Hauck Varioguard

[AmandinePoulain]

I've just seen this seat mentioned on another thread and it looks fantastic! It seems to tick a lot of boxes for us - isofix for the car; belted for the camper; not too expensive; good impact protection; easy to move between cars. Has anyone seen one in the flesh? Any opinions? Mothercare and several other stores seem to have them for preorder, are there any in the flesh anywhere to try the fit?

I don't think the varioguard can be fitted with a seatbelt. It does look like a really nice seat though and an excellent price for erf.
I've heard that the cover is wipe clean only though which seems very impractical for a car seat. I don't know this for sure though.

It can be fitted with a belt rf up to 13kg; above that weight it either needs to be turned around or fixed using isofix. I'm not too worried about that though, dd2 is tiny (9th centile) so won't hit 13kg for a good while, and even then she can still rf in the car, just not the camper.

I agree that the covers not coming off is daft though!

See here

I forgot about it rf to 13kg with seatbelt - I was obly thinking about its erf credentials.
My ds1 is on 50th centile and only 11.5kg at 21 months so on 9th I think it should see your daughter rf til 3 maybe when fitted with a seatbelt. It's handy having a petite child!
I'd really like one but have 5 erf seats already and only 3 children!!

To my eyes it looks like a bigger version of an infant carrier with a base - it looks as if we could carry the whole seat into the house if she falls asleep, I'm not sure how practical that would be though! It looks as if it won't be available before August though, although if dd2 is still running along the same line she'll be at least 15mo before she gets too heavy for the Babysafe. She's 8mo and 7kg at the moment. I think it'll be a length issue for us - I just hope she isn't too long for the Babysafe before I can get my hands on a Varioguard , otherwise I'll have to stick to our original plan which was the First Class.

You can often find the first class for around £80 so it's not too bad a back up plan
My 3 month old twins are in the klippan kiss2 seats - infant carrier and erf in one. Very cool seats.

Oh yeah and remember the infant seat is good til your daughter's head is level with the top of the seat. Apparently it takes ages to gain an inch of torso growth - you'll have to cross your fingers her legs grow not her body!
I'm sure preciouslittleone.co.uk said June when they emailed me about the varioguard availability but maybe Hauck have put it back....

They're saying August now . The Kiss is out of our price range really.

Amazon has an expected delivery of June, wonder if it's accurate though.

Does anyone know where to check which cars will it fit?

I have looked at their website and had no joy.

I posted on fb about that - they advised me to phone customer services. It'll be on sale on Mothercare online, but I don't know if they'll have it instore.

ThanksAmandine, I'm not in the uk anyway so I will tryand contact them.

Amandine - the britax max way is now £215 at securatot.co.uk. could be a good choice for you if it fits both your car and camper. Good price and rf to 25kg. Belted only but I have one and it's not particularly hard to install.

This is only 150 pounds on amazon. The cynic in me wonders if its too good to true. I am tempted but will it be as safe as the more reputable brands??

Also it doesn't appear to have the tethers that thought all ERF seats had to prevent twisting.

Lots don't have tethers though admittedly I think they have rebound bar instead which this doesn't. I think the seat looks great but I've read people's safety concerns elsewhere too.

WeOnly where have you read of other safety concerns? I obviously want a safe seat above everything else. Excuse my probably daft question but what do the top tethers/rebound bar do?

We really need something that is either easy to move, or cheap enough to buy 2 of as when I'm at work with the car dh needs to do the nursery run in the camper. I work too far away to just be able to take the camper myself and don't fancy using it as our day to day runaround on my days off!

I think that they prevent the seat being thrown forwards against the seat and effectively squashing the child. Tethers will anchor the seat to the front seats and the rebound bar forms a sort of block to forward movement. That's badly ex

Oops badly explained but google pictures and it makes sense!

I am hugely tempted by the price of the seat but want more assurances regarding safety I think. We have a TWE in one car and I may get a max way instead for the other.

The two way elite tethers to the seat its on, if on the front seat, would that work for the camper van too?

Thanks, that makes sense. I've got a Babysafe on a belted base at the moment, why doesn't that need tethering or a rebound bar? Because the Varioguard seems to be a similar design.

Yep what YoniCollette said - the tethers or bar stop the forwards or backwards rotation of the seat holding it in place as much as possible in an impact.
I have only read speculative concerns about the safety of the seat about those bits of it that appeqr different to other erf seats. BUT the pictures I've seen selling the britax max fit (another new isofix seat) don't show the rebound bar yet the seat has one so it may well be the same for the Hauck. It will be tested to 18kg of course.
The reason infant seats don't need tethers or prop or rebound bar is because of the weight of the child. They are tested to 13kg and don't need this additional anchoring. If you think about positioning the baby is lay in the seat which is almost entirely on the car seat. As a child gets bigger and sits more upright but still rearfacing then more of their body and weight is pushing against the carseat's backrest and trying to rotate it in an impact. Sorry, rubbish explanation.
I'm no expect btw I just try to do research into these seats for my kids and although all 3 of mine are in erf seats so I don't need anymore I'm trying to keep abreast of what's available and do my little bit to help others and raise awareness of erf. That's my disclaimer in case anything I've said is wrong!
Finally securatot are saying the list price is 179.99 & I think I'd rather pay the extra 20.00 or so to buy from an erf specialist and speak to them about any concerns etc. Their service is amazing and they absolutely are about the child's safety and not about selling seats - if a seat isn't going to meet all your needs they won't sell you one - hugely reassuring I think.

Thanks. Your explanation makes perfect sense by the way!

I didn't realise that Securatot were going to be selling them. They're hire far from us unfortunately but I may phone them or visit nearer the time when we need one.

Hire? Quite!

I have just watched their installation video on You Tube, there is no rebound bar, but the base is quite high against the car seat, that may be stop it moving? Just guessing. It would be interesting to hear what the people at Securatot will say.

I am still struggling with a decision and I'm pinning my hopes onto this seat!!

I think the reason that infant seats don't have rebound bars or teathers is because with most of them you have to have the handle in its upright position when in the car that then acts as the brace to stop the baby seat from being thrown into the back of the cars seat(if that makes sense) in the event of an accident.