Isize

[iemma321q]

Hi

Currently looking at buying my 10 month old his next car seat. We currently use isofix with a maxi cosi cabriofix.

I am finding all the info on Isize very confusing. Will this eventually become a legal requirement in uk? How long does my son have to be rear facing for? Is,this,due to change anytime soon as whatever seat we buy we would like to keep for baby number two if/when that happens?

Does anyone have any particular recommendations/ tips?

Both sets of regulations are running side by side so it depends which car seat you buy as to which regulations apply to you. There are fewer isize seats than the others. The newer seats require rear facing until 15 months old. The other seats are governed by weight not age. Is your 10 months old over the weight limit for the current seat or does his head come over the backrest? If not then he doesn't need a new seat yet.

I-Size isn't all it's cracked up to be! All the seats have to be ISOFIX, so they are no good for heavier-than-average toddlers who need the 25kgs weight limit of a seatbelt-fitted seat to keep them rear facing until they are a safe age (at least 4 years old, preferably 4 1/2) to use a high backed booster. Also I-Size Group 1 seats are outgrown when the child reaches a standing height of 105cm, so again a tall child is going to outgrow an I-Size seat before they are 4. And stupidly if a child has all their 'height' in their legs but with a short torso they won't be allowed to use their I-Size seat once they pass 105cm tall even though their short torso means they do safely still fit in the seat (straps at correct height, and eyes/tops of ears still within the seat).

The best thing to do would be to look at where your 10 month old sits on the centile lines in his red book growth charts. If he's 'average' (50th centile) or below then take your pick of whatever i-Size or ISOFIX seat you like that fits your car. Or for a cheaper option the Joie Stages and Every Stage are fitted with the seatbelt and have a 18kgs weight limit for rear facing. Otherwise, if your son is on the upper centiles you should be looking at the seatbelt fitted seats which have a 25kgs limit. It doesn't matter that they aren't I-Size, they are the safest choice for a heavier baby and some of them have passed the Swedish Plus test (the strictest test there is for child seats, it measures neck loads which none of the others do).

I believe that when I-Size is eventually finished (the current phase covering infant seats and requiring babies to stay rear facing to 15 months is just the first part of it) it will have to cover seatbelt fitted seats and the higher 25kgs limit. ISOFIX can't take that amount of weight.

Wow thanks for your replies - much more helpful than what I have read online. My son is on the 91st percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight so is definitely bigger than average. So I think you are recommending that I should ignore isofix seats and get a seatbelt one????

Any particular seats??

You could get an extended rear facing seat that does until a lot older. I don't know if any of them are isofix though. His current car seat should be OK until 13kg (29lb ish). What weight is he?

The Securatot website seems pretty good for explaining things and they categorise seats by ISOFIX, non-ISOFIX, I-Size. Just remember when looking at non-ISOFIX seats that the Joie brand ones only go to 18kgs. They use the seatbelt like an infant carrier does, with the diagonal part of the seatbelt going right round the back of the seat. All the 25kgs route the seatbelt differently so it's not going around the back of the seat and it doesn't get in the way of putting your child in and out of the car.

The trouble with buying an ISOFIX/I-Size seat is what happens when your son is just aged 3 and he gets to 18kgs? The 5-point harness on his ISOFIX/I-Size seat will be outgrown and if you go into Mothercare/Halfords/Toys r Us etc they'll just sell you a high backed booster. But physically a 3 year old isn't safe in a high backed booster (these are the seats where the seatbelt holds the child in, not a separate harness) and mentally most will not be mature enough to sit still in the seat and understand that they mustn't lean out of the seat, unbuckle the seatbelt or put their arm over the top of the diagonal part of the belt. So then you'd have to buy a 25kgs limit seat (forward or rear facing ones are available) anyway. So it makes more sense to buy a 25kgs seat now, rather than an ISOFIX or I-Size one which isn't going to last to the high backed booster stage.

This explains the problem with young but heavy children using high backed boosters.

Oh, particular seats! My 4 year old has a Britax Multi Tech II, I really like it and she went into it as a small 11 month old (she's still small, 2nd centile for height and 9th for weight, she's about 32lbs) but it only has one fixed position, no recline. She always slept fine in it though. I only bought it because 3 1/2 years ago there wasn't the choice of seats that there is now, so it was the best fit in my car out of the ones in the shop. She definitely didn't need the 25kgs weight limit though

The Axkid Minikid is very popular, and a friend of mine has her son in a Britax MaxWay in one car and a BeSafe seat in the other. She prefers the BeSafe (in terms of fabric and finish, and I think it has slightly more legroom for her son) but I don't think her son minds which seat he's in!

We really like the Britax dualfix which is isofix and rear facing til 18kgs. It swivels so it's really easy to get them in and fasten the buckle.
Ds is 75th for height and weight so I'm worried it won't last til he's old enough for a HBB though.
If you have a smaller child then the dualfix is fab though!

I was really surprised to see on the which? Website that the dualfix is listed as a don't buy with a score of only 20%.

That low score is because Which? said that the harness wouldn't go right enough on their newborn-sized doll and that a wriggly newborn (do they wriggle? Mine never did in their car seats!) could potentially get out of the harness.

My 4 year old rear faces in a Which? 'Don't Buy' seat! It's not the best source of info about extended rear facing seats.

^ harness wouldn't go tight enough!

Yes I forgot to mention that. Ours is rear facing on isofix and DS was 9lb at birth. He's been in it since 7 months