Gutted- RF car seats a no-go- now what? Any recommendations?

[Dirtyyurty]

As my DD is just about outgrown her infant car seat, I was hoping to get a group 1 rearfacing car seat. I went to have a fitting tonday only to find that a rf car seat just wouldn't work in my car (Kia Picanto) or be suitable for DP's van (renault traffic crewe). I say it wouldn't work 'cause there would be absolutely no room for anyone else inthe car apart from me and DD.

I'm disappointed as I feel rf'ing are the safest but what would be the next best thing?

Any one else had a similar situation? What ccar seats did you go for in the end? Am thinging either a Britax King plus or the Kiddy Infinitypro. DD is 10mo and very squirmy so not sure how well the Infinity would hold her in. Thanks!

I had a MaxiCosi for my newborn and was very happy so we looked at a few group one options and ended up going got the Maxi Cosi Priori XP. So far it has fitted tightly and snuggly (fairly easy to change cars) in a Clio, Fiesta, VW Touran, Toyota Yaris and Focus Estate with no problems - even in the three-door Clio. My DD is 2 and very happy in it.

Hope that helps.

We've got a Maxi Cosi Tobi which fits really tightly and easily into every car we've ever tried - clio, skoda fabia, vw passatt, audi a4 estate, landrover discovery and a fiat minibus on holiday.

It has good recline positions too and both ds's have seemed very comfortable in it.

oh no, that is disappointing. how many did you try??
we have 2 rearfacing seats and i can't see that they're really any bigger than the forward facing ones we had before (though realise it depoends on what you've tried and how big car is!)

hi did you look at the besafe car seat? someone on here had it fitted in a ford ka and had front passenger room!

we have the britax two way elite for ds and smallest i've had it in is a 3 door clio or 3 door fiesta. if they really don't fit then i would keep her in a baby seat for as long as possible. my 19 mo mindee is still in mc cabrio-i'm saving for a rf seat for her too. or if you could get to the in car safety centre they have most of them for you to try out. there is a smaller one-apparently suited to polos etc but can't think which britax one it is. the in car safety centre is in milton keynes or belfast. www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk good luck!

Infinity pro would probably hold a squirmy child in better than a 5-point harness, I would have thought.

If you go to a Mamas & Papas shop, they might have a Cybex which is their Infinity Pro copycat seat - our local one has a little carseat testing area with two adult car seats with seatbelts and you can put the child carseats in to see how they fit. I tried DS in one - he hated it though

I know it's good to follow the ideal and choose the safest seat but my daughter would have gone crazy in a rear-facing one. Her first seat lasted her until she was 14 months and by that stage she was desperate to see me and look out the window. I really felt it was better for me to talk to my daughter that have her facing backwards. Just my experience, I know all children are different.

i thought mine would hate it, but they're fine!
ds2 is 2 and went from forward facing back to rear-facing and he hasn't complained at all

tbh, i'd rather have him whingeing and safe

tori27 but the children can see out in rf seats. they're not like the baby rf seats where they can see the back of the seat. i have taken my rear headrest off so ds can see out all of the back window and the side windows. had my 6 yo mindee in it the other day and and he said he liked the seat.

Maybe it's just me but I drive a four-hour journey pretty regularly to visit family (stopping for a break) but passing a drink/snack is easier with my daughter facing forwards. It's not safe to pull over into the hard shoulder on the M25. Plus it makes conversation possible. I know there are pros to both - just saying what worked for us and I am happy and confident that my daughter is safe and that the chair is easy to transfer.

I had a similar problem (but with a sports car). I bought a new car so that I could fit a RF seat (FF was never a consideration for us). This was my solution, but may not be for you.