Help!! Car seat 2015 ford mondeo?

[SqidgeBum]

Hi,

My DD is nearly out of her baby car seat. We bought a new car, a 2015 ford mondeo estate, 3 weeks before lockdown but never got around to getting the car seat before lockdown. The baby/car seat shops dont look like they are opening anytime soon to have one fitted, so now I am trying to find out what car seats may be an option for us. It is getting to the point of really needing one.

DD is quite small. She currently weighs just under 9.5 kgs and is on the 20th percentile. Is her height important?

What car seats do people who have a Ford Mondeo have? I would like one that is rear facing til 4 at least.

Any help anyone can give would be so welcome. My head is boggled.

[RubaiyatOfAnyone]

We have a 2012 Mondeo and i assume there’s not much difference.

After the smallest baby seat we got the Joie 360 which rotates and was totally brilliant for saving my back. Dd outgrew it at just turned 4 but she was always 75th centile, and i got another joie for the 4-12 bit because i had rated it so highly.

Tbh, you have a large car with isofix - any carseat will fit it. Read some specs, see what others do or don’t like, decide which are deal breakers for you, and that usually whittles it down to one anyway. Good luck!

[RubaiyatOfAnyone]

Ps, you don’t need a Fitter with isofix, it just clicks into place, so you can fit anything you buy in 30 seconds

[TwoKidsStillStanding]

We use a Joie Every Stage in a 2012 Ford Mondeo with a seatbelt. Occasional use but no issues.

How old is your daughter? She sounds quite light to have grown out of her baby seat - in view of her weight I would definitely rear face.

[SqidgeBum]

Dd is 18 months. She is very small for her age, but she is nearly out of the baby seat. I am getting uncomfortable putting her in it now safety wise. We really do need to bite the bullet and get a new one.

I was looking at joie. It keeps popping up. Does anyone know anything about the joie verso? It seems to go further than the everystages but I am not sure of the cons to the seat.

[BubblesBuddy]

I’m not sure it’s possible to rear face until 4. Where would her legs go? Usually you do forward facing but in the back seat. From when their legs are too long and you do need to be able to see DC in my view, not just the back of the seat.

[randomsabreuse]

Cyber Sirona goes nicely in our 60 plate Mondeo. Is technically a newborn upwards seat and should get to nearly 4 for a slight child.

After that was outgrown in height (3.2 for us) we got the Britax Two way elite which is much taller and could RF to 25kg.

That model Mondeo will do anything except possibly seats requiring top tethers (usually forward facing?) - we were restricted by our second car which is smaller in the back.

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

I’m not sure it’s possible to rear face until 4. Where would her legs go?

Yep, it's possible. Extended rear facing seats have more legroom. My own dc had the Britax Two way Elite which I highly recommend. They would cross their legs or hang them over the sides of the seat and were very comfortable.

As they grow, the seat sits more upright which leaves a little football between the carseat and the seat.

It's a much much safer way for your dc to travel.

Why not call the In Car Safety centre? They may still be advising over the phone and you can order items direct from them.

[OhWifey]

In Car Safety centre is opening on 1st June. So you could see if you live near one. They do phone calls too though and it doesn't sound like you need any complex advice, just a chat through your options. I'd give them a call.

To PP who said you can't rear face til 4, there are a number of seats which will rear face an average child til 6. They cross their legs or put them up the back of the seat. These children then often complain when they have to forward face that their legs are uncomfortable dangling!

[Sunshinegirl82]

If you are keen to rear face as long as possible you might be better with a 25kg rear facing seat (axkid minikid) or similar. That said because your DD is lower on the percentiles she should be able to able rear face until 4 in most seat that rear face until 18kg. My DS is 4 next month and still comfortably rear facing in a cybex sirona.

All car seats have a “fit list”so you can check it to make sure the seat you like is compatible with your car. The safest seats are those that have passed the Swedish Plus Test.

In Car Safety Center are definitely open and taking orders online, and giving advice over the phone as I have spoken with them recently.

[SqidgeBum]

Oh if they are opening on the 1st of june I could wait til then and go and see them! Safety is a big factor in choosing the seat, obviously. I have heard and read a few concerning things about joies and their safety tests but I don't know whether to be genuinely concerned. I have heard good things about Axkid.

[teaandbiscuitsforme]

bubbles Of course children can rear face until at least 4 years old! It's by far the safest way for any child to travel.

OP Mine are currently 5 and 3 and are both in Axkid Minikids. They are fantastic seats. However, as your DD is quite small I'd possibly get something like the Joie Stages as she is unlikely to outgrow it by 4.

[BertieBotts]

You can get seats which have plenty of room for legs, don't worry :) And you can just fit a mirror if you want to see the child (they also enjoy looking at themselves!)

You have the choice in rear facing seats of a seat up to 18kg/105cm (depending on whether it is i-size or not) or a seat up to 25kg. For your DD the 18kg/105cm will likely last her until around 4.5-5years old, and the 25kg seats would last her until she's about 7 or 8, if you wanted to use it that long.

So which type to get depends on your budget and what features you would like. I second the recommendation for the in car safety centre, you'll certainly get good advice there if you can make it to a store :)

The Joie Verso is the same seat as the Joie Every Stage but they have removed the forward facing option with harness. You can use it as a rear facing seat up to 18kg and then from 15-36kg it can be turned around to use as a high backed booster but you can't use it forwards with harness. To be honest I wouldn't recommend either if you have the choice, as the Verso doesn't do very much better for safety than the Every Stage! The Every Stage performed so poorly forward facing with harness that it failed ADAC/Which? testing and got a Don't Buy score. The Verso was Joie's response to this. Joie seats are basic, but their isofix seats do very well in safety testing.

Seatbelt fitted up to 18kg seats range from £60-180 and some have the booster seat included for after you finish rear facing. One issue with these seats though is that they are very reclined like an infant carrier and they all have the seatbelt routing in the way of getting the child in/out which can be annoying. A good budget or spare seat, but if you have more money to throw at the situation, I recommend an isofix one.

Isofix fitted up to 18kg/105cm seats are in the region of £180-400 but the nice thing about these is that a lot of them spin to get the child in and out which is a very nifty feature to have!

All 25kg seats are seatbelt fitted because isofix can't support this weight of child, but the seatbelt routing is different to the 18kg seats so they aren't as reclined. They're also about £160-350. As a rule of thumb I think the 25kg seats are a bit more comfortable for children over 2, whereas a lot of the 18kg seats feel quite cramped after about age 3.

[BubblesBuddy]

I always bought the safest car for passengers (RR Discovery and X5 etc) and my DC really wouldn’t have wanted rear facing for all those years. I liked to be able to have some idea about what they were doing and they didn’t want to drape their legs over the side of a seat. Personal choice but it doesn’t matter where you put DC if your car is crap. (The ops car isn’t but plenty have poor crash results).

[SimonJT]

How does a discovery or x5 prevent a young forward facing child from suffering neck injuries in a crash?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Personal choice but it doesn’t matter where you put DC if your car is crap

Well this is a load of shit.

You can drive the greatest car on earth but if you have a high speed crash with dc sat on your knee they will likely die.

[BubblesBuddy]

???? I was not suggesting not using a car seat for a child. Why would you think that I meant that?

But using a brilliant seat in a crap car with poor safety test results is only as good in many accidents as the car will allow. Larger cars with excellent safety features do fare better in accidents. They keep occupants safer. That’s what the tests are all about.

Which says it’s ok to use forward facing from 15 months, not over 4 years. 15 months could be too early but many people are certainly happy with 18 months in the highest rated passenger safety cars.

[SimonJT]

How does a car with a higher ncap rating prevent a forward facing toddler from neck injury?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

You literally said "it doesn't matter where you put your dc" not "it doesn't matter which carseat you choose"

[SqidgeBum]

@BertieBotts you know your stuff! Amazing. We arent working off a budget so I am happy to pay more for a safe seat, especially an isofix one. I use an isofix for the baby carrier and love them. What seat would you recommend to be isofix RF to 18kg and FF after that? I know its safer to RF to 25kg but I am afraid of buying, for example, an Axkid, and finding at 20kg that DD hates being RF. I had car sickness as a kid and needed to be able to see out of the window. I am a little worried about being stuck with a RF to 25kg seat if she is like me. We also do lots of long journeys (caravan family) and don't know how comfortable it is to RF at age 5 or 6 for 5 or more hours.

If you had to recommend a RF to 18kg and FF to 25kg, what would you recommend? Also, what 25kg RF would you recommend? I know Axkid have great reviews.

[BubblesBuddy]

I was clearly talking about using the car seat in a 5* ncap rated car. So no need to be utterly literal.

However an accident where a toddler goes forward is only one sort of accident. Side accidents are common. Passenger protection is key in all sorts of accidents. If everyone worried about this, no child would ever go forward facing and most do before 4.

Obviously, therefore, most parents are reckless. But buying a car with poor crash resistance is very stupid. Plenty of parents do this and I don’t understand why they risk it, but they do.

[BertieBotts]

Since the OP has said she wants a rear facing seat is it really useful to come along and have a discussion about how you personally don't want to rear face? OP has hardly said everyone should rear face. She's just looking for a recommendation for a car seat.

Squidge - it's pretty rare to get to around 20kg and suddenly find they are car sick. It tends to be either from birth or around age 2 if it happens, and you get some indication earlier because they tend to be generally uncomfortable/unhappy in the car just without actually puking. There is also some evidence that direction doesn't affect travel sickness. I'm not sure about this, because I get travel sick myself and it does seem to be a problem for me, and anecdotally I've heard of plenty of DC who are less sick travelling forwards, but the research does seem to suggest it makes no difference which might mean there are things you can do to mitigate it regardless of direction.

But if you are likely to have another child, this is absolutely a decision you can postpone, because eventually you'll need two seats in the toddler stage. So even if you get a really long lasting RF one for DD and then a year into using it she suddenly starts puking everywhere, you could get her a FF seat and keep the RF toddler seat for DC2 (who will hopefully not be travel sick!) If you only plan to have the one child, it might be something you want to think about earlier. But I'm not sure how common travel sickness even is any more, I know for me it was massively exacerbated by my parents smoking in the car, which is very rare now, so it might be that it's actually become less common. I don't know if there are stats anywhere.

I would not recommend any seat which goes rear facing up to 18kg and forward facing after that, because they are all combo seats with a booster and these tend to perform poorly. They also tend to be seatbelt fit which means that the child is in a very reclined position like an infant carrier with very limited leg room, and the seatbelt is in the way when putting them in and out. They are OK for spare seats or if you're on a tight budget, but if you can afford to spend more, I would recommend you get a seat which is dedicated either to the 0-18kg stage or 9-25kg stage, and then get a separate high backed booster later on which can do the HBB job well. High backed booster seats are about a quarter of the price of toddler seats, so it's not something you need to be saving on by bundling it into another seat.

There are a lot which go both rear and forward facing so if you're unsure about committing to RF for the whole time this is what I'd look at. There are loads of these up to 18kg - I could probably list them all but I'm coming up with more than 15 just off the top of my head! If you think there's a significant chance you'll use it FF, I'd look at one with a high safety score from ADAC - I can look these up in a bit if you want. I need to go and do bedtime now (am an hour ahead of UK).

Up to 25kg there is just the one that can go both ways which is the Diono Radian 5. It's not my favourite 25kg seat, it seems to be a bit marmite among the car seat world, but it is solid and it does work.

Having said that, I do think that once you get past about the age of 2, if you have a rear facing child they are likely to be more comfortable in a 25kg seat, so these are a better investment if you're totally certain about rear facing.

I have to admit to you I have not personally had a child rear face yet any longer than 21 months (which is the age of my youngest! DS1 was 18 months when he went forward, it was 10 years ago) but if you go on the rear facing car seat groups on FB you will see plenty of rear facing 5 and 6 year olds and the members report that they are very comfy and/or that they complain once they switch to a forward facing booster seat. You could do a search for long journeys or add your own question about long journeys. I will say long journeys was one reason we decided on a spin seat, because we thought if DS2 gets really grouchy during a long drive (we do 10 hours + breaks, so it's a long day) and he's old enough we're comfortable with occasional FF then we can try a different direction for him.

If I had to recommend one seat up to 18kg RF - either Axkid Modukid, or any of the well-rated seats with the spin function.

If I had to recommend one seat up to 25kg - Britax Max Way Plus, or Besafe izi Plus X1. But yes, the Axkid seats are brilliant as well. They are all good really!

[SqidgeBum]

You have to be the most helpful person on MN @BertieBotts! After taking your advice, we have decided to go for a 25kg rear facing, even if we decide to FF after 4. Unfortunately the Britax Max Way Plus doesnt fit in our car, but we have (nearly) decided on the Axkid Move.

You have made something very stressful a lot easier. Thank you!

[BertieBotts]

That's great! I'm so glad you've made a decision :)