Baby car Seats have been a requirement in a lot of countries. To be honest, I am not a big fan of these bulky seats at first because they're pricey and oftentimes, babies hated them. I've heard a lot of stories from friends who had theirs bought in Amazon and shipped here to Manila but after just 2-3 uses, their babies hated it and never sat on in again. It was never in our plan to get one and just decided that if really needed it, would just purchase locally.
Fast forward 9 months after our baby was born - he is starting to stand up and even practices this inside a moving vehicle. I clearly remembered the night when we were on our way home from BGC to Quezon City, he was standing and jumping the whole trip! This made me realize that it is not safe and that I needed to buy a car seat.
We weren't supposed to be in a hurry but because we were scheduled for baby's passport application in DFA Pampanga, we were forced to look for a good car seat. I had no idea what brand to look for because honestly, it has never been a priority to me. I saw a post in Instagram of a mom regarding her twins' carseat and she mentioned that she bought it from Youji and me. That was the start of my search and I began to call the store whether they had car seats available.
The very next day, I asked my husband to dropby Greenbelt to check out the Cuddlebug carseat. I tried to check Amazon and the internet for reviews but I wasn't able to find any. While deciding whether we would purchase the said seat, my husband sent me images of other car seats that we available in Youji and Me as well as the ones in Mothercare.
To tell you honestly, I'm one of those moms who has the impression of "The more expensive the item, the better quality/functionality. I know its not always correct but at least I nailed it this time. There were actually two kinds of carseat that was available in Youji and Me, my husband who is the more practical person told me that he preferred the cheaper one. I asked him to send me photos because I wanted to check out the seat he was referring to before making any decisions.
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| There is quite a lot of car seat options in the market today! |
It's more of a booster seat for me and I would conclude that the baby is not very secured simply because it has a lot of open spaces. For me, it's more of a seat for toddlers already. If my memory serves me right, this seat is being sold for less than Php 5,000.00 and can accommodate kids until age 9-11. If you are more on the long-term use, this is the seat for you.
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| Option 1: Cuddlebug Car Seat that is good until age 9 |
The one we purchased on the other hand, is smaller that this one but I would conclude that its more secure because the baby is protected in all angles compared to the semi-booster car seat above. The price is around Php 7,799.75 but for the safety, we were willing to pay for extra.
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| Our Pick: CuddleBug Elite Car Seat |
To date, my son still enjoys sitting on his car seat. I remember we only had a difficult time once when it was his first time to try it but the next incident, he immediately fell asleep. Oh, during our long ride to DFA Pampanga, he was actually asleep the whole time which makes it easier and more convenient for both me and our helper! Another thing is that no matter how short or long the trip is, we make sure that he is always strapped in his seat so that he'd get used to it.
Here are some of the Pros and Cons of the Cuddlebug Car Seat.
Pros:
Compact - It occupies a seat of one adult only unlike the others where it usually takes 1.5 to 2 seats, hence we can accommodate more passengers. We use a Honda CR-V and a Toyota Fortuner and in both, it takes the space of one seat only. The other two passengers who are seated
Reclining - This is especially an advantage for younger babies especially when they are asleep. Although the recline is very minimal, it has a big effect on the sleeping baby.
Cushioned - Not all seats are actually cushioned properly, this however has double cushions and the top ones can be removed once baby gets bigger.
Ease of Transfer from one car to the other - Since we use 2 cars and we wanted him to get used to sitting on the car seat in all trips, we have to transfer it every time we change cars. Its actually not that hard to transfer because it uses the car's seatbelt as a lock. Stable yet easy to install and remove.
Cons:
Front Facing only - I know that for younger babies, it is safer if the seat is rear-facing.
Seat-belt lock position - this may need a few practices before you perfect it. The most hassle part for me is that the lock is located at the middle of the seat so you always have to pull it out before seating the baby.
Actual Locking of the seat belt -Because the lock is wrapped tightly (so as not to hurt the baby), the act of locking the belts is a challenge for first-timers but you'll eventually get used to it after a few tries.
As baby grows older and bigger, you can start removing the padding so that he could still fit in it. My son who is currently a year old and weighs 10kgs can still fit in the seat without removing the padding.
Overall, I would still choose this over the other car seats - my son just loves it. A few minutes after strapping him, he dozes off to dreamland.. =)
Youji and Me is located at:
3rd Level, Greenbelt 5, Mall Space 03-057
Telephone: 756-3838, 756-0767
3rd Level, Trinoma Mall
Telephone: 919-0771, 919-0720
Lanna
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