Baby on the way - Window tints?

Relentless81

Relentless81

Relentless81

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18 May 2010
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Hi,

I'm trying to factor everything in for when baby arrives. I noticed a lot of people fit blinds and Honda do OEM blinds for my car but is tinting a better/worse option for UV light?

Thanks
 
No idea what's better or worse but I bought some tailor made shades from http://www.privacy-shades.co.uk

The side windows clip on and are great, nice fit. I had a bit of an issue with one of the rears popping off its sticky pad, was planning on asking the seller for a couple of extras to take the weight off.
 
I would go with tints
Have had them on every car I own. Its not too expensive and saves the hassle of clippy sticky suctiony pad blinds. Just don't go full gangsta and black out the back.
 
We have shades in our meriva - got genuine GM ones cheap from ebay. easily fitted, easily removed. Did consider tints but was quite a bit more expensive for a quality fit, and you can only remove them once.
 
Thanks, I've been looking and there are quite a few options for my car, the mesh ones above look ok and there is Solarplexius too

Only thing about stick on ones is you cant open the windows

I read there is a local guy that does tints for £75 so might go with that
 
I bought OEM Audi rear blinds. Hideously expensive for what they are, but they fit perfectly, cover the whole window and are extremely easy to remove. They also allow you to open the window, unlike the crappy suction blinds most people tend to use.

Rear tints are an acquired taste and will probably be much more expensive, especially for 5 windows as I had. (Rear, rear quarters and the boot).

NfE9JCx.jpg
 
SDK^ said:
Tints help but the sun can still be strong - Go for both tints and blinds.
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How often will the sun be shining in the baby's face though?

We had a lie-flat Britax-Römer Safe Sleeper for the first 4 months until he grew out of it, and now we use a Maxi Cosi, which is rear-facing.

And it's not like we live in the Sahara either. If they're good quality blinds, I think they're enough. Horses for courses, etc.
 
mjt said:
I bought OEM Audi rear blinds. Hideously expensive for what they are, but they fit perfectly, cover the whole window and are extremely easy to remove. They also allow you to open the window, unlike the crappy suction blinds most people tend to use.

Rear tints are an acquired taste and will probably be much more expensive, especially for 5 windows as I had. (Rear, rear quarters and the boot).

Snip[/QUOTE]

Interesting, the Honda ones are £120 and look very similar, I wonder if you can open the windows too.

Do they keep the sun out enough for a young child do you think?
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Relentless81 said:
Interesting, the Honda ones are £120 and look very similar, I wonder if you can open the windows too.

Do they keep the sun out enough for a young child do you think?
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IMHO, yes. But I'm not a doctor.

You live in the UK, so the sunlight isn't particularly strong and it's usually raining anyway :p
Will you doing long journeys in the car over the next few months? If you are, then you should invest in a lie-flat car seat until the baby can support the weight of their own head, upon which time you move to a maxi-cosi car seat jobby.
 
I bought shades from http://www.carshades.co.uk/
They are perfect fit for the rear side windows, the boot, and the small windows between the rear door and boot. Although on a Mondeo. The windows can be opened with the blinds in place, very easy to fit.

I prefer the look of tints, however the shades are better, and even with tints the sun will still be a bright blog through them which you still shouldnt be looking at.
 
This won't do I'm afraid. Everyone knows that as soon as you have kids you need a 7 seater with a box on the roof.







//seriously though, congrats on the addition to the family :)
 
Thanks, I've already bought a sensible 5 door Civic in preparation for the baby so need for a 7 seater, the Civic has amazing amounts of room for a car its size

MJT we bought a Britax Dualfix, lasts until they are 4 years old apparently, got a good deal on it in the post Christmas sales and you're right about the weather I'm overthinking as usual. I'll weigh up tints vs the OEM blinds, great thing about blinds is I can sell them on once I'm done with the car :)
 
mjt said:
How often will the sun be shining in the baby's face though?

We had a lie-flat Britax-Römer Safe Sleeper for the first 4 months until he grew out of it, and now we use a Maxi Cosi, which is rear-facing.
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Wait until you change up from the rear facing fully covered seats. Then your child will be complaining every time you turn into the sun :p
 
Relentless81 said:
Thanks, I've already bought a sensible 5 door Civic in preparation for the baby so need for a 7 seater, the Civic has amazing amounts of room for a car its size

MJT we bought a Britax Dualfix, lasts until they are 4 years old apparently, got a good deal on it in the post Christmas sales and you're right about the weather I'm overthinking as usual. I'll weigh up tints vs the OEM blinds, great thing about blinds is I can sell them on once I'm done with the car :)
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The only problem with those is that a newborn cannot support the weight of its own head, so for long car journeys (more than 20 minutes), they should be lying flat (these cots take up 2 rear seats). I've only ever seen one other person using one, but my GF was adamant that we use it. We also did do a lot of long (4-5 hour) journeys. Just my 2p :)


SDK^ said:
Wait until you your child can speak. Then your child will be complaining about everything :p
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Fixed :p
 
uchuff said:
No idea what's better or worse but I bought some tailor made shades from http://www.privacy-shades.co.uk

The side windows clip on and are great, nice fit. I had a bit of an issue with one of the rears popping off its sticky pad, was planning on asking the seller for a couple of extras to take the weight off.
Click to expand...

I have tinted windows and these shades from Privaxy Shades. Tints are fine except for when the sun is beaming directly into the window. The shades are much better for this. Highly recommended.

Also, with regard to car seats, please read this:
http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/facts.php
Don't listen to the idiots at Halfords, Mothercare, Kiddicare, etc.
 
I got fairly dark uv protection window tints when we had our baby. They are so good that I'd always do the same so any car I ever own now. They really do negate the need for any crappy blinds in my experience, and also generally keep the car temperature so much more stable in the summer when you leave it parked.

One of those things for me that I will mentally add to the cost of any vehicle at time of purchase, and take the car almost straight there before we really use it.
 
Just wanted to add that the ones I bought have small clips that fit into the rubber and the blinds then clip on, Windows can be opened etc. The instructions for a given model can be downloaded from their site as it likely varies by model.
 
I went for the easy option in the back of my car, sunglasses :). That's mainly due due blind not fitting my car due to window shape however I would have gone for blinds if one fit.
 
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