Tell me about Isofix & car seats & our cars!

[nymphadora]

Looking at first stage car seats atm. Totally confused as they have changed loads.

Car seat will be going in & out of 3 cars. Mine & mums have isofix but both need to be used as normal seats when baby isn't in the car. Is this possible? Dh car doesnt have isofix. Can seats do both?

I cant work out which seats are the best as every site has different views and obviously the car changes it. Is there a site which matches seat & car?

have you thought about a rf car seat? i have 2. have the KISS(klippan isofix safety system) and a britax two way elite. the KISS can be fitted with a seat belt as well as the isofix. an isofix seat is no safer than a belted seat as long as the belted seat is fitted correctly, but having just got an isofix seat a few months ago i'm a convert. it is so much easier to fit, just click and go.

look on rearfacing.co.uk for more info.

Group 0(+) sorry couldn't remember what it was called when I posted. Took me weeks to start the thread!

So the isofix wouldn't be able to be used as a seat when baby isn't in?

Just about all isofix seats can be used with seat belts. The Britax and Maxi Cosi seats always score very highly in the Which tests, and we have been very pleased with ours

Thanks that's a good start!

The ISOfix system is just a way to mount a seat directly to the chassis of the car - it isn't safer than the equivalent car seat fitted correctly with a seat belt, but it is a LOT easier to get it fitted correctly if you use ISOfix and hence ISOfix tend to score higher on consumer safety tests like Which?. As you already know, though, no car seat is safe if it doesn't fit securely in the car so its important to check that before you buy.

Most ISOfix infant carriers (Grp 0/0+) have a generic seat on an ISOfix base. The seat can usually be fitted in a non-ISOfix car using a seat belt (although you'd need to check it does fit in the car correctly). The ISOfix base is often left in the car for convenience, but taking it out is very easy - there would be no problem using the seat as a normal seat when the baby wasn't there.

When you get to Grp1, things start to get a bit more complicated as it is more common for the Grp1 ISOfix seats to have the ISOfix system integral to the seat itself. IIRC this makes it pretty impossible to use an ISOfix Grp1 seat in a non-ISOfix car. I think there are one or two Grp1 seats that use a base system, as per Grp0/0+, so that might be something to look into (although I'm not sure any of them go RF.

This site is very useful (although it doesn't mention RF Grp1 seats), and is run by the ladies at the Essex County Council IN-Car Road Safety Team. They are extremely good, and get rented out to a lot of other areas to do the free car seat safety checks at fire stations. If you give them a call and give them the list of cars you need to fit, they may well be able to rule some seats in or out of your consideration - just from having seen so many seat/car combinations. I'd also have a look at their list of recommended retailers and use one if its at all possible. We did (by coincidence), and felt that the lady was very competent and concerned - to the point she won't sell seats over the internet as she wouldn't be able to check the fit.

Sorry for the essay - but hope it helps

Thanks, once its a fixed seat we will have one each or something as I'll be back at work and baby will be passed around more. I need to be able to use the seat for work though so need an in & out easy one at that stage.