A few questions about correctly fitting a car seat

[fairywing]

We have just bought the maxi cosy streety travel system, including car seat, for our first baby due in December. The people in the shop where we bought it were beyond useless so could not advise us. We decided to buy it anyway based on the fact that i knew maxi cosy was a good make and it claimed to be 'universal'. We have a mitsubishi colt and have also purchased the base to leave in the car that goes with the car seat. Now for the questions...

The base sticks out slightly on the seat when in the back as in the base is longer than the depth of the seat. Is that a problem?

The seat feels very secure when installed in terms of forwards and backwards and sideways rocking movement and hardly budges at all. However if i grab the base i can sort of swing it round on the seat slightly. Is this a problem?

For a newborn do i need an extra hear support with this car seat? and if so could i just use a rolled up muslin??

Is there anwhere you can go with your car seat to check we are installing it correctly??

Thanks for any help with this

[StealthPolarBear]

where did you buy it?

[StealthPolarBear]

oh sorry just saw they weer useless!
halfords do it but i'd imagine thas when youve bought from them
think the police/fire service(??) offred this sort of service a few years ago

[fairywing]

yeah i thought of Halfords but apparently it is only if you buy from them. Will see if i can find anything out about local police and fire - thanks.

[BertieBotts]

There are a few Car Seat Safety Centres dotted around the country, or any Mothercare/Halfords do car seat fitting - maybe you could go in and say you bought it from their website and could they possibly show you how to fit it? We bought a car seat from Mothercare at the baby show and took it to the store before DS was born to check it was fitted correctly.

You shouldn't need a head support with the Maxi Cosi seat - you shouldn't add anything to the seat like a padded liner if it has not been crash tested with the seat as in a serious collision some fillings can compress and cause the straps to be too loose. For this reason you should also never put babies or children into carseats wearing padded coats, polar fleece is ok, or I just used to put a blanket on DS over the straps.

[StealthPolarBear]

my maxi cosi cabriofix comes with a head hugger thing

[StealthPolarBear]

car seat safety ctrs sound like a good plan!

[lillypie]

Have a look at this

A maxi cosy infant carrier can be safely fitted just using the seat belt if your base doesn't fit your car properly.

[fairywing]

I will try Mothercare, thanks!
It does seem more secure with the base so would prefer to use it if it is safe its just the fact that it is slightly longer than the seat that concerns me although i can't logically think why this would actually be a problem when i look at it

[StealthPolarBear]

I think outs might be...is yours the isofix base?

[fairywing]

No its just a seat belt one