ISOFIX Baby Seats small human advice
Discussion
CampDavid said:
According to the Which? tests he's also wrong, though the improvement in safety isn't massive if both are fitted well
Rear facing seats are fundamentally better in frontal collisions. There are several problems though - firstly most of the ERF seats on sale in the UK at the moment aren't actually very good; secondly they don't fit in normal sized cars, let alone most "enthusiast" cars; and thirdly there is so much stupid hyperbole about the intrinsic advantages of rear facing seats that the whole industry/fan-base around them makes themselves look utterly ridiculous.
Ultimately I think ERF seats will become the norm, at least amongst those who can afford a big enough car to use them, but they're not there yet in this country.
Edited by kambites on Friday 12th February 15:38
Righto, the OPs choice starts not with the model but as to which standard he wants.
iSize or the older Group 0+
iSize seats generally start from birth and go on to 4 years. A typical seat is £400, however, you won't need to replace it after a year, which is handy.The seats are fixed and swivel in and out for putting them in the car.
Advantages over Group 0+:
Higher safety standard
Easier for mum to put baby in the car as not having to lift a seat, seat revolves.
Buy once and forget it for a few years
Disadvantages
Higher initial cost
Unable to take the baby out in the seat, which often means waking them up
Heavy to move between cars
We used an iSize for the first 5 months, then Kitty started to dislike it so we've used a maxicosi cabrio for a bit now as she seems happier in that (it's more angles back) but will sort the iSize seat out over the weekend
iSize or the older Group 0+
iSize seats generally start from birth and go on to 4 years. A typical seat is £400, however, you won't need to replace it after a year, which is handy.The seats are fixed and swivel in and out for putting them in the car.
Advantages over Group 0+:
Higher safety standard
Easier for mum to put baby in the car as not having to lift a seat, seat revolves.
Buy once and forget it for a few years
Disadvantages
Higher initial cost
Unable to take the baby out in the seat, which often means waking them up
Heavy to move between cars
We used an iSize for the first 5 months, then Kitty started to dislike it so we've used a maxicosi cabrio for a bit now as she seems happier in that (it's more angles back) but will sort the iSize seat out over the weekend
kambites said:
Worth noting that this is NOT the same thing as "safer". The best of the old group-0 seats out-perform most iSize seats in most safety tests.
I think it's like most compromises. A good seat specifically designed for a 0-12m baby should perform better than a bigger seat with an insert to make it fit.kambites said:
CampDavid said:
According to the Which? tests he's also wrong, though the improvement in safety isn't massive if both are fitted well
Rear facing seats are fundamentally better in frontal collisions. There are several problems though - firstly most of the ERF seats on sale in the UK at the moment aren't actually very good; secondly they don't fit in normal sized cars, let alone most "enthusiast" cars; and thirdly there is so much stupid hyperbole about the intrinsic advantages of rear facing seats that the whole industry/fan-base around them makes themselves look utterly ridiculous.
Rear facing is important
CampDavid said:
Sorry, I meant the same seat either using the isofix base or belt.
Rear facing is important
Like I said the two issues are being blurred, unhelpfully.Rear facing is important
And I am also not wrong btw. If there was any substantiated argument that ISOFIX was in anyway way safer every manufacturer would be shouting it from the rooftops but they can't, so they don't.
The safety argument is that they reduce error nothing more.
Edited by DoubleSix on Friday 12th February 16:59
CampDavid said:
Sorry, I meant the same seat either using the isofix base or belt.
Ah I see. If you look at the individual test results rather than the overall summaries of the reviews there's generally nothing in it if the seat is properly fitted. Which's test results include a test for "how likely is the average person to fit the seat incorrectly", so the seats which support both inevitably fare better in Isofix overall because of that one test. It's rare for the difference because a seat fitted with Isofix and the same seat fitted properly with a belt to be significant and indeed for some seats the belt installation fares marginally better.
Regardless, the point stands that Isofix should not be viewed as a safety feature as such; it's primarily a convenience and idiot-proofing feature.
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