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Car seats

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Original poster

Anyone have a BabyStart Multi-Recline Group 0-1 Car Seat?

12 replies

Moxiechick · 20/04/2014 08:12

I bought the BabyStart Multi-Recline Group 0-1 Car Seat from argos for my 9 month old. We don't have a car so will only be using the seat every 2 months on a coach when I visit my mum and in her car for a week or two each time.
My problem is I have read and reread how to fit the seat but each time I do it it feels really unsafe.
I must be doing something wrong!
Help and advice much appreciated.

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BertieBotts · 20/04/2014 08:15

No, I think it's just this brand unfortunately. Lots of reviews online saying they feel unsafe. It's the same company who produce Nania, Kiddicare own brand seats and I think they have a couple of other brand names too.

Honestly I wouldn't touch it - it's better than no seat at all of course, but you would be better off getting a different one. The Britax Prince is on sale in Mothercare at the moment for £54 if she's over 9kg. From experience they price match in store to their website.

BertieBotts · 20/04/2014 08:16

Baby Weavers is the other brand to avoid.

MissWimpyDimple · 20/04/2014 08:18

Will you be able to use a seat on the coach? Do you know what kind of belt they have and if they approve seats for use?

BertieBotts · 20/04/2014 08:19

If it's National Express they have 3-point seatbelts and encourage parents to use car seats Wimpy.

3DcAndMe · 20/04/2014 08:21

I had a similar one for ds 1&2 but last used it about 3 years ago

We never had any problems with it tbh

It was only used a couple of times a week and I am not using it for dd due to its age

One of my boys also has a nania/baby start hbb

Original poster

Moxiechick · 20/04/2014 08:22

Thank you for alternatives. That's a shame it has a bad rep, really should have researched more. Saw a few reviews on argos saying how easy it was to fit!
We've done the trip 4 times since her birth and I'm able to book a 0-2 seat. It's 7 hours so wouldn't be comfortable travelling for that long with out one.

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Original poster

Moxiechick · 20/04/2014 08:23

It is national express

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 20/04/2014 08:40

I just find them SO cheap that you wonder where the company is cutting corners. If Britax can produce high quality seats and sell their lower end models for £60/£50/£30 (baby/toddler/HBB) I really don't think that seats under this can be as good. Plus some of their seats have got bad ratings on Which? tests before which test just slightly higher than the legal minimum, some were even recalled because they were shown to actually fail the crash test at 40mph. I'm also not keen on the strap adjusters present on these seats because I think they are difficult to get tight enough to be properly safe, and also IME of DS using one of these seats in the childminder's car, they can slip and loosen over a journey.

On a coach you should be okay, coaches are very different to cars in the way that they move and really you just need some way of securing the child. Plus depending on the age of the coach not all of the seatbelts are as good for fitting car seats which might make it feel less secure.

When you fit the car seat it's a good idea to kneel in the seat itself as you pull each part of the seatbelt tight during fitting. (This is assuming you're fitting it forward facing). To test how secure a FF seat is, fasten the harness and pull sharply on it. Never "wobble" the car seat from side to side holding the head rest because you can damage the side impact protection. With a RF seat you want to push into the seat itself to tighten the belts and also check movement.

I can't see on the website but IIRC, most of those cheaper combination seats by this manufacturer only support rear facing to 10 or sometimes even only 9kg. This means that you have to turn your baby forward facing as soon as they hit that weight which is far earlier than other seats, even baby bucket seats support up to 13kg (although most children outgrow those in height before weight). Again of course any seat is safer than no seat but some babies hit 9kg at around 4 months old which is FAR too soon to be turning them forward facing.

BertieBotts · 20/04/2014 08:42

Good tip for argos/amazon reviews BTW is to sort them by worst rating first - it's always good to see what problems people have had with a product (so you can judge if it was actually a problem or it just didn't fit their needs/they missed out on something important.)

BertieBotts · 20/04/2014 08:42

Although I can see on that seat the only negative reviews are that it seems uncomfortable/the fabric is cheap!

Original poster

Moxiechick · 20/04/2014 09:19

Thanks for the advice. I found a video on how to fix the kiddicare seats in (which look the same) and turns out I was doing it wrong!
Seat now seems MUCH more secure.
Thank you

OP posts:

RustyDalek · 28/10/2014 20:28

Just reviving this thread to link to Which's warning about this seat, which failed their safety tests

"But it scored our lowest test score of 0% overall in our more demanding, independent crash tests, which are conducted at higher speeds and forces than the current UK standards require. We've made this seat a Don't Buy because the shoulder parts of the harness were ripped out of the plastic seat shell as it broke under the force of the crash tests.

If this were to happen in a real-life crash, a child would collide with the seat in front, with just the lap part of the belt keeping them attached to the car seat."

www.which.co.uk/news/2014/10/safety-alert-replace-babystart-multi-recline-child-car-seat-382967/

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