With the hopeful arrival of our first child(even at my age) in a couple of months,Could any of you guys and galls recommend any particular make/type of car seat.
I expect we shall initially go for a seat mounted in the rear as both of our cars have multi air bags up front.Any info gratefully received.
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What cars is the seat going to be fitted in?
Does either or both of these cars have the ISO FIX child seat system built in?
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Mine mazda 6,SWMBO is presently polo but soon to be mazda 3.All have isofix systems.
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Go to any half decent kids store - aka Mothercare or Toys R Us (Babies R Us) and try the lot out - take both cars and see what prams/ travel systems / seats fit best.
They will all happily help you !
The travel systems are all very good. Try to avoid ISO Fix systems as they aren't any good in cars which don't have it - i.e. sister in laws, nanna and grandad, as they all want to transport your baby if you are lucky - even on the rare occasion you get a baby-sitter.
My car is ISO-Fix but we went for a universal fitting that fitted most cars - hence my sister/wife's sister and the 'nannas' could take them out ! Not that it was a common, but handy none the less in the rare occasion !
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I too would recommend a non-ISO-Fix car seat, unless you are never going to need to put them in a car that doesn't have the mounting points. Personally I would not buy anything other than Britax now having seen how well all 3 products from this company protected my children in our accident last year. And no I am not linked to Britax in anyway before you ask! DB.
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My Britax isofix one can be fitted in non isofix cars. Great and easy to transfer between isofix cars however - feels safer using isofix than the seat belt type fittings. I'm sure it's not safer, but the fit to the car is more reassurring.
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Just look on the EuroNcap site when they do a crash test with the ISO fix system & compare it against a standard child seat.
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Thanks for the info so far.Britax certainly seems to be worth looking at.
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Maxi Cosi for us because the baby seat fits into our Quinny pushchair chassis (and Buggaboo if you want style over function). Our daughter is nine months old and still uses it. It's now available with an Isofix base if required, but we have only ever used the seatbelt method. Check your seat belts though - on holiday in Tenerife a Mercedes rear seat belt was only just long enough.
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turbo11
I have both types of car seat, non isofix and an isofix, would have had both as isofix but the isofix at present only go upto 18Kgs (4yr old and 1yr old hence the different weight requirements), apparently they will soon have ones that go beyond 18kg. You can get them as isofix for the higher weights but I prefer to stick with britax.
My advice, get isofix, so much easier and they will fit non isofix cars if needed. I am even considering changing my non isofix (which I have recently bought ) for an isofix, once the weight options are available from Britax as it is so much easier than wrestling with non isofix.
In your case though, all the options mentioned so far are not valid until the baby is around 9Kg as it will be too small to fit one of these types of seats ? As a new born they will use they type of carrier that is secured by 'wrapping' the seat belt around it ?.
I you live near it then Milton Keynes in car safety center is the place to go, you will pay slightly more than say the web, but they know what they are doing and will not sell you it if it is not appropiate for you car.
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Hi,
We have just gone through the same situation and we were most impressed by Jane (pronounced Han-Ay, it's a spanish company).
They offer the only car seat that is 'lay-flat', ie the baby lies down rather than actually sits in the car seat. This means longer journeys are possible and the baby is in maximum comfort whilst still being safely secured in.
It is part of the travel system that you buy with the pram and I totally recommend it.
a900ss
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"In your case though, all the options mentioned so far are not valid until the baby is around 9Kg as it will be too small to fit one of these types of seats ? As a new born they will use they type of carrier that is secured by 'wrapping' the seat belt around it ?."
Not anymore. As I mentioned our maxicosi baby carrier is now available as a two part system. The Isofix base clips into the car and stays there, the seat then clips into this. The base can then be used for the seat required when the child reaches 9kg. A number of other manufacturers offer a similar solution. If no Isofix is available the seat belt can be used.
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Hi a900ss.Lay flat seat sounds interesing.A work colleague of mine was saying that they had a nightmare with the child seat they first bought.They found that when fitted in place the back was so upright that their babies head kept lolling from side to side.They had to tuck cushions under the front to get it to lean back more.Unfortunately as this was a few years ago he couldn't remember what make it was.I assume most large retailers will stock this system
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Mamas & Papas stock a large range. We bought an excellent one last year for our first born. The seat will last her all age groups as it converts to a booster cushion for when she is older. £60 if I remember correctly. My cars (BMW 5 series and Volvo V40) are non Iso-fix, however the seat attaches to the car's seatbelt very easily and is very secure. Any store you which to purchase from worth their salt will fit the seat for you or demonstrate how it is to be fitted. Reading the directions makes you feel as though you are embarking upon another degree!! Good luck.
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Hi a900ss.Lay flat seat sounds interesing.as.I assume most large retailers will stock this system
Unfortunately they don't. It isn't the cheapest system out there and you do need to go looking for it. We bought ours from Swindon (That's my baby) but they do use independant retailers throughout the country, just not the large multiples like Mama's and Papa's, Mothercare, etc..
Good Luck
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The pertanent point of this is "as this was a few years ago".
Baby seats are improved very regularly. We only bought ours this time last year and it's been upgraded twice. Once you are out of the loop of buying baby things your knowledge quickly becomes out of date. Many seats now come with an extra head support which can be removed once the baby grows.
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Can heartily recommend the Britax First Class SI. Suitable from birth right through to 18kg, and can be mounted either rear facing (for newborns) or forward facing (for toddlers). Great fit, reassuring build quality, and good padding (with removable head support insert for newborns). Very hard to fault, although thankfully it has not yet been put to the ultimate test, and hopefully never will.
We will be buying another when DP-Jr number 2 arrives next month.
Cheers
DP
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Can heartily recommend the Britax First Class SI.
I second that - got one in the Mondeo. Also good is the Eclipse Si (Mrs B's Pands has one) which is very similar in general design to the First Class, but for forward-facing use only. B Jr. (1 year old and big for his age) is very comfortable in both. Neither are fiddly to fit and once the seat belt is pulled tight (and there is a locking mechanism on the seat that keeps it tight) they are rock solid.
We couldn't get Isofix seats as neither car has the mountings (I'm surprised the Mondeo doesn't, tbh, but there we go).
Would also recommend Mothercare's Trenton travel system - it's made by Graco and you can buy bases for the baby carrier which attach to the car's seat with the seat belt, which allows you to just clip the baby carrier into the base and then unclip it at the end of the journey. Pushchair is a bit big, but good for long walks and over bumpy terrain.
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Jane also seem to offer a group 2/3 seat that uses ISOFIX fitting - see their website www.jane.es for details. I couldn't find a Group 2/3 ISOFIX when looking recently but will be considering replacing the Britax that I did end up buying with one of these (it's the Indyplus model I think).
--
Soupytwist !
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Don't get too caught up in makes, just get one that fits solidly in the cars you are going to use it in. We have (at the last count) 6 car seats of various designs and makes, we only bought the ones that fitted the car well and suited the age of children that were going to be transported. My other half is a child minder by the way, we do not have 6 kids!!!!!!!!
Having said the above I find Britax to fit the best and to be easiest to fit and adjust.
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Its hard isnt it.
If you buy a travel system, then the choice is narrowed, but then you would need to be sure that the TS car seat fits well in all cars necessary.
We opted for BebeConfort Loola with creatis car seat. This is good because if baby is asleep still when you get home, the seat is easily removed without disturbing nap. Baby BS&L can sleep for a while longer in seat in the house thus giving M&D a well earned rest.
3 Cars
2000 Clio - Creatis fitted well
2001 Polo - Creatis fitted well
1999 Megane - Sculpted rear seat makes seat lean baby forward a bit. Only a problem when baby cannot hold her head.
Lie flat sounds interesting. We looked at one, but were cautioned by the sales assistant. These seats are not cheap and (believe it or not) perople are breaking into cars to steal them!!! We got the Windoo carry cot as part of the bundle and although we never used it, that can be strapped into the car and baby strapped into that for long trips where baby needs to lie flat.
In Laws have Britax forward / rearward model suitable from birth to something up to 25 years. Great seat it seems, but you will struggle to get sleeping infant out of seat in 3 door car with out waking it (especially in 3 door Clio). The seat itself is not all that easy to handle either.
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kinda funny that this thread is preceded on my screen with a thread about blokes wondering in which car they got their leg over for the first time. jag.
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Turbo11,
For a newborn you will want a Stage0 seat.
After that you will need to consider the car/cars the seat will be installed in to see which is suitable.
You may want to take a look at the advice and results from this independent test:
tinyurl.com/yerktp
I have the Stage1 Britax Duo Plus Isofix and I can highly recommend it. However, you won't need that just yet.
For those people looking for a Stage 2/3 seat with Isofix, Britax has come out with one in its 2007 range. For some reason, this is not shown on it website. You can see it here:
tinyurl.com/yxo4vo
There is still debate as to whether a Stage 2/3 seat is better with or without Isofix. I guess another round of independent testing is needed to close that argument out.
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Thanks for the advice and info. given
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