Do I need new car seats?

Hi all

We are moving to the UK just before Christmas. I have a 24lb 2 year old and a 38lb 4 year old. I was planning on bringing their britax seats with me (planning on using the two year olds onboard AA). They are both in 5 point restraints. However, from what I've read on here so far it seems that I might need to buy new ones, in which case any recs? What do you guys do when visiting the US, take your UK ones or hire them?

Many thanks,

Alex

I'm not sure--might do to contact the manufacturer to find out.  I have been told that the specs are different as the cars are made differently as well.  I know that UK car seats aren't approved for travel in the US.

Child restraints from abroad.
Child restraints type-approved in North America/Australia etc are not generally type-approved for use in Europe (some may have been - check the label or with the manufacturer).  Only European approved restraints can be used in the UK.

This is from the government site:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/think

You can read more about the specific needs here: http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/focusareas/children/childincar?page=Advice&whoareyou_id=

Check with your manufacturer. I would purchase new ones in the UK and get them professionally fitted to your UK car, as with your children's ages it is illegal, not to mention unsafe, to have improper restraints.

You could use the US seats on-board and then use them for subsequent trips to the States, but that might lead to a space issue.

I used to fit car seats in the US and after seeing the 100 different ways you can mess up fitting a car seat, I would recommend professional fitting every time you get a new car &/or seat, then you will know you are in 100% compliance!

 Good luck with the move!

I know it sucks but legally, you cannot use American car seats here.

The easiest way to look at it is if you're in an accident, insurance may not pay out for damage or injuries if they see the seat is not ECE labled for here.

Carseats here must have the ECE label on it and the American won't. I do believe the seats are tested at 10mph faster here even though the American ones would pass as well.

We had just bought our baby a brand new Graco car seat about 4 months before deciding to move here and basically had to toss it. I had a hard time parting with it....lol

I know that UK car seats aren't approved for travel in the US.

Technically, no, but we've been using our UK Britax here in the US for the last 8 months. It actually fits the car better and seems more stable than the US Graco one we bought. I suppose there's always the possibility of getting a ticket for using a non-US carseat if we ever got pulled over by the police, but I honestly feel it's safer and fits better than the Graco one.