Kiddy Infinity Pro

Thanks to CHACHAMUMMY. i HAVE JUST ORDERED THE KIDDY COMFORT PRO FROM GERMANY TO SEND TO ME IN SPAIN WHERE CAR SEAT PRICES ARE HORRIFIC! ANYWAY LOVELY RED AND BLACK ONE COMING AT COST OF 189€; IN TOTAL JUST OVER £150 169€; SEAT PLUS 20€; POSTAGE DHL! I can't wait to get it and have made a great saving sent to my door!!THANKS AGAIN

Groan, I wish I could be more positive. When this car seat works, it is great, however when it doesn't the effect could be catastrophic. I have now emailed Kiddy 3 times and eventually got a reply back yesterday. My email stated:

"I initially emailed you to voice my concerns with my child escaping from your Kiddy Energy Pro car seat on 7/12/11 but didn't receive a reply. I then re-sent the email and still didn't receive a response. I find this very disappointing considering the grave and potentially life threatening issues I raised. I have since continued to use the car seat and have made some discoveries.

When my (14 month old) son is wearing a bulky padded coat he finds it much easier to manoeuvre the Impact shield out of the car seat and escape. Therefore I have stopped putting him in the car seat wearing bulky clothing (not ideal in the cold weather but obviously safety is paramount). This was successful ...; until this week when he managed to once again push the bar out of the car seat and fall under it despite being in thin clothing.

On investigation I discovered that if my son pushes the bar with both hands it remains in place. However if he pushes at an angle with one hand on the end of the bar (nearest the door of the car) it can be levered out with enough force. If it still doesn't come out he can then push the other end and by alternating pushing one end then the other he can wiggle the bar out.

I even tried securing the bar in place without my son in the car seat and by copying this manoeuvre I could also remove the bar as the seatbelt loosens with each movement despite being hooked in with both straps.

Whilst I appreciate your car seat has excellent safety records I would urge you to carry out some tests regarding this matter as it is obviously extremely dangerous for a child to be able to escape from the seat during transit. I am now in a quandary as to whether I continue use of this seat or replace it with a different model, which is obviously not ideal as the seat was not a cheap option.

Are you waiting for a child to escape, cause an accident and be seriously injured or worse before you investigate this? I am aware I am not the only customer who has had this problem. I would appreciate an urgent response to this email."

In response they stated (extracted):

"Throughout the last ten years we sold 400.000 seats with impact shields. Consumer information and complaint sheets proof that this incident is really a singular case." and "Of course it is necessary to fasten the seat belt according to the manual. By this the child shouldn't be able to unbuckle the impact shield."

So apparently my case is the only case and it is obviously my fault as I haven't strapped him in properly. Yet, I have watched all the instruction videos available and read the instructions in detail. Plus as from this page and the reviews on the Infinity and Guardian Pro as well as reviews on Which? this is clearly not an isolated case. I have sent back a strongly worded email and copied in many of the reviews I have found. I await response.

So beware, if your child is a wriggler then DO NOT purchase this seat and if you do complain to the company beware they will probably insist it is YOUR fault and you are the ONLY person this has happened to rather than investigating this serious safety issue.

As an update, during a 5 mile journey today, we had to stop twice to reseat our daughter (she slipped under the rest). I fail to see how this can possibly gain top marks for safety. We decided it is not fit for purpose and have today ordered a new seat. This seat may be very good, if you have a compliant child.......its an expensive test to fail.

I have to admit, I think this harks back to a bygone era, using the cars own seat belt and not its own system, nor does it use isofix. The cars seatbelt threads through a front panel, that my child dislikes...so as you are trying to thread and fasten, she tries to wriggle out - a problem we never had with the maxi cosi system previously. She also managed to wriggle down bwfind the panel on a recent trip, meaning I had to make a emergency stop on a dual carriageway, to dig her out. We are seriously discussing scrapping and buying again.

So easy to use, top safety ratings and DS loves it.

I have given this top marks for the criteria that Mumsnet have selected.

WARNING that is not the whole story, my 20 month old has managed to wriggle under the cushion part on a number of occaisions. I've taken out the booster cushion in the hope that, that stops it, but, I am not hopeful.

Yes it get's top marks for everything, but it's not really the safest on the market if a lo can wriggle out of it! So don't buy it for that.

We spent months researching for the safest car seat and bought one of these. At first it was great but once my baby became a wiggliy toddler and now a 21 month year old this seat has been an absolute nightmare for us. No matter how hard we strap the cushion part, he can easily push it off with his hands and can be standing up and out of the car seat in seconds. This was horrendous driving on the motorway back from Cornwall recently. I had to sit in the back to keep him in the seat. I have had numerous occasions where I have been driving and have suddenly found my child standing up in the back or worse in the foot well of the car after he has climbed out! It is so dangerous and we will have to buy another car seat. It might be OK if you have a very placid baby but didn't work for us at all. I am so so concerned about it that I will be writing to the manufacturer and shop where I bought the car seat.

since there doesn't seem to be an category for the kiddy guardian pro, I thought I'd add this here. Basically, the guardian pro is the premium version of the comfort pro: from what I can see the extra £30 or so is for extra crumple zones in the side wings, and - the major reason we went for it- it is approved for airline use (we have an infinity pro but DS was flying to Australia and the infinity pro isn't airline ok)
So... why do we like it?
Firstly: It's not a 5-point harness. We had to use harness seats in Australia because the EU seats aren't Australian regulation compliant. I HATED THOSE SEATS!!! Uncomfortable, fiddly to secure with the seat belt, bloody heavy... and DS could get out of the straps within minutes of strapping him in. How is that safe???
Whereas the kiddy seats are light, foolproof to fit in in any car, and he cannot - even when throwing tanties - get out of the impact shield.
The guardian pro is 9 month- 12 years. Given that the new safety recommendations are that a child should stay in a seat with side protection until 12 years old, I see the guardian pro and a great investment.
One recommendation- the kiddy b-cool cover available separately really helps reduce sweaty backs in summer.

I wanted the safest car seat for my son, he was just under a year but very tall and outgrowing his maxi cosi that fitted on our Quinny Buzz Buggy. Which magazine recommended it, I looked around and came across this car seat but I wanted to fit my son in it first to see how he'd be, and couldn't find anywhere that sold it to be able to just walk in. Halfords and Mothercare don't sell it but I found Mama and papas did there version of it and on special offer. We tried it in the shop and its great. Everyone who see's it thinks it looks awful and they'd never use it but I care about safety and this is definetly the best car seat.

I bought this car seat over 2 years ago for my daughter. We did our research as like any parent we wanted the safest product on the market. At the time it was only on sale from Germany via a few companies in this country, but we thought we would splash out the extra after seeing the benefits of the design and watching the safety video that showed the difference between the 5 point harness and the kiddy lap support. Since the age of 9 months our daughter has completely loved this seat, yes at first it does seem odd not to have support going over the shoulder, but the seat offers full support from all sides and especially around the head area. It really is so easy to move the seat from one car to another, just tilt the seat back and the two parts can be moved as one. I especially am impressed with the seat since my child has moved into the next stage of not needing her lap support. The belt is easily positioned and tucks away neatly away from her neck. She still has that protective support throughout and the seat literally grows with her. This seat is fantastic, my daughter has been in other 5 point harness car seats and although is quite comfortable just seems to love this seat. The other added bonus is it comes in great colours and washable too!!

I bought the 'comfort pro' for my grandaughter when she was 18months, as she is a wriggler and gets her arms out of the traditional 5 point seat belt, plus the safety aspects looked great. I looked it over in John Lewis and it also seemed very easy and light to move in and out of cars. So pleased I did, as we had a recent car accident with side impact on the side my grandaughter was sitting.She is fine no problems whereas mum in the front has whiplash and torn eardrum from the deployment of the side air bags. Plus she found the seat comfy and the impact shield makes for a great table.

My DD has used this lightweight seat from 20 mths when we got it for grandparents' cars/holidays. It's far lighter and easier to carry around than our everyday maxi cosi seat - I even managed a solo flight to New York with it (checked it in in a black bin liner) and easily used it in a cab from the airport and relatives' cars. It's incredibly easy to strap in and very grandparent-friendly.

My DD sleeps well in it, esp when it's in the reclined position, though she looks quite slumped forwards over the impact bar. This seat is particularly great for kids who sleep on their fronts who may not feel so comfy in the traditional lean-back seats. That said it does get quite sweaty in the summer - I see they sell a summer cover which may help with that. The impact bar has a handy elastic band to attach toys and buggy books to. Would recommend.

Apprehensive at first; went for it; ds 22mo fell asleep on the way back from the shop; loves it; seems very comfy; very easy and idiot-proof to fit; easy to ferry between two cars; washable covers including a removable pad (invaluable for potty training. Very happy with our decision to go against the masses.

Very good seat. We bought it because of the outstanding safety ratings. But it is also very easy to use and much lighter than other seats.

I bought it online from a German company (www.laluz-menden.de) - not sure if I'm allowed to mention the company itself, but if you do a search for Kiddy seats on the German language Google (www.google.de) you'll find lots of companies and many have a English language option. P&P to the UK is around £20 but this is still a saving on the UK price.

I was sceptical about this car seat when I first saw the Which? review, however DH did his research and decided that we should at least go and see one. We contacted a local company and went to see the seat and have it fitted. It looks alot nicer in real life than in pics.
DS's weren't too sure but seemed to like the bright colours. It fitted great in the car (Citroen Xsara Picasso) and I was impressed with the facts.
We decided to buy 2, One Infinity Pro in Blue for DS (13 Months) and one Comfort Pro in the light blue for our other DS (3.5yrs)
The service we recieved from Baby2k.com was fantastic, they were very pleasent and were more than happy to help us. We didn't feel rushed or pushed at all (which is rare!) I would highly recommend them to anyone!
Initially DS's were dubious and not too keen on the seats but have gradually gotten used to them. They now love their car seats and look so comfy in them!
I was worried about my 18month old being too small and slipping under the belt, but he has been fine and looks well supported and cosy! The fabrics are really soft and washable, which we all know is handy!!!
The comfort pro came with a toy and the infinity didn't, but Baby2k.com also stock the toys on their own which is really handy as jelously between siblings is never fun!
Sorry for such a long review, I just love the carseat and think that everyone should try it!

I got this for my four year old but actually you could use this from 9kg upto 12 years. Really easy to use in terms of adjusting and moving from car to car. It has an impact shield which apparently greatly reduces the risk of neck injury. Its nice and roomy which will be great as he grows. And you can wash the covers.

My son hated this seat, and so I'm now in the process of researching and buying a new seat for him, as this one made car journeys unbearable. I watched the videos on the Which Guide, and was totally sold on the safety benefits; the seat is light and reasonably portable (although you have to carry the 2 different parts); it looks good; it looks soft and comfortable. But bottom line is my son hated it - he hated the bar across and would spend an entire journey crying and trying to push it off; it would often slip up and it was difficult to secure the whole seat and bar in the right place. We have recently borrowed his cousin's Maxi Cosi Tobi for a few journeys, in which he was completely happy. So unfortunately its going to go!

I bought this car seat after reading reviews on Which? saying it was one of the safest car seats on the market. I have a 14 month old daughter and she is constantly trying to wriggle out of it and doesn't like the bar over her at all. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who has a LO who moves a lot! My daughter has managed to wriggle down under the bar even when the seatbelt was on properly. Unfortunately I'm going to have to buy another seat as she is very unhappy sitting in it. There are some plus points, however: it must be relatively comfy as she does fall asleep in it now and again, it does look good and it is easy to move between cars. If your wee one doesn't move in the seat much then I would recommend it, otherwise, stay clear and go for a 5 point harness fitting instead.

I have the kiddy infinity pro which only goes up to age four but has same bar system, we think its fab our little one has low muscle tone and so is floppier than the average we feel happy that she is safely held in and if she falls asleep uses the front bar as a head rest rather flopping all over. occasional crossness about putting her in but easy to overcome, her older cousin however hated the seat so maybe its something you have to get them used to early. Another enormous plus is how light it is and very portable between cars with no complicated fitting mechanism.

After hearing many positive things about the Kiddy car, I felt I had to look at it. My daughter, 9 months at the time, was ready for her next car seat and rather than just go for what everyone else was buying I decided to do my research. I'm glad I did, otherwise I wouldn't have found this fantastic car seat.

When I first saw the seat I was instantly attracted by how comfortable it looked. It was plush, padded and soft - perfect for my little girl who likes a sleep in the car. And I was really impressed with the headrest, which actually looked like it would do the job it was supposed to. It almost cuddles your baby's head and I felt rest assured that it would protect my daughter from any side impact.

The one thing I was concerned about with the car seat is the lack of traditional harness. The Kiddy Comfort has the bar instead. However, having researched why it has the bar, and watched a video on how it performs in a crash situation, I was convinced that safety was not an issue, in fact I thought it was safer.

The seat isn't just comfortable it looks the business too. It comes in so many different colours, and certainly grabs more attention than the traditional black chairs. I opted for a raspberry with silver trim one and we love it. And more importantly my daughter thinks it's great. With her hands free she can play with her toys and doesn't feel restricted. I think she found it strange at first having been used to a harness, but once she got used to the bar neither of us have looked back.

Finally, it's really easy to install and if you have more than one car this is really handy, as swapping it over is no problem.

This seat is a great find, and certainly stands out from the crowd...

I really wanted a rear-facing seat but have no car of my own so needed a seat that was easy to fix in any vehicle when friends/family take me out.

This seat is really lightweight, you can pick up with one hand, ds on reins in the other, and make it to the car/back in doors in 1 trip. The safety speaks for itself. See other reviews and kiddy website. The impact shelf is easy to fit, sometimes we have a little struggle but not often. No probs with sleeping as seat doesn't recline once buckled up.

I didn't put ds forward-facing until 12 months and found the seat just fitted him then, wouldn't suit a small baby.

Really good price on the internet. No problems with overheating. Able to attach toys. Sits low in the car but this makes it easy for child to get in and out on their own. Haven't washed fabrics yet, they really are wipe clean.

Highly recommended.

i bought this seat as a booster as it was the only seat that would fit with two other car seats in a row in our car. it is slimmer than other seats which is useful if you have to get three in! i think this seat is fine up to the weight of 18kg (around 4 years) with the impact cushion, and is great in that with this seat there will be less force on the neck in an accident (though nowhere near as good as a rear facing seat). But i don't think it works as well as a booster seat as the gap for the three point seatbelt to route through is too small. it only works in the middle of the car where the seatbelt comes from the ceiling of the car, where the retraction force is greater, but won't work if the seat is at the sides. Every time my son leans forward, the seatbelt doesn't go back again unless he pushes it back, which is a little unsafe! i tried this seat in my fathers car and the same thing happened. my son used the impact cushion for a few months until he was 18kg and he was fine with it. Kiddy are aware of the problem of seatbelts getting stuck, just be warned to test this in your car before buying as you might not be getting as many years out of it as you think!

I've been really impressed by this product, and I'm going to give it a really thorough review as I was in two minds myself before I bought it!

Safety
Originally, when looking for Hannah's 'big girl' car seat I only wanted rear facing. Just look at the videos on you tube to see why! But I was not so enthused with importing one, they seemed to be in the £200+ price bracket and I had serious doubts they'd fit in our little corsa. Then I stumbled across Kiddy. Their seats have better side protection than any of the rear facing car seats, and because of the impact cushion your child isn't at risk of the macabre sounding 'internal decapitation' that may occur in other front facing car seats.

Comfort
This was the big worry for me in buying the seat. I'd read reviews of children that absolutely hated the feeling of the impact cushion and others that were too small for it and slipped through down during a journey. Bearing these in mind we did a few dry runs in the house, but I think we needn't have bothered. Hannah adored the seat and the cushion, every time we put it on I say 'bang, bang' and she wallops it and laughs in delight. It never seems to bother her no matter how long the journey. I wonder if we avoided the tantrums other babies had because this is her first forward facing seat? As to falling through - when we first got the seat and did the dry runs Hannah was almost 7 months, and nearly 9kg and she had no problems, and never has, no matter how long our journey.
Another problem I had with the seat before buying it was that you couldn't recline it whilst on a journey. In reality this hasn't proved to be a problem. The seat is reclined enough in the upright position that her head never hangs forward when sleeping. Also, it is so easy to flip it into the recline position one handed if she's sleeping before I put her in. Another fab thing we discovered is that if the car seat is in the front then, because it sits against the back of the chair, you can just recline the passenger seat and the car seat also reclines!
Apart from these areas, the seat is generally really comfy, very well padded and Han has always seemed really happy in it. In fact, I think she falls asleep in it more readily than her cabriofix!

Portability & Fastening in
The seat has to win top marks for portability! Simply pick it up and put it into the next car and off you go! Well not quite - first you have to strap in the baby. This is very simple I find, but possibly slightly more hassle than a 5-point. And I do mean slightly. Also, Han has never thrown too much of a tantrum as I've put her in, which I imagine would make it more difficult (though the same is true with more traditional fastenings, I guess!). The main bugbear compared to ordinary systems, is that you have to reach right around the seat to strap it in. Not a problem for me, but I imagine if you have back-trouble it would be annoying to try and reach right round to the belt slot.
Other
Style - The seat looks quite fancy, I've had quite a few 'oohs', and people seem to know it's a pricey seat. I've got the dark grey model and was pleased with its appearance when it arrived.
Cleaning - I've not had to clean it yet but I checked that all the covers are removable and I believe are machine washable.
Extras - the seat has a belt on the front of the impact cushion that you can attach dangling toys to, I've not used this much, but folks say it gets in the way of fastening the seat. Although Han is too young to do much but bang, you imagine that an older child would have great fun having a 'table' in front of them to run cars along, etc.
Adjusting - This is super quick 'n' easy. The main adjustment is to pull a lever on the back of the seat, and it adjusts up and out, simple as that! There is a cushion underneath her that has 2 adjustments as she grows and can be removed entirely. And the front of the bottom pulls out - but we've not used any of these except the baby settings obviously!
Value - Comparable to other seats on the market, I'd say the value was really quite good. A lot of the safety of a rear facing but much cheaper (for the infinity pro)/long lasting (comfort pro). I got the comfort pro for £175, and considering it will give her side impact protection until the age of 12 - I think it's a pretty good deal!

An excellent idea, the Comfort and Infinity car seats got excellent marks in the recent "Which?" tests, which is why we bought ours.

There are no harnesses, just a large cushion which fits around your baby and is held in place with the seatbelt. The cushion is very big, our boy quite likes sleeping against it (no more sore neck from falling asleep with a hanging head) and I'm sure it offers great protection in a crash. The seat also has large side imapct cushions, an various reviews say the most common impact is a side impact, so these are important.
Pros: Easy to fit and move from car to car, does well in reviews, comfortable (for our son), lasts until they are 9-10 yrs old. Very reasonably priced
Cons: Different to all others on the market, (not tried and tested in the UK, but common in mainland europe), as the child is very well cushioned, could get hot in summer (although fabric is honeycombed and breathable), most shops had sold out when we tried to buy ours.

I bought this after much research and reading tis good reviews and top marks in the Which? safe ratings.

The inmpact cushion keeps DD nice and snug with no way of her getting out or slipping down. (shes a slim thing too... 13mths and only 19.5 lbs)
She never has any trouble sleeping in it even without it being reclined. She has plenty of arm movement and the impact cushion has a strip across it that is perfect for attaching too.

Its very easy to fit and fits in any car we have tried- an advantage of using the 3point belt.
Covers are all removable and washable plus its really lightweight too.

This is a fantastic car seat. For those not familiar with the Kiddy brand, these car seats use an impact cushion rather than a 5-point harness to secure the child in place. The standard adult lap belt feeds through the impact cushion and over the child rather than under the car seat. It is easy to put the child in and out and to move the car seat from car to car - the seat is pretty light. It's fantastic for long car journeys when expecting your child to sleep - there is a recline mode and a very good head support so that their head does not loll forward or to the side when asleep. The child also cannot undo the harness which can happen with conventional seats. From a safety point of view it is top notch which is why we got it - check out the kiddy website. We also have a conventional car seat as a second car seat and the belt can loosen over time so you have to constantly check the installation is correct. Not the case with the kiddy. Well worth the money.

A different design, no five-point harness but instead a seat and a bolster ('impact shield') held in place over the torso by the normal seatbelt.
This allows the child a bit of lateral movement and seems near-impossible to undo - the child would have to have Mr Tickle arms to reach down and unbuckle. The bolster also provides a platform to play on - ours is printed with a road and there are cute toys attached. The whole seat is light and easy to move from car to car.
It came out very well in recent Which safety tests (http://www.which.co.uk/news/2008/12/kiddy-infinity-pro-car-seat-storms-which-tests-164850.jsp). We've been really happy with it.