Group 1 seat strategy: 2 cars and lots of rental cars and RF

[BizzeeBee]

I am planning the next car seat for when DS grows out of his cabriofix. We have 2 cars: a 3 door 2004 Fiesta without isofix and a brand new CMax with storage compartments on the floor. I live in France and frequently travel back to UK so need a car seat that can travel easily on the plane and easy to fit in rental cars. And I am keen on RF.

I think that buying 2 seats would be easiest - one that is permanently in the cmax and a travel one for the Fiesta. I've done lots of research and I'm a bit overwhelmed so would appreciate so help from the experts.

I was thinking about an Izi besafe isofix for the cmax. Then either the britax two way elite or kiddy guardian pro ff for the Fiesta / travel. The Kiddy seat is appealing because I can easily get hold of one and it will last, but it is FF.

Thanks for reading this far! My questions are:
How does my strategy sound? Does anyone have any better suggestions? Does anyone have experience of fitting the kiddy guardian in multiple cars? I've seen on another thread that the TWE is good in this respect.

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

[BertieBotts]

I have the kiddy infinity pro and find it fits in multiple cars very well. I have heard it's not as safe as RF (though have never seen a direct comparison) but it does reduce the potential strain on the neck massively in a crash and so reduces the risk of internal decapitation. It also has very good side impact protection, and I tend to think it's more escape proof. It's not a barrier to an extremely determined child, but you don't get the problem with the casual discardance of shoulder straps as so many DC seem to want to. Unless they are very tall and have very long arms it is physically impossible for them to reach the seatbelt buckle when in the seat.

The only non-obvious (ie aside from the safety argument which will be the main one) advantage I can think of for the TWE is that it can be harnessed to 25kg, whereas the Kiddy has to use the adult seatbelt from 18kg.

In a 3-door car I think FF would be massively more practical, but I don't have experience of this directly. You do have the advantage that the Cabriofix is quite a big infant seat so should be able to be used for the longest possible time. DS was 18 months when he grew out of his, small in weight, average height.

[BizzeeBee]

Thanks Bertie and Loopy. I hadn't thought about RF being inconvenient with a 3 door car. We see both sets of GPs plus friends in the uk so sadly leaving a car seat with parents won't work. That would make things easier. We are the proud owners of 3 travel cots to reduce the amount we carry and have one with each set of GPs.

We have got the car seat travel bag from kiddicare which was useful to protect the seat last time we flew.

The kiddy guardian definitely makes sense now. Plus there is the added bonus that John Lewis have them and can deliver to me for £7.50 which is much cheaper than my local shops.

I showed DH the RF seats and he's not keen. He knows and understands the physics and advantages of RF, but he thinks the seats look a bit of a lash up because the cars aren't properly designed to take them.

[thisisyesterday]

no car is "properly designed" to take any car seat. car manufacturers make their seats however they want and passenger comfort (not car seats) is their main priority.

people in scandinavia don't have special cars... they have the same as we have over here and they manage fine!

personally I would go for the 2 way elite. it's much lighter and easier to transport than a kiddy (not least because it's only one piece to carry). it's very easy to install and most importantly it's safer!

yes, it might be a bit more fiddly getting him into it in a 3-door car, but it's certainly do-able. and I would rather have a bit of faff getting my child in the seat each time than have them forward facing earlier than I absolutely had to.