After a near car accident while cruising around Monte Carlo, it occurred to me that my daughter would not have been protected in her car seat. Her car seat came with her stroller and I am sure it offers the bare minimum in terms of protection. I became overwhelmed with guilt for not thinking about this before and panicked to switch car seats quickly. I even started the search in the car on my Blackberry when on our way home. We arrived home late Monday evening and I have been researching car seats relentlessly ever since.
I first rummaged through Amazon.fr to see what is available. Each car seat I liked ended up not doing so well on crash tests. I was going around in circles so I decided to hit the forums to find direction. One brand constantly recommended was Britax. I further researched this company and found that they developed the ISOFIX technology, which is now a standard in all cars. Not bad! They seem to be a leader in car seat technology and one of the only brands to even have their own testing center.
Britax has only two types of car seats that Juliana would fit into – Safe Baby and First Class Plus. Its website was very informative and I watched each video they offered on its products. Their car seats are a bit expensive but I have yet to come across a review that said that their seats are not a good value for the price. I do not mind spending the extra money since it provides the added protection.
The Safe Baby model is new and incorporates the latest technology. I found out that this car seat received 5 stars when used with an ISOFIX base, but 4 stars when used with a seatbelt base or no base at all. The most common complaint I found about this car seat was the ISOFIX base tips the car seat so the baby is angled so her head easily falls onto her chest. It is a known problem and Britex is aware of it. I cannot have Juliana be uncomfortable like this because we are in the car frequently for long durations. I could not find testimonials about the performance of this car seat in an actual crash because it is too new.
The First Class Plus is the most heavily recommended car seat in the French forums for babies. The biggest feature is that babies can remain reward facing until they are 13 kg, in contrast to typical carriers that go up to 10 kg. After they reach 13 kg, this car seat can be turned so the baby faces forward. The First Class Plus received high ratings for rearward facing, but not as high marks for forward facing. It has received numerous rewards and is used by car manufacturers to test child safety in their cars. The common complaint from parents was that it is often difficult to get the baby in when rearward facing. However, each of those parents would still recommend this seat to others. I read countless testimonials about parents buying another one for their second car, or second child. So far, so good.
I want to keep Juliana rearward facing for as long as possible but we are very limited on options in France. The First Class Plus is the only one that I can find that is widely available – the others, the parents must have brought them over from other countries. I would love to know their secret. I saw constant complaints from French parents that they want to keep their child rearward facing but could not find a car seat that lasted until the child is 4 years old. I am sure things will change in France since there are too many concerned mothers hitting the Internet. The US changed it stance last year by announcing children should be rearward facing until at least 2 years old.
Studies show that rearward facing is the safest way for children under 4 to travel. There are concerns over the comfort of the child, but many parents reported that their children were comfortable by sitting cross-legged. I started my search through Britax’s US car seats and quickly realized that American parents have so much better options that us over here. I would love to buy one in the US but I found out that some insurance companies will not cover injuries if the baby was hurt while not in an approved baby carrier. We could actually be charged for intentional endangerment of the child if she got hurt because we were not using a car seat approved for France. There goes my dream of obtaining the Britax Marathon.
I decide to stick to the Britax First Class. Parents have reported their children fitting in rearward facing until the child was around 18 to 24 months old, so I have plenty of time to think about what seat to buy next. It also gives retailers in France more time to stock up on rearward facing seats!
I thought my searching was over but then I realized that the First Class Plus is not FAA approved. We usually take the airline with the best price, so it could be American, French or British. We would need a car seat approved by all three. Not only that, but we found that some airlines have specific requirements, such as Air France only allows car seats that are 41 cm wide. The First Class Plus is 44 and the Safe Baby is 45. We will be traveling to the USA at least once a year and need Juliana to be able to travel safely with us.
While searching a British forum, I came across the CARES. It is a 5-point harness that attaches to the plane seat! It is approved by the FAA, as well as international certifications – including the British CAA and France. She has to be between 10 kg to 22 kg to fit it. Our next flight is when she will be about 12 months old, so I am not sure if we will be able to use it or not by then. One of the greatest parts of it is that you do not have to lug a huge car seat with you through the airport and fight with flight attendants to let you use it. The CARES website shows you can purchase it from Baby Ranger in France (as of today, it is the only place you can order it within France). It is 90 euros through the Baby Ranger website. I am disappointed about the price because in the US, you can find it for $76.
Now I just need to find the best deal on a Britax First Class plus! In store they are about 250 euros, but I found them new on Amazon.fr and Ebay.fr for around 200 euros. The Ebay.fr seller is only about 4.5 hours away so if there is a problem with the seat, we would not have to pay a fortune in shipping. The other sellers I found were all in the UK.
This may not be the absolute safest car seat in France, but at least I tried my hardest to find it. There are so many options out there in terms of brands and features that it is easy to become overwhelmed. When searching for a car seat, find its rating, watch crash tests of the seat and read testimonials from users on different websites. The make and model of your car can also either make a car seat more or less effective. The most important thing is to make sure the car seat is installed correctly each time. You can have the most expensive and highest quality car seat on the market, but if it is not installed correctly then it can be useless.
I just want to be able to drive again knowing that Juliana is safe. We will be ordering the Britax First Class today – I will be a much more relaxed mamma soon!
Annie says
Hey! I enjoyed reading your article since I went through the same thing… Had a hige car accident, baby came out fine and was in a Graco seat. I then realized I had never checked to see about how good it was. Luckily, it was one of the best… I then started looking for the next seat and found the same conclusion! I have not had the dilemma of bringing it to the US (Some companies will lend a car seat to you for the trip) and did not even think of that when I was looking. We’ve owned ours for a few years now and quite a few friends are now convinced as well!!! Great choice!
French Mamma says
Graco is another great brand. I am glad to hear that your baby was fine in the car accident (and I hope you and any others as well). Last time I went to Florida, we borrowed a Graco car seat from my sister’s friend who’s baby just outgrew. We will either try to borrow a car seat again or buy one so there is one on hand there. It is so much easier to travel without one. I am a little hesitant to rent one because there is no way of telling if it was ever in an accident or how old it is. After doing all my research, I may be a bit paranoid now 🙂 I never even knew that car seats expired! So much to know when having a baby…
Stephanie says
I love your blog! We have so much in common! I’m american too, my husband is french and we have an 18 month old girl. I went through lots of searching for a car seat too. I bought a 360° rotating one from toysrUs, because it was on sale. I love it, it is comfy and easy to install and my daughter is still rear facing even now, and she’s taller than average. Rear facing for as long as possible is the best way to go. It’s a 0+/1 group and handy dandy. I love the rotating feature for putting her in and out. When we took the train to my in-laws recently, we were going to take our spare 1/2/3 seat but my father in law bought a carseat from the auto store. I told him to get a 1/2/3 one so that he can use it for a lot longer, but he got a regular 0/1. It was impossible to get it to be in the correct tilt for the rear facing (the seat slanted too much) and the seat belt was a huge pain for installing a squirmy toddler. So I turned it to the front and she was so happy! It was just for a week, but I am glad that she is back in her rear facing seat!
Also, about traveling in the plane, I took her back home for Christmas when she was only 2 months old, and we are going again this spring but she’ll be 19months. In an effort to save some money she’ll be a lap child again. I’m praying that she’ll be calm and color and sleep! But I’m going to look for the CAREs system while I’m home since it’s cheaper and we’ll need it for the next trip! I think it would be too complicated to have a car seat on the plane, and in the end you have to pay for another seat. At 12 months she might be calm enough to sit on your lap and just sit. Once they start walking then they just want to move and it gets more difficult! I’ll letyou know how it goes for an active 18month old!
French Mamma says
Hi Stephanie, thank you! Did you buy that car seat at a Toys R Us in France or did you bring it here from the states?
I am trying to decide about having her as a lap baby again for the next flight. While I was researching about taking car seats onto the plane, I found out how dangerous it is when there is strong turbulence to have your baby in your lap. However, American Airlines automatically places people with lap babies in the middle three seats. If the plane does not get booked, you get that third seat for free. On both flights, we were able to have that extra seat. So maybe we will chance it again by going in the off season and hope for that middle seat.
Eva Knudsen says
Hi French Mamma! I´m in the prossess of finding car seat to my twins (13 months). Are you still satisfied with the First Class Plus? I´m norwegian and in Norway they recommend the bacward-position until the babies are 4 years old. This is impossible to find in France, but I se that the First Class can be used until 13 kg, and that´s better than nothing:-) Eva
Carrieanne Le Bras says
Bonjour Eva! I’m sure I’m much to late, but I’d like to answer your question in case someone later is reading this and wants to know the answer.
I am still very happy with my First Class Plus. My father-in-law accidentally broke it while installing it (he’s not very gentle), and we decided to replace her car seat with the Britax Evolva 1 2 3 and buy a new First Class Plus for my son. He’s now 2.5 years old and we started him forward facing several months ago. We could have held out a little longer, but we bought a new car and I didn’t like how it fit backwards… felt more sturdy forwards, so I felt safer with him this way.
I’m also extremely satisfied with the Evolva 1 2 3. Even though the Evolva is for children as young as 9 months old, I probably would wait until around 18 months… it’s really big.
I have the newborn insert for the First Class Plus. I’m pregnant again, so I’ll use our baby car seat at the beginning (so when she falls asleep in the car, we don’t have to disturb her slumber when we all have to get out), but when she’s too heavy to carry comfortably in and out of the car in the car seat, I’ll just switch her to the First Class Plus and get another Evolva 1 2 3 for my son. He’ll be reaching the weight and age limit around this time anyways 🙂
Lindsey Auguin says
Sorry to jump in on this comment, but I just wanted to say Eva Knudsen, you CAN buy rearward-facing seats up to 25kg online. We have just ordered one from a Swedish site, http://www.carseat.se – they deliver to France for €30.
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