A reliable seat AND easy to install! This is it!
Written: Feb 23 '00 (Updated Mar 29 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Five point restraint, steel frame, easy to install, thick, non-twist straps
Cons: Hard to find in stores
The Bottom Line: The seat has lots of great features at a reasonable price. Easy to install.
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| iowamommy's Full Review: Fisher-Price Safe Embrace |
I purchased this car seat for my third child in 1997 when she outgrew her infant car seat. I had messed around with hard-to-install car seats in the past so I figured that's what I would end up with again. Above convenience, however, I had safety in mind.
So many seats to choose from!
After much research, I discovered that 5-point harness restraint systems were definitely the safest. The seats with the overhead shield that comes down and makes a bar in front of baby are very dangerous. The bar buckles into the seat in front of baby, it's not actually holding baby in. With the 5-point, the straps are directly on baby and have straps also on the hips for an extra measure of security. The bar on those other seats is made of hard plastic just wrapped in fabric, and children can get a head injury when striking this in a crash, not to mention that this could come loose and become a projectile in a crash! So...armed with this information, I started my search! I found the Fisher Price Safe Embrace car seat, although is was not widely available and is still hard to find in stores. Since it is one of the nicer, expensive seats, many discount stores do not carry it.
With this particular seat, baby has to face backwards until at least 22 pounds AND one year of age. Sometimes you will hear 20 pounds and one year old, but this seat requires a 22 pound weight before switching to front facing. If forward facing too young, an accident can cause the neck bones to separate and possibly snap the spinal cord as the head is flung forward and that is why leaving them rearfacing until at least a year (preferably even longer) is best. The newer seats out now in this model can rear face until the child is 30 lbs, and the older ones (my model) were only labeled to go rear facing until 22 pounds. If you are buying a new one on the market, you will have the 30 pound limit and won't need to worry. My daughter was only 19 pounds at a year so she stayed rear facing longer until she hit the mark at about 15 months.
The seat comes with a tethering strap that allows it to be tethered to the vehicle. This is for forward facing only. What this does it gives the seat an additional attachment point and keeps the top of the seat from going forward as far in an accident.
There are color-coded belt paths, so you route it correctly depending on whether you are doing a forward facing or rear facing installation. The color-coded belt path made it a snap to install. You thread it through blue for an infant rear-facing, and burgundy for a toddler front facing.
Even the harness strap slots are color coded because it is important to use the right set of slots, too. It made it easy to know I was doing it correctly. It's important to use the lower or middle slots (blue) when facing back and then you must change to the upper (burgundy) slots when facing front or your child might not be held in the seat during a crash. Only the upper set of slots are reinforced for front facing. This is a mistake made by lots of parents, and only a few brands of convertible seats have all slots reinforced so the harness doesn't rip right out of the seat with the force of a child's body flinging ahead.
Extra safety features are steel frame construction and EPS foam to help absorb crash forces.
Our experience
As soon as I found the Fisher Price Safe Embrace convertible car seat, I was hooked. It fit nicely in our van's captain chairs and the installation was so easy. The built in locking clip is nice.
With the steel frame, the seat feels very solid. There is nice, supportive padding. My model came with an infant head pillow that can be taken on and off and a belly pad down by the crotch strap, although I don't know if the current models do.
My favorite part of this seat compared to other seats is the thick harness straps that don't twist. It's great! If you have had a seat with twisty straps, you know how much of a pain this is, not to mention being unsafe. I've never once had a twist with this seat.
It has held up well and my toddler has no complaints about it being uncomfortable to ride in. I get a tight installation in our van. I feel very safe putting her in that seat, and when her baby sister outgrows her infant seat, you can bet this is the seat she'll be in!
The downside
As I mentioned, the seat is hard to find in area stores. I don't live in a big city, so I had to drive to find one. I found mine at Toys R Us. You can also find this seat online. The price averages around $99.00, so it has dropped significantly since I purchased mine.
Tightening the harness adjuster can be a bit of a pain until you get used to it. Instead of an easy pull as with some seats, you kind of have to go through a few different pulls to get the proper tightness, as the harness tightens a bit at a time instead of all in one pull.
Some have also complained about the dark fabric making their child sweaty. With tinted windows and air conditioning, we haven't had that problem, of course, but it is worth mentioning, depending on your own situation.
Update as of 11/20/00
A note about customer service
I have had to call customer service on two occasions. When I passed this seat down to my youngest child recently, I realized that now the seats come with a two piece chest clip that is easier to work with, plus harder for a child to undo. Wishing I had one, I called Fisher Price. They sent one immediately, free of charge.
Upon removing the cover at that time to wash it, I discovered that my oldest daughter had been reaching her hand down under the fabric in the belt path and had been picking away at the foam sides. I called them to ask if it was a safety concern. They said it was safe to use, but wanted to send a replacement, nonetheless. Two new foam inserts for the sides arrived shortly.
So far, I give their customer service department two thumbs up.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
iowamommy
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Location: Iowa
Reviews written: 144
Trusted by: 97 members
About Me:
Mother of four product testers!
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