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We are pregnant (pc!!!) and have a MK4 Escort Cabby. We have been told that there is not a child seat available for the rear, due to there only being lap belts.Is there a way to fit proper belts in the rear or to convert lap belts some way? Have to decide by mid December or she'll have to go.(The wife of course...couldn't lose the cabby!!!)
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We were recently pregnant (!) and bought a standard Britax seat from Mothercare (about £100) - its fitted in our Focus using the 3 point normal belt but the instructions say a lap-belt can be used as well so perhaps it depends on the make? The only note of caution was to make sure the lap belt was fully tightened as adjusted.
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Thanx, will look into it.
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Britax have a technical services department who can advise you. They do regular visits to britax dealers and will demonstrate the best fit. (I used to run a 911 which was difficult to fit because of the bucket seats.) They also do telephone advise but you are better actually going along and seeing them.
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Somebody has got their wires crossed. Both our seats, now used forward facing, work equally well with a 3pt belt or a lap belt.
A wander around Mothercare and an examination of each chair should solve you're problem. If you can't find one, post again and I'll wander out to the car and find out what brand/model ours are.
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A lap belt surely creates a risk of the seat tipping forward under force - I wouldn't have had my kids strapped in that way.
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>>A lap belt surely creates a risk of the seat tipping forward under force
How do you work that out ?
For the seat to tip, then it would have to lift at the back bottom corner. How is it going to do that with a lapbelt holding it down ?
As it happens, the lapbelt on ours goes through brackets/holes at the back of the seat. Not a chance of it tipping anywhere.
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A baby seat is more or less banana shaped in profile. A lap belt across the middle would act as a fulcrum and the intertia of any mass above the fulcrum would carry it forward. Isn't that what 3 point belts are designed to stop? I'm no expert, but it's how it seems to me and I'd err on the side of caution.
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>>A baby seat is more or less banana shaped in profile......
Your theory depends on the seat being held down onto a flat surface. It is not. It is pinned against both the base and the back of the car seat. An "L" within a slightly larger "L" if you prefer.
Three point belts are aimed at bendy things like people. A lap belt in these circumstances is not holding down a bendy thing, its holding down a rigid thing (the child seat).
M.
p.s. if you haven't got it this time, then let's just assume it really isn't worth further discussion. It was barely worth this much.
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So that this is not the blind leading the blind - this is ROSPA'S site on the subject
www.childcarseats.org.uk/
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Oh for goodness sake....
The first one I looked at on Mothercare...
www.mothercare.com/invt/lv2916&bklist=icat,5,shop,...g
And I quote "Can be fitted in the centre of the rear seat using the lap belt ".
Now, you do what you want.
M.
p.s. the RoSPA site is unhelpful boilerplate, adding nothing to any understanding or knowledge, although perhaps raising awareness.
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Congratulations dodgy.
It's probably worth thinking about the boot on the cab aswell. They are a bit on the small side, with a small opening, take it from someone with recent knowledge on the subject, babies need LOTS of stuff, and small boots usually don't fit it all.
Thats why we had to get rid of the Puma, a sad day in the C household.
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In a couple of years your child will have outgrown the baby-seat's own harness and you'll need more of a booster cushion (although probably still with a backrest) and it's this type which need a 3 point system. Plenty of time to have found a replacement car which hopefully fits your needs.
Whatever seat you chose, make sure you check it for yourself in the car before buying to verify that the belts are long enough etc, when baby seats are rear facing they can need an extremely long seat belt!
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