Newbie advice needed! Baby car seats

[Newdadtobe]

Hi Mums and Dads,

Very new to all of this and just wanted some advice on what brands are good for car seats. As you have to buy a branded isofix and they don't seem to be universal the pressure is on to make a good first choice!

Obviously we want it to last as long as possible and not cost the earth so can anyone recommend a brand with a good range of seats, as I know we will have to change over the years, that doesn't cost the earth but isnt cheap and nasty?

Also can anyone recommend where to buy from? Mothercare seemed a bit pricey!

Thanks
Mike

Do you want one that fits on your pushchair?

Otherwise your choices are basically to get a group 0+ seat (lasts from birth until 13kg so about 12-15months, easy to carry around, some will fit specific prams) or a group 0/1 seat that will last from birth to 18kg (around 4 years) an stays permanently in your car. You can get ones that will be rear-facing until 13kg and then forward face, or that rear face until 18kg.

The other alternative is a specialist extended rear facing seat that lasts until 25kg (7 years) - these tend to be the most expensive.

I've always got on with Britax seats and the baby seat fitted my pram (Oyster). Other respected brands are Maxi-Cosi, Cybex, Recaro. Joie and Graco tend to be more budget seats.

There are lots of own brand seats, but the Kiddicare/Nania/BabyStart ones do poorly in safety tests.

incarsafetycentre.co.uk

This organisation is great for info.
we have a cybex. Infant seat (rear facing) fitted to about 13-14 months I think, but DD is a bit on the short side.
Now got cybex pallas with seat belt and totally happy with it.

As I recall, I was put off isofix because I had to buy 2 different bases for each seat.