Car Seat Mega Thread! Please post all your car seat questions here!

Lizardlegz wrote: »

Hi all... again!!!
So I’ve looked at all the seats you kind posters recommended yesterday. We have a storage space thing on the floor where our girl will be sitting... so I don’t think I can have an isofix leg bar sitting on the floor!? So unfortunately all the seats ye recommended won’t work for us. Apart from the radian 5. I’ve looked at the radian online and it seems pretty good? Any experiences? But I keep again coming back to the axissfix plus as it also does not have the isofix leg.

Thank again!

lizard those storage boxes just wreck my head
Why do they have them in cars aimed at families:(
Your middle seat probably doesn’t have one on the ground but that is a pain for you to get her in and out? She could be walking soon though........

For me radian5 was a disaster far too complicated!

I have a minikid and the leg goes to the ground if you take the lid off the storage box. I’m sure some of the others do too. The minikid won’t forward face though, and isn’t isofix, but maybe some of the other seats have a long enough leg too.
If you go online and get the hse growth chart thingys, you can plot your little girls height and weight and see when she will hit 18kg. That might be a good place to start, if you see when you will be happy with the age she will be when she outgrows the axisfix

What ages are your older kids? You could also put one of them on a hbb in the front, and squash yourself in the back with the other two the odd time that you all need to be in the car together?

staticdoor71 wrote: »

Ideally yeah
But oh doesn't drive, medical reasons. No way he would squeeze in back

Kids are 6yr old daughter, 4yr old son

It’s quite tricky to fit three across .... had that issue last year, in a Tucson with kids the exact same age. Ended up with the eldest in the middle on a bubblebum, it’s the only one that’d fit in the middle. Looked for smaller baby seats with base and there aren’t really any that are much narrower.
There are High back boosters that are narrower than others. Think it’s the britax adventurer we have. It’s not only the width at the bottom you need to measure, with hbb you need to be wary of any that are wide around the middle as that’ll impact on the child beside. You need narrow all the way up really!
There’s a thing called a mifold you can get now, and recently I saw they make a high back booster. If you look it up it might be useful, keep meaning to order one myself just to see even as a spare.

Edit.... missed your post where you had mentioned mifold! Sorry!
Just measured the britax adventure and it’s about 41/42 at widest part of sides and front , the part at the back by the seatbelts is less than 30 cm ish. The problem we find is actually getting to the seatbelt holders, the eldest can’t sit down til we have the middle guy seat belted in already.

staticdoor71 wrote: »

I've looked at the mifold too
The booster seat seems like it will work for us if I get one for each of the kids.
Both are well over the 15kg

I was wondering had anyone any experience with them

Would love to know how you get on if you get them-are the mifold boosters out in general release now or are they only funding them? Not sure what I read last time!

staticdoor71 wrote: »

The booster seat, with no back are out and even sold by boots. I've no idea how I never heard of them
They are €60 in boots
However with the great exchange rate they are only 40stg
Every little helps when buying two. Would love to be able try before I buy, but I'll just have to get himself to get the tape measure out and be precise!!!

They do a high back but not released till March next yr
It's still in funding stage in usa

I've attach the blurb from boots website

Ah yeah that’s what I was thinking of. The booster definitely sounds good, and would be handy for bringing away or using in other peoples cars etc too.

Millem wrote: »

Anyone got any tips to fit seat to very awkward isofix? Isofix in Gran’s car is a disaster....the seatbelt buckle is in the way Took 30 mins to install and we have those plastic isofix things.
OH thinks her seats are slopped too?
It’s a vw golf plus 2014.
Gran does not want to leave seat in permanently.
Thanks

No suggestions myself but are the check it fit lads nearby soon. I bet they could help.

Do you have the TWE in the extended leg room position?

MiketheMechanic wrote: »

Yes, already did that.

If it was me I’d ask for advice on the Extended rear facing group on Facebook. The admins there have so much experience on this kind of stuff and may have some ideas on how to keep him rearfacing safely. He still could have a good bit left rf in the TWE and is still quite small to turn ff even if he’s over 4.

Hi Millem, I'll have to check the manual to see if the TWE can be turned FF.

We bought our TWE new from InCarSafety in Belfast in Jan 2015.
I didn't think the TWE could go FF, but maybe I'm mistaken.


I don't want to move from the TWE, but my little guys knees are up in front of his face, and I can't really push the front passenger seat much further forward without making it unusable for a passenger.



MtM

Millem wrote: »

MTM
Do you have an old TWE.....one that can go FF harnessed until 25kg?
I needed to turn my guy when I was pregnant and incarsafety said a harnessed FF TWE is better than a HBB. I have my 4 year 8 month old in it. He was110cm height and 22kg in the summer.
If I was to buy a HBB they suggested the britax kidfix xp ii sict. Personally I am not convinced about the thing in between the legs.......or maybe mothercare had him in wrong!!
The new besafe izi flex was not out then though I would say they would recommend it

The ones with the grey buckle are the old ones, so you’ll know for sure by that, but it was probably only last year that they changed!
There is some evidence to say that a hbb is actually safer in a crash than a harnessed seat once the child is of a certain age and weight though!

Millem wrote: »

jlm29 wrote: »

The ones with the grey buckle are the old ones, so you’ll know for sure by that, but it was probably only last year that they changed!
There is some evidence to say that a hbb is actually safer in a crash than a harnessed seat once the child is of a certain age and weight though!

Really Simon was adament to me that TWE FF was safer than a HBB. I actually don’t like the harness on the TWE. I wanted to go for a HBB for more side impact protection.......he was having none of it So didn’t buy anything

I read something on it a while back, and there was a video demonstrating it, and it made perfect sense, watching the video. But it did specify that it was for over 4’s!

Millem wrote: »

You have the old TWE like mine It can go FF harnessed to 25kg. A new one came out in 2017 which can only go harnessed FF to 18kg

You are right - I just checked the documentation that came with the seat, and of course it can go FF harnessed to 25kg. :pac: Duh! theres a clue in the name of the seat. Thanks for pointing it out.


I will also try adjusting the angle for RF and see if I can give him a few more months of leg room. Would prefer him to be aged 5 and a few more kgs before I turn him FF, but we'll see.


Out of curiosity, are the tether straps used at all when the TWE is used FF? It's not clear from the instructions.



MtM

MiketheMechanic wrote: »

You are right - I just checked the documentation that came with the seat, and of course it can go FF harnessed to 25kg. :pac: Duh! theres a clue in the name of the seat. Thanks for pointing it out.


I will also try adjusting the angle for RF and see if I can give him a few more months of leg room. Would prefer him to be aged 5 and a few more kgs before I turn him FF, but we'll see.


Out of curiosity, are the tether straps used at all when the TWE is used FF? It's not clear from the instructions.



MtM

No you don’t need the tether straps when you have it FF

Ring incarsafety and they will advise you what’s the best option.
Hakan is also selling HBB now too.

Ropo wrote: »

Hi everyone , looking for some help ! Looking for a new seat for 1 year old who is in the late 90th percentiles for height and weight.
Looking for rear facing as long as possible. Ideally isofix due to the concern of fitting incorrectly and taking it out for 2nd car.
Driving 2014 Nissan quasqai
Any thoughts...one I've seen was a concord reverso ?

The reverse doesn’t have a higher shell to match its higher weight limit, so a child who’s short and heavy is well suited to it! If your child is high on centiles for height and weight, you really need a 25kg seat- none of which are isofix. Just to give a bit of perspective, my 2yr 10mth little boy is 91st centile for height and weight, and he’s just about 17kg now.
I have a minikid for him, and another got for my one year old, but I’m not using the second one yet.
It’s a fab seat, has one of the tallest shells- it looks comfy (I also have a joie car seat that’s 0-18kg, and it just looks so squashy!!)
If you buy a spare set of tethers and leave them in the second car, it’s easy enough to move the seat!
Alternatively, if you wanted two seats, the axkid move is similar in size, but without some bells and whistles, and it’s cheaper.
The Britax two way elite is also another option for a 25kg seat, and it’s far cheaper.

MiketheMechanic wrote: »

Hi all,
does anyone know what is the difference between the Römer Britax KIDFIX XP and the Römer Britax KIDFIX II XP?

Is the II XP a newer model?
There seems to be a strap between the legs on the II XP.

Between the Maxi-Cosi Rodifix AirProtect and the Britax XP/II XP, which would people here recommend and why?

MtM

I think on the britax it’s the gadget between the legs. I found it very awkward on my son...like it looked the seat belt was loose.
I think gran has the maxi cosi rodi airprotect. Not rodifix as Gran’s isofix is a big pain to get to. It’s a star wars seat that we got. It’s seems to be fine. Gran and my son love it. It doesn’t take up much space. I have seen this seat a twe and another hbb possibly a graco across back seat of a vw golf.
I saw some reduced recently on maxi cosi outlet website.

For my own car I want the new besafe one....izi flex fix. It’s like the newest britax one kidfix ii xp sict
but you will fit 3 across the back. It’s €270 in tony kealys at mo. My guy 24kg so still in TWE. Keep threatening to bring him up to kealys

Earleybird wrote: »

Hi guys, trying to decide on a new seat for our 14 month old. I like the Joie 360 but have concerns from a safety perspective as I don't believe it's gone through the i size regulations. The alternative (we're looking for a swivel chair) is the maxi cosi assixfix plus. Any advice? Thanks

If you’re looking to rear face the baby, I’d avoid the maxi cosi, it’s only rf to 87cm, not much longer than an infant carrier.
The britax dualfix, recaro zero and cybex sirona are all swivel seats that rear face to 18kg.
Have you plotted your child’s height and weight on a growth chart to get an idea of when they will hit the 18kg? It’s worth doing, especially if they’re higher up the charts. My middle guy is just gone three, hasn’t been weighed in a while, but I know when he was weighed in the summer time, he was 16.5kg, so he wouldn’t have gotten very long out of an 18kg seat at all.

jlm29 wrote: »

If you’re looking to rear face the baby, I’d avoid the maxi cosi, it’s only rf to 87cm, not much longer than an infant carrier.
The britax dualfix, recaro zero and cybex sirona are all swivel seats that rear face to 18kg.
Have you plotted your child’s height and weight on a growth chart to get an idea of when they will hit the 18kg? It’s worth doing, especially if they’re higher up the charts. My middle guy is just gone three, hasn’t been weighed in a while, but I know when he was weighed in the summer time, he was 16.5kg, so he wouldn’t have gotten very long out of an 18kg seat at all.

Thanks for the reply, we reckon she'll probably reach 18k before she's 4 but happy to replace when required if a bit earlier. Many thanks for recommendations, I'll check them out on which.co.uk, I understand this is a fairly useful site.

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

Hi,
Does anyone know if a seat with the following features exist?

1. Rear facing
2. ISOFIX
3. No support leg, but some other means of support, for example a top tether
4. Group 0+, 1 (up to 18KG)

The closest I could find is the Maxi-Cosi AxissFix Plus i-Size , but this is only rear facing until approx 2 years old.

I suspect that this is the weight limit for isofix without support leg, but maybe someone has some suggestions?

Thanks

I think they all have support legs!

MaxiCosi Rodi XP ISOFIX now 43% off at £75:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073XK2KCN/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_PKfqCbHXWWMX4

Does anyone have this seat? Any good?

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Hi.
I'm looking for the narrowest high back Booster I can find. One that uses a seat belt I know I could put my 4 year old on a Booster but if I could find a high back that fits I'll go with it.
I'm thinking one with no side arms 46 cm is the smallest I have found so far. 4 year old 19kg

Also the narrowest seat secured with a seat belt and has a 5 point harness. If I could make this more narrow it would give extra room. 50 cm is the one I have. 2 year old 15kg

Have no budget yet as such because they can be passed along. See what's available first

The britax adventurer is definitely one of the narrowest hbb, if not the narrowest.
Are you looking for a forward or rearward facing seat with a harness? The diono radian 5 is quite narrow, and can go in either direction