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Car seats

Confused about car seat regulations? Find baby car seat advice here. For Mumsnetter-approved essentials, sign up for Mumsnet Swears By emails here.

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Original poster

Car Seat Hell...please help!!

24 replies

DaisyMay01 · 13/03/2015 09:23

My partner and i looked for the right car seat for a long time wanting something from birth and rear facing up to 4 yrs approx. Being restricted by short seat belts we found the joie i-anchor which is an i size and is supposed to be one of the safest around. So everything was going well with the seat from newborn but now my son is 4 months and is tall for his age if he falls asleep he slumps forwards. A lot! I went back to Mothercare who didn't really say much and I've contacted Joie who were less than helpful saying just that i might need to buy a neck support (which are not regulated and tested in the car seats and should not be needed for the car seat claims!!) So now I'm left with what i would class as an unsafe car seat and we're being forced to use an infant carrier which my baby gets too hot in!! Anyone had the same/can offer advice??

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Nannyplum2015 · 13/03/2015 09:25

Have you got isofix? Also where abouts do you live?

Original poster

DaisyMay01 · 13/03/2015 09:28

Yes, our seat belts are short so have to use an iso fix. We live Fareham Hampshire

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odi1 · 13/03/2015 09:32

Hi I have this car seat I moved my baby into it aged 8 months so a bit older and had the head flopping issue. I message joie via Facebook and they sent me a new wedge and head support and some instructions.my baby just needs the wedge segment (I think the old wedge couldn't be separated from the head support possibly) her head doesn't flop at all now when she falls asleep.

Original poster

DaisyMay01 · 13/03/2015 09:36

We have this wedge already and have tried so many different scenarios with the car seat with the inserts and nothing keeps his hear in really don't know what to do, we sent Joie pictures and everything!

OP posts:

Original poster

DaisyMay01 · 13/03/2015 09:37

sorry, supposed to say nothing keeps his head in!

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odi1 · 13/03/2015 10:14

Is it a new wedge or the one it came with? Joie sent us a different wedge to the one originally with the car seat and I was very sceptical at first but is has helped. We tried lots of combinations and found the wedge alone removed from the cover was the solution. I also found lifting the headrest a bit helped but you may have tried this. It is still quite upright however but I have noticed if put it in a different car it can be flatter I think the angle of the back seat plays a part.

odi1 · 13/03/2015 10:16

Not sure how well you will see this but here is the info sent by joie. Sorry if you already have it.

Nannyplum2015 · 13/03/2015 11:34

The only think if is to sell you current car seat and buy a new one. We have the besafe I size snd it reclines very far back. Milton Keynes and Essex have a great car safety centre which can fit lots of different rear facing seats.

Original poster

DaisyMay01 · 13/03/2015 12:54

Thanks odi1, I've phoned them again as looking at your picture I'm not sure i do have the latest insert. So they will send it out and we will try....hopefully it will work if not we're back to square one!!

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Original poster

DaisyMay01 · 13/03/2015 13:05

Nannyplum15 that does look like a good seat! Our Son is 4 months old which is which we got the i anchor as its from birth...the b safe is from 6 months. I wouldn't re sell the seat as in my opinion as it stands it's not safe. If all else fails we will take it back to the shop. A lot of the other i size seats are so much more expensive too. Just want my baby to be safe and also don't want anyone elses baby to be in danger!

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AliceMum09 · 13/03/2015 14:30

Short seatbelts isn't an issue for bigger rear facing seats. In general both the lap and diagonal parts of the belt are routed through the child seat under where the child's legs are, or something similar. The seatbelt does not go right round the child seat like it has to go round an infant carrier (the exception to this rule is the Joie Stages, which does route the diagonal part of the seatbelt around the back of the seat).

I have a Britax Multi Tech II (suitable from 9 months, because it doesn't have any recline position - this has never bothered my DD2, she just rests her head to the side to sleep).

Original poster

DaisyMay01 · 13/03/2015 15:11

It was the joie stages we looked at before and another one in halfods....neither fit with the short seatbelts. And as said before my baby is only 4 months old. Thanks anyway though!

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LittleBearPad · 13/03/2015 15:19

Why's your son too hot in the infant carrier just out of interest. It isn't that warm yet.

Original poster

DaisyMay01 · 13/03/2015 16:21

He just runs hot. Some babies do. And where the infant carrier is more enclosed he gets sweaty even in short sleeves when he's in it in the car if it's sunny. We never liked the infant carriers anyway which is why we bought this seat.

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Nannyplum2015 · 13/03/2015 17:02

The I size is a minimum height (67cms I think but I'll check) so some longer babies are ok. There's no minimum weight like some.

Nannyplum2015 · 13/03/2015 17:03

Just checked its 61 cms.

Nannyplum2015 · 13/03/2015 17:04

I sold my besafe first model for £160 when my daughter grew out of hers so they have a great resale value too.

Nannyplum2015 · 13/03/2015 17:05

I've seen summer covers for infant carriers too which may help sweaty babies. There are white and keep heat away.

Nannyplum2015 · 13/03/2015 17:06

www.maxi-cosi.com/products/accessories/summer-cover-cabriofix.aspx

Just as an example

SirVixofVixHall · 13/03/2015 17:08

We have the Britax rear facing seat, I think it is the two-way, not the multi tech. Anyway my dd is seven, 8 in two months, and still fits in it as she is light (average height, not tall. ) Dd1 fitted hers until about seven and a half, she is very light but tall. They are made for tall Swedish children and so have plenty of height room

Original poster

DaisyMay01 · 14/03/2015 07:20

Thanks everyone. Will see if it is a different insert and if it helps, but other than that will take it back to the store. Then will look for another car seat, that be safe one does look good and as you say it's an i size which is what we were looking for. Just a shame as we never had any problems with this seat until and as i said before...just want my baby to be safe x

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sam289 · 06/10/2015 22:35

@DaisyMay01
Hi, did you ever get sorted with the joie I anchor? We are having the exact same problem - bought through pramcentre.co.uk and after complaining about how unsafe it is and they sent the seat off to joie for testing, they have said there is nothing wrong with it and have sent the car seat back to us. Pram centre does not want to know and will not refund us! Just wanted to know what you did with urs? Sam

Original poster

DaisyMay01 · 06/10/2015 23:29

Hiya Sam289, your message couldn't have come at a better time! Sorry to hear you're having the same problem! The new insert from Joie did help for us until now when my little boy is outgrowing it...he slumps forwards when he sleeps and it's just not safe at all! We bought ours from Mother care so will be taking it back as we have a 2 year guarantee. How old is the car seat? If it's unsafe you could always speak to trading standards? If they slump forward like that it could be the best seat in the world for side impacts but it isn't gonna do Jack if their heads aren't in the head rest. It makes me so angry!! Please let me know how you get on...I'm going to speak to Joie again I think...it's not good! X

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sam289 · 11/10/2015 07:43

Hi daisymay01, we were sent the insert but that did nothing as our son is big, I couldn't hardly get the straps fastened with that in.
I didn't know mothercare has a 2 year guarantee, I so wish we'd bought from there! But at the time pram centre.co.uk we're offering the base free when you bought the seat. Obviously that was a big saving!
We bought the seat at the beginning of August, so up till now all I've done is ring/email pram centre and Joie. I'm fed up!
I totally agree with everything you've said about how unsafe it is, I've got pictures and a video of our son in the seat head slumped and swinging side to side! I was having to have someone to sit in the back to hold his head. I'm now in the process of writing an email to Joie to see if they will do anything (pram centre will not do anymore) if not I will be going to trading standards and watchdog and hopefully going viral on Facebook to make sure they won't be selling this car seat again!
Please let me know how you get on also, this sounds like a common problem as when I searched on google quite a few said the same thing. x

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