Do I buy an i-size car seat?

[MrsBassett19]

Hi

I'm 6 months pregnant and getting very confused with all the legislation around car seats.
I see they've now introduced the R129 (i-size) regulation which offers higher safety standard than the previous R44 legislation.

My brother-in-law has offered us his ISOFIX base but it is only compatible with R44 seats.

My question is do I buy a car seat (and therefore new ISOFIX base) which is R129 or am I ok with an R44 one (and use my bro-in-laws base)?

Thank you!

Hi OP

In essence it's totally up to you. The upgrade to R129 does represent an increase in safety across the car seat industry as a whole, but that doesn't mean that all R44 certified seats are less safe than all R129 certified seats, if that makes sense. In fact many R44-certified seats would probably pass R129 legislation, particularly in the infant carrier stage as most of these seats are very protective. You want to look for something with good side impact protection if you're looking to compare with R129.

I would say one thing to bear in mind when deciding between an R44 or i-size seat is that R44 seats are classified by weight groups (usually up to 13kg for the first seat) or outgrown when the child can physically no longer fit into the seat, whereas i-size seats are classified by height limits. This means that most i-size seats are outgrown earlier than R44 seats. If you choose an i-size seat I'd recommend you look for one with a height limit of at least 80cm. The ones with shorter limits (73/75cm usually) tend to be outgrown before the first birthday.

Which base is it that your BIL has? Usually car seat bases are only suitable for one specific or a couple of specific car seats, so that would narrow down your choice. Also, check that it's not been involved in any accidents. People don't always realise that they need to replace any part of a car seat which has been involved in an accident.

Ultimately though, I'd say save your money on this group, the seat which goes with the base you have is likely to be fine, focus on saving for the next seat, as those tend to be longer lasting, more expensive, and more of a problem if you get the wrong one. Infant seats and booster seats are easy to get right because they are very simple, it's the toddler seat you want to put more time, energy and money into IMO. :)

I-size is safer than older seats. I’d do anything to keep my child as safe as possible. The first seat only lasts about six months though, so it’s up to you if you want to save your money for the next seat which lasts years rather than just months.