O.C. Mom Recommends: Car Seats
When I was a kid, I remember playing (while standing) with my brother in the back of our Hi-Ace or sitting in the hatch of our Corolla DX smooshed against the rear windshield. Such things are unheard of now, just like the idea of a car seat in the Philippines was unheard of around 20 years ago.
In the Philippines, we don’t have a car seat law but we decided it was a safety must for our daughter from infancy. M has gotten so used to a car seat that she “panics” if we start the car and she’s not yet strapped on. Because of the car seat, my husband or I can actually go out of the house with only M and we’re sure she will be safely strapped in the back seat. We don’t need yaya to be THE car seat, especially when we bring M to school.
M asleep in her carseat. NOTE: Make sure the chest belt is across the chest and not like this.
Some parents say it’s overkill here because with all the traffic, we don’t go past 60kph anyway. That’s one argument but personally prefer to err on the safe side. I don’t want to impose my own beliefs on others though so if you cannot afford a car seat or it’s more trouble to fight with your child to go into a car seat, then I do suggest you keep your child in the rear seat with a seat belt and NOT allow him or her to sit in the front passenger seat (the death seat as others call it). You may be a safe driver but there are crazy drivers out there and I read somewhere that most injuries and accidents happen to the person sitting in the front passenger seat. I think, instinctively, the driver protects himself/ herself first, which brings the other side at risk.
We had a hand-me-down Graco car seat up to when M was 2 (until I realized car seats have an expiration date). We bought a Britax car seat on Amazon on a 2009 trip where we needed to have a car seat everywhere we went while in Canada. For our next baby, we got a convertible Britax car seat again from Mothercare, which is surprisingly not far from the U.S. price, if you include shipping and duties.
You can read up on reasons for using a car seat and some guidelines on installation from BabyCenter.
What’s your car seat brand and why did you choose it?
O.C. Mom in Manila 
we had a chicco travel system which came with a keyfit30 infant car seat. so we used that until N was about 1. then we moved on to mothercare Advance SP sport – which was a STEAL at about 6K++. N is still using that until now. For Flower, i was thinking of reusing the key fit 30.. but what is the life of a carseat ba?!
Jenny
August 10, 2011 at 9:34 am
You can find the expiration on the side of the car seat. Ours is on a sticker on the side. But if there is no indication, normally (daw) it’s 6 years.
OCMominManila
August 10, 2011 at 4:39 pm
ok. i will check so in our case it has been 3 years for mothercare and 4 years for the keyfit 30. pwede pa
Jenny
August 10, 2011 at 8:48 pm
I do still have to understand why there’s an expiration. I remember seeing an explanation of that somewhere. It seems like such a waste though, no?
OCMominManila
August 11, 2011 at 8:05 am
I agree with carseats in Manila, in Manila of all places! It’s so much safer than a yaya (why are we culturally yaya dependent? I don’t understand!) It’s true it’s normally the yaya who’s the carseat, but I actually like it when there’s no yaya in the car all the time. That’s why even when we’re visiting, I insist the girls sit in their carseat (also because, pag nasanay silang wala, ako yung patay pagbalik dito!).
PS – carseats have expiration dates?! how do they expire?!
mymommyology
August 10, 2011 at 9:37 am
Having yayas is the key to a low divorce rate. Haha.
Expiration dates yes – because I think the structure is not as safe anymore — I have no idea!! Is it just some evil marketing ploy???
OCMominManila
August 10, 2011 at 4:41 pm
but divorce isn’t even legal in our country! hahaha.
i should check our expiration date. but weird. coz Sam’s baby carseat is still as sturdy as ever for Jamie… i can’t imagine it giving way in another three years. not like i want to use the infant carseat ever again though.
mymommyology
August 10, 2011 at 7:32 pm
And if car seats expire then strollers expire too right? Odd. Maybe the regulations change fast so they suggest you change every 6 years. Who knows?
OCMominManila
August 10, 2011 at 7:37 pm
Never mind being stuck in traffic but being on the road here is dangerous. Drivers do not know or respect the rules of the road so a car seat is definitely needed. I understand that they are quite expensive and it cannot be the law but if you can afford it then you MUST have one. Worse than no car seat is kids sitting in the front seat. I’ve seen it so many times!
Both boys are now in boosters. They are big boys and always moved on to the next seat level early. The 6 year old has a backless one and the 4 year old has one with a back. This is the third seat they are in and I don’t think we will be changing seats anymore. Hope not.
Rone
August 10, 2011 at 9:49 am
Wow, third seats na! Lapit na to graduate to none =) I got M the convertible where you can remove the back so hopefully it will last her till she’s 8.
OCMominManila
August 10, 2011 at 4:44 pm
We had a borrowed Safety First travel system and used till Basti was 9mos old. We bought a Chicco Proxima locally, at a good price of 10k. It’s infant to toddler also. I had to let Basti cry in it for a couple of trips before he got used to it.
Eliza
August 10, 2011 at 9:54 am
Ya, M had to cry a bit too. It’s just hard to transfer car seats on coding day!
OCMominManila
August 10, 2011 at 4:59 pm
We have an Aprica Euroturn which was given to us by my husband’s ninang. We’ve been using it since Vito was a newborn; it can recline the entire way and swivel to seat in two directions. It’ll also be a booster seat for when he’s bigger because you can remove the baby seat attachment. I’m super grateful that we have it and that we didn’t need to buy our own.
I don’t know about car seat expiration, but our second-hand Aprica is more than ten years old. Only used once by Ton’s cousin (who’s now 14!). I suppose I can vouch for Aprica’s good quality: All the fittings, cushioning, five-way belt, and infant attachments are still in primo condition and working fine.
Martine | Daintymom.com
August 10, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Ooh, I saw that Aprica in Maricel Laxa’s shower! They gave her one. Nice that it reclines and swivels and converts to a booster. Does it have a Swiss knife too?
OCMominManila
August 10, 2011 at 7:32 pm
I was at the Aprica launch, and when I mentioned it was ten years old, the Japanese representatives said that it really is virtually lifetime quality. They said in Japan, people will usually get new carseats for each child, but you can really use the Aprica for life, until the child is up to 11 years old, in fact.
No, ours was just passed down to us, so no Swiss knife 😉 But it was bagong-bago pa since Ton’s cousin only used it a short while. We just had it professionally cleaned because it had been stored for a while. But it works so well, and Vito has no complaints 😉
Martine | Daintymom.com
August 15, 2011 at 12:29 am
Aside from wear and tear, I think the car seat expiration is because of the advances of technology. What was deemed safe a decade ago may no longer be the safest for a child today. In the US they are most probably avoiding law seats with the expiration dates. But having said that any car seat is better than none.
Rone
August 15, 2011 at 9:52 am
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