Sunday the 15th of April 2012 I awoke thinking the biggest contraception to disabled parents is the newborn car seat saga, the difficulties of people with poor reach, or poor dexterity has a huge social impact on both parent and child as frankly there are no accessible seats on the market at time of writing for new born babies. By nine months we can all use the fantastic Maxi Cosi Axiss (see previous blogs) and this seat has changed my life since having my son, but could I really say to new disabled parents, that the first eight months of your child's life are likely to involve you and baby in lock down at home?
Why should I say this to new parents, I want to promote the concept that there are solutions to all aspects of life that do not require an entourage of carers or NHS aids.
Last year I maxed out on research desperately trying to find a seat I could take my new son out in on my own. I went to the Baby show and tried every seat on each stall. I brought the Maxi Cosi Pebble from one of the patient reps,the pebble was the best out of the 100 I tried. But even this was a ridiculous design with a roll bar that goes across the seat with buttons to press either side of the chair to fold the bar back down which one has to do to get baby out. My mother with patience,quiet middle class lady, always keeping impressions impeccable, tried to put my son in the seat after our visit and she nearly chucked the thing in the bin. My retired father came out despairing at yet another baby equipment item needing his attention to adapt which he refused to do for safety reasons. All done rather publicly and embarrassingly. I decided I just couldn't use any new born seat easily and for 8 months I spent a lonely time with my little boy. I must have spent in total £1000 just trying to find something to no avail.
I keep abreast of latest developments and Sundays huffing and puffing led me to yet more research on the matter. I bring good news indeed. It would appear someone has had a brain waive!
The Carkoon is the new car seat on the block. It is not yet in the shops as the seat is still being tested in labs. It is sounding good on paper.
The seat boasts amazing life saving kit. After having been in a crash with a lorry at 12 weeks pregnant I know how scared I was at the prospect of loosing my son then, I always pay the most for the safest seat now as I have no desire to appreciate safety when it is all too late!
The Carkoon has a shield, like an air bag that doesn't go near the babies face, instead it goes over the front of the seat making the child cocooned safely. The shield not only fends of flying debris in a crash but is also fire proof for up to twenty minuets adding further protection to the child. There is a chip installed that activates when the shield is deployed and will call the emergency services giving them a GPS reading of your cars whereabouts.
That sounds all great but past experience is any massively safe seat always comes with no accessibility. I was excited to read that this is not the case!!!
The Carkoon swivels on its base to face the car door allowing easy access to baby, just like the Maxi Axiss but with the added safety of being on an Isofix base.
I am yet to see this new seat in action and the bar looming over the seat slightly concerns me as this looks similar in picture to the Pebble bar system. Only time will tell how accessible it is when I have had a play.My son has become a seat connoisseur as we have worked our way through A LOT!
I am hopeful that isolation for new parents and their new baby will become a thing of the past as finally designers are understanding what makes a good car seat to all parents.
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