Seat Snug Review

Definitely looks like something we could use! Thanks for the review!

Hi Tiffany,

I just wanted to let you know that this is an aftermarket product, not covered by FMVSS 213 OR approved by NHTSA. If you came to a car seat check station, we would make you take it off.

If a child can’t sit maturely in a booster (keeps loosening it up) the answer isn’t a potentially deadly aftermarket product. The answer is a harnessed seat.

To that end, the absolute bare minimum for ANY booster use is four years AND forty pounds. Very few four year olds, even heavier ones, sit safely in boosters. Putting a three year old in a booster could end in tragedy.

I would recommend considered higher harnessing weight harnessed seats for both your children, and would definitely recommend that you dispose of the seat snug.

I hope this is helpful to you.

~J, Child Passenger Safety Technician, T626187

This is a very dangerous product.
Like the other poster said…if you’re children are too young and small to sit properly in a booster seat then they need a harnessed seat.
Check out the Graco Nautilus seat. It harnesses to 65 lbs (with high top harness slots) and then turns into a booster..first a high back booster and then it turns into a no back booster.
Here’s a link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011URFRE

Good luck! And for the sake of your kids safety..please put them back into a 5 point harness to keep them safe until they are mature and big enough to sit in a booster seat. Their safety is far more important then you own convenience, isn’t it?

I’m a pretty regular reader of your blog and was very surprised and disappointed by your most recent post. For all your regular concern about the safety of your family, I was shocked to hear that you do not pay more attention to their safety while in the car. Like the other posters, I STRONGLY urge you to research carseats and use an appropriate model for their size and age. Your children’s lives depend on it.

Thanks for your concern folks but after market does not automatically equal dangerous. With all the testing they do to try and find ways to make things safer for people who can’t afford the top of the line car seats I think they deserve some respect. I find most of these comments to be pretty insulting. Are parents who cannot afford $150-300 for the snazzy toddler size harness seats bad parents? If they can only swing a $50 booster seat after their kids outgrows the regular seat, are they unfit to parent?

I think it is kind of outrageous that parents can cast stones about this issue when for many it is beyond their control. If I were to purchase two of the seats recommended above for a total of $300 (and that is low end) they would take up the whole back seat leaving no room for my oldest child. They are expensive and they are BIG seats. I have a small car….wait…let me guess…I need to upgrade to a mini van too right? So I can say I am a “good” parent.

Tiffany,

I am truly sorry you were offended. If you look back at what I said, I definitely did not cast aspersions at your parenting. A LOT of parents are fooled by these dangerous products.

And in fact, this product is dangerous. Not only has it NEVER been tested per NHTSA, it interferes with the operation of the seat belt itself. I am not kidding when I say it could do any number of things, up to and including killing the child it was supposed to protect.

There are lots of options for parents on a budget. The Nautilus is not your only solution. If your oldest is at least 4 and 40 and can sit maturely in a booster 100% of the time, a high back booster while not ideal is acceptable.

As for the three year old, a booster is simply not an option. Please visit http://www.kyledavidmiller.org for more information on what could happen to you.

If you can’t afford a 150 dollar Nautilus, consider the Apex, which you can usually find for hovering around 100. There is also a Ride Safer Travel Vest for the same price, which, while not as good as a proper car seat, is 10x better than a booster.

I am not in the least suggesting you get a minivan. You do not need a big car to install any of these seats. In my last seat check, I put a Graco Nautilus and a rear facing Britax Marathon in a 2 door car. They fit perfectly.

I devote my time (entirely volunteer) to making sure kids are safe in cars. I don’t make a penny of money doing it. I don’t benefit in any way from telling you that this product is dangerous and that a booster is not remotely appropriate for a three year old, any more than a forward facing car seat is appropriate for a newborn.

Please, take the comments in the spirit they are intended, which is to keep your children safe.

Happy holidays,

~J, CPST T626187

PS, If you want to email me privately, I can maybe help you figure out the financial aspect of it, and good options for both your kids. Good luck!

~J

Tiffany said, “I think it is kind of outrageous that parents can cast stones about this issue when for many it is beyond their control.” Wow! For all the know-it-all judgement you dole out to all your readers, you are completely unwilling to take a bit of your own medicine – even when it’s based firmly in fact. Keeping your kids safe in the car is something you should be extremely concerned about and it has NOTHING to do with money or respect! You are taking the easy way out with regard to this issue and playing a victim. This is completely within your control. Your blog indicated, “I usually just buy a moderately priced seat by a fairly well known company and I hope for the best. I don’t read consumer reports constantly and compare seats and probably another failing of mine is that I like to get them out of the bulky 5 point harness seats as soon as their height/weight allows for it.” Seriously!? Hope for the best!? “I’m just going to eat meat and processed food and hope for the best. I’m just going to use regular sunscreen and hope for the best.” You would be EXTREMELY critical of anyone who said those things, but your readers can’t question your carseat choices? From my perspective, you are being totally hypocritical. You absolutely have the ability to spend an hour or two researching carseats and to purchase one that is within your budget and is safe for your children. If you can’t handle constructive feedback, close your comments.

Did I miss something? Where did you say anything about a three year old? Or does everyone else just happen to know you have a three year old?
I did do a ton of research before making our shift to a front facing seat for my kid and yes I did it as soon as he met the minimum requirements, but I couldn’t afford the top of the line so I got the best I could afford. We got a cheaper one (stilll safe, just not as comfy) for my husband’s car b/c he doesn’t ride in it as often. I too want to get him out of the HUGE seat as soon as possible.

Are all of these people actually going to keep the kid in a booster seat till they are 100lbs and whatever height, too? If my parents did that I would’ve been in a booster well into high school and driving.

Hi Maxine,

Yes Tiffany did mention a three year old in her post :)

I know you said you did a lot of research. I’m sure you found that forward facing at one year old is not recommended and can be extremely dangerous. Fortunately, there are convertibles for under 50 dollars that will keep children rear facing for long past their first birthdays!

Boosters are necessary for children who don’t fit the seatbelt properly. On average, a child will fit a seatbelt properly at 4’9″, which usually happens between 8 and 10 years of age, sometimes older if the child is particularly small. The weight is not as much an issue as height and seatbelt fit.

You want your child to be 4’9″ and pass the five step test before you ‘graduate’ from a booster.

http://www.carseat.org/Boosters/630.pdf

This is a link showing when your child is ready to not use a booster any longer.

Those huge seats you are concerned about can mean the difference between life and death or serious, serious life altering injuries to a child :)

Hope this is helpful to you!

~Joanna
Child Passenger Safety Technician T626187

Kerri,

You your comment was hardly constructive. You only posted to tell me how dissapointed you were in me that I am not up to YOUR standards in this area. Those are the type of comments best left unsaid. I surely don’t recall berating other parents for not using the same sunscreen I do or for letting their kids eat processed foods. That would be outrageous as my own kids ate processed foods for many years..as did I. We eat meat too. And I don’t question other people’s choices…I just share what I have learned over the years and what I am still learning. I don’t attack parents who aren’t feeding their kids organic because some people can’t afford it….that is life. Some people won’t be able to afford the top of line car seats…especially when boosters are available for older kids. That is life too. If you think I am a know-it-all…well let me show you the virtual door…no one is forcing you to read.

I have two kids who are in one. One is in a regulation seat he is about to grow out of and my daughter is in a booster with a high back. My son is young but he is also over the standard weight for his current seat…he is also very tall. As it is now there is barely enough room in our back seat for our other child so I do have to be mindful of size even if you think that is ridiculous and I do have to be mindful of budget…even if you think that is ridiculous too.

Regardless I have no issue with the comments that truly were constructive or desirous of being helpful like Joanna’s. Even if we disagree I still respect the way she approached it.

Updated this post:

Edited to remove the editorial portion since I was getting nasty comments. ;) As a disclaimer this is an after market product. I can only share what I thought of it. If you want car seat safety advice please visit someone more knowledgeable than I. Thank you!

Hey Tiffany,

It’s tragic that kids die in car crashes, but the data doesn’t always neatly point to booster seats saving lives. Unfortunately parents get hysterical about this topic.

Steven Levitt, the guy who wrote Freakonomics tried to make this point here in a video on Ted:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/steven_levitt_on_child_carseats.html

They sent me this product too and I hadn’t gotten around to trying it yet. Probably won’t after reading this post. LOL!

Joanna,
Although I planed on keeping my son 5point harnessed, and rear facing for as long as possible in his Britax Boulevard Click Safe, I wasn’t tethering his car seat in. I was only using the seat belt (because my husband does it, and he does what he wants). I want to thank you for shaing that website about Kyle. I cried so hard while holding my 6 month old tightly in my arms. I am going to make my husband teather his seat in tomorrow. And when my son is 65lb (the limit for the Boulevard) I am going to get him the Regent so he can be 5 point harnessed until 80lb. Thank you so much for sharing that website. Joanna, can I have your e-mail address in case I have any questions in the future about his car seat?

Tiffany,
I’m just here to offer my support. I love your blog and I know you do everything in your childrens’ best interest. I have never seen you write anything that comes across as judgemental toward others. I, too, am often misunderstood as being judgemental simply because I share my opinions and facts to try to educate others about being green. I feel your pain and hope that everyone who reads your blog from here on out will read with an open mind and not, themselves, be judgemental. Blog on, Sista!

This probably isn’t the “safest” of all advice but when my oldest’s car seat expired I got one off of freecycle. The donator assured me that it had not been any sort of collision. It has bought us a few years since my 5 year old doesn’t look like he is going to top 30 lbs any time soon.

Wow….seems like people are more interested in spouting comments than actually trying to see if this is a good product or bad. While I appreciate the respful reply of Joanna…Im just curious asa to why everyone is looking to her as the expert. She might be…but who really knows on the internet.

So my first point is for all to stop being lemmings and do your own research…and no, reading blogs does not count. Go to the experts…several sites have been mentioned in the above posts by respondents.

Second. when I check on the Seat Snug website (part of doing my own research)….under their safety section it shows that Seat Snug meets National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 213. I believe Joanna above stated that it didnt. So the first quesiton I am asking as a “begining to be educated parent”, who do we believe – Joanna and her info or the Seat Sung website? More importantly, is there a way to check with the NHSTA if in fact Seat Snug was tested and approved?

Third, does the NHSTA the testing or do they simply rely on the manufacturer to do the testing?

I appreciate the passion of the respondents but frankly, I dont care about the opinions or slings and arrows….I just want to know Seat Snug it is NHSTA reg 213 approved or not approved….

And for the record….
Respondents – stop hammering TIffany. Shes is not an expert…merely a mother…right or wrong…offering her opinion. If you do not like her opinion…stop reading and move on. If you are looking for expert advice…go to the experts and hammer them if they are wrong. If you feel she is giving bad info, then respectfully correct her like Joanna….repeatedly if necessary.

Tiffany – unfortunatley, you started the blog. A blog is a place for you to share your opinion and if you allow comments…a place for respondents to share theirs. So, as they say, it is what it is , and as such…while some folks will just say stupid things and hammer you…you have to deal with the replies. If you dont want people to say negative things about your blogs…then get off this stage. America is a wonderful place where people get to share points and counterpoints. Understand people may not agree with you and may respond in negative ways…just the nature of the beast.