ksct97

where's the best palce to get furniture and general safety stuff for an inquisitive toddler... basically is there an equivalent to mothercare in canada?

also, are car seats for kids compulsory and where's the best place to get one? Should i get one here and lug it over, or get it in canada?

simonhouse

All of these stores have big toddler/infant sections, with Toys R Us being my personal favourite!

Toys R Us
Sears
The Bay
Zellers
Ikea

iaink

Car seats are compulsory, the cops around here often have random checks to check installation etc, last time 90% were not well installed!

It is mandatory throughout Canada that child car seats meet Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. A European restraint or a restraint bearing a U.S. Statement of Compliance label should not be used in Canada unless the label indicates that it also meets the applicable Canadian safety standards. (This was lifted from the CAA website)

We get nearly all our (new) stuff from Zellers, clothes, safety stuff, car seat etc, just cos we dont like to support the evil WalMart, and Zellers is Canadain owned and cheap. Sears is OK too, but more expensive. For some stuff there are a lot of good second hand stores too, but for safety new is the only way to go.

I am not sure if the modern anchoring systems in Europe are the same as in NAmerica, the most common system in new cars here (apart from using the seatbelt to anchor the seat) is called LATCH or UAS

http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/childsafety/menu.htm
http://www.caa.ca/e/news-issues/chil...ctsheets.shtml

FWIW we got the Cosco Alpha-Omega seat from Zellers for ~$160 (plus taxes of course), and are extremely happy, its convertable from rear to front facing to booster, and it is easily adjustable as the kid grows (no rerouting straps, just slide the bar up to change the shoulder height). Should be the only seat we have to buy, so worth the extra $$ IMO.

Good Luck

Iain

ksct97

Cheers Iain, all that's been really helpful. Wan't sure if they (errr Canada) were more lax with car seats... glad they're not.

BTW, how about taxis? do we need to provide a car seat to use a taxi with our child? are taxis saloon-based cars or are there taxis like the london black cab... where you can stick a stroller-with-your-child in.

iaink

Most taxis here are big saloons, like the Ford Crown Vic, or the old Chev Caprice , Dont know how it works with kid seats though, never tried it.

Iain

simonhouse

On our wedding night, we needed a way to get our daughter home - thinking that the taxi would be fine.

How wrong were we! The poor man in the hotel phoned every taxi company in the city, and none of them had car seats. We were furious, but fortunately, somebody else who brought a kid to the reception managed to ferry us back eventually!

ksct97

so a taxi will not take you if you have a child and no car seat?! is this right?

ClareBC

Buy your car seat here!! The seat belts are different! (unless it is a booster seat, that should be fine)

Taxi with a car seat - I've never come across that in England either!

Have you considered buying from consignment stores? (Nearly new stores) they are all over the place in Vancouver.

Clare

ksct97

Law in UK requires a child/toddler to be properly secured by use of a car seat... although this is blatantly not always done... no spot checks here, but most people seem to grasp the basic concept that a car seat is a good idea!

Taxis should refuse you passage if you have a child and no car seat although we have gotten a taxi and they provided a car seat for us... highly irregular!! Taxis in general do not do this! :lecture:

Thanks for the seatbelt tip... didn't think there would be any difference, how little i knew! was planning to get one once over there, but didn't know the ease or decency of them in Canada... seems to be better than here.

ClareBC

don't know about the "better" bit.

It is one of my rants - some people seem to be completely dim about kids and cars. Eg lots of young children in the front seat of a car (so flaming vulnerable) child and baby seats in the front (and they don't think about the passenger air bags).

My 5 year old went on a fair few school trips this year (which were car convoys not school buses!!) and every note that I sent in when gibving permission said he had to be in his car seat (some parents didn't bother ) and he was not to sit in the front of the car. I am amazed that both needed to be spelled out.


So, rant over.

When you buy a car make sure it has "anchor" points in the back that you can clip the seat into (they have an extra security strap - a good idea really). We bought an 8 year old car, and it didn't have these ppoints (sigh!) and no garage wanted to put them in (fear of ligitation apparently). In the end the garage we bought the car from installed two points, under extreme duress!!!

Clare

dingbat

Canada is not better than the UK with regard to child safety in vehicles (five point harnesses are relatively new here, I had to special order mine when I had my third in 1998) and the carseats are of poor quality compared to the UK. Get a Britax car seat and bring it over - they are the best in the world. You can also buy them here in Toronto. Taxi's will take kids with no car seats, they do not care, it's your responsibility as far as they are concerned. In BC at least, unless it is a small infant carrier, they will often charge you $2 to simply plonk [the equivalent of ] stage 2 seats on the back seat.

ksct97

We're hoping to buy a new (or newish second hand) 4x4 drive car... of european or japanese make. Not overly keen on the north american car! so will base our decison on car seats on the car we buy.

thanks for all the responses!

BTW, on a separate note, are snow chains for cars needed in winter? is it that bad?

iaink

No, not in Ontario anyway. Some folks fit snow tires, most dont. I have a subaru, with decent all season tires, and have never got stuck (Yet). Just remember 4x4 or AWD wont help you stop any faster. It seems to me that only my British aquantainces drive 4x4s, all the canadians drive regular front drive cars.

ksct97

so would you think AWD cars are safer to drive in canada's winter or not overly necessary, unless you really are driving off-road? (which is definitely doubtful for us!).

So if all the locals are driving your standard saloon car... the gritters and snow clearers must be doing a good job, is this correct?

iaink

Snow clearance is nothing short of fantastic, especially after the dismal efforts in the UK, where of course we are not geared up to deal with it. Even in major storms most major routes are OK, some snow on top at first, but that is gone pretty soon after the storm, and progress is Ok if everyone is sensible. Usually by the time I leave work my route home has been cleared, even the back roads. Just my driveway to deal with

If I was born and bred in Canada and spent my whole life driving in these conditions I would probably abandon AWD, especially with all the traction control systems available in new cars today, but i do really like my Subey, even in the dry, so i dont know! Its reasuring to know I have the extra grip in the winter, but you have to remember not to abuse it. Usually the back end will step out of line to remind you

Bare in mind there is a big difference in the way full time AWD and parttime 4x4 works. When I had a 4x4 Jeep I never knew whether to run in 4x4 mode in marginal condition, if the wheels cant slip, you will trash the transmission, so in heavy rain I kept it in 2WD, but this is where the AWD system excels.

Iain