Canadian Car seats in the UK

[readering]

Hi,

We are traveling out to Canada from the UK shortly and our DD will be ready for a group 1 seat at about the same time.

We are going to be driving in Canada so will need a car seat whilst there. We could hire one with the car which should be straightforward but it occurred to me that we could buy a seat in Canada (there are members of the family who could meet us at the airport with the seat) use it there and bring it back with us. This would save on hire costs in Canada but what else do we need to consider?

From a little research I think that the car seat would need to conform to ECE R44.03 or ECE R44.04 (www.childcarseats.org.uk/standards/r4403.htm)

So does anyone know if seats sold in Canada will conform to this standard?
Am I bonkers to even consider this! Would I be better to go for the simple option and rent one there a buy one here?
Or even just buy it here before hand and take it with us?

[mikkii]

When I have considered this in the past, the hire charges (in Spain) seem excessive compared to the cost of buying, although length of visit would be a factor here.

I think it is more important to know what kind of seat you will actually have waiting for you. When we did hire one I was presented with a seat that was not suitable for the size, weight or strength of my child. This was despite having ordered a suitable car seat.

[mikkii]

Surely if you are going to Canada, a seat sold there should comply with the relevant legislation?

[ClaraOswald]

Have you checked the regs in whatever territory you are visiting?

[YoniBottsBumgina]

It won't because they have different standards. The ECEis a European standard and North America has its own.

The weight classes will be different and some seats require use of a top tether which is not in place in british cars. Plus they have LATCH instead of ISOfix although I'm not sure how different they are. Plus the use of a chest clip is standard there whereas they are prohibited here.

I would think in terms of safety they will be just as good, so it's whether you feel happy getting a seat which is technically not approved for use here. On the plus side they tend to rear face for a lot longer there much cheaper.

[ouryve]

I didn't know the chest clips were prohibited, here. There was one on the boys' Britax junior traveller. I kept DS2 in that seat for as long as possible because it was the only one he couldn't wriggle out of! He's really bendy and a 5 point harness without the chest clip never held him, no matter how well it was fastened and tightened. He's like custard.

[notfarmingatthemo]

How heavy will your baby be? and how old are they? some useful info here look at the i size page as well.
If your visiting family will you be going again some seats in Canada last from 1 year until 11 years getting one that could work for multiple trips would also save you money.

[readering]

I don't want to use a seat that isn't legal in the UK. I guess I wondered, naively possibly, if any of the manufacturers made seats which are sold across both countries.

The idea of buying a seat and leaving it in Canada isn't a bad thought ... it might well make some sense.

My understanding from what I read was that LATCH and ISOFIX are just different names for the same thing because it is based on an international standard. I may be wrong about that!

I can see that FMVSS 213 isn't the same as ECE R44.04 but I don't have reason to think that either is unsafe. They seem to work slightly differently but offer decent protection. So in principle i'd be happy with a Canadian seat but not if it isn't legal here.

[YoniBottsBumgina]

You may be right about LATCH and ISOfix, although I think that LATCH includes the top tether whereas top tether seats are only just tentatively being introduced here and are in no way commonplace.

Ouryve I don't know but I would imagine that seat doesn't come under the ECE guidelines as it's outside the usual weight range and hence is classed as a special needs seat. But ECE states that there must be one button to undo the whole seat harness, which a chest clip invalidates. Of course with a special needs seat I would imagine that inescapable restraint is even more important. Most if not all children can escape a normal 5 point harness seat - it explains how on the website for 5 point plus which is a gadget that prevents it.

[MultipleMama]

This should explain why clips are illegal - //5pointplus.com/5-point-plus-reviews/child-car-seat-chest-clip/