The Harmony Defender 360 is a fairly new addition to the world of combination seats (aka car seats that convert from a forward facing five point harness into a belt positioning booster), and I had the opportunity to take one for a spin this week.
Fortunately, we know that the law is not enough to keep children safe. NHTSA, Safe Kids, and the American Academy of Pediatrics all recommend that children between 8 and 12 years old continue to use a booster until they fit the belt correctly alone, usually around 4’9″.
I run a busy car seat inspection station and expectant parents are some of my most frequent clients. That means I see a whole lot of infant seats. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I’m scheduling an appointment and a parent tells me their seat is a Chicco KeyFit; because it’s just so easy.
The Chicco NextFit is the long anticipated convertible car seat offering from Chicco, who brought us the much-loved Chicco KeyFit rear facing only seat. The NextFit delivers in all the same ease of use features we love about the KeyFit, and offers a great option for extended rear facing.
Need help installing your rear facing only seat without the base? Here are a few tips for what a correct installation should look like. Remember to always check your manual for full instructions.
In the world of combination (forward facing harness to booster) car seats, we have a lot of excellent choices these days. Things have come a long way since just a few years ago when five point harnesses with weight limits above forty pounds simply did not exist. Today I took a look at a great option from RECARO: the ProSPORT. This seat has been replaced with the RECARO PerformanceSPORT.
Wonder when your Little’s car seat is outgrown? Refer to your manual to check the limits for your child’s weight and height, and rules about how the child fits in the seat! Many rear facing car seats require 1″ of shell above the head – a 1″ tall book is a great easy way to measure!
Today, I had a chance to check out the Britax Frontier 90. This is not going to be the most in-depth review on the web, because my opportunity to check out this seat involved both of my kids (4 years and 2 months) present in the parking lot of a kid’s consignment store, with a CPST friend who graciously agreed to spend her work break letting me take apart her personal seat and install it and bribe said four-year old into allowing me to take pictures with him in it.
As a general rule, products sold separately from your child restraint should not be used because these products may affect the safety of your restraint in a crash. Even a seemingly minor change to your restraint could alter the way is designed and tested to perform in a crash, resulting in serious injury or death.
Are your car seat straps in the right spot? Remember, rear facing: at or below; forward facing: at or above!
