baby car seats....... which one??

[katefirsttimer]

Hi, im a new mum and totally confused about cae seats. At the min we have a maxi cosy travel car seat that fits onto the pram. But.......what is the next size up?? and wqhich 1s are the best? any advice welcome :)

[buonasera]

Hi Kate, there's a car seats section at www.mumsnet.com/Talk/car_seats_chat

I'm currently over there inviting people to laugh at me give me advice about trying to fit two newborn car seats into an Alfa Brera.

[katefirsttimer]

thanks hun, i'll take a look xx

[Oeisha]

Having been through this myslef recently (literally today for actual ralising we weren't 100% happy with "just belts" and have now ordered an Isofix) enough then I found the maxicosi site quite user friendly. Even has manuals with pretty good installation pictures on...made us realise exactly where the Isofix points were which helped.
If you're thinking Isofix for the car, then the FamilyFix is the one we will be going for as we have the CabrioFix seat. The "Pearl" seat would be our next choice as it fits the FamilyFix base. Oh, and it looks fairly idiot-proof with the lights system...useful for DM and DD...

[thisisyesterday]

well, the best next one up would be an extended rear-facing seat as they're about 5 times safer than forward facing seats.

if yo're anywhere near milton keynes then the in-car safety centre is definitely worth visiting as they have a massive range of seats and are very knowledgeable about the rear-facing options out there.

we have a besafe izi combi, and a britax 2 way elite and are happy with both

[namechangerbat]

I second the extended rear facing idea

[estya]

Me too,
DO NOT put your child in a forward facing too early. Their heads are proportionally heavier than an adult's and their necks are not strong enough to hold their head in an accident. So the kind of shunt that would give you whiplash would be really horrible for a baby.

We were really keen to move up seats. I'm not sure why. In hindsight we were just excited about our little girl growing up. But it could be a fatal purchase.
The car seat sales people said that until your LO's head is level with the top of the group 0 seat, she is best in the first seat (if they try and sell you a seat too early - don't trust them). I'm not sure about the weight limit. I guess thats important too!!!
I also recommend the milton keynes in car safety centre.

DD (13months) is on the 75 % for height and we tried her in her group 0 seat when lending it to visitors at christmas and she still fitted with about an inch to go.

[DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas]

Extended rear facing. It could save your child's life.

We also have a BeSafe iZi Combi (DD loves) and Britax two way elite for gp's cars.

[DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas]

big though- but if you look at the evidence, I couldn't turn DD around- she's 15 months and has a great view out the back in her RF BeSafe!!

[saoirse86]

There's absolutely no doubt that rear facing is safest so that is ideally the way you should go. You can get isofix or ones with belts. I bought a maxi cosi tobi for dd when she was about 8 months but before i ever used it i read about extended rear facing seats and how much safer they are, so I sold it and bought a maxi cosi mobi. It rear faces till 25kg (about 6 years). DD is only 15 months but is very happy in it. She couldn't care less that she can't see me, she doesn't know any different. And there's a gap for her legs when she's bigger.

She is also on 75th centile for weight and 25th for height but still has room in her stage 0 britax car seat. We still use that quite regularly. I think a lot of people don't realise how long a child can stay in the smaller seats.

I have lots of friends with similar aged children who moved their children forward facing far too early IMO. They all believed their dc's were either too big at around 9 months or didn't like being rear facing. All of these children have been in my car rear facing in at least one of the maxi cosi mobi, besafe izi combi or britax stage 0 and have been absolutely fine. Not a peep from them, and most have fallen asleep in them too!

We do have a kiddy guardian pro in dp's car. This is because he has a 3 door and it's very difficult to get into the back so a rf seat would have been very awkward. The kiddy seats are the safest type of FF seats and worth looking at.

Do not assume that all car seats are "safe". If you research crash tests you will soon find out that's not the case, and it's amazing some of them are still on the market!

Good luck in your search, you might need it!