Which Kiddy car seat is the best or is there something better?

[aswellasyou]

I am planning on getting a Kiddy car seat as I hear it is the best for safety due to the impact sheild. So which is better; the Guardian, Comfort or Infinity? Or otherwise, is there something better than the Kiddy car seats? I know of the Cybex Pallas (but I think it might not fit in my sister's car because of the seat belt length needed) and the Jane Montecarlo (but I haven't heard much about their safety?
Is there anything much better than those. It will be in and out of different cars because I can't drive so it needs to fit easily into most cars.

As an aside, I have a hardly used Maxi Cosi Priori XP given to me by a friend. What are they like safety-wise? It's never been in an accident, major or minor.

Hopefully, you well-informed people can help me out.

I bet someone will come along and tell you it's impossible for something to be better than the best.

I could have worded it better, couldn't I?

aswellasyou I wish I knew something about carseats as I feel guilty now about interrupting your thread. I hope someone comes along soon to tell you all about the best car seat, or something better.

I don't mind Swedes. I'm normally quite a pedant myself! Perhaps people will think there's some really interesting conversation going on in this thread with all the replies and they all flock to tell me useful information about car seats.

I'll do my bestest to keep bumping.

I have a pallas.

I think the big difference between all the kiddys is how long they last so some only do till 4 years and others turn into a high back booster so last untill 11.

i think the kiddy needs a long seat belt too but i have only come across one car my Pallas won't fit in and it was an old jeep chrokee.

I've had more of a look around. The Comfort and Guardian last until 12, but the Infinity is just until 4. I don't know whether or not it's worth getting one that lasts so long if it's just going to be ruined after a few years.

I've read that the Kiddy car seats fit pretty much every car so I'm tempted to get one of those. My sister's car wouldn't take the two Group 0 car seats I've got so I'm conscious about it not taking an older car seat.

They all seem to have really good saftey reviews though which is what I was hoping for!

I like the kiddy seats but chose to get an extended rearfacing seat instead as this is suppose to be 5x safer then forward facing and even safer then the kiddy infinity and cybex pallas. I have the britax two way elite. cost £197 so cheaper then some of the infinity seats and will keep LO harnessed until 25kg.It will hopefully last until he is approx 6 years old. The seat can also be used as a forward facing seat. When LO is 4 years old i will switch the seat forward facing and use as a harnessed booster seat. The only down side to this is it can reduce the leg room for the front passenger but ive fitted my seat into 5 different cars and leg room has been fine. But yes kiddy and cybex are still great seats and if you cant go reafacing then its a great alternative.

I'm not sure if a rear facing seat would fit in my Mum's car. At the moment the front seats has to be almost all the way forward to fit a Group 0 seat behind them. What is your seat called? Maybe I could find out if it would fit.

I don't want to be led by money but I can get the Infinity for £89, the Comfort for £119 and the Guardian for £129. That's the reason I'm looking at them now even though my daughter's not ready for them yet.

Thankyou both for your responses.

Its called the britax two way elite. you can get it from www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk
thats great prices for those seats. Im actually looking at getting a seat with an impact cushion as spare for DH's car and for when LO's aunts and uncles want to take him out.

ps where can you get the infinity for £89? thats sounds like a bargain! :-)

It's in a warehouse clearance place in south Birmingham. The name of it has escaped me at the moment. I'm thinking I might just get either the Guardian or Comfort.
I had a good look round at extended rear facing seats last night but I don't think I can find one that isn't isofix and is short enough to fit in my Mum's car. I also looked at a lot of crash tests. How do we not know that the standard forward facing seats just aren't all that safe?!

I think the RF seats are safer, but I went for the Kiddy Infinity Pro for the practicality reasons as you stated (I also don't drive). I haven't found it needs particularly long belts. I'd rather use the safest FF seat I can find that I know I'll be able to fit in any car safely, than be stuck with a seat I can only fit in certain cars and not be able to take lifts from people.

If cost is an issue I wouldn't bother getting one which goes to age 12, as it's not much different without the shield than any other booster seat. So £89 for this then leaves you £30-40 for a booster later, and you wouldn't have spent any more. If you have a tall child though the up to 12 years ones might be better for side impact protection for the head as it would go further up, if that makes sense.

And I used DS' infant seat for as long as I possibly could, so I was happy that I had him RF for longer than I might have.

Thanks Bertie. Just to add to the confusion, I was talking to my Mum about this the other day and she said she's planning on getting a new bigger car in September around the time I'm likely to move my daughter into a Group 1 seat. She also reminded me that she has a friend who lives in Sweden who could buy a rf seat there (probably more choice, maybe cheaper) and bring it back. I still think I might buy a Kiddy so at least I have one that can go in any car. My Dad has a stupidly small old style Micra so I doubt there's any way I'd get a rf seat in there anyway.
Thanks for all the responses.

How old is she in September? You might find you have more time than you think to make the decision. DS was still in his infant seat at 18 months and he's average in height, I think.

You might get a RF in a Micra front seat (long as no air bag of course).

Bertie, she'll be 12 months in September. I'm amazed your son could fit in until 18 months! I've noticed that the various seats my sister and I have used are really different sizes. My Silver Cross seat definitely wouldn't be big enough for her past around 12 months-her body's already as long as the crotch pad to shoulder strap length. But my Graco is a lot bigger.

That's interesting about the Micra. He's got a three door version. I don't know if it's smaller inside than a five door. It would be a bit of a pain having the seat in the front but not impossible, I'd just have to climb in and out of the driver's side.

Do any of you happen to know whether there are more compact rear facing seats available in Sweden?

Ah yes the different infant seats are quite dramatically different sizes. I think there's about 4 or 5 cm between the Graco and the Maxi Cosi, and a further 1-2 for the Britax seat. I had a mothercare one which was rebranded Maxi Cosi so one of the bigger ones I think.

I know that in Sweden all the "group 1" age seats are rear facing so there might well be some more compact ones.

Aswell - The Britax Secura Hi-Way is considered a compact seat. A installation video shows how much size it takes up (well a rough idea!)

Truth, that actually looks like it could be a serious contender! I may suggest a trip to Sweden in the summer to have a look at the possibilities there.

You can get the Hi-Way over in Milton Keynes here. Probably other suppliers too.