Forward facing child seat in Griff/Chim

[ruaricoles]

Hello peeps,

I'm sure there have been threads on this before but I can't find any of them. Our wee lad will soon be too big for his rear facing seat so we need a forward facing one, and I'd like one with isofix for our normal cars but also one that will fit the Griff.

Maxi Cosi's Priorifix seat seems to be generally well reviewed; does anyone here use one in a Griff or Chim or can anyone suggest something better?

Thanks,

Ruari

[dnb]

We have a Maxi Cosi Tobi. I am fairly sure it fits in the Griff, but I've never tried to drive anywhere in case of inflicting permanant ear damage...

[toon tvr]

If your Griff seats are the same as a Chimaera then don't do it!
The seat belt clip is too far forward in the chimaera which can result in buckle crunching because the clip rests on the child seat frame. It might look ok but in an accident the force on the clip generally results in it shattering. Also because of this forward mounting it won't pull the seat in tight enough causing it twist violently in an accident. look at the group 2-3 seats that secure the child and seat with the seat belt as opposed to using the belt to secure the child seat that has a frame and harness

[CerbitonFlyer]

I didn't think you could have a forward facing seat in the front???

[ruaricoles]

Good advice, thanks peeps. Might need to wait until he's a bit bigger then!

[Andychim400]

I would also take into account neither the chim or griff have much (anything) in the way of side impact protection other than a few inches of fibreglass

[Robwhite]

We've a Maxi Cosi Tobi thingy which fits just fine in the Chim, but its a big beastie and the seat has to be slid quite well back to get his legs under the dash-board. The grand-sprog loves coming out in it and it's a real pleasure to bore down the outside of the M4 with him waving his arms above the screen, and he's not quite 3 yet. Yes I know that the Chim has no side protection etc etc etc, but life's for living. When we started our family 27 years ago not only did our (up to date as it was then) car not have any rear seat belts, it also didn't have any mounting points either. It was quite usual to put the carry cot on the back seat and just drive a bit carefully!

[miniman]

CerbitonFlyer said:

I didn't think you could have a forward facing seat in the front???

Certainly you can. You are advised against it if there is a front airbag which cannot be disabled, but that's all.

[Colin L]

Maxi Cosi,

go to a good baby shop and try a few in the car first, make sure its the best fit.

This is what I did when I had the same trouble, (now 9 and costs more to run than a Lambo)

Cheers
COLIN L

[ruaricoles]

Thought I'd update this one with some info....

Went to Mothercare this morning and with the help of half the shop staff tried loads of seats in the Griff (age 1-4 category). Many weren't a good fit due to the narrow seat base with large bolsters, but the biggest issue was the length of the seat belt buckle stalk as suggested previously. Ours are Securon ones (not the originals but almost identical), and the buckle was too high to fit properly against the side of almost all the seats.

The Maxicosi Tobi was almost perfect (buckle needed to be just a tad lower) but eventually they suggested the Britax "First Class Plus" which has an alternative fitting method where the buckle pulls across inside the bottom of the seat, making its length irrelevant and the fit perfect. It's nice and rounded at the bottom corner too so doesn't have any pointy plastic bits pushing into the seat back. Sorted!

It's not isofix so we'll probably end up with one of these for the Griff and an isofix one for the tintops.

Hopefully this will be of use to someone else.

Ruari