ERF isofix car seat for small car

[Kcoffecakebubs]

Hi, I've been searching through all the posts on here but haven't found exactly what I'm after (if it exists!).

DS is nearly 6 months, and I've started to research on the next size car seat for when he outgrows his infant carrier (mainly as I like to be super organised, but also to make sure we have enough saved and to look out for offers!).

We have a Peugeot 108 (5 door but compact car), I want an isofix car seat that can rear face for as long as possible.

It seems that the ERF seats recommended most on here are either non isofix, or need a lot of room to install (we're both quite tall passenger front seat goes quite far back). A seat that goes from rear facing to forward facing seems like a good buy so we can change it when we need to?

Looking for recommendations on my best options if anyone can help!?

A couple of things:

What height and weight centile does your DS follow at the moment?

Is there a reason why you're fixed on isofix?

Does it have to forward face?

Here's why:

If your DS is predicted to be more than 18kg by the age of 4 (track it in his red book) you'd be better buying a 25kg Seat than an 18kg seat.

Isofix seats aren't safer than belt fitted. Having isofix takes away some of the human error of installing the seat but a properly fitted belt fitted seat is equally as safe as a properly fitted isofix seat. If you're interested in safety, the Swedish plus test is the most demanding car seat test so seats that have passed that test are considered to be the safest seats.

There is no reason for a child to forward face in a harnessed seat. The safest option is to rear face until at least 4 years and then move into a high back booster. My 4.5yr old and my 2.9yr old both rear face in Axkid Minikids. My eldest has a HBB for after school club to pick her up but other than that there's no reason for her to forward face yet.

As for your car, the 25kg ERF seats would be the best choice as they tend to be the most compact. Isofix seats are much more bulky. However, these are belt fitted and only rear face - both points a bonus IMO! We have a fiesta and both of mine rear face in Axkid Minikids or the Britax Two Way Elite in it. My husband is 6'2 and I'm 5'8 so we're not short.

If you join Car Seat Advice UK on Facebook and search for your car type, you'll be able to see what other people have fitted in your car.

Thank you for the tips @teaandbiscuitsforme, he's on 94th centile for weight and 97th for height.

I think we were just interested in isofix as it seemed safer, and I liked the removal of human error. I suffer with anxiety and would be forever worrying I'd installed it correctly! We will occasionally need to move the seat into my parents car too, so felt isofix would be better for this. The option to forward face was more as we were hoping to buy one seat that would last as long as possible!

You are the same heights as me and Hubs, so at least we shouldn't have problems with that!

The axkid looks to be out of our price range, but I'll look into the 2 way elite. Out of interest, are there any isofix seats that would be recommended, just for the installing issue?

We have two small cars (not quite as small as yours) and we're both really tall...we have recently been shopping for a car seat as I'm due in a few weeks....we went to lots of different shops and got them to try the seats out in our car so we could make sure they fit whilst we were in them....literally dozens but we got there in the end!

Isofix RF seats only go up to 18kg, so with a baby at high end of centiles you probably won't get that long out of it and will either have to buy a 25kg seat to replace or forward face from earlier than you would otherwise have to.

If you are happy forward facing when your child reaches 18kg then a Joie Everystage or similar would be an option for a 'does it all' seat. But the seats that cover all stages won't be Isofix as Isofix has a weight limit so you'd still have to belt it in.

In your shoes I would either buy an 18kg Isofix Seat now with the understanding I will have to spend more money in a couple of years for a 25kg one or just buy the 25kg one now. It depends how happy you are to spend money on car seats

If he's currently those centiles and you're both tall, I really would recommend looking into 25kg seats. My son is very similar (98th centile) and he's outgrown an 18kg seat now at 2.9yrs. So it could be very costly to get an 18kg isofix and then have to buy a 25kg seat when's he's still not 3.

I understand your thoughts about isofix. I thought the same until I researched it but now we have belt fitted seats, I've found they are actually so much more secure than the isofix ones we've had. They're solid where as isofix always seems to have some movement.

Our Minikids stay in our main car but our Two Way elites move as spare. They're not difficult to fit at all so I'd try not to let that put you off. If you're interested, I'd try to get to a car seat specialist retailer (not Halfords, John Lewis) and let them fit some in your car for you. If the Minikid is too expensive, try the Axkid Move for about £220. It's the same seat as the Minikid but without some of the bells and whistles.

Thanks all, I hadn't realised that isofix only go to 18kg. Was hoping to only get one seat, so the 25kg seems to be more cost effective overtime if we want to rear face as long as possible.

Do you know of any specialists in Birmingham area?

Really appreciate the information.

Not Birmingham but the In Car Safety centre in Milton Keynes is well worth a trip! I think you can make an appointment.

There is a great place in Leamington called Naturally Baby which has great independent car seat advice.

We have a britax Max way and bought from winstanleys pram world in stoke.

Thank you.

Out of of interest, if we did go isofix, is it just that they only rear face to 18kg, then have to forward face, or is it a new seat altogether after 18kg? Like a HBB?

If you buy an 18kg seat, you would have to buy another one when your DS reaches 18kg whether he's rear facing or forward facing. That's because the weight of the isofix seat is taken into account when testing and the combined weight of the seat and the child means that it's only been tested to hold a child that is 18kg.

It's not recommended to use a HBB until children are about 4yrs even though they're legal from 15kg because there is some research to show that children don't have the bone structure to be able to cope with being restrained in a seat that is only holding them in place using the car seat belt. So that is why car seat advisors like car seat advice U.K. recommend rear facing in a harnessed seat until at least 4yrs.

You can get forward facing seats that go up to 25kg but they only forward face and you have to isofix and top tether points in order to fit them.

@teaandbiscuitsforme, that's great. Thank you, I think I'm a bit more clued up now!

I would definitely recommend that you look for a specialist retailer. They should install the seat for you, giving you that peace of mind, and on such high centiles a 25kg seat will save you money in the long run. As your child is likely to outgrow an 18kg sized seat by about 2.5-3, and most people aren't comfortable with moving to a booster seat that early (it wouldn't be recommended, either).

Thank you @BertieBotts, do you know of any in the Midlands?

Installing in the middle seat helps with the space issue, that’s what we have done

Thanks, unfortunately our car doesn't have a middle seat in the back!

25kg seat is the way to go. Our minikid actually takes up less room than our every stage did. Also forward facing seats actually require the same amount of room as rear facing because you need to have a certain gap between the back of the child's seat and the back of the front seat for safety, although No one seems to realise this.

Incidentally I have a Hyundai i10 and you can get a 5ft 10 passenger in the front with the minikid behind.

Brittax 2 way elite, installed behind the passenger seat is my suggestion 😊

I want to buy the cybex cloud as it does go fl

flat in a travel system. It goes up to 18kg.

Grumpy the Cybex cloud is only up to 13kg. No car seat that goes on a travel system is more than 13kg unfortunately. The Cloud is flatter than a normal car seat in a pushchair, but not totally lie flat as a carrycot would be.

This is a list - there are a few in the Midlands.
www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

Not on that list is also The Baby Barn in Rugby. I don't know that they are ERF specialists, but I bought my pram from them many years ago and they were so helpful. As independent retailers, it's likely they have training direct from the seat manufacturers. I see on their website that they stock BeSafe seats and BeSafe are an ERF manufacturer so it's possible. If it's near you maybe call them to ask first.