Baby seats....Don't send me away!
Discussion
Isofix with any infant carrier is a big bonus - using the adult belt only with no base will have the carrier wobbling all over the place - fine if you have a frontal impact but not so good for rear or side
Maxicosi base for isofix is great as it also allows adult belt to restrain the base, so you can still just clip the seat in and out
Do not be tempted to move them from rear facing too early - just because your baby can sit unaided doesn't mean they're ready for the next group car seat. If their head is contained in the seat shell and they're within the 13kg weight limit for modern infant carriers they will be perfectly happy - feet kicking seat back not a reason to turn them round
Our son is 98th %ile for weight and 50th for height and was still in his infant carrier until about 14 months!
When we turned him round it was into another Maxicosi seat (priorifix) which has a similar isofix structure but is 1 piece so blinking heavy to shift between cars but very sturdy
Britax used to be the default choice but the quality of their group 1 & 2 seats seems to have dropped over the last 10 years
Bare in mind the dummy they use to test the smallest car seats has no instrumentation in it so gives limited idea of how a real baby will survive an impact. I don't like lie flat seats for this reason
Big rear facing seats are statistically safest but barely found in the uk and don't suit smaller cars. They're fine for the swedes and Americans driving tanks but cause usability issues here
Seats that aim to cover many bases in terms of age/height/weight are usually not as good for safety as their design is compromised to make them work
Boosters with backs can now be bought with isofix BUT this is just to stop the seat bouncing about when not occupied - the anchorage points for isofix and adult belts aren't related geographically so you couldn't get a consistent fit
Used to work in child seat development (and dummies)
Maxicosi base for isofix is great as it also allows adult belt to restrain the base, so you can still just clip the seat in and out
Do not be tempted to move them from rear facing too early - just because your baby can sit unaided doesn't mean they're ready for the next group car seat. If their head is contained in the seat shell and they're within the 13kg weight limit for modern infant carriers they will be perfectly happy - feet kicking seat back not a reason to turn them round
Our son is 98th %ile for weight and 50th for height and was still in his infant carrier until about 14 months!
When we turned him round it was into another Maxicosi seat (priorifix) which has a similar isofix structure but is 1 piece so blinking heavy to shift between cars but very sturdy
Britax used to be the default choice but the quality of their group 1 & 2 seats seems to have dropped over the last 10 years
Bare in mind the dummy they use to test the smallest car seats has no instrumentation in it so gives limited idea of how a real baby will survive an impact. I don't like lie flat seats for this reason
Big rear facing seats are statistically safest but barely found in the uk and don't suit smaller cars. They're fine for the swedes and Americans driving tanks but cause usability issues here
Seats that aim to cover many bases in terms of age/height/weight are usually not as good for safety as their design is compromised to make them work
Boosters with backs can now be bought with isofix BUT this is just to stop the seat bouncing about when not occupied - the anchorage points for isofix and adult belts aren't related geographically so you couldn't get a consistent fit
Used to work in child seat development (and dummies)
We used the maxi cosy cabrio-fix with an iso fix base in the car when Aaron was a baby, and I can't recommend it enough, it fitted the base and the pram so it was ideal, it could also be secured into a car using the seatbelt if the need arose
When Aaron got a bit older we went for the maxi cosy axiss, this seat if you have a 5 door car is possibly the best available, it basically in clips and spins through 90 degrees to face the door, removing the need to lean into the car, worth every extra penny over a normal seat IMO
When Aaron got a bit older we went for the maxi cosy axiss, this seat if you have a 5 door car is possibly the best available, it basically in clips and spins through 90 degrees to face the door, removing the need to lean into the car, worth every extra penny over a normal seat IMO
martin mrt said:
We used the maxi cosy cabrio-fix with an iso fix base in the car when Aaron was a baby, and I can't recommend it enough, it fitted the base and the pram so it was ideal, it could also be secured into a car using the seatbelt if the need arose
When Aaron got a bit older we went for the maxi cosy axiss, this seat if you have a 5 door car is possibly the best available, it basically in clips and spins through 90 degrees to face the door, removing the need to lean into the car, worth every extra penny over a normal seat IMO
A few people have mentioned these spinning seats. All I can say is that if you get a Multipla it's easy - just turn off the passenger airbag with the key, and the kid sits right next to you. Very sociable and really easy to get them out - unlclip them and pick them up, or let them slide down and walk to a door. It was badly made, but as a family car it took some beating. You can buy one for less than some of the car seats mentioned too! When Aaron got a bit older we went for the maxi cosy axiss, this seat if you have a 5 door car is possibly the best available, it basically in clips and spins through 90 degrees to face the door, removing the need to lean into the car, worth every extra penny over a normal seat IMO
Adrian E said:
Big rear facing seats are statistically safest but barely found in the uk and don't suit smaller cars. They're fine for the swedes and Americans driving tanks but cause usability issues here
We bought an Besafe rear-facing seat for our boy; he was never comfy in the maxi-cosi cabriofix and out grew it very early. He enjoys car journeys now. There's a few companies selling them, including John Lewis. Also, aside from a large number of Volvos and SAABs, the Swedes drive a similar range and size of cars to the rest of Europe. This car seat fits fine in my old 3 series.
aizvara said:
We bought an Besafe rear-facing seat for our boy; he was never comfy in the maxi-cosi cabriofix and out grew it very early. He enjoys car journeys now. There's a few companies selling them, including John Lewis.
Also, aside from a large number of Volvos and SAABs, the Swedes drive a similar range and size of cars to the rest of Europe. This car seat fits fine in my old 3 series.
Exactly this!Also, aside from a large number of Volvos and SAABs, the Swedes drive a similar range and size of cars to the rest of Europe. This car seat fits fine in my old 3 series.
There is resistance to rear-facing for any number of reasons, but the child will get used to it and actually has a good view out the side and back windows. There a large fluffy-toy mirrors that hang off the rear head-rests so they can still see forwards. We scared ourselves s
tless when researching - she's rear facing and totally happy about it.Deva Link said:
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.
Plus the professional medical input along with the usual engineering input. Sadly such specialist items do tend to be hugely priced as a result.
jshell said:
aizvara said:
We bought an Besafe rear-facing seat for our boy; he was never comfy in the maxi-cosi cabriofix and out grew it very early. He enjoys car journeys now. There's a few companies selling them, including John Lewis.
Also, aside from a large number of Volvos and SAABs, the Swedes drive a similar range and size of cars to the rest of Europe. This car seat fits fine in my old 3 series.
Exactly this!Also, aside from a large number of Volvos and SAABs, the Swedes drive a similar range and size of cars to the rest of Europe. This car seat fits fine in my old 3 series.
There is resistance to rear-facing for any number of reasons, but the child will get used to it and actually has a good view out the side and back windows. There a large fluffy-toy mirrors that hang off the rear head-rests so they can still see forwards. We scared ourselves s
tless when researching - she's rear facing and totally happy about it.My point about usability is simply that if you 'must' have a child seat in the front of your car then a big rear facing seat will block your nearside mirror, which isn't ideal. Anything much smaller than a Focus class car will require you to pull the front seat forward to make room for the car seat, which again is fine if you don't need to use it regularly for carrying passengers - sometimes forward facing seats need the same. They can also be tricky to get into the back of the car full stop, especially saloons with small door apertures at the back.
If it suits your lifestyle and vehicles then go for it.
My son turned 2 in May and is already 15.5kg so he's unlikely to stay in his group 2 seat for as long as I'd like - the weight limit is 18kg - so will have all this research to do again on boosters with backs which have changed beyond all recognition since I worked in the field.
Adrian E said:
Big rear facing seats are statistically safest but barely found in the uk and don't suit smaller cars. They're fine for the swedes and Americans driving tanks but cause usability issues here
Used to work in child seat development (and dummies)
Only the parents that are going to use them can be the judge of that. I have 12 of these buggers (yes 12!!!!!) I have fitted them into small cars for parents that were fair for height - 5 ft 9" and above usually. The seats are very different from each other - just like cars. I have managed to install the Maxi Cosi Mobi into small cars without pushing the knees of the parents into the gloveroom. If one seat needs too much room for their liking, they just try another one. The big issue in the UK the way that i see it, is certainly not space issues. It is rather an availablity issue. Avaialability requires a certain amount of demand for those seats. demand requires information.Used to work in child seat development (and dummies)
aizvara said:
Also, aside from a large number of Volvos and SAABs, the Swedes drive a similar range and size of cars to the rest of Europe. This car seat fits fine in my old 3 series.
I have been to Sweden - don´t know how many times - but this is what I have seen too. I know some Swedes too. The cars there are genrally not bigger than those sold in the rest of EuropeAdrian E said:
My point about usability is simply that if you 'must' have a child seat in the front of your car then a big rear facing seat will block your nearside mirror, which isn't ideal.
That´s true for some seats in some cars. Some do need to have them in the front seat, but not all rear facers will block the mirror there. This is also depends on how far back the driver sits.Adrian E said:
Isofix with any infant carrier is a big bonus - using the adult belt only with no base will have the carrier wobbling all over the place - fine if you have a frontal impact but not so good for rear or side
Maxicosi base for isofix is great as it also allows adult belt to restrain the base, so you can still just clip the seat in and out
I'd disagree with this - we've got a Cabriofix on a belt-secured base and (if fitted properly*), the base is perfectly secure - almost zero movement.Maxicosi base for isofix is great as it also allows adult belt to restrain the base, so you can still just clip the seat in and out
Maxi-cosi are probably the easiest as almost regardless of what pushchair/pram you go for, there'll be an adaptor to fit your car-seat in there if you want to. Also the industry leader for infant-level seats.
* This is why ISOFIX is so good - it's foolproof. Not any better in a crash than a properly belt-secured seat, but more likely TO BE properly secured.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff