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

Millem wrote: »

Are your HBB narrow?
The new besafe izi flex fix HBB can apparently fit 3 across the back of a car.

The ones I have are the plain red Graco ones from Smyths

I've had a look online at www.mifold.com

Boots sell them and they conform with EU /Irish regulations from what I can see

I'm wondering would this be the way to go instead of breaking my heart looking for a narrow baby seat


Has anyone used them?

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