivers/riders here.
Don’t Rush Out. Don’t be in a hurry to move your child out of the booster seat and into the adult seat belt alone. Again a high risk of injury if done prematurely. Teach your child the Five Step Test. Teach them to advocate for their own safety and be able to evaluate if the adult seat belt fits them. Teach them why they might still need one through age 10-11+…that nasty seat belt syndrome again. Most provinces and territories have booster laws that end well before most kids will actually fit the adult seat belt but remember that bare minimum laws are just that. Provincial and territorial laws also require the adult seat belt to fit properly and that part is often glossed over or misunderstood. We advocate for way more than the minimums!
Clek continues to blow us away with exceptionally well-designed and executed products, and the latest addition to their family of funkily-named products (totally a real word) is the “Infant Thingy.”
Not a stand-alone infant seat, the Infant Thingy is an add-on to Clek’s previously reviewed and loved Foonf and Fllo and enables use of either of those seats from birth. Disclaimer #1: I do not have a newborn of my own anymore. Disclaimer #2: I didn’t drive around with a doll pretending to be my newborn while testing the Infant Thingy although the thought did cross my mind. Not creepy at all, right?
Are you reading this in confusion, wondering how on earth a person is supposed to use an infant/child, aka convertible seat, from birth? Don’t you have to use an infant-style seat instead? No my friends, no you do not. Many choose to, and for those really tiny babies who need a low birth weight seat I would continue to suggest that you do to ensure best fit on the tiniest humans, but for the average 5lb+ newborn do consider a Foonf or Fllo plus Infant Thingy right off the bat. This means you probably need some kind of baby wearing plan but that’s not a topic we’ll cover here.
Here’s what you need to properly use an Infant Thingy:
1. An infant, or one on the way, who is between 5-22lbs and 19-33″ tall.
2. A Clek Foonf or Fllo to put said Infant Thingy in.
3. A vehicle in which a Foonf or Fllo properly installs.
4. A strong desire to say fun-sounding words like Foonf, Fllo, and Thingy.
The Infant Thingy comes only in black, but it coordinates nicely with all of the colours I had handy to contrast it with. There are a few solids and prints missing from this spread – see the full range for Fllo and Foonf.
Some important things to note:
2015 models of Foonf and Fllo will ship with an extra set of lower harness slots (6 instead of 5), positioned just at the top edge of the Infant Thingy when installed in the seat (all seats pictured here are older and have only 5). Some seats, produced during the transition phase, might have an extra slot in the shell of the seat but not in the fabric cover. That’s okay, just use the lowest slot apparent in the cover.
2014 and 2013 seats can still be used with the Infant Thingy, it just means the harness will fit the baby a bit differently, and that’s okay too.
The long-standing rule that when rear-facing the harness must come from at or BELOW the child’s shoulders is tossed out the window when using the Infant Thingy for a very small baby. Clek has assured us that it is absolutely fine to use the Infant Thingy even if baby’s shoulders are lower than the lowest harness position on your seat. For real. Once baby’s shoulders do reach that level though we revert back to AT or BELOW for choosing which harness slot to use.
When using the Infant Thingy the manual for it trumps the manual for the seat, such as the instructions for harness position as above. If there is a point of confusion Clek’s fabulous customer service team is always available to answer your questions.
When using any seat it’s extremely important to make sure you’re reclining it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For newborns it’s absolutely critical to make sure you’ve reclined the seat as much as is allowed to protect the baby’s airway. Thankfully both Foonf and Fllo are reasonably compact even when at the most reclined level. The car seat head rest is removed when using the upper head support attachment piece of the Infant Thingy, because that’s what the instructions say to do.
When I first began putting the Infant Thingy into my Foonf (shown in pink in all photos here) I realized that if you don’t read the manual you’re going to probably make some errors. Not that it’s complicated – not at all – but don’t think it’s just some comfy fluff to pad your baby’s derriere. Like all things car seat reading the manual is really important.
You need to put the head support pad on right way up. If you do it upside down it will gape and not sit nicely at all, possibly compromising baby’s airway. Simple to fix though – pop the plastic tabs back through the harness slot and flip it around.
Similarly the routing of the hip strap OVER the hip support flap needs to be done with care, otherwise you’ll get bunching and a poorly fitting harness on baby.
Lastly, if your baby is small enough that you need to remove harness length to ensure proper tightness, route it as shown relative to the splitter plate (on the back of the seat). The extra loop of harness length will slide more easily along the underside of the seat as you tighten it for a small baby. How tight is tight enough? Until it passes the pinch test with no excess slack in the webbing.
It’s very easy to adjust the crotch buckle on Foonf or Fllo to maximize fit on your baby. With use of the Infant Thingy only you may use the longer or shorter crotch buckle length on the inner slot of the car seat. This means you can lengthen or shorten the crotch buckle as needed for a smaller or larger baby. Those of you with 2013 Foonfs can purchase a two-length crotch buckle straight from Clek; everyone else: your seat came with this nifty feature.
Note that when a child is under 22lbs — also the maximum weight limit for use of the Infant Thingy — you MUST use the circular belly pad with Foonf and Fllo. See the two lengths of crotch buckle shown below? Adjust as needed for best fit on your baby. With my newborn doll (fits perfectly into ‘newborn’ sleepers), I had no trouble at all getting the harness tight enough with the harness shortened and crotch buckle in the shorter setting, with room to adjust smaller for an even smaller baby.
When do you remove the head support and put the Foonf or Fllo’s head rest back on? You can’t use both at once, there simply isn’t room. Remove the head support — a cushy pad several inches thick — when the top of your baby’s head reaches the top of the head support.
As baby fills out you may choose to discontinue use of the Infant Thingy before it is outgrown, and provided your child meets the minimums for use in the Foonf or Fllo alone (25″ and 14lbs and able to sit unassisted) that is completely appropriate. There is overlap between minimum use for Foonf and Fllo, and maximum use for the Infant Thingy. This is lovely, because all babies are shaped and proportioned differently.
The smallest baby I know (7 weeks old, 11lbs) fit really nicely in the Infant Thingy + Foonf; with how much more I could have adjusted the harness I have no doubt a much smaller baby would fit easily.
Update:we found a smaller baby! 6 days old, 7lbs 14oz, and 20.5″ long. Delicious. If you happen to know one even smaller, and the parents are cool with sharing a photo we’d love to add it in for future readers. Please get in touch.
This 6 month old (from our original Foonf review) fits beautifully in the seat (and would in the Fllo as well) at 15lbs and 28″ long. She could use the Infant Thingy as she’s well within the weight and height limits, but doesn’t need it. Your mileage may vary but I likely would not purchase the Infant Thingy for a child of this size.
So, are you sold on the awesomeness that is the Infant Thingy?
cushy pad with the same fabulous Crypton fabric on most Foonf and Fllo seats for easy wiping up of spills (if you are expecting your first and are unfamiliar with the messes that babies can make let me tell you, this is a very nice feature)
excellent harness fit with small babies
overlap between maximum use of Infant Thingy and minimum use without it – customize use to your baby’s shape and needs
fits perfectly in the seats it is designed for – meaning you can truly use the same seat from birth, through extended rear-facing to age 3-4+, all the way to booster readiness, for the vast majority of kids
Would you like to WIN an Infant Thingy?Contest is over – congrats to Julie K.! Thank you to all who entered! You need to already own a Clek Fllo or Foonf, or be in the market to purchase one. Contest open to residents of the US or Canada. See the fine print in the widget below for all of the details. Huge thanks to Clek for giving us a sneak peek at the Infant Thingy, and for providing the one shown in this review. Disclaimer #3: I love this so much I almost want another baby so I can use it. Almost.
We can scarcely believe it – we’re creeping up on 5,000 readers and despite our regional name have become known from coast to coast. Yay us! And yay you for keeping us going!
A milestone like that deserves a contest, but since we like to mix things up and keep it interesting this one is different.
The entry form will move about. We might give a clue for where it is, or you might happen upon it by reading through our website materials: blog posts, lists of favourite seats, FAQs and the like.
Every time it moves you’ll the get opportunity to earn extra entries.
And most importantly – what can you win? Well…that depends on what you need. We don’t want to limit it or cap it, and everyone has different wants and wishes. So dream big! If you are the lucky winner we’ll consult with you and decide what is in stock, readily accessible, and works for your situation (within reason – final decision is up to us as we’ve not yet had luck getting our money tree to grow).
Good luck! And don’t forget to go hunting for the entry form (it will disappear from THIS page after a little bit), and keep watching on Facebook for where to find it next. Contest closes at 11:59pm Pacific on March 31st. We thought that would be amusing to contact the winner on April Fool’s Day.
The only mandatory entry requirement is to leave a blog post comment on THIS POST, but you must use the Rafflecopter to actually submit the entry. But first you have to find it. Check Facebook for a clue about where to look!
Thank you for all the entries! The contest is now closed.
A quick run through of how to make sure your rear-facers are as safe as can be! Want to read in more detail?
Start here, and then a more technical deep dive here.
1. Do it as long as you can.Really. Not the minimums. Who wants minimums when it comes to safety? And not just any old easily avoidable dangerous situation – but the most dangerous place your kids are every day…the CAR! The longer you can rear face for (2 years, 3 years, ideally as close to 4 as you can get) the better, as that’s most protective for the head, neck, and spine.
2. Research what will fityour car, and try before you buy. You can use a rear-facing only infant-style seat from birth (most common for sure) or you can skip straight to theconvertible seat (or 3-in-1 seat). Pros and cons to both and what you choose will depend on your lifestyle. But go into your purchase eyes open, knowing how the seat will fit your car long term. Imagine having other back seat passengers, such as visiting parents or future babies. Are you or a partner tall? Is your vehicle very small? Do you carpool? Have to reinstall frequently? Consider all of this. Do you make big babies? Having twins? Growth patterns matter, and not all seats start at the same minimum weight, and they certainly don’t all last as long by height, weight, and fit. You want everyone in the vehicle to be safe and comfortable, not eating the dash (and too close to the air bag) for years.
3. Rear-facing seats are outgrown by height OR by weight OR by some fit criteria, usually how much clearance there is above the head – whichever comes first. The seat that’s labelled to 40lbs rear-facing might have a relatively low height limit on it. The seat with the high height limit might have an overall shorter usage if your child has a long torso and a big noggin, maxing out the functional usage time by fit.
4. Use therear-facing belt path with a rear-facing seat. Convertible seats (the type that later also install forward-facing) typically have one path to route the seat belt or UAS (LATCH) strap through when used rear-facing, and another totally separate one for forward-facing. Not okay to mix them up. The rear-facing belt path is under the child’s knees, whereas the forward-facing one is behind the lower back. Sometimes they’re hard to see, so poke around and make sure you’re threading the seat belt or UAS strap correctly. Then, make sure you have tightened the belt or strap so that the seat moves 1″ or less at the belt path in any direction. Give it a firm handshake – if it shifts more than that something isn’t right.
5. Leg room. Some seats have more than others, for sure. That is a comfort issue though, and not a safety issue. Legs touching the back seat — or scrunched up cross-legged, dangling over the sides, or sticking up into the air (or, ahem, poking the sister in the face) — is not a safety issue. Most crashes are frontal, where everything movesforward in a crash. This is the most common type of crash, and the most frequently fatal, so that’s the kind we plan for. Legs move too, away from the back seat. At the same time, handily enough, the head, neck, and spine are well-protected because they’re also moving forward, directly into the shell of the car seat. Well done, car seat. Protect that melon.
6. Strap positioning and tightness. When rear facing you want the harness to be coming from AT or BELOW the level of the shoulders. This is so if you’re in a crash the child will be held down in the seat. That tight harness will prevent the child from sliding up the shell of the seat. You want the child to stay in the seat, so the seat and its highly engineered parts can take the brunt of the crash, not your baby. How tight is tight enough? We like to do a pinch test to check, every time, and no bulky clothes.
7. Child preference for forward-facing. This is a reasonable consideration with a 4 year old. Probably also a 3 year old. But small children do not get to make their own safety decisions. Furthermore, if they don’t know any better, how can they prefer to forward-face? We don’t let young children dart into traffic, play with steak knives, or take the family car for a spin just because they want to. All kids go through phases of not wanting to be contained, of not wanting to cooperate (this phase does end some time, right!), and certainly those phases can be intensely frustrating. But stick it out, as long as you can!
8. Physics yo. There’s parental choice and then there’s physics. You know, force and mass and vectors and stuff. So many things in parenting is choice, with pros and cons to each. But the laws of physics are such that a big wobbly bobble-head perched atop an underdeveloped, weak little neck (it’s like an orange on a toothpick!) is absolutely best protected rear-facing. Having an opinion to the contrary doesn’t make that little body and brain safer in the car, because it’s not substantiated by anything. You can tell yourself that your baby is just as safe forward-facing but that doesn’t make it true.
9. Read the manual. Cover to cover, even if it seems like gibberish. It often does seem like it was written in a language you don’t understand, but there’s a ton of info in there. Even if it doesn’t make any sense it will give you a starting place to ask some questions. Also haul out your vehicle manual and read the child restraint section and the airbag section. Lots of good stuff there too. No matter what you read online, are told at playgroup, or by your doctor, the car seat and vehicle manuals have the final say. If you have questions, the manufacturers of those products are excellent resources. They want you to use their products correctly and safely.
10. Meet witha certified Technician. We’re quite friendly, and we like what we do. Even if you are 100% confident that your car seat is installed and used properly you might learn something useful for the next stage.
Nuna what? Say it with us, it’s fun! Nuna Pipa (NEW-nuh PIP-uh). See? You’re smiling, aren’t you!
discerning parent. Look for photos below this list of highlights.
Collision Dynamics: Dissecting Impact, 
First law: Every object in a state of uniform motion or at rest will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force.
Great news – this seat will fit from birth, and quite easily. The harness 
The 
Booster fit is 
Another seat that is a good bet in many circumstances is the high back Evenflo Amp. 
A much anticipated addition to the combination (f
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a 
Did you know that most kids get out of a booster seat 
What fun stuff will 2016 bring us? Already on the market but not yet in our hot little hands is the 
It’s been just over four years since we started providing online help via Facebook and this website. FOUR YEARS of good stuff! It’s been awesome. 
Alainna and Jen (and their future CPST helpers, plied with food, play dough, and cameo appearances with My Little Ponies Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle) spent yesterday wandering the Toronto 
Updated March 2019. Note for all photos: Dorel is updating the angle at which a rear-facing seat may be installed. Newer versions of the seat may not be permitted to go so upright. Read your manual carefully, and follow the one that came with your seat.
The NEXT has a line on the side that must be parallel to the ground for children who can not sit up unassisted – this is to protect the child’s airway and enables them to keep their heads properly tilted back.
It’s not very often that a new seat blows me away…but that honour goes to to 
Seat belt installations and UAS were both successful. Pro tip: most seats have some way of exposing the belt path. Doing so will make installing infinitely easier. On the Defender this can be accomplished by separating the cover at the lower outside corner and peeling it back. Tighten the belt from the inside of the seat – this works for the UAS strap as well as the belt. Clever body positioning means you can get maximum leverage without requiring herculean strength to tighten.
If there is too much space between baby’s crotch and the crotch buckle, allowing baby to slouch down and potentially compromising the airway, try using a crotch roll (small rolled cloth or receiving blanket) to fill the space. Ensure first that the harness is adjusted tightly to pass the 
Here’s what you need to properly use an Infant Thingy:
This 6 month old (from our original 
We can scarcely believe it – we’re creeping up on 5,000 readers and despite our regional name have become known from coast to coast. Yay us! And yay you for keeping us going!
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gibberish. It often does seem like it was written in a language you don’t understand, but there’s a ton of info in there. Even if it doesn’t make any sense it will give you a starting place to ask some questions. Also haul out your