[blparent] Car Seats for Kids Whose Parents Don't Drive?

Sun Sep 6 02:31:24 UTC 2015

We bought the Cybex Aton 2 for our son for some of the same reasons others have listed. We haven't gotten to use it yet, but I love that it is so lightweight and the extra safety features it has. Only a few American car seats have the European belt path. There is also the Nuna Pipa and the Urbini Petal. Graco used to have one but I believe they discontinued it. After looking at all of them, we thought the Cybex Aton was the best. I will say that the Urbini Petal is a less expensive option and is available at Walmart. 

Kristi

Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 5, 2015, at 8:59 PM, Nathanael T. Wales via blparent <blparent at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> All,
> 
> I thought to jump in here and especially recommend Corbb and Briley's
> recommendation of the Cybex Aton 2.  There are a couple of other advantages
> that may also make it well worth the investment--especially if you may be
> getting it off a registry.
> 
> By way of introduction, my wife and I are both blind and are the proud
> parents of a boy who just turned 7 months.  (Those of you who attend NFB
> meetings where the presidential release is played may have heard Mark
> Riccobono's congratulating us a few months ago.)  A few different years I
> attended with other friends planning to be parents one day the meetings that
> Debbie Kent Stein hosts at National Convention, the most recent being last
> year when unbeknownst to me I already was a father.  Why neither I nor the
> whole family was at National Convention this year is a longer, more
> interesting, and challenging story.  I've enjoyed reading this list over the
> years, gotten many ideas that I've found helpful, and been very glad for the
> supporting community.  I suppose I'm one of those people who rarely posts to
> a listserve or speaks up in a large group conversation unless I'm absolutely
> sure I'd have something useful to say which is why it's taken me so long to
> post anything, and I hate rehashing the same old questions.  And I suppose I
> have the fear that I must have everything together and close to perfect
> before stepping out; perhaps I need to work to get over that.
> 
> Anyway, my wife and I use and especially love the Cybex Aton 2.  She gets
> all the credit for finding it.  It is indeed light and safer than most other
> car seats that don't also have the European routing clip for a shoulder
> harness.  It makes for a particularly easy, tight fit without having to
> perform any gymnastics in the backseat of a taxi or Uber.  Finding a design
> like this in the United States, we found, is fairly difficult since so many
> Americans are used to car seats with bases, you know, to go in the car they
> always drive, and many can't fathom a car seat nowadays that doesn't have
> one; you can get Ubers in New York City with car seats in them before people
> will think of having their own car seat that doesn't require a base that
> works extremely well!  The Cybex Aton 2 is also designed for up to 35 lbs.
> and remains rear-facing.  Europe--and I saw recently New Jersey--require
> children to remain rear-facing much longer than most of the United States,
> and that is much safer.  So this will last you a good couple of years.
> 
> Very best,
> Nathanael
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Corbb
> O'Connor via blparent
> Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2015 11:50 PM
> To: Blind Parents Mailing List
> Cc: Corbb O'Connor
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Car Seats for Kids Whose Parents Don't Drive?
> 
> Allison,
> 
> Please pardon my brevity…I am in the midst of preparing for an exam in the
> morning but saw your e-mail and wanted to reply while I was thinking about
> it!
> 
> My wife and I don’t have a car of our own, but we use the Cybex Aton 2 car
> seat. There are lots of colors available and we bought ours on Amazon. Here
> is the cheapest (currently $250)
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H6CKG1S/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_Tkr6vb1VAKB76
> 
> We love it for many reasons, but chief among them is that it’s only 7 pounds
> (without the base). Because the car seat uses the European belt path (using
> both the lap and shoulder restraint), it fits very snugly even without the
> base. Even better, my wife and I can comfortably both sit in the back seat
> of a sedan with baby between us in the middle seat. (Beware that some, older
> cars, the middle seat belt is shorter than the two sides and sometimes it
> doesn’t fit there…but that’s been the minority of instances.)
> 
> We keep the base here at home and if we’ll be using the same car repeatedly
> (e.g. when a friend or family member comes to visit or in our driver’s car),
> then we’ll install the base to make it faster to click the baby in and out
> of the seat.
> 
> The only downside (other than the price) to this car seat is that the
> stroller options with which it is compatible are limited. We use the Cybex
> Onyx, but we got the last unit left in North America. (Even then we had to
> import it from Canada!) There may be other compatible models by now, though;
> just search for “cybex aton adapter” and you’ll find a few.
> 
> As far as buses and light rail, we’ve used a few trains with baby
> and—honestly—you’ll worry less about safety than you will be ecstatic that
> you don’t have to strap baby into a carseat! However, remember that if you
> are out and want to come home via Uber, Lyft or Sidecar, legally you do need
> to be using a carseat (though some drivers are more flexible than others…but
> honestly the safety factor is pretty real).
> 
> I hope this helps!
> Corbb & Briley O’Connor
> 
> 
> On Sep 3, 2015, at 11:27 PM, Allison via blparent <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> 
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> My apologies because I suspect this topic has been brought up before.
> 
> My fiancé and I are both blind and expecting a baby girl in January. We went
> baby registry shopping the other day, and got to feel exactly what today's
> car seats look like.  Now I get what people mean when they talk about
> installing a car seat base. I guess that sighted people leave the base
> installed in their car and then move the car seat in and out as needed.
> However, what do people do who don't own their own car and use various other
> forms of transit? Since fiancé and I are both blind, we ride in a variety of
> cars in any given week. We use Uber, cabs, paratransit, or friend/family
> cars. I do have blind friends who have showed me their car seats, but all
> these blind parent friends have sighted partners with their own cars. So I
> was hoping to hear from other blind parents who don't have access to their
> own cars. What is the car seat situation like for you? Do you carry car seat
> and base around with you everywhere you go?  Do you have a specific brand or
> style of car seat that you think is especially portable? When your kids get
> older and the car seats get bigger, how do you travel with all that
> equipment? Do you have any other tips for car seat shopping and baby travel
> planning?
> 
> Also, I've heard that people are allowed to travel on buses and light rails
> without car seats. Has anyone done this and does it feel safe?
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> Allison
> 
> 
> 
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