Help with Infant Carseat

[rebeccaaustin]

Hi! I apologize if this has been asked but I've just recently come to this board.

We're expecting our 4th child in December and have started thinking about a carseat for her. We used a Britax Companion for our 3rd child and had planned to use that for our 4th as well. However, I've heard reviews from Consumer Reports saying that is not a safe seat. And then, in reading some of the posts here, I read something about not storing carseats in attics. HELP! Our Companion has been stored in the garage (I'd never heard not to) where it gets pretty hot. Is this seat going to be safe for our next child? If not, what's the best infant carseat to get these days?

Thanks for your help!

	Britax - Click for more info Britax International has been producing reliable child safety products for over 30 years. Not only does Britax have decades of experience creating car seats and other children's safety equipment, Britax has a long standing reputation as an industry leader and innovator. Britax International is headquartered in the United Kingdom, but Britax car seats are designed and manufactured at facilities in Germany, Austria, and the United States. In the summer of 2002, Britax strengthened their commitment to creating the safest car seats with the opening of a brand new, state-of-the-art crash testing facility in North Carolina. Britax car seats have a reputation around the world for being some of the safest, most reliable, and best designed child safety seats ever made.

	Infant Car Seats Infant-only rear-facing seats are for babies up to about 22 to 30 pounds, depending on the specific car seat. You will need a new seat when your child gets bigger. Infant-only seats have handles that allow you to move the seat from the car to the house or other locations. Some have a base that you can leave installed in the car, so you can just click the car seat into place each time you use it.

	Britax Companion - Click for more info It was not a surprise when Britax - a company known for their commitment to safety - came out with an infant seat that raises the bar in overall child safety with side impact protection. The Britax Companion infant seat was considered a safety revolution when it came out, and has only gotten better since. Needless to say, the design of the rear-facing Companion Infant Seat is pretty flawless. Plus, the in-car base makes it really easy to transport your child from your car to your house without waking them up.

	Graco Safe Seat Step 1 - Click for more info The Graco Safe Seat (Step 1)—if you couldn't gather from the name— is intended to be the first of a three-seat process. The Step 1 is for infants in a rear-facing position; the Step 2 is for bigger, older kids in the forward-position; the Step 3 is a belt-positioning booster seat without the safety harness of the previous two.

[Papooses]

Please do not trust Consumer Reports for safety seat advice

• SafeRideNews explains Consumers Union fiasco
• Compare the correct infant seat crash tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) who are responsible for creating & enforcing safety standards

Consumer Reports also claims their "techs" couldn't achieve proper install of some seats on the test bench -- this indicates incompitence! It's also not logical to assume that a carseat which may have performed "better" at 70 MPH is a safer seat: it is nothing short of a miracle for ANYONE to survive a crash at that speed & they are statistically EXTREMELY rare as well.... Furthermore, via the *real* crash testing you can see that the Companion performs excellently

Garages generally do not get as hot/cold as attics & car interiors get much hotter/colder than either. So long as your Companion is not expired (6 years from Date of Manufacture) + you have the instruction manual & will use it correctly, it should be perfectly safe since the lifespan of safety seats takes into consideration constant use inside vehicles

	Britax Companion - Click for more info It was not a surprise when Britax - a company known for their commitment to safety - came out with an infant seat that raises the bar in overall child safety with side impact protection. The Britax Companion infant seat was considered a safety revolution when it came out, and has only gotten better since. Needless to say, the design of the rear-facing Companion Infant Seat is pretty flawless. Plus, the in-car base makes it really easy to transport your child from your car to your house without waking them up.

[rebeccaaustin]

Thanks so much for your reply! I'm glad to hear that our carseat will work just fine (it's just under two years old so well shy of the expiration date). You've saved us a lot of money.