Child Seat Advice

Author
Discussion

boobles

Original Poster:

15,241 posts

214 months

Thursday 10th February 2011
quotequote all
We all know how difficult it can be finding the "right" child seat for our car & how awkward they can be to install. I have 17 years experience in this very subject & install them on a daily basis & also crash test them, so I know which one's are safe. If anyone would like any advice whether it be buying the right one, to advice on installation, I can offer this.



I will only offer advice on seat's that fit your specific vehicle, and which seat's are safe. I will not give out any information on any seat's that do not meet these requirements.

Pickled Piper

6,334 posts

234 months

Friday 11th February 2011
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Hi Boobles,

Used to work in restraints myself.

I only ever use Britax for my children.

Can you advise on the following; my nine year old currently uses what looks like an old version of the Britax Adventure in the back of my 1998 BMW 5 Series. We have the headrest at the highest setting and she just fits in it. She will outgrow it in the next couple of months, her shoulders will jam under the headrest wings. Can you recommend what to use next? I am assuming a standard booster cushion with a strap to hold the seat belt. She's reluctant to have a complete seat as they are "for babies" and all her friends are using booster cushions.

Cheers in advance.

pp

voicey

2,453 posts

186 months

Friday 11th February 2011
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Are you looking for work or offering to help out with advice? If it's the latter then perhaps you could answer a couple of questions....

I have a 4 month old daughter and a 10 year old Ferrari 360 (with Daytona seats, pass airbag cannot be isolated). How old/big should my daughter be before she can ride in the car? What seat should I use?

Cheers!

boobles

Original Poster:

15,241 posts

214 months

Friday 11th February 2011
quotequote all
First of all, hi Pickled Piper. If she is soon to outgrow the high back booster then all you can use is a standard booster as you say. These seats offer the minimum safety requirements but do atleast place the child in the correct position, another words they raise the child up to allow the lap belt to sit in the correct position. The advantage of using the booster with a back is they offer side impact protection & if you can find a bigger version, this is what I would recommend.
I realize that older children view these as "baby" seats but they really do serve a purpose & are better than using just a booster. I must stress that a booster is better than nothing. I hope this helps.




Hi Voicey.

My apologies I should have been clearer. I am not looking for work as currently employed where I crash test child restraints & also install them into vehicles.

To be perfectly honest, It's not recommended to use child seats in any car where the airbag can not be de-activated, but having said that, It's normally ok to use booster seats in this situation but they can not be used until the child is atleast 4 years old & the passenger seat if adjustable must be as far away from the dash as possible. I personally wouldn't risk it until the child is atleast 6 or 7 but the same principal applies with regard to using a booster seat with the passenger seat as far back as possible.


I hope this helps the both of you.

voicey

2,453 posts

186 months

Friday 11th February 2011
quotequote all
boobles said:
Hi Voicey.

My apologies I should have been clearer. I am not looking for work as currently employed where I crash test child restraints & also install them into vehicles.

To be perfectly honest, It's not recommended to use child seats in any car where the airbag can not be de-activated, but having said that, It's normally ok to use booster seats in this situation but they can not be used until the child is atleast 4 years old & the passenger seat if adjustable must be as far away from the dash as possible. I personally wouldn't risk it until the child is atleast 6 or 7 but the same principal applies with regard to using a booster seat with the passenger seat as far back as possible.


I hope this helps the both of you.
Cheers! I only asked as this thread is in Jobs & employment Matters...

boobles

Original Poster:

15,241 posts

214 months

Friday 11th February 2011
quotequote all
I started the thread in here because I am offering advice & thought here would be better than in "general" gassing etc. I view it as a service that I am offering & was hoping that if enough questions were being asked, the mods could keep this in here as a "sticky" & I could build up enough answers were people could use this thread as a quick reference & hoefully find the answer they were looking for without having to start threads etc.

Beardy10

23,110 posts

174 months

Saturday 12th February 2011
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We have two cars a current model (E70) BMW X5 (2007) and a MK V Golf (2006). My two year old is currently in an Maxi Cosi Priorifix (it has ISOFIX) seat and I have a two month old in a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix (with an ISOFIX base).

First question is....do you think the current seats are good or are there better on the market for those cars?

Second question (assuming you think what we already have is okay) is what would you recommend as the next seat for my two year old ? It seems like a lot of the next size up seats don't have ISOFIX which seems strange to me. Not really bothered about cost within reason...just want the safest.

Thanks!


boobles

Original Poster:

15,241 posts

214 months

Saturday 12th February 2011
quotequote all
Beardy10 said:
We have two cars a current model (E70) BMW X5 (2007) and a MK V Golf (2006). My two year old is currently in an Maxi Cosi Priorifix (it has ISOFIX) seat and I have a two month old in a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix (with an ISOFIX base).

First question is....do you think the current seats are good or are there better on the market for those cars?

Second question (assuming you think what we already have is okay) is what would you recommend as the next seat for my two year old ? It seems like a lot of the next size up seats don't have ISOFIX which seems strange to me. Not really bothered about cost within reason...just want the safest.

Thanks!
Hi,

Good choice of seats, both perfectly safe so no concerns there.
The only seat I can think of at the moment apart from the one you already have (priorifix) is the Britax Duo Plus, this has Isofix & is from the age of 9 months to approx 4 years. The next one up could be the KidFix which also has isofix & is from the age 4 years to approx 11. The only thing with this one is there is no harness, you only use the 3pt adult belt but this will be the same for any isofix seat for bigger children. They are basically high back boosters but with isofix latches but you still have to use the aduld belt to secure the child.

Beardy10

23,110 posts

174 months

Saturday 12th February 2011
quotequote all
boobles said:
Hi,

Good choice of seats, both perfectly safe so no concerns there.
The only seat I can think of at the moment apart from the one you already have (priorifix) is the Britax Duo Plus, this has Isofix & is from the age of 9 months to approx 4 years. The next one up could be the KidFix which also has isofix & is from the age 4 years to approx 11. The only thing with this one is there is no harness, you only use the 3pt adult belt but this will be the same for any isofix seat for bigger children. They are basically high back boosters but with isofix latches but you still have to use the aduld belt to secure the child.
Cheers, thanks for the reply. I'll keep an eye out for the Kidfix when the time comes.

stussyman

92 posts

162 months

Monday 14th February 2011
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Hi there,
I am just about to buy a 2011 Audi A4 Avant Black Edition. My wee one is currently in a Maxi Cosi Axiss and I am using the seatbelt option at the moment as my current car doesn't have Isofix. 2 questions; can I retrofit / buy an Isofix base for this seat (the Audi has Isofix) and more importantly, does this seat fit in this car?
Thanks in advance,
Lee

zx10ben

1,056 posts

167 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
Hi Boobles, a bit of a longshot here, but I have two nippers (18mth and 9wks) The 18mth is in a Maxi-Cosi Tobi and the smaller one is in a Maxi Cabriofix.
I am toying with the idea of getting a Jag XK, happen to know if the Tobi would fit? Or, know of an alternative that would?
Sorry if the questions a bit bone, but "if you dont ask"!

boobles

Original Poster:

15,241 posts

214 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
stussyman said:
Hi there,
I am just about to buy a 2011 Audi A4 Avant Black Edition. My wee one is currently in a Maxi Cosi Axiss and I am using the seatbelt option at the moment as my current car doesn't have Isofix. 2 questions; can I retrofit / buy an Isofix base for this seat (the Audi has Isofix) and more importantly, does this seat fit in this car?
Thanks in advance,
Lee
Hi,

After doing some quick research, I can't find anything about an isofix base being compatible with the Axiss unfortunately.
According to the Maxi Cosi vehicle list, the seat does fit in to the Audi A4 but using the 3pt car seat belt only.

Edited by boobles on Monday 14th February 10:42

Pickled Piper

6,334 posts

234 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
Thanks Boobles.

pp

boobles

Original Poster:

15,241 posts

214 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
zx10ben said:
Hi Boobles, a bit of a longshot here, but I have two nippers (18mth and 9wks) The 18mth is in a Maxi-Cosi Tobi and the smaller one is in a Maxi Cabriofix.
I am toying with the idea of getting a Jag XK, happen to know if the Tobi would fit? Or, know of an alternative that would?
Sorry if the questions a bit bone, but "if you dont ask"!
Hi Ben,

I would need to know the year of the car please?
Or alternatively you could try here.

http://www.maxi-cosi.com/ot-en/carselector

McSwerve II

311 posts

198 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
Hi Boobles

I have a new BMW 3 Series, and we use a Britax Duo Plus (with an extra foam pad thingy, as specified by the small print). According to the Britax website this can also be used in the RX8 we have recently acquired, but with a top leash attachment specified.

Anyway my question was, in Mamma’s and Pappa’s they were trying to flog a seat (Cybax Pallas) with a large bar across the child’s chest rather than traditional 5 point harness arrangement.

Are these any better or just a new fad in design?

Many thanks for your professional opinion.


boobles

Original Poster:

15,241 posts

214 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
McSwerve II said:
Hi Boobles

I have a new BMW 3 Series, and we use a Britax Duo Plus (with an extra foam pad thingy, as specified by the small print). According to the Britax website this can also be used in the RX8 we have recently acquired, but with a top leash attachment specified.

Anyway my question was, in Mamma’s and Pappa’s they were trying to flog a seat (Cybax Pallas) with a large bar across the child’s chest rather than traditional 5 point harness arrangement.

Are these any better or just a new fad in design?

Many thanks for your professional opinion.
Hi,

I have seen many different varients of these seats with what they call a "protection pillow" which sits across the childs chest.

I wouldn't say that they are any safer than using a 5 point harness to be honest (otherwise this technology would be used within race cars etc) but I am also not saying that they are un-safe. They do score fairly high marks in frontal impacts but also restrict the child from being able to do anything like move to scrath an itch or something. I personally would stick with a 5 point harness simply because of the history of the design etc.

rhinochopig

17,932 posts

197 months

Monday 14th February 2011
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Out of interest how do the child Recaros fare? We went with that make on the basis of their motorsport reputation as we couldn't find any public data on crash tests of child seats.

zx10ben

1,056 posts

167 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
boobles said:
Hi Ben,

I would need to know the year of the car please?
Or alternatively you could try here.

http://www.maxi-cosi.com/ot-en/carselector
What a muppet! Sorry Boobles it'll be a 2008 XKR, meantime I'll have a look at your link, if my works computer will allow!

Zod

35,295 posts

257 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
boobles said:
Hi,

I have seen many different varients of these seats with what they call a "protection pillow" which sits across the childs chest.

I wouldn't say that they are any safer than using a 5 point harness to be honest (otherwise this technology would be used within race cars etc)
You'd struggle to steer or change gear with a great big bolster strapped across your torso from armpit to groin!

boobles

Original Poster:

15,241 posts

214 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
rhinochopig said:
Out of interest how do the child Recaros fare? We went with that make on the basis of their motorsport reputation as we couldn't find any public data on crash tests of child seats.
They are perfectly fine. Never seen any recaros that would concern me.




Good point Zod, Gold star for you. wink