Extended rear facing car seats...HELP

[sugarplumfairy01]

Hi Everyone,

Hope you've all had a lovely Christmas!!

I am looking at my next stage of car sear for my LO aged 14 months. Ideally I would like an extended rear facing due to safety and I am looking at Recaro Polaric.

For those who have extended rear facing seats is it easy to get the child in and out of the car seat?! I've not see any in cars so not sure how high the sides go up and the space you have, I am going to look at some in the next few days but wanted to know other peoples experiences.

My other half is concerned that it may cause problems with my back lifting my LO into the car seat until he is 4. Whereas if it was a forward facing car seat my LO would be able to get in the seat a bit more easily without as much lifting.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

xx

Mine climb n themselves (britax 2 way elite). 5 yr old & 3 yr old (although I tend to lift 3 year old to save time!!)

It's much easier to get a child into a rear facing seat because the car door is not in your way.

My 3 1/2 year old has a Britax Multi Tech II and it's so easy to get her in because it has shallow sides at the bottom. I just have to lift her 'onto' the seat rather than 'into' it. Our car is a Peugeot 5008 though, so possibly a bit higher and with more headroom than some.

Lots of photos here

We've got the nuna rebl for unborn DD, I think you can rear face in that until 4 years and that has a swivel feature. So you turn the seat to face the door, strap in, swivel back. Haven't actually used it yet so can only give limited info. Not cheap though at £395 but then no extended rear facing seems to be.

thanks all, especially for pics! I'll have a look through them.

Ideally i'd like isofix which is why we've been looking at recaro polaric, i love the look of that nuna rebi just can't afford 395 :-(

The Joie Stages is rear facing to 4 and ISOFIX.

We got ours recently for 175 including the base in a Mothercare offer.

I have a swivel one (maxi cosi axis- Christ but it was expensive) but the sides aren't too deep to haul DD in and out with her facing back if needed. It helps that she's 20 months so can understand when I ask her to lean forward so I can get a good grip! I'd say a 14 monther would be fine to get out.

We have the axkid minikid, we chose a seatbelted seat rather than isofix as they have a higher weight allowance and DS is 98th centile so wanted to get as much time as possible. It is much easier as the car door isnt in your way.

Get one that swivels, mine doesn't and it's a right pain getting my 15 month old into it

We've got a Cybex, the day we got it my life improved immeasurably, I love the swivel!

It depends on your car, I've got a Citroën Picasso and DD (2.7) can't climb in, it's too high for her. The seat sits a bit further away from the car than an infant carrier, you've got more room to play with.

Also, you don't have to put them in the seat as precisely as you do with a baby - drop them in the general direction and they'll sit themselves in the right place!

Cyber sirona. Swivels so easy

I'd love a sirona, just can't afford it. Was hoping for a nice january sale on it lol

I think it would be different if it was a 123 group rather than just 1,2 we could justify paying the price.

Getting some new ones to look at so thank you everyone :-)

The Joie Stages is seatbelt fitted, it's the Joie I-Anchor that's ISOFIX.

Thanks Alice, you're right, I got them muddled in my head.

@Alicemum09 what are your thoughts on the joie? I know there was one of the joie car seats that was taken off the market and it kind of put me off the market (out of pure paranoia!)

Are the swivel ones easy enough to move from one car to another?

*put off joie car seats, not the market! lol

We went for Joie as DB is a traffic cop and he will only buy Joie or MaxiC after seeing several makes destroyed in nasty accidents. It's only anecdotal but it was enough to convince me.

Thanks JE1234 there are so many reviews and everything around these days it makes it hard to know what's good and what's not!

Even looking at some more threads on here there is a link to a FB page reporting issues with Joie I anchor.

Makes my head fizz!

The group 1/2/3s are a bit of a false economy anyway, unless you're wanting one which can harness or RF longer than 18kg. A decent high backed booster isn't expensive. The Group 1 seats are worth shelling out for.

I know what you mean, everything is so conflicting. I am not sure which issue you are referring to, if it's the baby's head falling forward, Joie send out an addition that's like a wedge. It should have been included in the first place but it does solve the problem. Our little one isn't here yet but I have taken both DNs on long trips in it- at 3 months and 2.5 years.

What makes your think they are a bit of a false economy BertieBotts?

Ideally I would like extended rear facing, with isofix for as long as possible but not too expensive, only for the fact that we dont have a lot of cash (otherwise id go for the cybex!)

I get there are always going to be people that have bad reviews for certain car seats, and it all depends on child, size and car etc.

I just want my child to be safe, and I think I get a bit too paranoid about making the wrong decision and something happening. (previously been in a car accident and makes me very concerned about something happening)

Thanks JE1234 that's really helpful. I think that was the issue most people were referring too! :-)

We have the maxi cosi 2qay pearl, we love it, kid is comfy (he hated his infant seat) and it's really easy to swap between cars - has little buttons that beep to tell you it's fitted properly.