Group 1 rear facing car seats

[soapboxqueen]

Hi,

After much deliberation, DH and I have decided to go for a rear facing seat when ds grows out of his current maxi cosi one.

We are going to have a big trip out York (we live in Newcastle) so that we can visit a shop that sells a range of the rear facing seats. Obviously this is going to be a one time trip. We don't want to be going back and forth until we make our minds up so...

Has anyone got any tips, things they wish they'd known etc before buying a rear facing seat? Does anyone have a preference for a particular model?

Thanks in advance

I have a Britax 2 way elite for DS. I went to the essex road safety unit to try out a range before deciding, and that one was the most 'open' (low sides) so DS feels more part of the car than in his own cocoon, ifswim. It was also the cheapest, (£200) not overly wide, and seemed to have good 'room for growth' height and weight wise. I hope it will last him until over 4, although we may need to turn it forward facing due to him growing taller than the safe rear facing position, but no sign of that yet (he is 18 months and has used the car seat for around 6 months).

We have a BeSafe iZi combi seat for DD and really love it.

We chose this one as its really easy to fit in the car, as we need to move it between cars on a fairly regular basis. DD finds it really comfortable and has a great view out of the rear window from it.

Thanks for the advice. I've been leaning towards the Besafe range but we're going to a store with a fairly big range so hope to try the britax one too.

Thanks again.

Paul Stride doesn't sell the 2 Way Elite unfortunately. Think they may sell another Britax one though - Multi-Tech maybe.

If you've got a small or even a mid size car, I'd call the ladies at the Essex Safety Centre and discuss what seats are likely to fit in your car. I had my heart set on a Maxi Cosi Mobi, which Paul Stride sells, but there is no way it would have fit in my car (Honda Jazz). I had to go with a 2 Way Elite as it was pretty much the only one that would comfortably fit. Think the BeSafe one would have probably fit but the front seat would have been really compromised and since we're both tall that would have been hard to deal with. The ladies in Essex and lovely and helpful.

That being said, I really like the car seat. There's lots of room and she looks really comfy in it. We can also still fit two passengers in the back seat of the car with the car seat as its quite narrow.

Shall give the Essex safety ladies a call. I have heard of them but thought I would have to travel down there. Which obviously is a bit of a hike. Thanks for the tip.

We have the Britax 2 way elite and are very pleased with it. We got it from the in car safety centre in Milton Keynes - not sure if anywhere else sells them. We were told that it's got the smallest footprint of any of the rear-facers. We tried the Multitech but it didn't fit our car without making the front seat unusable.

I think it's well worth doing if the seat fits in your car.

You can buy some online if there is not a shop near you that sells one that you like. And the essex road people do tour round the country, so they may be coming near you soon. They don't sell but they do fit the seats if you have bought your own, and they are very very helpful.

I have the besafe izi combi isofix - its a bit of a bind to strip in a struggling toddler tbh - not much space. Don't know whether this applies to all rear facing though. Like the way it fits to the car though. Don't like it at all front facing - doesn't feel very secure, so deffo don't buy if you're thinking of changing it front facing halfway through.

Didn't want to buy online because I wasn't sure if they'd fit and a few companies say they won't take them back if the packaging has been removed. So how your supposed to tell if it fits I don't know.

Good tip about the road safety ladies. i didn't know they did tours.

hi soapbox queen, i can recommend the twe as well. have this seat and the KISS. am really happy with both. the KISS is isofix or seatbelt without tether straps and is up to 18kgs. the twe is rf to 25kgs and can be fitted with 2 or 3 point seatbelt and tethers. have got both from the in car safety centre, i think they now stock all the rf seats apart from the bimbofix. you could call them and see if they have fitted a rf seat in a car like yours? if not ask what their returns policy is? i live near the belfast store so can get there to try them out.

oh and the in car safety centre is the only place to sell the twe.