Please help me find an extended rear facing car seat which isnt isofix

[KatyMac]

I am out of my depth

Ideally from new born but happy to do a baby and a toddler

Joie tilt is up to 4 years old.
it’s bot isofix and is secured using the seatbelt. That has a newborn insert too.

Joie Every Stage R129 - it's great! We had a newborn carrier so only swapped to this when he was a bit older but it does newborn to around 4 rear facing, and then converts to forward facing until they're about 12.

So when the say one recline when rear facing what does that mean?

Sorry, I'm so confused

Hi OP,
Have a look at the Avionaut Sky and the BeSafe Stretch B. Both suitable from newborn and true ERF seats.

Would also recommend Avionaut Sky and BeSafe Stretch B. We have the latter and love it.

Beware Stretch B!

We have it and it's amazing.

There are lots - but I think IIRC you have mobility issues, are they relevant with this purchase? Or is the no isofix due to having an older car without isofix?

Do you have a budget at all? You might be looking at anything from about £90 to £500 depending on the features of the seat, special offers etc.

The ones which say one recline when rear facing, usually they can be fitted either forward or rear facing, they tend to have to be on full recline rear facing, whereas forward facing you'll have about 3 or so recline positions.

It used to be you could have seats from birth (Group 0+/1) or they would be from 9 months ish (Group 1/2). This has changed now.

The difference now with RF seats, is that they are either from birth (40cm) or from 60cm which is often given as 3 months - in reality baby needs to be able to hold their head up a bit and cope with less than a full recline, so if a seat is from 60cm, then it's from 4-6 months.

Then there are still a couple on the market which are old regulation Group 1/2 so from 9 months. Or old regulation Group 0+/1 which are supposedly from birth but don't always offer great support for a newborn.

It may be easiest to start off with an infant carrier, it's for your granddaughter isn't it? So DD may have her own infant carrier which ought to be easy enough to transfer into your car when needed (she should just make sure she doesn't get one which is isofix only). Then you don't need to worry so much what age your car seat is from, as long as it's ERF.

Thanks I'll look at those

@BertieBotts thanks - yes I do

DD has an isofix turning one but it won't fit in my stupid car

I cant lift a bucket seat so it coming out is pointless, I wanted a twisty seat but they aren't possible with non-isofix

Been to Halfords and mammas and pappas and despite Ford saying my car is isofix....it isn't!

So we want rear facing til 4 (is it? & we will decide after that, which seat as 4 years is a lifetime in product development)

I guess we could do from 3 m be realistically that will mean taking 2 cars if we go out together as I can't get in their car easily

I have the axkid minikid for my daughter, she’s 3 and a half, we’ve had it about 6 months and she has loads of growing room in it. I paid £250 for mine but my mum just got an axkid on sale for £179 for her car my daughter climbs in and out now so as your little one gets older that will reduce you having to lift them x

Avionaut sky is suitable from birth. We have a britax romer safeway M which I love and lasts til 36kg/approx 7 years. Currently 170 quid. Says online from 3 months. If I was buying specifically from birth I'd get the sky!

I'll look at both of them too thanks

Fords from certain years had isofix as an optional extra, not always opted for as I think it cost more to have it put in. But the bolts to attach the isofix are still there. As a result, they are some of the only cars that you can retrofit isofix into safely. You could ask them about this.

Post 2013 it will definitely have it, because the law changed. Anything from late 90s to 2012 you will have the above situation.

Stupid question sorry but did the salesperson push their hand into the seat and feel for isofix bars? You have to go a lot deeper than with some other brands and Halfords staff are typically clueless about car seat stuff. I have also seen some videos on youtube about revealing the isofix on the C-Max - in that car apparently they are there but they are covered by the seat upholstery!

I think you may struggle with the Joie or Graco belt fitted seats. The seatbelt is annoying because it's totally in the way. You will be better off with something like the Avionaut or Britax. I would look for an ERF specialist near you who will fit it and potentially offer you a test to see how easy they are to use, because the tethers might be a pain. But that will last you longer than 4 years and then as you say you can see what to get next after it's outgrown.

Axkid Minikid 2 or Move will be a problem because they aren't really suitable until around 9-12 months. You could use a carry seat until then, but it is a bit of a pain to use those if you can't easily carry them into the car.

Axkid Minikid 4 or Movekid are OK, because they have the newer "from 60cm" - so from 4-6 months or so.

This place looks worth a look and like they might take the time to let you try different things and see what you need. Pricey though - but maybe there will be more offers before you need to buy (Black Friday/January sales are usually good). They do stock the cheaper Joie seats too so could give those a try and see if the belt being across the door opening is an issue.

www.littlebubbas.co.uk/125cm-car-seats

How do you know this stuff? It's amazing!

Negotiating with DD about what she wants vs what I need

I wonder how much the isofix would cost - we have the top tether things atm according to halfords and mammas & pappas people

We are 2014 which is a bit odd - a tourneo connect

I mentioned the belt across the 'gap' to M&P but they said I should tuck it under while I'm positioning the baby

I used to work with car seats and I also just got quite into it because it seems so confusing, and I like finding out the answers to things :)

It is extremely unusual for a car to have top tether points but not isofix fixings, especially if the top tether points are marked as such. And likewise, if it was manufacturered after Feb 2013 it had to have them by law anyway. The only thing I can think re the 2013 law, is that if your car was originally kitted out either as a minibus or van and the seats were added in later, it might not have needed to include them. I have looked at loads of second hand listings of Tourneo Connects now and that is the only thought I've had with it.

I don't trust Halford's people to have looked properly. I would have thought Mamas and Papas would be better, but perhaps not?

I did take these screenshots from the second hand ones and circled where the isofix will be in these cars.

I also wonder whether there might be a little hidden bit like in the Prius:

This is a really good guide in general to finding them but doesn't explain the zip scenario

OK to explain my scribbles -

Blue circles on black seats is what it looks like in the newer models. Extremely clear and obvious. Some of them seem to have covers over these but they have big isofix symbols on so I think you'd have found them.

Green is a model which was listed as 2015. Arrow shows a small fabric label with the isofix or child seat symbol. This is the model I wonder if there is a fold or even a zip or something under the little fabric fold I marked with a question mark.

Orange writing on blue patterned seats is a model I found from 2012. It has what look like plastic white buttons showing where the isofix points probably are, and looks like the middle seat has depressions where they have perhaps had a child seat installed. I thought I could even see one of them just poking out where I put the arrow.

Notable - the far side of the picture (driver's side as I'm in Germany) has NO white buttons and I did find this as a query on a forum as in why it only had them on the centre and one side rather than both. This is also unusual so could be if your car has this set up, the shop staff didn't check both sides?

Worth checking for retrofitting costs, I think, if you can't find it at all.

If you do find some and they are totally buried and hard to get to, most car seats come with little black or yellow plastic square things, these are to hook into your car to keep the seat fabric open so you can reach the isofix points.

These are pictures I have, I'll try and take more tomorrow

I wonder ifnits because the seats are removable?

No, removable seats can have Isofix. Ok, on your last picture I can see the child seat symbol label so that will indicate where the Isofix is and means I'm certain you have it.

If you fold the seat flat as though to remove it you'll also be able to see it. I'm on my phone now but I'll take a screenshot of a video later.
But I'd have a really good poke around where those labels are and see if you can find anything. This is the picture on the label

I think it might be here - if only the seatbelt buckle shows then click on the photo to make it bigger.

Also try right where the label is.

Britax Maxsafe is brilliant, or their similar Safeway M.

Thanks @Livingmagicallyagain I'll look

@BertieBotts Halfords and M&P looked on the passenger seat side but I just found a reference on google to it being on the drivers side which is the single seat (as it splits 2/1) so I'll check this morning (after tesco delivers at DDs as I have to sort that first)

@KatyMac I started my own thread about it here!

It is from 61cm, it has an insert with it (which we didn't need).

Well i have 3 definite points, 2 sides on the seat behind the driver and one on the passenger side but the middle one; behind the isofix label on the front is a top tether label on the seat behind

Oh brill!! So it looks like there are isofix points (should be 2 per seat, plus the top tether behind the same seat) on the second row drivers' side and centre?

Most seats don't use the top tether, especially for newborns. You will only need that bit later if you change to a forward facing seat which has one.

So, next hurdle - do you have hollow storage boxes on the floor of the car? That can interfere with a support leg, which is what most of the spinning seats have instead of a top tether.

Nope only 3 that I can find - 2 on the seat behind the driver and 1 on the passenger side - so baby goes behind me

I've even stuck my fingers down behind the seatbelt buckle and there is nothing there

No boxes on the floor