2012 Mazda5 Kids, Carseats & Safety Review

[tuanies]

You knowing how to drive has no impact on some other guy plowing into you... I'm willing to lay to sleep better at night I did my best to protect my family. With that said, we use Radians and front face our 2.5 year old. The thing is a sturdy beast.

 

[Silentnoise713]

You knowing how to drive has no impact on some other guy plowing into you... I'm willing to lay to sleep better at night I did my best to protect my family. With that said, we use Radians and front face our 2.5 year old. The thing is a sturdy beast.

You missed my point, which is that “people” (or as you refer to as some other guy) should 100% focus on driving/road manners and not 1000% focus on how to prepare for an accident. Please don’t take this as an absolute in that I am anti safety –there is a line. I make no mention nor proclaim my driving ability is good or bad. IMO, it is not even about driving skill but simply being aware/alert and yes I do feel an alert drive can avoid “a lot” of accidents, even being T-boned/rear ended (barring freak accidents). Otherwise, GWVR would my #1 buying criteria and put my kids in a bubble. Anything else is a death trap.

To sum it up:
Active safety > Passive safety

The Radians look interesting (lose brownie point for made in China) as it can be used from 5lb rearward facing all the way up to 120lbs booster. Seems very versatile.

 

[hibern8r]

You knowing how to drive has no impact on some other guy plowing into you... I'm willing to lay to sleep better at night I did my best to protect my family. With that said, we use Radians and front face our 2.5 year old. The thing is a sturdy beast.

Do you have this seat installed in a mazda5?

 

[torquelover]

What kind of car seats are you all using and do you like them?

For our budget we used a pair of Britax. They were good seats, and held up well. They are large, however.

 

[TonyC]

Cool, just courious, what kind of umbrella stroller would work with an infant?

we've placed the current one in Toys-R-Us umbrella stroller since 8MO. not quite infant, but it certainly just depends on the motor/weight development of the "infant"?

For our budget we used a pair of Britax. They were good seats, and held up well. They are large, however.

ditto on a pair of britax. as soon as mine outgrow 55 lbs (which seems to be never), they're going into boosters, then a back of a CarreraS, and I'd be rid of these damned micro-vans forever. /rant.

 

[phunky.buddha]

I prefer Recaros over everything else. They fit well, have side crash bars, and have support/padding WAY beyond almost everything else on the market.

 

[thaxman]

When we had to fit 1 carseat and 2 boosters in a back seat, we went to a Combi. They scale their seats down some to a manageable size. I inherited a seat from a sister-in-law that I could sit in...COMFORTABLY! It was a good 16" between the bolsters and I could have used it as a camping chair if I wanted to. I think Eddie Bauer seats fall into that category as well. A diff sister-in-law passed us a Graco I think that has an arm that rotates out of the way so you can put the kid in and then rotates down like an amusement park ride to buckle him/her in. Its a bit big overall but fits well inside the Mazda5 behind the driver - fwd or rear-facing. We got an Evenflo that was scaled down some for a reversible that also works well. I liked that one the most. Youngest is about to turn 4 and is already using the built-in boosters in the Volvo so all my info is surely outdated by now.

 

[tuanies]

Do you have this seat installed in a mazda5?

I have it front facing. Just pop the headrest off and it fits perfectly fine.

You missed my point, which is that “people” (or as you refer to as some other guy) should 100% focus on driving/road manners and not 1000% focus on how to prepare for an accident. Please don’t take this as an absolute in that I am anti safety –there is a line. I make no mention nor proclaim my driving ability is good or bad. IMO, it is not even about driving skill but simply being aware/alert and yes I do feel an alert drive can avoid “a lot” of accidents, even being T-boned/rear ended (barring freak accidents). Otherwise, GWVR would my #1 buying criteria and put my kids in a bubble. Anything else is a death trap.

To sum it up:
Active safety > Passive safety

The Radians look interesting (lose brownie point for made in China) as it can be used from 5lb rearward facing all the way up to 120lbs booster. Seems very versatile.

Yes but you aren't in control of someone else's driving abilities where as you can control your bubble. So I'd rather prepare for a worse case scenario on my side than assume everyone drives in a best case scenario.

I have no problems with Chinese manufacturing. Clek is made in North America but they're like $6-800 per car seat.

 

[Wishmaster]

What kind of car seats are you all using and do you like them? My son is definitely in need of a more appropriate seat. He's 18 months but still in that infant carrier. I'm just trying to decide if I want to go with a convertible or a car seat. Planning a road trip in April so I want him to be comfortable. Thanks in advance

After the infant seat we went with convertible seat which eliminates the need to buy another seat once you turn them around. We have twins and bought two of the Britax Boulevard. We did a ton of research on safety, easy of use, reliability, customer reviews, and anecdotal reviews about how well kids like them and how comfortable and of course, safe they were. These came out on top. You can spend more... but for the most part you're just buying useless features.

 

[aha]

I have Graco MyRide 65 behind me (rear facing) and (2) Evenflo booster seats in the back for my older kids. I also have an old Evenflo Umbrella stroller in the trunk or baby jogger micro. Yes, this car is amazing and well thought, I was worried that no stroller would fit and I've been wrong!