Baby seats....Don't send me away!

[groomi]

Deva Link said:

What cars are you using them in? I thought it was so bulky it would obstruct the opening of many cars such that the sideways swivel is almost a neccesity as otherwise it would be a struggle to get a child into the seat!

We've had ours in a Mk4 Golf, E39, Jag XJR, Saab 9-5 and the in-laws Focus. It was only a problem behind me when I was driving (I like the seat quite reclined) when they were at the age where legs stick out because knees hadn't reached the end of the seat. Was never a problem behind the passenger who can sit a little further forward usually.

We also have the non swivel version of the same seat and there is little difference in the bulk.

[tbc]

As a 24 years young father of none

I had no idea car seat where so expensive

[morgrp]

Don't buy a seat just because it's a recairbid because it looks good, buy the seat that fits your car well - any seat in the £120+ region will be good but you need one that suits your car - id recommend John Lewis - their staff are well trained and will let you try their demo seats in you car to ensure they are a good fit for both your car and your child - incidentally being a petrol head I also wanted a recaro seat too but it didn't fit my car well so I went with something else

[s1962a]

tbc said:

As a 24 years young father of none

I had no idea car seat where so expensive

Kids are expensive full stop, and the car seat is the least of your worries - at least it'll last for a while. My mrs went mental with our first and bought every fancy thing going for new borns - including £20 for a towel that has a hoodie on it. Ok, some of the things are quite useful but most just have a novelty value.

[AlexKing]

We found the Cybex Aton good for the first one. Not cheap, but very light, which you'll come to appreciate...

[Alfanatic]

DJ_AS said:

Recaro.... but don't just take my word for it. Go into John Lewis / Halfords where they have Recaros is stock. Using your hand, push down on the seat cushion and note the thickness. Then do the same on every other seat. Then ask yourself which you'd like to sit in for a long time

I did exactly this, with a group 2/3 seat. And the Recaro impressed me. But then I felt the cushioning on the back rest. And then I felt the weight, because this wasn't an isofix seat. And then I bought a Graco.

I can't remember what the baby seat was. We went through two.

[DBSV8]

SystemParanoia said:

i had maxi-cosi isofix jobbies, click click done

these are very good but not as good as these


Atco graco Duologic 2
from birth to 3 years old


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrmKpEN1148

they will be rear facing





great thing is the base seporates from the carrier but unlike the maxi cosy they have wheels so you can wheel your baby around the supermarket .

see here

http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/

Edited by DBSV8 on Thursday 26th July 03:35

[VVC Dan]

I can't recommend the Recaro seats enough, both my boys have the young sport we moved them on from the rear facing Maxi Cosi seat they were in when first born in to these as soon as they were the right size/age. I will keep my oldest (now 5) in his as long as he still fits and is comfortable, he often moans to me about wanting a booster seat instead "but Dad Charlie has a booster seat" but I know where I would prefer my son to be in the event of an impact especially with the side impact protection these seats offer!! Also he loves cars so a quick look on Google images for Recaro and he was convinced he had a racing seat ;-)

[XB70]

MaxiCosi and Easybase is what we used. Looked at every seat combination and this won because of the removable capsule that means they can stay asleep when put into and out of the car.

As someone commented above, the little creatures do cost a lot and I gather it gets only worse.

You should see the mountain of things we need to get rid of now as no more kiddies for us!

[DonkeyApple]

s1962a said:

Kids are expensive full stop, and the car seat is the least of your worries - at least it'll last for a while. My mrs went mental with our first and bought every fancy thing going for new borns - including £20 for a towel that has a hoodie on it. Ok, some of the things are quite useful but most just have a novelty value.

Yes, the most crucial lesson is that 90% of what people around you say you need is a waste of money and that when you look back the best things you bought were the really simple and cheap things.

But it's a haven for shysters and marketing as they know new parents are frightened so it's an easy sell. 'buy this, or the baby dies', 'buy this or people will think you're a bad parent'.

It's comical the cheap sales tactics used that would be spotted in any other industry.

I piss myself every time I see people who have gone out and bought massive cars, massive child seats, massive buggies etc etc and take day of logistical planning to just move a child between rooms.

[kavanagh]

On the subject of car seats i'm getting a new one this week and as i read that someone said on how expensive they are i thought i'd put this out there.

My son is not very well,He was born with a ultra rare brain condition called Lissencephaly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissencephaly

and also has Microcephaly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcephaly

They of which have left him blind,epliptic,no muscle tone and has short life expectancy of few years he has to have a special car seat.

Here it is

http://www.jcmseating.co.uk/product/young-sport/

The price for this is circa £950 from JCM.

I'm not moaning or anything or making a big deal and I expect there is standard seats out there of which is more expensive but i just thought I'd mention it as i'm getting one this weekend.

[edward1]

Until the little fella was big enough for a forward facing we used a simple belt fix mothercare rear facing seat. It was really easy to install and take out without waking the baby, and light weight to carry around. I considered Iso fix but didn't see the need to pay the extra. Glad we didn't now as the belt fix was fine.

When he was big enough for the forward facing we went for a Kiddy seat that was also belt fix and uses the impact cushion approach. This has been really good and is especially good if you are going to use the same seat in different vehicles. The seat is much less bulky than many and very quick and easy to fit. We needed a 2nd seat for the nursery run and as this would go in the estate didn't mind a more bulky seat. Went for a britax 123 belt fit (should last longer and significantly cheaper than the Kiddy). Whilst not too difficult to fit, to get the belt sufficiently tight does require significantly more time and effort. We tend to leave it permanently in place and periodically check re-tighten the belt. It is OK but if it wasn't for the price I'd have gone for another kiddy.

[Chr1sch]

SystemParanoia said:

i had maxi-cosi isofix jobbies, click click done

Yep us too, family fix base and pebble, bloody brilliant kit

[motco]

There's a lot of fuss in Scandinavia and USA about how dangerous forward facing seats are for children below two years (in USA) and much older in Scandinavia - up to four years. They claim that serious head and neck injuries are possible at c.50k/hr with forward facing seats. How many shops, even those charging hundreds of pounds for a seat, offer advice that rearward is better?

US News item

Volvo expert's view

[Killer2005]

I have one going free if anyone needs one

[jshell]

motco said:

There's a lot of fuss in Scandinavia and USA about how dangerous forward facing seats are for children below two years (in USA) and much older in Scandinavia - up to four years. They claim that serious head and neck injuries are possible at c.50k/hr with forward facing seats. How many shops, even those charging hundreds of pounds for a seat, offer advice that rearward is better?

US News item

Volvo expert's view

We did our own research and rear-facing was a must. She's totally cool with it too!

None of the UK shops really knew much about it, but where we live it's law.

[blugnu]

jshell said:

We did our own research and rear-facing was a must. She's totally cool with it too!

None of the UK shops really knew much about it, but where we live it's law.

I guess if they've only known rear facing it's fine.

I can only image the complaints if we tried to get the kid (aged 3) to sit the other way around now.

Modern kids spend so long in the car it seems odd to me that they should be in a position where you can't make eye contact with them. For me I'm happy that my driving style with her in the car, coupled with the seat she does have, make her as safe as she is going to get. And being forward facing means she already knows about gears and indicators and which pedal does what. She gets frustrated enough that the sides of her seat stop her seeing out of the side windows without not being able to see out of the windscreen to!

[motco]

Some children who suffer from motion sickness and are better when forward facing, are going to be sick of this idea!

[nigelpugh7]

kavanagh said:

On the subject of car seats i'm getting a new one this week and as i read that someone said on how expensive they are i thought i'd put this out there.

My son is not very well,He was born with a ultra rare brain condition called Lissencephaly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissencephaly

and also has Microcephaly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcephaly

They of which have left him blind,epliptic,no muscle tone and has short life expectancy of few years he has to have a special car seat.

Here it is

http://www.jcmseating.co.uk/product/young-sport/

The price for this is circa £950 from JCM.

I'm not moaning or anything or making a big deal and I expect there is standard seats out there of which is more expensive but i just thought I'd mention it as i'm getting one this weekend.

I can't see why that should be £950, even from a company that specialised in solutions for the issues your little one has,

The retail,of that recaro young sport seat is approx £150.00 , so you should be able to get it on online for less than that!

Good luck looking after your little one.

Nige.

[Deva Link]

nigelpugh7 said:

I can't see why that should be £950, even from a company that specialised in solutions for the issues your little one has,

The retail,of that recaro young sport seat is approx £150.00 , so you should be able to get it on online for less than that!

It's not obvious from the link, but the seat and base is extensively modified. I guess that's quite expensive on a small scale.