Cybex Pallas car seat ? are they any good?

[drlove8]

im needing to buy new car seats for the twins they are in stage 2 , but as they are 4 (but small for age) they need new ones. Had a wee look in the babyshops and halfords at the car seats .... saw the cybex solution x and the cybex pallas.
the solution x looks nice and comes in loads of nice colours ds4 will like, and ds3 ands dd3 and ds2 could use it too..... (bonus that theyre all short and under 12! ).
but im not sure dd4 will sit in the solution x with the adult belt to restrain her.She escapes her fivepoint harness that she has on her stage 2...
Woman in the shop showed us the Pallas. it does not use the five point harness, but has a cushion that clips in front of the child to secure them in and is adjustable for different sizes. After the cushion fitted you put the adult belt in a slot around the cushion and click it as normal.
are these seats any good? are they houdini-child escape proof? would i be better getting brittax 1-2-3 evolva`s?

[MaximumNoisePollution]

Don't understand if they are still within the weight limit of the seat why are you looking to change the seats given they aren't to tall for the seats?

I used a BMW Seat that was of the same style and yes was pretty much hodini proof with the cushion on the front.

[drlove8]

maximumnoise it more of she can escape the five point harness thing , so she isnt safe in the carseat we have now , and her twin will have to get another because hes much heavier and is at the limit.
where did you get the bmw seat? did it come with the car?

[MaximumNoisePollution]

Ah i see DrLove.

Yes it was a special order and cost a fortune, not joking it was £500 in 1998 i nearly died i have to say, but it was very secure and supported her even when she fell asleep.

[MmeLindt]

We have the Cybex solution X and are very happy with them. I love the fact that the head rest can be tilted back on long journeys so that the DC can sleep more comfortably.

No idea about the harness, but DS went into his car seat at about 3.5yo and soon learned that the car does not move if anyone has unbuckled their seat belts.

[oopsandbabycoconut]

We have the BMW Junior ii & iii Isofix. it is Isofix upto 18kg then becomes a regular high back booster until 12. We bought it at the weekend and it cost us £289. It fits both DH's BMW and my Peugeot 206 and is very easy to awap.

[BertieBotts]

Yes the impact shield will stop a child escaping as their arms are physically not long enough to reach the seat buckle! There is a video somewhere which shows this but I can't find it now.

[ajt85]

The video is on the companies website which is cybex or mamas and papas have it on thier website.
The pallas has won numerous awards for its saftey features and this along with another by a company called kiddy who have some beautiful designs(extra cost though)they have been voted by Which as the best in catergory and the companies say that they rival the saftey of the rear facing seats which all saftey papers say should be used for a lot longer than are done.
Though this is down to like me and many other parents not having the money to spend on numerous seats even though saftey is your main priority the pallas and kiddy versions offer what seems a very safe, easy, convient and cost effective way of keeping your child safe in the car in the event of a collision which can in most cases last your from when they come out of their group 0 car seat until they no longer need a seperate seat at all.
I do not sell either of these products in fact i am looking at purchasing the Pallas mainly due to cost as both the kiddy and pallas seem to have high saftey ratings but the pallas is about £20 cheaper. I currently have the Britax evolva 123 plus and have not really got on with it and feel my little one is not safe in it the safe clip feature, that tells me the harness is tight enough gets in the way when strapping him in (though i think the new version doesnt have one that sticks out even though mine is only from last year)and can dig into his back if he is being wiggly. Also when strapped in it is constanly coming up so in theory is not tight enough so not providing the correct protection and no matter what i do with the harness it still does this his head also rolls forward when he falls asleep even in the recline postion and he looks so umcomfortable and if we were in an acceident cannot see how this would be safe thus getting a new seat.
Hope this helps.

[LilyRosesMummy]

BestMumNDaWorld (yeah right!) - gosh aren't you a judgemental self-righteous and rather pompous old fool?! I can't really see where you are getting the evidence to back up your rather catty comments from - what makes you think that MaximumNoisePollution chooses labels over safety? Just because her car seat happens to be made by BMW??? In fact it sounds from her comment that she bought the seat for safety reasons - because the cushion in front meant her child could not undo themselves and because those cushions are much better at protecting children from internal decapitation than a simple harness. It doesn't sound to me like you are the expert on engineering and manufacturing anyway - in the same comment you say BMW prob aren't renowned for great car seats and then also say cybex solution x are probably good because they are made by a german company. BMW are German you nugget.

[mel2005]

i have a cybex solution X and a solution FIX they are much better than the other stage 2 car seats we have had over the years. i really like them and my four and five year olds love them. i have been looking at the cybex pallas for my twins who are currently in a maxicosi tobi and maxicosi priori XP that were the older childrens they have only just moved up and the problem i have is that the twins are very small and they can easily get out of the top part of the harneses. anyway i couldnt find much about safety ratings for the cybex pallas. i cant decide if i like the cushion idea or not and if it has been tested enough. anybody found any testing data?

[kbaby]

I have one and think its a really good car seat. It is so comfy and the cusioning on the headrest and side protection are excellent.
DS whos 4 is ok with the shield. Hes not a fan but puts up with it. It think its because he can see his sister in a normal booster.

I checked for all sorts of safety videos etc but apart from the cybex one on utube couldnt find anything. There is another car seat similar(cant remember the name) that uses a cusion and that came out really well on which's test.
I hope which test the pallas too.

[BertieBotts]

I've got the Kiddy Infinity Pro which is like the Group 1 only version of the Cybex Pallas, and it's very good, DS always seems really comfortable in it (He holds his arms out for the cushion to be put on!) and no way could he reach the seatbelt. It's really intuitive to use and fit which I find good for grandparents etc.

If you go to some M&P shops they have a car seat with seatbelt so you can practice fitting the different seats and try your child in them to see if they are comfy or not. In our case, DS hated the seat in the shop, but when we tried it in a car (and the car was moving) he was fine.

The shield can be used until 18kg and then it uses the normal seatbelt (this is the kiddy comfort pro or the cybex pallas) The only thing I don't like about it is when your child is having a tantrum it is very difficult to strap them in as they tend to kick at the impact cushion, it takes 2 people, one to hold their legs down and one to do up the seatbelt... but at 4 you can probably bribe your way out of this problem

I really think these safety cushions will be the way forward in the future.

www.kiddy.de/ Have a look at the video here (I can't get it to switch to English but should work in other browsers)- ise the "region" button at the top right.

[SmileItsSunny]

Any updates on this? Has anyone found any further reviews on the cybex pallas vs Kiddy car seats?

[leomum13]

I have had the cybex pallas since 2009 and it received the highest ever safety rating by Euroncap for a car seat. It is excellent in my opinion and will be purchasing another one for baby number 2 this year!

[m0nkmaster]

I have the same experience as leomum13. We've had a Cybex Pallas since 2009 and have used it with our first baby from 9 months to now (2 1/2). We've just bought a 2nd one for our 2nd baby who's nearly 9 months now.

We've found the Pallas to be very comfy, easy to fit in all sorts of cars, easy to clean and the safety ratings are first rate.

[MNP]

The Cybex Pallas is very very similar to the BMW seat I mentioned and I would rate it over a 5 point harness as escape proof.

[blueberryboybait]

We have the BMW like one MNP mentions and it converts to a high back booster once they have outgrown the impact cushion. Our littlest Houdini is getting increasingly frustrated that after 8 months in it in DH's car she still cannot escape!

[deva87]

Don't get an Evolva they're naff! I have one for my 2 year old (JUST 2) and he can escape it, and I'm not just meaning getting his arms out and standing up, I mean fully undoing the clip.

Am now working on trying to get the company to refund me so I can get a Cybex Pallas

[Zimbah]

I've got the Kiddy GuardianPro for 3.5yr old DD, I really like the seat and so does she. But I would be wary of using one for a younger child, as DD can quite easily remove the cushion. She just pulls the seatbelt out slowly (from where it comes out of the car) and it loosens enough that she can remove it from the slot in the cushion. She isn't able to reach the seatbelt clip but doesn't need to as she can take the cushion off without unbuckling the belt. Thankfully she's old enough that she knows she must never do this until the car is parked! I was shocked that she was able to do this, and it made me wonder how safe it is for younger children, although I don't know if a younger child would have the dexterity to undo the belt the way she does.

[zazy]

My 14 month old has just escaped from the Cybex Pallas, I found him stood up looking out the back window whilst driving down the road. Yet the cushion and seat belt were still all in place. Mamas & Papas told me "That as with any of their car seats children should be discouraged from escaping" - Not sure they understand that 14 months old don't understand a great deal even if I did not sure I could do that whilst driving with due care and attention!

[BieneMaja]

This type of seat is really popular in Germany and get really good ratings.

On the whole, I think they are harder to escape than the 5 point harness type, but of course, it seems that there is a way! I wouldn't let that put you off though.

Considering the age of the child you are buying for, you might want to consider the Cybex Isis, which is a slightly pared down version of the Pallas. Still has the same theory and safety, but is a lightweight version without the recline base.

Very.com have them for £120. Since your DD is already 4, she probably doesn't need the recline feature anyway and would possibly not need the impact cushion for that much longer either.

www.very.co.uk/mamas-papas-cybex-cbx-isis-group-123-car-seat/1115232556.prd?browseToken=%2fb%2f2677%2fs%2fbestsellers%2c0%2fo%2f2&trail=2249-2670-2677

[puffinnuffin]

We have the Kiddy seat and have used it for the last 18 months. To start with it was fine. However as DS turned into a wiggily toddler I have finally had to admit defeat.
DS escapes out of it within seconds and it has made car journeys so stressful. I complained to the shop when DS was 2 and also to check we were using it properly. I was told it my child at fault, not the car seat! He told me to use it without the cushion bit but it doesn't look safe. We are now about to buy a replacement until DS is old enough to use the Kiddy without the cushion.

[parent123abc]

Cybex ia a german company so all testing is done in german therwfore it is in german hence the reason why you will not find alot of info in english.
Cybex palllas fix and cybex pallas fix/2 are rated at 1.9 good score lower the better. in comparison britax evolva 123 achieved a poor 2.7 satisfactory score. you can find all this info on german sites ADAC aa equiv or auto bild who get info from the german which equil albeit tested at a higher standard. personally if you are choosing a group 123 seat the cybex pallas and other cushiobed producta that use thia instead of a harness is the only high scorer other seats atre a much lower score.

Google it to german pages then.google translate.
safety first