Car seat for 2yo

[Chuckitinthefuckitbucket]

I'm a new driver and have a 3 door Vauxhall corsa (14 plate).
Just wondering what the best car seat would be for my dd?
I wanted to get her rear facing, found a britax one for £260 I could pick up locally and get installed then realised I'm going to have trouble getting her out of a 3 door car.
My dp (dds father) has a britax, but it's forward facing and if I'm honest until mumsnet I didn't even know they did rf for older children.
Would getting her a forward facing seat be such a bad thing?
Dp called me obsessive this morning for wanting a rf and told me they wouldn't sell unsafe car seats.
Very confused, any help appreciated!

[tryingtocatchthewind]

It's tricky as yes rf is safer and I have one. That being said in your situation I would forward face. Rear facing is challenging in a three door car and as your LO is 2 I would probably just balance the risk and go ff. The britax dual fix and cybex sirona both swivel which makes it much easier in 3 door cars but they are both small seats so for the cost you are really not going to get much use of of them. My son reached their limit at 2.5 yrs.

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

I rear face DD (3 1/2) and will do til she outgrows her Britax Two Way Elite. We had it in a three door Micra for a year, and whilst yes it is easier in a five door, I didnt find it any real bother in the three door - I jist climbed in the back and clipped her in then hopped out and into the drivers seat.

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

What carseat is she in now?

[Goanddoapoothen]

I had my DD rearfacing in a three door car. It wasn't a problem. I just got in the back with her, strapped her in then climbed out myself. Id done it from newborn though so never saw it as an issue.

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

Oops I see - a ff britax

[Chuckitinthefuckitbucket]

At the moment she is in the evola 1-2-3 plus (dps car) I haven't taken her out in my car as of yet as have been pondering over car seats!
I feel as a new driver I need to get her the safest seat, but it's not a large car, and I must say from photos the rf seems to take up a lot of room, she wouldn't have much to
Look at as the window is small but I feel it's worth a shot.
I was looking at the britax multi tech 2.

[AliceMum09]

I have a Britax Multi Tech II and it's a really good seat for the child to be able to climb into themselves because it's quite 'shallow' and sits low down in the car instead of being a 'bucket' type seat that would also be higher up.

In fact it is exactly the same seat as the Evolva 1-2-3 that you already have (I used to have the Evolva too until I discovered the benefits of rear facing). It just has a support leg on the back, and tether straps, and a bigger 'flippy bit' underneath but otherwise is no different. So if you wanted a rough idea of size, ease of getting your DD in and space it takes up you could sit your Evolva in your car rear facing and see what it looked like! Obviously it's not going to be exact, you'd need to make sure the recline 'foot' under your Evolva was flipped towards the front of the seat (in its recline position if you were fitting it forward facing) and also the front of the Multi Tech II doesn't touch the backrest of your car's seat - there is an 8cm gap. You'd probably need to tilt the Evolva back a little so it wasn't too upright. Somewhere on the Securatot website is a table of measurements that tells you how many cm the Multi Tech II needs between the backrest of your rear seat and the back of the front seat (if that makes sense!).

How old is your DD? I've never had a 3-door car (our is a big Peugeot 5008 as we have three children) but I think I would at least investigate the possibility of a rear facing seat and do my best to 'live with' the awkwardness of getting the child into the seat. Even if it means climbing into the back, and removing her shoes if she's going to be clambering about the backseat and into her car seat by herself. Rear facing is so much safer and yes, the likelyhood is that you'll never have an accident (my older two children are 9 and 6, the 9 year old went forward facing at 10 months and the 6 year old at 15 months and they were fine) but now I know the facts about rear facing I just can't take the risk with DD2, however small it might be.

[TeaPleaseBob]

What about rear facing seat in the front? In car safety centre or securatot should be able to give you ideas which seats will be a good fit.

I know the Axkid mini kid is one of most compact ERF to 25kg seats with a tall seat she'll so should lSt you a good 3/4 years still.

[TeaPleaseBob]

We use our ERF seat in my mums 3 door car and just sit in back to strap her in.

[Chuckitinthefuckitbucket]

Thanks everyone.
I I think I'm just going to tell dp whilst I'm driving she goes RF and I'll buy ones I have isofix too, are the rf compatible with this?
I thought we could locate a rf locally but I don't think they install them so it's going to have to be a bit of a journey to get one.
We live In Dorset, anyone know best place to get one?

[Goanddoapoothen]

I don't know how far you are prepared to travel but when making the decision what car seat to buy I spoke to securatot, who I think are based in Wiltshire, they were brilliant.

[TeaPleaseBob]

You would probably be better getting a seat belt fitted seat as isofix fitting only lasts until 18kg (except for the concord reverse which lasts until 23kg) whereas there are many seat belt fitted ERF seats that last until 25kg. 18kg is approx 4years and 25kg approx 6years so much better investment if your daughters already 2.
Securatot and in car safety centre will offer phone/ email advice, you don't have to go to them.

[TeaPleaseBob]

That should say concord reverso

[sockmatcher]

Check out rearfacing.co.uk for retailers. I'd actually suggest the trip to securatot though. Loads of ERF in three door cars