Best second stage car seat

[DebL]

DD at 9 monnths old is about ready for her next car seat. She has been in a Britax rock a tot, and I like the Britax brand.
My only problem now is which one to choose for the second seat - Which has the best safety record (have Which? done a report?), which one fits best in an Astra and an audi A4 and should I get one that goes up to 4, 6 or 11 years?

I have read mumsnet's guide, but it seems a little out of date when you look at the models on the market now.

I thought I had finished with baby buying dilemas, but this one seems the worst yet!

Any advice gratefully received!!

Can't help witht he Britax range - but the Maxi Cose Priory is great (I'm sure Britax must do an equivalent one)- I'd suggest one with an easy reclining function if you do any long journeys at all - although kids grow out of these sooner than some, they are much more useful in the early years. We tried out a couple of the "long life" varieties before deciding on the Priory, and found that we were uncomfortable with ds sleeping in their very upright positions with his head slumped anywhich way.

I went to Mothercare and tried a few seats in the car (and ds in them) before deciding - the staff member was very helpful and knew the ranges very well (esp Britax as she'd just been to them for training).

As for the end of baby buying dilemas - I think they only stop when they become kiddie buying dilemas

HTH & good luck in your search.

I have maxi cosi priori, and love it. I took advice from these pages and didn't rush dd into the next seat. The first stage ones are much safer and we kept dd in her rock-a tot even though her feet stuck out over the edge. My friend has the Britax Eclipse and is similarly impressed. I went to a local independent retailer who not only tried the seat in my car, but was reluctant to sell me the seat until she had checked that it was ok in dh car too. Great advice and £20 cheaper than usual.

I started of with a Britax rock-a-tot, then progressed on to the Britax Freeway with my dd and I love it. It is really easy to install and to move from car to car. The second stage car seat I had with ds, (can't remember the brand now!!) was awful and once it was in I daren't move it again, in case I could fit it properly. HTH

We used to have the Maxi Cosi Citi, and have just got DD's seat and we went for the Britax ISOFIX Duo.

It is the only ISOFIX seat avaailable on the 'open' market. If your car is compatible (I think the Audi is as we have just got a new Audi A4 cabriolet and ours is, but you can check on the Britax website) it is fantastic. It attaches to metal bars just between the car seat and back, so it actually is fixed to the car's structure and therefore much much more secure than normal seats. It makes fitting very easy too.

It can also be used without ISOFIX if required, using a normal seat belt.

It has all the normal features of a Britax seat too and looks very comfy - DD loves it. The harness looks very sturdy in particular, and it has a 3 stage recline. It is also a neutral grey with faint white check - important request from DH in his new car!

It is a little dearer than a normal chair. It costs £160 in Toys R Us and £180 in Mothercare I think, but some independent stores do it a bit cheaper - we paid £150.

We think it was worth every penny though, even if it is just for the added security.

DebL, we moved from a Rock-a-Tot to a Britax Renaissance. I think this is quite expensive, and it is heavy and difficult to move around, but at the time it got the highest Which? safety rating all round. (We might have gone for the Maxi Cosi Priori had we not had an excellent Britax dealer/fitter near us, the MCP is a really good seat too). Ds is nearly four now, and still comfortable in his Britax. We are really pleased with it.
As we are safety worriers, we will probably move on to the newly launched Britax Kid when he turns four, as this also has good side impact protection.
I know what you mean - they will spend nearly three years' travelling in these things - we took ages to finally make up our minds!

We have a Britax Advantage, and we just love it! My favorite bit about it is that it is rated up to 35lbs in the rear-facing position. My dd is 18 months and barely weighs 20lbs. She is still rear facing and will stay that way until she has maxed out the weight limit. I am very big on the increased safety of rear-facing over forward facing! Especially for babies under one year-they just aren't developed enough to withstand the force of a crash when forward facing. Here's a great link: carseat safety

Anyhow, I really love the Britax seats. They are difficult to find in the US, other than the standard Roundabout. But well worth it! I recommend them to all my friends.

Clicked "post" before I was finished. I was going on to say that the although the Britax seats can be expensive, I think it's well worth it. You get what you pay for in most cases, and my dd's safety has no price on it.

Both out kids are in Britax Clubclass Extra, and I can't recommend them highly enough. Brilliant!

thanks all for your replies. Especially to Corbin for the link on child weight & rear facing seats. I did not realise that rear facing is recommended for older babies and is the norm in Sweden up until 3 or 4 years of age. I will probably look at the equivalent UK named version of the Britax model that you mentioned. My only problem is how to entertain a nosy DD who gets bored looking at the back of a seat on journeys longer than 15 minutes!! dangling teddies just don't cut it any longer.....

meant to add that DD is a tiddler too - 17lb at 9 months, so even though she is getting too tall for the rock a tot, she still needs the protection of a rear facing seat. I think that has narrowed my choice a little.

DebL, do bear in mind that the car you drive is much more important re compatability at the second stage than at first stage.

We tried 4 seats at Halfords before we got one that the (very nice and helpful) assistant was happy was safely fitted (not the most expensive I hasten to add!). If the buckle of the seatbelt rests on the frame of the seat at all, it will fail in a crash. Halfords assistants are trained at Britax HQ so they tend to be biased towards Britax, but they do know what they are doing in my experience.

Britax without a doubt comes out best in tests, Which did a report last summer which you can access online (go for a 30 day free trial). Do make sure the seat is checked in both cars, as some seats fit better than others. I find the seats are quite heavy, but they are still quick and easy to re-fit in another car.

Don't go for a seat that goes up to 11 or anything, get a booster seat later. Are you likely to have another child ? If so you need one that will last for about 3 - 4 years.

At 2 I got a very lightweight foam seat (Britax) which is great for moving from car to car, and seems to work great for leaving with granny etc, my 4 yr old still uses that one a lot and the 2 yr old is in her Britax ????. Sometimes the older one uses a booster seat and the younger one the lightweight seat, as these are easier to move.

Good luck I found this a hard choice, but have been really happy with the Britax brand.

My only critisim is that the buckles need to have both parts slotted in at the same time, with a screaming struggling 2 yr old this is very difficult. I wish you could slot one in at a time, and release them together. I reckon it's because no mothers are on the design team

DebL, you're more than welcome! It's something I'm quite passionate about and it always makes me happy to share!

Corbin -- how in the world do you keep your child happy rear-facing at 18 months old??? Especially on long journeys??? My DD is also about 20 lb at 17 months old; must confess we put both the babies forward facing from 9 months. They were so much happier that way; stopped a lot of screaming to have them forward facing. Then again, we don't even own a car & aren't in them very often.

I splashed out and got the Maxicosi Priory, though, for 2nd baby. Kiddicare are doing a deal on it, at the mo -- love-it-or-hate-it cheetah pattern. I choose carseats on the basis of easy to fit securely into most any car; that's a big consideration when we go in different model cars each time.

Keeping a rear-facing child occupied and content can be easy! The first thing I'd recommend is a backseat mirror. These hook or velcro onto the backseat, serving a dual purpose; you can see what the child is doing (sleeping, picking his nose, choking) but as well the child can see whoever is driving! She gets quite upset when the mirror is dislodged and she can't see mommy anymore. Here's one a bit like our carseat mirror: Freaky bobbing Elmo-head mirror Our mirror does have an Elmo frame but does not bob about! The mirrors come in all different styles to suit what your little one is interested in.

Another thing we have long done is tape pictures to the back seat. Originally, I started doing it when she was just a few weeks old, with black and white geometrical shapes that are supposed to stimulate brain activity and growth. I've kept it up but use different things now, like a color copy of the illustrations in her favorite story book or pictures of babies cut out of magazines. I change them fairly often but it's not a bother.

We keep a rotating supply of books in the car to hand to her when she starts getting discontented. She'll sit and "read" to herself indefinetely. It's very sweet, she turns the pages, pointing to the pictures and talking to herself.

I also have a small basket of car-only toys that sits next to her carseat. She is quite reclined, since rear-facing seats don't work properly if they are sitting up like a forward-facing seat. The reclining position is what makes it safer, as the spine can "accordion" and absorb impact shock and then right itself, rather than the limbs and neck being whipped around and broken/sprained or having internal injuries. I wouldn't say she's laying all the way down by any means, but she's reclined enough that if she falls asleep she's very comfortable and her head doesn't loll around.

Also, we sing constantly in the car. Sometimes to the radio, sometimes to kid-type songs and sometimes we just make stuff up.

What are the carseat position laws in England? Here, they must be 20lbs AND one year of age as a minimum to turn forward, but we are encouraged to keep them backwards as long as possible.

I'm not a reliable source, but I believe there is no law in UK about backward facing, or backseat vs. front seat, and no carseat required after 1yo. Put another way, you only have to have child in a proper seat before 1yo. After 1yo, child is required to be in a seat only if a seat is in the car. [Actually they don't call carseats "carseats", they call them "restraining devices"] Otherwise child >1yo can be under an ordinary seat belt.

I'm talking laws, Recommendations are very different. I have heard the still rear-facing thing here, too, but always found it absolutely impractical..... Something like 30% of households here don't have cars, but there is very little advice for families like us that only hire and don't own. Infuriating.

Car seat laws vary by US state, no? One is not required to have children under 20 lbs still rear-facing in California, for instance (we were just there and helped by a friend who knows the CA laws inside & out).

I don't understand the 20lb thing, anyway. Surely it's a developmental thing about the strength of the neck, and how well the child can take the being thrown forward? That would come with age, not weight, wouldn't it??? Why would a plump baby be safer than a skinny one??? If anything, I would have thought the heavier the child, the greater the damaging forces...

How silly I never thought about it that Britax would offer different models in each country. Here's our carseat:
Advantage

The closest comparison I can find is the Britax First Class, which just replaced the Club Class. I'm surprised to find that Britax only offers one convertible carseat option in the UK, when they offer several in the US!

First Class

Zebra,

I agree, weight shouldn't be an issue at all. How heavy they are isn't at all indicitive of their muscle development! One problem frequently seen here are people who think that it is an either/or law, and put young babies who are very heavy facing forward. I worry so much for the babies if they are in an accident! Anyway, I agree with you that the weight issue doesn't make much sense.

I have to say that as far as I know, it is a nationwide law issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Some states have made the law stiffer than others, such as how the state I live in is contemplating changing the state law to 30lbs and 1 year to keep heavy young babies rear-facing longer. The AAP law is the minimum requirement for the country, but states can change it upwards if they choose. I grew up in California, and as far as safety goes it's one of the more stringent states, so I have to wonder, with all due respect, if perhaps your friend might have been misinformed.

Honestly, I'm shocked that a child over one year is allowed by law to sit in an adult belt! How dangerous! Goodness, here (nationwide, yes) children from 40lbs to 85lbs must be restrained in a belt-positioning booster seat.

Actually, I heard on radio this evening that the EU are going to bring in new regulations about carseats that are much more in line with what Corbin is used to. Won't come into effect for another 3 years, though.

We recently had a Road Safety Officer talk at our playgroup which said that anyone weighing less than 7 stone must use an approved booster seat together with the standard seat belt, not the seat belt alone. I assume this is law or EU Directive or whatever!

I was also told by Britax (I asked them about this as my dd2 only reached 20lbs at about 18 months!) that the weight limit of 20lbs on Britax car seats was because this was the weight at which their car seats had been shown to operate safely in the forward-facing position ie they had tested them at this weight, but they could not guarantee their safety with a lower weight. So it seems there is no specific link with developmental progress, it's just that 9 month olds on average have reached 20lbs.

we have a maxi cosi priori and it's great... no complaints... and as mentioned there is a great deal on at the moment, at kiddicare... not just cheetah but all patterns...!

maxi cosi offer

good luck!

whoops... sorry not kiddicare.. it's Just Kidding! whoops!

Corbin

Just wanted to say thanks for your messages about rear facing car seats. We are currently looking at the next car seat for 8 month old DS and it hadn't occured to us not to go along with the whole 9 month front facing idea - in our minds it was simply the 'next stage'. It makes so much more sense to keep them rear facing for longer.

We're now doing our research with quite a different emphasis.

Gem, I'm glad to have helped in your decision. Hurrah for your ds, he's a lucky one to be going backwards a little longer

Where do you put their legs when they get older though, in rear facing ones? Also, can someone please confirm that it is OK to have a child in teh front passenger seat? Thanks