Kids & cars... particularly 7's

[sporqster]

www.cerpca.net/MILES1.JPG

 

That's right folks, in 6 months I'm going to be a DAD (first time for me!)

 

So I've been thinking about car seats. The conventional wisdom is to buy some big bulky plastic injection molded thing that sits on top of a typical sedan or minivan seat with a seatbelt stuck through it. I am not convinced that this is safer or even AS SAFE as a properly sized Kirkey racing seat bolted to a 1/8" steel plate welded to the floor pan + 5 point harness. And the Kirkey is WAY cooler than anything manufactured by Cosco. They make Kirkeys all the way down to 10 inches wide - I'm thinking that would be uber cool in the Subaru or back of the Porsche.... and I'm thinking I could install a little one in the Seven when they're 18 mos or so - at least old enough to face forwards.

 

http://www.madisonmotorsport.net/kirkey-child-seat.html

 

The 7 does tend to kick up rocks - I wonder how small they make helmets with a face shield...

[slngsht]

Congrats. My son was 6 years old when he first rode in the seven, and he has his own motorcycle helmet just for this purpose. I had (and will have) Kirkeys (15" wide) and just put pillows under him to raise his shoulder height for proper fitment of the belts. It is not the safest thing, but then again he has only been in the car on the road for no more than 20 minutes.

 

This is what he looked like in there without pillows under him http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/20061001_115548_CIMG1048.JPG

 

BTW, I can't remember whose car that is

[Boxologist]

1. congrats

 

2. while this is a nice idea, its the wrong idea. Remember that kids' bones aren't the same as adults. For the first few years, a real baby/infant seat is a prudent responsibility. wait til the tyke is older before someother seat.

 

of course i am absolutely stunned that so many places have laws mandating child seats fr kids up to 80 lbs?!?!? Honestly, i was out of a kids seat by the time i was 2 i think, and i turned out alright. 'course i could have shot my arguement down right there....:banghead:

 

 

www.cerpca.net/MILES1.JPG

 

That's right folks, in 6 months I'm going to be a DAD (first time for me!)

 

So I've been thinking about car seats. The conventional wisdom is to buy some big bulky plastic injection molded thing that sits on top of a typical sedan or minivan seat with a seatbelt stuck through it. I am not convinced that this is safer or even AS SAFE as a properly sized Kirkey racing seat bolted to a 1/8" steel plate welded to the floor pan + 5 point harness. And the Kirkey is WAY cooler than anything manufactured by Cosco. They make Kirkeys all the way down to 10 inches wide - I'm thinking that would be uber cool in the Subaru or back of the Porsche.... and I'm thinking I could install a little one in the Seven when they're 18 mos or so - at least old enough to face forwards.

 

http://www.madisonmotorsport.net/kirkey-child-seat.html

 

The 7 does tend to kick up rocks - I wonder how small they make helmets with a face shield...

[southwind25]

Check out simpson safety website, they make car seats for kids..

[sporqster]

1. congrats

 

2. while this is a nice idea, its the wrong idea. Remember that kids' bones aren't the same as adults. For the first few years, a real baby/infant seat is a prudent responsibility. wait til the tyke is older before someother seat.

 

of course i am absolutely stunned that so many places have laws mandating child seats fr kids up to 80 lbs?!?!? Honestly, i was out of a kids seat by the time i was 2 i think, and i turned out alright. 'course i could have shot my arguement down right there....:banghead:

 

 

 

Understood - I was just trying to figure out a way to keep the Porsche, a 79 911 Targa - it's my wife's car, and something of a shared toy for us... but the big plastic car seats don't exactly fit in the back on the flip-up seats, so I started looking for something legal and safe (well, as safe as a 30 year old Porsche can be) that would fit, and I got to thinking - how different is the function of an aluminum racing seat with 5-point (or 6-point) harness from that of a child safety seat? If the seat fits properly and the belts hold in the right places... which got me to thinking, if I had a little kirkey in the back of the Porsche, why not in the 7? why not in the Subaru? OK, it would look pretty dumb in the bone stock Jetta.

 

The only thing I can see that the plastic seats have going for them is that they are going to absorb some g's of an impact through the deformation of the plastic, whereas a racing seat stays more or less rigidly affixed to the bodywork throughout the impact, transferring more g-forces to the occupant.

 

I'll check out that Simpson site - thanks Southwind.

[Kitcat]

Congratulations (Like you will have any time for cars in the next year:)).

 

When us old codgers were kids, we were just tossed on our sides between our chain- smoking parents in the front seat.

 

When we got old enough to crawl, we'd hang out on the parcel shelf behind the back seats. When dad hit the brakes hard we'd fly off, bounce onto the seat and onto the floor. Whee! Do it again dad!

[Sean]

First off, congratulations!

 

Now, to relate some recent experience:

Infants tend to go to sleep shortly after the car starts moving. Once you arrive at your destination, you are not going to want to wake the baby (trust me). Many (most? NOT all!) purpose-designed and built infant's car seats can be detached from the base, which is mounted in the car, so you can remove the baby and car seat from the car undisturbed. We chose a Combi detachable model based on its light weight design specifically for this reason.

 

So, are you gonna change your screen name to "sprogster"?

[Winston]

Recaro makes some nice child seats. I really like the side impact protection they offer over other seats. We have two, and are about to purchase a third one for the in-laws' car. They're not cheap at $250 a pop, though. The good thing is that they convert to a booster later, so once your kid fits in one, they're the last seat you'll have to buy.

 

http://www.recarochildseats.com/sportChildSeats.asp

[flylow]

We've gone through several seats to get to this: http://www.safeguardseat.com/childseating.htm

although I think the Recaro is much cooler looking and costs less.

 

We (I being the technical one) picked the Safegaurd for the aluminum internal frame. Where many others are just a plastic shell, it has foam much like the inside of a helmet to absorb impacts. There have been several recalls of the plastic seats (not Recaro or Simpson that I know of) for breaking at mounting points. I'd say just be sure to look for a design with the side impact protection and find a certified child seat installer to check your setup before putting your kiddo in it.

 

BTW, congrats, we're expecting our second in August.

 

Long time lurker, infrequent poster,

-phil

[solder_guy]

Congratulations!

 

Rob

 

[Sean]

Another thing to consider is that there are three stages of child seat: Infant seat, Child seat, and Child booster. There are "convertibles" available that bridge across two (or more?) of these applications, but past experience with "sofa-beds" and "on-off road motorcycles" and other dual-purpose gadgets which perform neither task well has made me wary of them. Your focus now should be on getting a quality rear-facing infant seat, and worry about the other varieties when their time comes.

 

All IMHO, of course (REF: my opinion = less than 1/6,000,000,000 of world opinion... just like everybody else's).

[Birkin42]

Congratulations.

 

My wife and I are expecting our first in late August.

Since I don't have my Birkin together yet the issue of a child seat for it really isn't an issue for me. I'm hoping to get as much done before she arrives or I think it is going to drag out my build even further.

All my chassis work to get the S2K engine and trany in are done as well as the independant diff in the rear. I'm now working on the DeDion axle and links. A long to-do list after that still.

 

Jack

[gjslutz]

In my working life a few years ago, we were part of the leading manufacturer of car seats. We were one of the first in that market. The letters we received from the great full parents of that had children survive horrific crashes was the icing on the cake of the job, it made it all worth while. The frivolous law suits from miss used products were the other end of the spectrum though. Enjoy all these coming years of your children, I sure did, and still do.