Car seat help - pretty please

[Tobuyornot99]

I'm totally overwhelmed by choice and misleading descriptions, any help much appreciated.

Dd is 9 m/o and could possibly do with the next car seat. Having read up on safety etc I think I want a rear facing, iso-fix compatible seat. However all the main retailers websites offer endless choice when I tick "rear facing", but most of them aren't rear facing beyond 9 months.

Can anyone recommend me their car seat that is rear facing? I also probably need a cheaper car seat for DP''s credit for when he does the short journey drop off to childminder, as I'm imagining she won't want to be keeping car seats etc for me.
Thanks in advance.

You need to find an extended rear facing seat. You can find a lot of choice and advice on carseat.se

We've had the KISS 2 seat and it's held my daughter in it until she was just over 4 years old. There is loads of choice out there, you will probably just need to look at the European sites.

Also, meant to say, your car will often dictate the type of seat you can install - the rear facing seats often have floor posts and will require a bit more space between the back and front seats.

If you email carseat.se with your car make and model, they will suggest the best seats for your situation.

It's great knowing your kids are well protected in a crash, I always think 1 year olds look so vulnerable in a front facing seat.

Thanks Face, I agree that little ones look a bit marooned facing front! I'll check out that website now. Thanks for your help!

I have a Joie Everystage which is rear facing until 18kg. It's not isofix though. You use the seatbelt. The compatibility guide is on their website. It is also more expensive than others but it will do the little one until he's about twelve.

It all gets very confusing! The new law says that they need to be rear facing until at least 15 months but even that is confusing as I think the old law still also applies for now.

If you already have an isofix base I'd find out what the next seat up is that's compatible with that base. Some of them will be able to be rear or forward facing so they will last longer.

I've been thinking of getting one of the 360 seats, most of them come with their own isofix base. Like the maxi cosi assis fix. It swivels round sideways so you can put them in and get them out and then you swivel it so it's rear or forward facing. It's good for your back as you're not reaching over to put them in and out. Mothercare have £100 off it at the minute (think that's just the black one).

Thanks Autumn. I did look at that seat and was really taken by it, but it seems daft not to use the Iso-fix that we have paid a fortune for.

Thanks beekeeper, I'll look into that. We will hopefully have another child at some point, so I imagine the swivel will be much appreciated when pregnant! Glad I'm not the only one confused, I was starting to feel a bit incompetent!

If you want to use your correct isofix base, then check what seats are compatible with it. That will dictate your choice somewhat as not all isofix bases are compatible with all seats.

Current, not correct! That's actually why I'm looking at the 360 seat as I'm pregnant again! So hoping to keep the current base and carrier for the new baby and get a new one for the current baby!

What cut have you got? We have the besafe isofix car seat and it fits in all the cars we've put it in - zafira, zafira tourer, BMW one series, Peugeot (small one don't know the type!), Nissan qasqui

Thanks again Bee, naively I assumed all bases would be compatible with all seats, good way to ensure brand loyalty to make them not though I guess!
Chocolate I have a Kia Picanto. Tiny thing, like a tea caddy on wheels

Joie 360 Spin is isofix and can be rearward facing up to 4 years

Join the group a-z of rear facing in fb. There is do much helpful information over there.

Have a look to see if you are near any branches of the In Car Safety Centre. They offer free appts at their showroom to help you choose the most appropriate seat (which as you say, is rear facing. But Isofix is about convenience and idiot proofing. It is no safer than a correctly fitted seatbelt secured seat)

If you're looking to have two car seats I'd say it's useful to have one isofix (in the car you use most frequently) and one that is seatbelt fitted. That way, if you ever want to go in someone else's car/use a taxi/go on holiday you have a seat you can take with you.

We have a maxi cosi 2 way pearl in my car (isofix, erf til 4) and a joie everystage in my husband's car, which fits in like an infant carrier (just uses a seatbelt, no tether straps needed) and we use when going on holiday/in taxis etc. I can fit it in about 20 seconds, it's really straightforward.

Do you live near Milton Keynes or Essex? They have in car safety centres there and have a wide range if rear facing seats you can try.

We have the Joie 360 which goes forward or rear facing till about 4 years. However, and I totally got confused by this, it doesn't fit onto your existing isofix base, it has its own inbuilt one.

It seems to be that only the first stage ones clip in and off the isofix, all the next stage ones are one unit so your existing base is going to go to waste I'm afraid. Confused me massively trying to figure that out!

We have the Joie spin 360 for our 15month old ds, he's been in it since he was 9months, it's a great seat, we love it, he's super comfortable it in, no head flop issues either

dappled that's not true, there are some isofix bases that you use for both infant and erf seat e.g. Maxi cosi and cybex I believe.

Darnit Welsh, I was either misled by the woman in Mothercare or I just wasn't listening properly. Both plausible!

Mothercare are utterly clueless about car seats, even the ones they sell, so I wouldn't be surprised!

Ah well, we're happy with the Joie one and the base and first stage seat we already had will get second use by the end of the year. But will bear this info in mind for when DC2 moves up

Find the car seat for mummies and daddies group on Facebook. Awful name, amazing advice!

You need to look at your child's red book to see whether they will weigh more than 18kg at 4 years old before you do anything! Then find your nearest specialist (not mothercare/Halfords) for the best advice and proper fitting of the seat.

Some brands have isofix bases that are suitable for more than one seat eg maxicosi. The 2-wayfix base will take both the pebble plus infant seat and the 2 way pearl toddler seat, but it is not compatible with the pebble seat or pearl seat, they go on a familyfix base.

The axissfix is not an extended rearfacing seat. It only RF to 87cm or thereabouts. Most RF seats last til at least 105cm

Thanks all! Will read replies fully later but much appreciated