Which car seats - latest recommendations

[RustyBear]

The June 2008 edition of Which has an update on car seats - it mainly focuses on Group 0+ (there are 5 Best buy recommendations for this group, & 1 each for 1 & 2/3)

Best Buys Group 0+
Mothercare Meteor Isofix £190, 79%
Mothercare meteor (Belted) £90 74%
Jane Strata £112 77%
Chicco Auto-fix Plus £100 72%
Hauck Zero Plus £45 71%

Best Buy Group 1
Britax Explorer isofix £230 70%

Best Buy group 2/3
Cybex Solution X £110 72%

i read that today too

as usual pretty much all the mamas and papas car seats are crap and one of them in the dangerouse to be avoided section (the only car seat tested this year to be in that section)

it makes me cross that they are allowed to even sell car seats that kill children

historicaly M&P car seats are crap and this year is no expception

Hi, we have been looking for a new car seat for our DS who will turn one next monday. Every time we have visited our nearest Mothercare superstore the advisor recommends that we keep our DS in his infant carrier for as long as possible (this is because he is under weight and we think that he has only just turned 10kg).

Anyway in our effort to find a suitable car seat we have been perusing various websites - including Which - and what we seem to have uncovered is that their appears to be a campaign in Scandinavia and the Americas for Children to remain rearward facing for as long as possible. The reason for this is because most crashes are from the front in a rear facing car seat the child is pushed back in to the seat. If the seat is forward facing there is a possibility that impact could cause the child's neck to break because child's spin is not fully formed. Of course there is always the possibility that the impact could be from the back, in which case if the child is facing backwards their legs could break -- legs can mend - but a broken neck is another matter

The interesting point about this it seems that companies such as Britax and Graco have designed cars seats which meet this additional safety requirement --- however these seat are not available in the UK.

meanwhile in UK there is no recommendation regarding this...this is very strange -

For the safety of all our children something needs to done to publicise this research in the UK

www.car-safety.org/rearface.html
www.rearfacing.co.uk
www.incarsaftycentre.co.uk

We have the bebe confort Axiss and it is fantastic. It swivels so you can get bubs in easily and then swivels back round and locks into position . My dd is 13mths and loves it

There's a bit about that in Which, ponkalunk - they have a graph showing child-injury rates in UK & Swededn - they are almost the same up to age 1, after that, when UK children start to face forward & Swedish ones don't, the UK rate is at least double that in Sweden.

They showed the graph to Britax's technicakl director & he said it didn't account for 'potential misuse' - & that 60 - 80% of seats in the UK are incorrectly installed - in Sweden, car seats must be initially fitted by a professional. He says the 'complexity of straps & brackets required to ensure the seat is secure in rear impacts creates a unique installation in each model of car'

Which seems to indicate that perhaps we need to insist that all initial fitting is done by a professional.

but none of those 0+s are as good as the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix (with the Easyfix base) which scored 82% last year

These are additional ones - sorry I didn't make that clear

I might post a new thread with all the Best Buys, new and old, and their ratings...

Hi MrsBadger that would be useful. I assume that you will be posting the results or tests carried out by Which - (which seems to be the most stringent).

RustyBear it is amazing that those with the power and the knowledge are so nonplussed about this. For the safety of my child I would have no problem with a trained technician fitting the seat - from what I have experienced thus far with the infant carrier we are currently using we always fit it to the rear passenger side seat, and only take it out because it can fit on the chassis of the pram. Since the next stage seat can not fit the pram then there would be no reason to remove it.

I suppose you all saw the video of the crash test with the dummy being thrown about like a rag doll even in the good car seat. Which is pretty much unavoidable it you are facing forward.

We had originally been looking at the bebeconfort Axiss and then the Iseos tt (which adjusts the width of the seat to ensure that the child isn't thrown too much from side to side) we now have to rethink what we are going to buy.

Hi, Could anyone tell me which other best buys there are for a group 2/3 car seat in the latest Which results? Thanks