Rear Facing Class 1 fitted with seatbelts

[MrsDimples]

I would like to get one of the rear facing class 1 car seats for my daughter. I've been researching local stockist for fittings. My car doesn't have Isofix, so would be seat belt fixed.

I've just had a look at Which? online & these carseats come up as 'Don't Buy', due to being difficult to fit.

Should I get Isofix? How much is that?

Will the carseat be OK if fitted properly?

Should I get forward facing?

Thanks in advance.

[nicm]

hi, i have a britax two way elite that is a belted seat. it is really good and i like it better than my isofix one(KISS-although you can fit this too with just a seatbelt).

is not that hard to fit-once you've done it a few times-well no harder than the ff seats i used to have-just one extra step fitting the tether straps.

:)

[Carseatcrazy]

I've got a Besafe izi combi belt fitted and KISS. Like any car seat, you need to take care to make sure you fit them correctly, but I don't find either difficult to fit. My besafe for instance fits so securely in my car that when I rock it, it rocks the entire car! There are serious issues with the Which tests - I think there are other threads about this, but the definitely don't give an accurate picture on RF seats (I have a feeling they actually tested some of the RF seats in a FF position!!) At the end of the day they should be focusing on the main point- safety- and these seats have been proven over and over again to be 5 times safer.....Have a look on the rear facing website or call the essex ladies at the in car safety centre. hope this helps.

[twolittlekings]

I am in the same position - I have just posted before I saw this! I have been told by a paediatric friend that internal decapitation in forward facing car seats is one of the biggest causes of death of under 4's in car collisions. It's not that forward facing are unsafe but when you know the facts why would you take that risk?

I am thinking that either The Biritax multitech or the besafe izi are looking likely candidates but yes if they are not fitted properly then they are not safe so I suppose it depends on the car.

I do think it is outrageous that there is so little information out there when the BMJ and all the evidence is saying that rearfacing is the safest option. In Sweden where there are much lower records of child fatality in car crashes, all children under 6 are in rear facing.

Someone rightly pointed out on my thread that the reason why Which? says don't touch rearfacing is that the ones they tested are both forward and rearfacing so in forward facing carshes they did very badly - obviously as they are MEANT to be rear facing but they know that they will sell less if they don't gove parents the option of forward facing. Good luck!

[Nicplus1and1baking]

I had the britax first class plus as dd was attempting to get out of the straps in the stage 1 but didnt weigh enough to forward face.

I found it great, not difficult to fit at all, my car does have isofix but that particular kind of seat didnt have isofix option.
Was solid rear facing and forward fain with belts.

[Helloginger]

We have the Britax 2 way Elite, belted in. I have to say it's not ideal - fiddly straps, got to be tensioned against the front seat etc, but it was easy to fit.

[lenats31]

Those straps are vital and must be used all the time.

Isofix in rearfacing seats group 1 don´t add to crash safety at all. The system only makes it easier to install the seats and make the installation more foolproof. But with regard to crash safety only - NADA!

Isofix makes a difference in forwardfacing seats with regard to crash safety. But the seats still don´t come near the rearfacing ditto.

So don´t worry about not having isofix in your car. In fact, you can install a rearfacing seat wrong and still get a better outcome in a crash situation than with an FF seat.

STILL, you should not be easygoing on the installation.

Lena

[thisisyesterday]

if you have isofix points in your car then I would get an isofix seat simply because you know it will be installed correctly then

I have a besafe izi combi (belted version) and a britax 2 way elite

the besafe looks nicer but i prefer the britax because it's really easy to fit, light to move, cheaper and has a longer life

[thisisyesterday]

oh sorry, i just realised you don't have isofix!
no, i wouldn't worry about getting it retro-fitteed. will be very expensive and not really worth it

where do you live? the in-car safety centre in milton keynes is excellent. we got our seats from there and they were really, really helpful

[hellymelly]

We have britax two ways for both girls,(3 and just 6,still fits hers rear facing)They are fine in our car,an aged Volvo estate.Our seats came from a Swedish website accessed through www.rearfacing.co.uk and the owner was helpful about seats and fitting.

[lenats31]

Consumer tests such as those in Which. I wouldn´t say by Which, because Which don´t carry out the tests. The tests are carried out by a bunch of Germans at ADAC in Germany, Which then buy the test results.

These tests rate installation VERY high. the more steps there is in an installtion - the worse results th seats will get. It is estimated that the installation will be more difficult increasing the risks of doing it wrong. The thing that they don´t consider, is the fact that parents who choose to buy an ERF seat are somewhat more well-informed about childrens´ safety in cars, than those who choose FF seats. They are more carefull with the installation and using the seats correctly.

Not trying to step on anyone´s toes here.

Lena

[Atomant]

We have the Britax 2 way elite and it's great. DD is 18mo and looks really comfortable in it. We took her to try the kiddy ff before buying but she was hysterical every time we put her in it (went 3 separate times!!).

Following that we did some further research and knowing that in most crash instances rf was safer, we opted for a rf.

The 2we is a bit fiddly on the first install, but the instructions are good and when you've done it once, it's easy.

Bought ours from the in car safety centre in milton keynes, if your close, they'll try it in your car, if not they'll talk to you over the phone about the suitability of your car.

[CarGirl]

We had the 2 way elite and found it fine to instal, took a while the first time but after that as easy as installing any other stage 1 seat tbh.

After rear facing til 4 the forward facing seat that use impact cushions are actually safer in accidenta as the neck takes less of the strain.

[lagrandissima]

Go to //www.rearfacing.co.uk and find the Essex in car safety centre - there are contact numbers and the women who work there are experts on providing advice about fitting both FF and RF seats in cars.

FWIW, we have a Britax Multi Tech (rearfacing to 25kgs) and a BeSafe Izikid (rearfacing to 18kgs in the UK, although approved to 25kgs in other EU countries). Both are slightly more complicated to fit than the FF versions (they use tethers and ratchet system), but as they are X5 safer for the children in a frontal collision, it's a no brainer. There are now many UK retailers (listed on the above website) who will give you advice and help in fitting RF seats.

Also, RF seats do badly in Which? tests because they factor in 'ease of fitting' when they calculate their percentage marks. As it is estimated that 70% of FF carseats are incorrectly fitted by British parents, the assumption is made that UK consumers would, in general, be less likely to correctly fit the slightly more complicated RF seat. However, if you inform yourself properly, no problem.

HTH.

[beautifulgirls]

We have a besafe izi combi belted in and it is great - really easy to use for getting DD in and out. We found the shop through the rearfacing website and they fitted it for us to check how well it fitted - in both of our cars. They said to us if we had any problems with fitting it to go back to them and they would do it again for us or check it etc. Their service was brilliant and we are truely happy with the seat. The down side perhaps is the amount of space it takes up in the car, they are bulky, but small price to pay for safety and I wouldn't change.