A GREAT Infant Seat Keeps My Baby Safe!!
Written: Jun 12 '06 (Updated Jun 12 '06)
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Pros: safe seat, easy installation, easy buckling, cute print
Cons: it is a bit heavy
The Bottom Line: This is a great infant safety seat. It is easy to use and keeps baby safe!
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| goldjay's Full Review: Baby Trend Flex-Loc Infant Car Seat |
I purchased Baby Trend’s Malawi Travel System for my baby. The Travel system includes a stroller plus an infant car seat and base. This review is about the infant car seat and base. If you would like to see the review of the rest of the system it is here:http://www.epinions.com/content_236079189636
The Malawi Infant Car Seat can securely lock into the car seat base with Baby Trend’s Flex-Loc system. It can also be secured onto the stroller’s front tray. In the car or in the stroller, the infant seat is rear facing. It is designed for babies from 5-22 pounds and 28.5 inches or less.
First let me tell you that while we were still in the hospital, I had an occupational therapist come and help me learn how to position baby and secure him properly in his seat. The occupational therapist, who has seen many, many different infant seats, praised this one. She liked the way a very small baby fit in it comfortably plus the fact that it was still roomy enough for baby to grow. And, she especially liked the ease in adjustability of the back of the seat. In fact, she “borrowed” our seat to show it to other parents who were trying to decide which infant seat to purchase!
Securing Base in the Car
This infant seat can be installed 3 different ways in the car. I had read that 80% of car safety seats are installed incorrectly and I did not want to make a mistake and risk my baby’s safety. So since I was totally unsure of how to best install the infant seat, I called the local police and had a certified safety seat expert install my baby’s seat. Based on my car, he decided to use the LATCH system to install the base into my car. It took him about 5 minutes to do this. I now leave the base in the car and can snap and un-snap the infant seat right into the base every time I want to go somewhere. The seat is simple to snap onto the base. You do just have to check that it has nothing on the base to block it and make sure you hear the click. Un-snapping requires you to pull a release on the front of the baby’s infant seat and pull it up. It is also not very difficult. It is described pretty well in the Owner’s Manual and now that I know how to do it, I can un-install and re-install in a different car if necessary.
Generally if your car is a newer model (2003 and up for most cars) you will probably use the LATCH system described above. The other choices in installing the seat in the car are to install the base using the car’s seatbelts or to install the infant seat without the base using the car’s seatbelts. Both methods are clearly described, using pictures, in the Owner’s Manual.
Fastening Baby’s Seatbelt
The infant seat secures baby using an adjustable 5 point harness. It took a few practice sessions to figure out how to loosen the belt, put baby in correctly, and then fasten and tighten it properly. Now that I have been doing it for 4 months, I generally find it pretty easy to do.
To loosen the belt, you have to push a button that is positioned between baby’s legs but hidden by a padded piece of fabric. You can push the button right through the fabric. While pushing the button, you must pull the belt from the top to loosen. Once loose, you can adjust the belt so that both sides are about the same length. Then put baby into the seat and put arms through the belts. At this point, I snap the harness clip that sits on baby’s chest. Next you have to connect both sides of the lower buckle and put them together into the harness buckle on the crotch strap. Last you have to pull the crotch strap to tighten the belts. I was told that I should only be able to get 1 finger under the strap at the shoulder for it to be tight enough. You also have to make sure that the harness clip is positioned in the correct spot on baby’s chest so that it is level with the baby’s armpits. It sounds like a lot of steps but once you practice it, it can be done quickly and it does keep baby safe and secure in the seat.
The adjustable back of the seat is the part that the occupational therapist thought was especially great. She told us that so many seats are so difficult to adjust the top level of the straps but with this seat, a simple turn of a knob is all that is needed to move the straps up or down. When my baby first started using this seat, the straps were positioned in the lowest position. As baby has grown, I have been able to simply turn the know on the back and move the back and the straps up so that they are level with his shoulders.
Other good features
This infant seat has a decent sized canopy that is good for use when carrying baby on sunny or even rainy days. Well, it doesn’t totally keep out rain but I have found that on days when there is a light rain, I can carry the infant seat in such a way, facing me, as to keep baby mostly dry with the canopy up.
The seat also has a large carrying handle with a triangle at the top for ease in carrying. I have found that the triangle shape really doesn’t help as much as I thought it would. This infant seat IS heavy! My baby is only 12 pounds but I feel like I am carrying at least double that when I carry him in this seat. I haven’t actually weighed him in it but it is very heavy, even for my husband. If I have to walk very far with baby in the infant seat, I always get the stroller out of the trunk and attach the infant seat to the stroller. And that is why I bought the Travel System so it works out very well for me!
Recommendation
I definitely recommend this car seat. I find it generally easy to use and I feel like my baby is safe and comfortable when he rides in it. I like the cute print of the fabric cushions in this infant seat. I really have no problems with this infant seat except that it is a bit heavy when carrying it.
More information
For more information about this car seat, visit www.babytrend.com or call Customer Service:
(800) 328-7363
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 179.99
Age Range of Child: 0 to 12 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
goldjay
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 in Kids & Family |
 - Top 500 |
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Member: Allyson
Location: Maryland
Reviews written: 1011
Trusted by: 273 members
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Back from our DISNEY WORLD Vacation!! Had a BLAST!!
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