impact shield seats

[sleeplessinderbyshire]

thinking of one for DD. she's 26 months and normally goes in a be safe izi combi isofix but i need something easy to move between cars for lifts home from nursery. As she's small she'll need a group 1 seat til she's 6-7 at least so I thought an kiddy guardian would be ideal (and then she can have it as high back booster til she's 12/13 or whenever she's big enough to wear just an adult belt. M&P have 20% off car seats this month making cybex pallas 123 way cheaper than kiddy guardian but I'm not sure if it's as safe. independent retailer today says it's the impact shield concept that is safe and thus either as good.

Anyone know the definitve answer? (In car safety centre appear to be selling a recaro seat with a shield as well)

The Kiddy Energy Pro, Guardian and Infinity seats were all Which! best buys in the last car seat safety survey they did. The other seats with an impact shield including the Cybex Pallas did not score highly enough to be a best buy.

On this basis I would say that not all impact shield seats are equally safe.

They're scored on a lot more than just safety. In theory, the Pallas could be much safer than a Kiddy but be harder to install/remove the cover/not have a machine washable cover/etc and it will have a lower overall score.

However, I don't know which impact shield seats are safer than others. Look out for deep 'wings' for good side impact protection.

I'm not sure either. I do think the impact shield seats are great. And true about being able to use them for longer as you don't have the shoulder height issue that you do with the harnessed seats.

Do you have a John Lewis and a M&P shop near you? It might be worth comparing them in the flesh. Also, most libraries have a Which? subscription so you could check the detailed test results there?