# Car seats in Switzerland



## lalaland42 (Mar 12, 2006)

We are moving to Switzerland from the US in a few months and I am looking for resources on car seats. (I looked at the sticky and didn't see anything for Switzerland)

We have a newly turned 4 year old who is incredibly tall but skinny and are TTC #2 who would be born in Switzerland. We don't plan on having a car there but I imagine we will periodically rent cars for road trips and such.

Right now DD is in a Radian 65 but I believe that isn't legal in Switzerland? I am pretty sure a Maxi Cosi seat would be fine for babe #2.

Oh and Switzerland is really expensive, would it be legal to import a seat from Germany?

Someone on another forum mentioned a harness for DD that could be used for taxis and such but I forgot the name. Anyone know what that is?


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## lalaland42 (Mar 12, 2006)




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## missbuns (Oct 16, 2007)

i'm not sure of all your questions but i know you can import car seats from germany for use in switzerland. they're pretty much the same exact ones. we use a radian 65 for trips all over europe and it's fine, it's our travel seat. otherwise we used a maxi cosi bucket and http://www.recaro-seats.co.uk/child-...ro-polaric.php for every day. we love it.


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## Eclipsepearl (May 20, 2007)

Funny, we just drove through Switzerland yesterday and my dd (age 5) is in a Radian65.

Technically, here in France, I'm supposed to have a European car seat but they don't test 5 points after 40lbs/18 kilos so bought the Radian in the U.S. and had it brought over here. I even once installed it in a French police car. I've been through many checks and they're just so happy to see any baby in a car seat, they don't even check where it's made here.

All three children have rode in U.S. car seats here in France and it's never been an issue. We've also driven in Italy, Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Belgium without any problems.


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## lalaland42 (Mar 12, 2006)

Really? That would be great because I love DD's Radian. And I already have it.

I just wasn't sure about Switzerland and whether they followed the same standards as the EU, since they aren't in the EU.

Here is a link with some info:

http://translate.google.com/translat...hp&sl=de&tl=en

It is in German so I used Google translator.


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## cajunmommy (Jan 27, 2007)

I just moved here from New Orleans two months ago. I am expecting in one week and I do not plan on getting a car seat because public transportation in so great here. I just think you should know that baby gear is very expensive here. I am shocked really. Of course, we earn more but still it is kinda crazy. I live near the German border in Basel and I heard things are cheaper in Germany, but dh will only buy in Switzerland. This place is very child friendly though and I love it here.


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## missbuns (Oct 16, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cajunmommy* 
I just moved here from New Orleans two months ago. I am expecting in one week and I do not plan on getting a car seat because public transportation in so great here. I just think you should know that baby gear is very expensive here. I am shocked really. Of course, we earn more but still it is kinda crazy. I live near the German border in Basel and I heard things are cheaper in Germany, but dh will only buy in Switzerland. This place is very child friendly though and I love it here.

the car seats are the exact same models and most are made in germany anyway. the only difference buying in switzerland is you pay twice as much and have a limited selection.


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

My only concern with such a car seat is how do you plan to anchor it? (or whatever the one is that hooks on the top).

I live in the UK and I have to say that he car seats in this country suck. Most harness seats are ONLY FF and only up to 35lbs. I have a car seat from Norway for my DS (which is legal) and harnesses him up to 55lbs (also RF option). Most people have their children in boosters here by the age of two - so my DS is the safest that I know of IRL.

However...I know in Norway the laws are much more strict (and safe!) - such as RF up to the age of 4 (some weight)!!! I don't know much about switzerland and their laws but I know the countries are close together enough that some better car seat laws might lap a bit







hehe...

But my point is.... That is the safest car seat I can get for my son. Now...I could import something from America (illegal - but who cares concerning he safety of my child...)....That can keep my DS harnessed to a much higher weight- but if I am correct in assuming, these type of car seats require an anchor and tether. Which would then be impossible unless I bought a brand new car, took the seat out, sent it back to the manufactuer and asked for one that had the little anchor thingy on the back of the seat in able to fit the car seat in correctly and safely. Cars here, just dont tend to come with such a feature as such car seats are not sold in this country (unfortunatly)...So...I would just assume the same thing for the cars in Switzerland. - Just a thought...that you might not actually be able to fit the car seat appropriately?


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

Most US Car Seats can be installed with just the seatbelt (the regent and safeguard go are the two exceptions I know, both require a top tether).


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

Woah..... Doing some research.... The Radian 80 also does not require a top tether....I feel some importing coming on....


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## missbuns (Oct 16, 2007)

there are all kinds of seats you can get in europe no problem. i prefer our german seat:

http://www.recaro-seats.co.uk/child-...ro-polaric.php

to any in the US (we have a radian 65, and compared to the recaro it's just so tiny and flimsy). it doesn't have a top tether.


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## lalaland42 (Mar 12, 2006)

I like Recaro too but unfortunately that seat has a 40 lb weight limit - which DD would hit in 2 pounds. I used to have a car with Recaro seats, most expensive thing in the car, and boy were they comfy. Maybe that would work for babe #2.


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## Eclipsepearl (May 20, 2007)

Some of the European seats look cushier but honestly, I don't think they're any better. I didn't see any tether or chest clip on that seat the other poster shared. It bothers me that seats here can't have a chest clip. I think it's silly to not include a feature just so the emergency people can unsnap a child faster AFTER an accident. Most chest clips bust anyway on impact, I understand.

I had a tough time finding a car with tethers. I ended up with a Yaris (a car that I liked for other reasons too so luckily that worked out).

I don't know why all the car seats only go to 40lbs/18 kilos but they wont test 5 point harnesses any higher than that. Children over 18 kilos are _supposed_ to go into a booster, period. Sunshine kids say they got whatever approval over here but they can't advertise that their seats go past this mark. They would only be allowed to say that the Radian only goes up to 18 kilos so they refuse. They wrote me and said that is exactly their selling _point_, that it harnesses past 40lbs and that's exactly what's NOT allowed in Europe.

Definitely the safety standards are much lower here. I feel much better with my child in an American seat thank you!


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## missbuns (Oct 16, 2007)

hm. well, i'm currently living in europe and it's like night and day with our two seats. i'm sure all car seats are pretty safe when installed correctly, but i feel way better when my daughter is in the recaro over the radian 65.

the euro seat i posted does not move an inch. it is 100% secure. i'm not an expert but it is stuck in with isofix and then tethered with two attachments to the front seat (one on either side which can be tightened). there is a steel bar which secures it a safe distance from the back seat. it is extremely huge, heavy, and high. my daughter can see out the window and is comfortable. the side protection is excellent. yeah, it doesn't have a chest clip, but the straps tighten down very well, are cushy, and don't move.

when i researched seats i had options from all over and i went with this seat. i think car safety is better in places like scandinavia and went with those guidelines.


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

I am pretty sure the Recaro is a safe seat...But the point is, it does not harness to a high enough weight. For example - my son, at 3.5 and 45lbs would not be able to use that seat - he has outgrown its maximum weight for it. If I stuck with the car seats available to us here in the UK - he would have been in a booster by the age of two. Not happening. No one is saying the Recaro isnt safe - its a fab car seat as most car seats are! But it isnt going to harness past its upper limit and thats not high enough or safe enough for me or for many peope who wish to keep their child harnessed for longer simply for the fact of harnessing them for longer - or even the fact they have a large child for their childs age...DS was and still is no where near able to safely use a booster - I dont care what his size is for his age! Harnessed up to 40lbs or harnessed up to 80lbs...I know what I am going with - even if it doesn't look as comfy!


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## Helen_A (Mar 22, 2004)

Ann - there are plenty of seats available and legal in the UK that go past 40lbs... its just that they also tend to be attached to certain car manufacturers and aren't carried by the various shops/retailers because of this. There are also various 'special needs' produced seats that are also sold with higher weights in mind, and most EU manufacturers also sell longer versions of harnesses so that you can continue to use a full harness in a combination stage 1/2/3 seat into weights higher than the 18kg for a stage 1 with harness where the seat would move to being considered a stage 2/3 (in other words a high backed booster) where most would then switch to using the seat as such.

Another thing for others to remember generally, is that within the EU/European zone, the use of a child restraint is now legally mandated to age 12 or 135cm (UK and a few) or 145cm (the rest). Once past the weight of stage 1, it switches to being done by the height, not the weight, of the child, and safety devices are tested on weights that are approximate to those heights (so against the 135cm for the UK, for example, the weight test is to that against which the 90th centile applies at that height). This test is using the standard 3 point belt for the car, and measures restraint at that centile weight and the max height *plus the weight of the device/seat*.

What, sadly, isn't happening, is for law enforcement here of those rules wrt height of child and use of seat. But the law is very clear, if you are 12 years or under and under the minimum permitted height for the car *you much be in an appropriate device*. Under the age of 8 this is considered to be a high backed booster, not a cushion device (unless its for 'occasional or emergency' travel







: at that loophole). What many parents also don't realise in the UK, is if their child is injured in an accident and is not in/on an appropriate device *by the terms of the law* then the insurer has no need to pay out against those injuries, unless the injury is down purely to the accident and would not have been mitigated by the use of the seat. This is slowly starting to happen which means that slowly people are actually waking up to what the law says. 'T'would be easier if the police would just enforce the laws, but meh!


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

Quote:

Ann - there are plenty of seats available and legal in the UK that go past 40lbs... its just that they also tend to be attached to certain car manufacturers and aren't carried by the various shops/retailers because of this. There are also various 'special needs' produced seats that are also sold with higher weights in mind, and most EU manufacturers also sell longer versions of harnesses so that you can continue to use a full harness in a combination stage 1/2/3 seat into weights higher than the 18kg for a stage 1 with harness where the seat would move to being considered a stage 2/3 (in other words a high backed booster) where most would then switch to using the seat as such.
I know that - I have done a few years of looking around and some research (which invovled writing to a lot of car seat manifacturers - finding out that such safer car seats are simply not sold in this country as there is no market for it! - and after a year of writing back and forth to Britax, finally being shown where there were higher weight limit harnessed car seats at a special needs car seat dealer in the UK...etc etc). But I actually have yet to find a harnessed car seat suitable for not just weight but height in a child up to the weight of 80lbs like that there Radian. (I also know about the straps but they don't look as safe an option as the full car seat already made to harness up to 80lbs) ... As it stands, Duncans current car seat is the safest I have seen for miles around! Thats something at least! hehe


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## Eclipsepearl (May 20, 2007)

I wrote Britax France and all I got was a bunch of waxing on about how they're "concerned" about children's safety. For crying out loud, these "concerned" people _never answered my question_. Where are the higher harnessed seats? You make them, you sell them in N.America, _why aren't they here in Europe?!?_

I had the salesgirl in BabyOne in Germany going over her books trying to find ANY of the Britax seats that I had listed and we came up with nada. She wanted to order it for me but it was simply impossible.

It was only Sunshine Kids who explained it. No general sales of higher harnessed seats allowed (exceptions for handicapped children). I really don't buy the fact that the metal bar (which I don't see here in France) is safer than a tether, which attaches the seat to the car. Also, it may be safe but only up to 18 kilos. My kids are large Alsatian children (any British people reading, there is no dog from here lol!) so my oldest went into a booster at 2 1/2. For my next two children, I got on the net and got educated about car safety.

What stopped me from getting a handicapped seat was that we fly a lot (big surprise) and I wanted a seat that I could take on the airplane, both transportable and FAA approved. Not possible here but spoiled for choice in N.America.


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