Child car seats and Bongos

apapa · Post by **apapa** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:03 am

Hello,

We have a six month old baby who weighs 20lbs. We need to get a new car seat for the bongo. Through trawling and reading we have found that the two best options are the Maxi Cosi Priori or the Britax Eclipse Si. Both claim they will last until he is around 40lbs.

My question is does anybody have an opinion about which is the best choice for a forward facing rear seat with a three point seat belt. I assume there is not much difference in terms of safety but am curious about which one is easier to move in and out (baby and seat) and which one will last longer.

Do people agree it is a choice between these two or is there a third way?

Any help very much appreciated.

a

David Edwards · Post by **David Edwards** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:36 am

All I can say is we have used the britax on our two sons, (now 18 and 22) lol and now on our 3ryr old grandaughter with no probs apart from me doing contortionism trying to get it strapped in, lol. Remember tho and I know I am prob teaching granny to suck eggs here the baby seat should never be fixed in the middle of the rear seat, safest logical place is behind the driver with a second mirror on the screen so you can see baby and inter react. Our model is the Eclipse SI.
One thing I did tho as an extra safety feature, I used a ratchet strap around the seat botom and underneath the rear seat, sort of braces and belt. Its just having been a policeman for 30yrs I have seen many accident where the seat has come loose shall we say and I was determined ours would stay put. Our grandaughter, although 3 is still quite small and there is plenty room for growth left with the eclipse, it also seems very comfy. Hope you find the right one, keep trying em till you do.

Post by **mobilecat** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:46 am

I have used MaxiCosi Priori before the bongo and I loved it - it was a ver good seat. I now use the MAx Cosi next stage one in the bongo.

BongoNog · Post by **BongoNog** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:56 am

We have two Britax seats in the Bongo, the newer Britax model (bought last year) is a big improvment on the first one and seems much more secure as it is self tensioning. Both have adjustable head rests, so you can adjust as the little ones get bigger. Our oldest boy is now 3 and still fits in comfortably.

Incidentally, if you have electric blinds in your Bongo, they are great for distracting babies when they get grumpy

Chains · Post by **Chains** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:21 pm

We have 2 of the maxi cosi car seats - one for the the bongo and another for my mothers car (focus).

Our first daughter went into it at 7 months and she is still in it and comfortable at nearly 3.

The seat is actually five point. the two loops, one on each arm lock to the centre (crotch) strap so you are actually in a five point harness.

We are very please with them - the fact that we bought two kind supports that. THe maxi cosi peole suggest that the seat will go through to four years old. I certainly think it will last another 6 months and by then kiddie number two will be using it leaving us to buy the three year onward seat.

I bought mine reduced from Halfords in a seat sale. Must have been Autumn 2006 or very early 2007. Prehaps they have a seat sale around this time?

Daren

apapa · Post by **apapa** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:32 pm

Thanks for all the advice. It seems that both are good choices.

I am worried about what Dave said. A properly fitted car seat should not come loose in an accident.

a

bawgixer · Post by **bawgixer** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:57 am

we have used maxi cosi from the start right upto the tobi model our 2 1/2 yr old is in just now,very easy to fit and adjust with the wee one in it

simon_gone_surfing · Post by **simon_gone_surfing** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 4:50 pm

Hi folks...going through the same dilemma ourselves. We are quite lucky in that we have a fantastic independent baby shop (Happitots) near us and the guy in there really knows his stuff. He helped us to try the Britax, Recaro and Mamas & Papas seats in the Bongo to see which ones fitted correctly. The info we got today was...

...the (possible) bad news is the both the Britax and Recaro seats do not fit properly - because of the longer than modern buckle webbing on the van, they both suffer with "buckle-crunch", where the seat belt buckle is jammed at a funny angle against the car seat base. When you go to tension the belt it gets worse and in the event of an accident there is the possibilty of the plastic buckle housing just breaking into bits under the force, leaving the seat to move freely. As far as I can tell, any child seat which requires the belt to feed through the middle if the seat will have this problem (so the ratchet strap approach might be a good one here). On the other hand, the M&P seat uses a different belt route (round the front, plus over the top, as if someone was sitting there), so the buckle is safely used. It also has a fantstic tensioning system inbuilt which helps with the Bongo belts.

Haven't tried Maxi Cosi yet (on a mission to Halfords tomorrow), but from their web site the Tobi seat appears to have a similar routing system to the M&P, so shoud be fine, but Priori seat goes through as per Britax, so guessing that's no good. Will update when we know more.

Post by **mobilecat** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:05 pm

Can anyone participating in this thread read this carefully and also search for buckle crunch. I am posting this here because I am aware that some car seat dealers have been giving incorrect and potentially life threatening advice to people purchasing car seats.

If you take a bongo and a non modified seatbelt to any reputable car sat provider they should tell you that the seat is not suitable - any seat. If they tell you anything else - such as that the seat is ok, they are not telling you the truth. This is the same for Britx, MaxiCosi or any other seat on the market that requries the seat belt to be used to make it safe.

This doesn't mean you cant put seats in a bongo. The solution is very simple BUT no seat will fit without sorting out the belt seat because it WILL give you buckle crunch and you may as well just put your baby/child in the back wit no seat and no belt - its probably safer.

Buckle Crunch occurs when you close the belt and the buckle casing lies against the hard part of the seat. In an accident, the seat will bash against the buckle casing and this will smash and the belt will open.

it does not occur in modern cars sold in the UK because the seatbelts are found deeper in the seats. As the webbing on the bongo seatbelts is very long it will occur with EVERY seat you put in.

The solution is to shorten the belt.

This is very easy.

Depending on which type of seats you have it may simply be a case of re-routing where the belt comes from before it gets to the seat.

A better and more permanent solution is to have someone that knows what they are doing swap the base part of the belt for you for a shorter one. They are standard belts and most alternatives from most cars will fit and work properly with the top part of the belt. You do not need to change the whole belt system, just the bottom part.

If you have any questions about this just let me know. Any garage with any knowledge of bongos and/or seatbelts and car seats can easily sort tthis problem for you in minutes - many won't even charge you.

If you have long webbing, that has not been dealt with - PLEASE DO NOT USE CAR SEATS BEFORE YOU SORT THIS OUT.

Thank you.

missfixit70 · Post by **missfixit70** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:21 pm

Search on buckle and crunch click here

Post by **Alison01326** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:32 pm

We have a Britax Renaissance which I don't think they make any more but it is great because it places the child high up. I suspect the Eclipse may be its successor. Whichever seat you choose, try and find one which gives a really good view out of the window as it makes for a much happier child (in my opinion which is based on my child and five of his friends, now all aged 3, so they have had their seats for a couple of years. Three of them have got the same seat, and three have much lower seats. The three who can see everything don't need much entertainment on long journeys, the other three whinge a lot and need to be given lots of crisps to keep them quiet even on short journeys!!!).

Hope this helps.

simon_gone_surfing · Post by **simon_gone_surfing** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:29 pm

The information from Mobilecat seems very valuable, if a little alarmist. I agree there is no such thing as a 100% safe seat, but then there is no such thing as a safe car / driver / seat belt etc. Everything is relative and depends on the user in question. Assuming correct installation is followed and the seat fits the seating and belts in the car, the safety of our children is as good as it can be. The final solution would be to get a different car with the IsoFix fittings for peace of mind (or go down the ratchet strap route a la Mr Edwards!)

I can only speak from personal experience, but the Mamas & Papas Pro Tec seat does not experience buckle crunch as the Bongo seat belt is pulled vertically from the van's seat, rather than against the child seat. If it is correctly installed, the seat is as safe as in any other (modern) car. All other manufacturers' seats we have tried do not work in this way (using through the seat base routing), because of the long webbing (as Mobilecat states) allowing the buckle to pull against the child seat base. It sounds to me that the advice on shortening the webbing is excellent...but do look at the M&P Protec as well.

Post by **mobilecat** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:42 pm

I agree that I think my alternative routing on the baby seat would have been ok but certainly forward faacing seats that just use the seatbelt to resstrain the seat and the child, will have this problem.

Didnt mean to be alarmist- I fixed mine in minutes - but people do need to be aware and most new owners are not

simon_gone_surfing · Post by **simon_gone_surfing** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:06 am

Interesting...just read the old thread where alexxb says to wrap the webbing under the seat frame before coming up through the cushion. Sounds almost too easy. I wonder of this would put undue strain on the seat fram in the event of an accident (are the seat belt fastened to the seat frames or the vehicle chassis?). Might strap on the head torch and have a poke around tomorrow evening.

Mobilecat: you seem pretty knowledgable in the seat belt dept. - worth putting a child seat fact sheet together? Clearly some members are fully aware of what buckle cruch is and some photos etc might help. The joys of being a new dad... I had no idea it was so complicated!

Off topic, but any bright ideas for secure sleeping in a Bongo for a 9 month old who likes to roll around at night! Thinking about the Lakes at Easter, but don't want him falling out of the sky onto us a 2am!

apapa · Post by **apapa** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:56 am

I think we definitely need an updated fact sheet. The current one suggests the two best seats are the Maxi Cosi Priori or the Britax Eclipse Si. However, Simon and Mobile Cat are saying that they are not safe.

Simon which Mama and Papa Model did you opt for?

Thanks

a

Child car seats and Bongos

Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos

Re: Child car seats and Bongos