got a new seat for dd now concerned!!!

[beaniesinthepumpkinagain]

Up until last month, neither me or dp could drive, he passed his test and weve brought a Peugeot 106 3dr (despite tuts and moans from family that would could have got a 'good family car' on credit, we dont want to increase our outgoings)
Anyway, we like our little car, we fit in and thats all that matters!

Ds is 27mnths, he had a britax evolva 123 and we went to mothercare where we brought it the day we collected the car and had them check and fit the seat, and said did we need another type, nope thats fine.

Anyway DD is now 11mnths VERY tall (in age 18-24mnth trousers) I use her maxicosi cabrio seat in the week still so for majority of travel shes rearfacing, but she hates it!

Anyway im rambling again, we went to kiddicare as halfords were a bit useless saying its hard to fit in a 3dr so we just left. Kiddicare were brilliant they tried ALOT of seats for us and the rear facer that would fit would be pushed hard against the back of dps seat so they wouldnt advise it, then tried several forward facers maxicosi tobi and so on and dd is about 1inch from the top eventually they say, the safest seat in this car is the 123 evolva is she big enough, she is, so thats what we have.

Now a friends telling me i may aswell not bother with a carseat as its so not intended for a 'baby' shes 1 in 3weeks! and they are fitted in the recline position as they fit completely solid this way, i just feel worried about dd now, even though proffessionals have said shes safe!

[DontHauntMeBaby]

Personally I wouldn't set great store in Mothercare or Halfords' advice, one way or the other, but I think the Evolva 123 got a decent review from Which? (there's no current review, as far as I can tell, not helped by Britax deciding to change all their seat names). The closest current model tested is the Britax King which gets a good though not outstanding review. Britax seem to be more consistently good than any other make.

A baby that age in a forward-facing seat isn't ideal admittedly, but certainly a lot better than no carseat!

[beaniesinthepumpkinagain]

thanks we had planned to get the ones that stay rear facing but since its a 3dr it would have to be pushed right into the back of the front seats so its not an option, the infant carrier was the same, maybe we need a different car.

[nicm]

hi you could have a group 1 rear facing seat. i have had ds' britax two way elite in my mums clio and sisters fiesta and they're both 3 door. the twe is designed to be resting against the seat back or the dashboard. maothercare and halfords are not the most helpful. are you anywhre near the in car safety centre in belfast or milton keynes? we got ours from there and they were really helpful-tried loads of different seats before we decided on the twe. hth

[nicm]

oh and you can see far more from a group 1 rf seat than a 0+ seat!

[beaniesinthepumpkinagain]

were in east anglia, we drove hours to the huge kiddicare after mothercare and halfords just shrugged at a 3dr car and looked for the highest price tag!
My local tescos having a carseat checker in a few weeks so ill pop to that!

Im very happy with the seat it is solid, and most deffinatly safe. and she is a VERY big girl, seriously is about 1inch shorter that my 28mnth ds so shes not some wee 11mnth old delicate flower in a huge seat, she looks comfy and safe, i just hate how the 'friend' has made me feel. As i now have nag in the back of my head that wants to cram the poor girl back in the baby seat and rear face her!

Thanks for the advice everyone

[typonaut]

If you want a rear facing seat up to 13kg I can recommend the Jane Matrix Cup. It may end up touching the front seat, but the front seat isn't required to anchor it - just the rear seat belt. May be difficult to get in/out of with a three door car. Not sure on the law, but perhaps you could consider putting the younger child in the rear facing seat in the front passenger seat (with the airbag turned off) and get the adult who is not driving to sit in the back with the other child?

You're probably better off in the longer term getting a four/five door car - these are available even in the small car range, ie VW Polo, but command a bit of a premium over a three door.

[mantaray]

What about a Britax First Class si seat. she can carry on rear facing until 13kgs and then you can turn the seat around for forward facing. In rear facing mode, it fits into my tiny Ka easily though it is a pain trying to get DS in with only 3 doors, but it fits!