# Maxi Cosi Pearl and US safety standards?



## MuslimMama (Jul 9, 2008)

I am IN LOVE with the Maxi Cosi Pearl car seat. It is a European car seat that is not available in the US. It seems it meets all the European safety requirements, but does anyone know if it meets the US requirements? And if not, is it not allowed to use here?


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

It has not been certified by NHTSA and therefore it is not legal to use in the US.


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## WindyCityMom (Aug 17, 2009)

I was going to say what the PP said, but I'd also like to add that it's a really small looking seat.. it looks smaller than our Maxi Cosi Priori (a US seat). My DD outgrew the Priori at around 15ish mos rear facing, and we had to get a new seat. I got the Priori because it was cute and funky- but if I had to do it over again, I'd have gotten a seat to meet our needs. She's still rear facing at 28 months in her Safety 1st Complete Air







A perfect fit for her.


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## Eclipsepearl (May 20, 2007)

In Europe, babies are routinely turned forward facing at 9 months. Most of the seats here do NOT have tethers and are quickly outgrown because of the low shoulder slots.

There's no chest clip so if you're stopped by the police, it's obviously a foreign seat.

With so much better choice in the U.S., it just doesn't make sense!


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## Adventuredad (Apr 23, 2008)

Choices for safety is superior in Europe due to the higher seat shells and rear facing weight of 55 lbs. Using a high weight weight rear facing Swedish seats in US provide a safety advantage, using a forward facing European seat doesn't improve safety. Likewise, using any US car seat in Europe is not an attractive option since it doesn't improve safety.

Choices of forward facing seats in US might be better but it's not something to be proud of since it's confusing for parents and also remove focus from rear facing seats.

Babies in Europe are turned forward at 9 months in quite a few countries. Habits gets worse the further south in Europe we look. Swedes keep kids rear facing until age 4 or longer while people in Italy and Greece barely use car seats at all. Car seat usage overall is similar to US where many kids are unrestrained and most parents turn their kids forward facing at 12 month due to the terrible information provided.


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## Eclipsepearl (May 20, 2007)

Too true! At least in N.America, they sell seats that rf to 40lbs/18 kilos.

They don't even sell convertible seats that face backwards here. Once your child outgrows the infant seat, they have to ff. No options! Then at around age 3, they outgrow those and are placed in boosters...

Can that seat even rf? One friend bought a Maxi Cosi convertible with the promise that it could rf, only to get it home and it was basically impossible to install it that way. The seat was simply to wide to get the belt around the way the manual said to.


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## catters (Nov 20, 2007)

My almost three year old FF in a Maxi Cosi Priori, but he RF no problem in it until he was over 18 months. He's on the tall side too, and I think he still has room in it for a probably another year unless he hits a huge growth spurt. Of course, his seat was purchased in the US. DD is in a Mico right now, but we'll move her into her RF Priori in a month or so. Both my children are very slim, but tall.
I'm not loving the way that Pearl looks... Lack of chest clip, kind of freaks me out. If you like that the Pearl reclines, etc, the Prior does as well, so maybe look at that one if that is an attractive feature to you. We're happy with ours.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

In the US, Maxi Cosi is made by Dorel, with Dorel parts. They are completely different from the EU Maxi Cosi seats (which are fabulous).

Chest clips are a US thing







They exsist because the vast majority of parents don't tighten the straps properly, and the chest clip theoretically ensures that the straps are routed properly over the child's shoulders. The problem is that most parents who have very loose straps will also have the chest clip positioned way too low, which puts the child in danger not only of being ejected but also is dangerous because a "belly clip" can cause serious abdominal trauma. In EU, the straps are thicker, with a grippy layer that keeps the straps positioned.


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## catters (Nov 20, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *an_aurora* 
In the US, Maxi Cosi is made by Dorel, with Dorel parts. They are completely different from the EU Maxi Cosi seats (which are fabulous).

Chest clips are a US thing







They exsist because the vast majority of parents don't tighten the straps properly, and the chest clip theoretically ensures that the straps are routed properly over the child's shoulders. The problem is that most parents who have very loose straps will also have the chest clip positioned way too low, which puts the child in danger not only of being ejected but also is dangerous because a "belly clip" can cause serious abdominal trauma. In EU, the straps are thicker, with a grippy layer that keeps the straps positioned.

So are the US maxi cosi NOT fabulous for some reason? Who makes Maxi Cosi EU, then? Dorel appears to make a LOT of children's products, including various car seats. Is there some quietly hidden reason why they are no good that you know about?


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

The Maxi Cosi Priori is a fine seat as far as it goes, but it has a fairly short shell and straps, and will not get most children to a safe booster age/size (a forward-facing seat is outgrown by height when shoulders are above the top strap slots). For lots of parents, that makes it less than fabulous, especially for the price.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

The US Priori is okay, but it's certainly nothing like their EU counterparts. The style is completely different (the US Priori has a very short shell, is very narrow, can be hard to install, and it hard to change the strap settings). It's basically a Scenera with a $200 price tag.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *catters* 
So are the US maxi cosi NOT fabulous for some reason? Who makes Maxi Cosi EU, then? Dorel appears to make a LOT of children's products, including various car seats. Is there some quietly hidden reason why they are no good that you know about?









Dorel has been the subject of some lawsuits as I understand it. They tend to not recall seats until children have died, even when they are aware that there are problems. They also had an infant seat with serious problems a few years back as I recall.

-Angela


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## Adventuredad (Apr 23, 2008)

Maxi Cosi is well know for great quality, design and safety. They have some fine people designing their seats, it's well done both for looks and safety. Dorel seem to be trying their very best to provide customer service which is soime of the worst I have seen. I've received emails from parents with statements by Dorel that are out of this world....

Maxi Cosi is left alone by Dorel in Europe to work by themselves. This is probably a good thing. When looking closely at their European seats it's clear that they come up with some nice technical solutions and clever design IMHO.


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