Child Car Seat Regulations in Canada

After my last post, I was surprised by a friend who informed me that my purchase of a car seat in the United States was actually illegal. It seemed smart to purchase a car seat across the border since the price difference is substantial. It had never even occurred to me that I should do a little more reading before heading cross border to purchase a car seat since they carry the same brands, and even almost identical models.

After receiving this information, I began to do some research. It was not long before I found the information that I needed. Here's a link to the most relevant notice regarding this issue:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safedrivers-childsafety-notices-2007c09-menu-353.htm

I found the repercussions for purchasing a car seat out of Canada quite shocking. If you do not feel like reading the notice, this includes:

•Confiscation of the seat at the border or after it has entered Canada;
•Fines and/or demerit point penalties;
•Reduced or voided insurance coverage for injury or death; and
•Possible criminal charges and/or civil litigation.

I think the most troubling part of all, is thinking of all the oblivious people (like I once was) that have absolutely no idea that there is an issue with obtaining a car seat out of Canada. There is already so much to learn when becoming a parent that you are constantly overwhelmed...how are you ever able to be completely informed?

So the inevitable next question after finding out this information was what to do next? Thankfully, we had purchased the car seat at a Babies R Us, so we had a couple of options. We could either head back over the border and get a refund, or return it to a Babies R Us in Vancouver and get a store credit. We decided on the latter since we did not want to waste the money on gas to return the car seat.
The most ironic part of all of this, is that we then used the store credit towards basically the identical car seat, but the Canadian version which has the crucial National Safety Mark sticker. For this all-important sticker, we had to fork out basically another hundred dollars. Also note that both car seats are made in the United States!

Britax Boulevard bought in the United States:


Britax Boulevard bought in Canada:


I guess I should be thankful that I was informed about this before it was too late for us to return the car seat from Portland.

Roadtrip to Portland, Oregon

Me and hubby generally head down to Portland at least once a year to do a little shopping and to get away. Finances unfortunately have not really allowed us to venture away too far. Nevertheless, we try to make the best of it! Shopping in Portland allows us to maximize our dollars since there is no tax and we are able to shop at outlets. This year was a little different though since we have our new little addition. Hubby's parents came along, which was fine with me since they definitely helped to give me and hubby a little more freedom. The purpose of the trip has shifted though...it definitely was all about the baby! I would like to call this trip "Spoiling Jory 2011".

Something that I was surprised about when heading down to Portland, was their use of this sling contraption for baby car seats. There were many versions of the "sling" but the general concept is that a car seat can be placed on top, and it would be secured in the same fashion as how the base of a car seat would secure the actual seat in the car. I found a photo of one of these slings. I thought this version was best since it is also a high chair but the seat flips down to allow it to become a car seat holder. Now the real question is...why don't they have these in Canada?

Unsurprisingly, we also had some fun at Carter's (both me and Grandma). I guess we just couldn't resist. We may have gone a bit overboard! For a little under $100, this is what we ended up getting (top picture is the items that fit baby right now and the bottom picture is for future wear):



We also purchased many other little things for baby which I will not bore you with the details but a big purchase we made was a new car seat for Jory since he is quickly outgrowing his infant car seat. We ended up getting a Britax Boulevard Convertible car seat for $260US. I saw the same one at Babies R Us in Vancouver and it was priced at $340. After tax, I believe we probably saved pretty close to $100 so I'm pretty happy with the purchase.

All in all, it was a tiring but fun trip for the family!