Car seat...which side?

[penguin7]

Hi
This may seem like a silly question and something you'd think I should know but I am pregnant with our first baby and thinking of what will need to know when baby is here and thought about the car seat.
Firstly, the travel system bundle that I am interested in contains the isofix base, are these suitable to use from birth or do you need to use the seatbelt method? And secondly, which side of the back seat is the safest option to place the car seat? Is it the behind the passenger side as this is the side that will be the pavement side?

safest is middle back.
but sometimes there are no isofix tethers in the middle. you could still use the seat belt if the middle one is a 3point one.

wrt travel systems keep in mind that young babies should be in a car seat for a short time only. best to use a flat surface (carry cot) for the pran.

Safest is actually passenger side so you can safely unload your infant from the pavement.
You should use your isofix base from birth. Please check that the car seat is compatible with your vehicles before you buy. You can do this on the manufacturers website.

I always thought passenger side was advised but I can't remember why I'm afraid! You can use an isofix base from birth.

Passenger side is safest.

Ok thank you all for your quick responses!
Our car is fairly new and does have the isofix options in the back. I am aware about not leaving the baby in the car seat for long so the bundle I have chosen does have the carry cot attachment too. I just wanted to be sure about the car seat as this is the first option I will need to think about when bringing baby home.

Isofix is fine from birth and behind the driver. This was advised by the place I got the car from as your reactions are to keep yourself from crashing into things (so you’re more likely to swerve and hit a wall on the passenger side). Also you should be parking so you’re both getting out of the same side onto the pavement!

@redcandlelight

safest is middle back. but sometimes there are no isofix tethers in the middle. you could still use the seat belt if the middle one is a 3point one.

wrt travel systems keep in mind that young babies should be in a car seat for a short time only. best to use a flat surface (carry cot) for the pran.

I wouldn't say middle back as there's nothing between the windscreen and the baby.

Behind the passenger seat is ideal as if you have to pull over in an emergency, you aren't standing in the road to get baby out

if the middle seat is suitable for use with a car seat (either isofix or belt fit) then the middle seat in the back is almost 30% safer. However, many cars don’t safely fit a child seat in the middle. You can check your car handbook to see if “universal” seats are approved (so you could belt fit), and for the isofix, the manufacturer is obliged to provide a vehicle fitting list, so you can check that to see where in the car the base is approved (obviously, if you don’t have isofix in the middle, you can’t use it there!).

After that - rear passenger, then rear driver. Front is least safe.

So:
Back is around 30% safer then front
Middle (if seat can be safely fitted) is around 30% safer again.

(The stats can be found on the road safety observatory, there’s a report on child car safety but I cba to find a link right now, sorry!)

FWIW I had my 3yo in the middle of my people carrier when I had it (isofix), now have a newborn and 3 year old, and a regular hatchback and it’s be a nightmare trying to put one of them in the middle - they’re both on the outer seats (newborn rear passenger, eldest rear driver - most importantly, both rear facing!)

Behind the passenger was what we do, so you aren't unloading the baby into the road, assuming you're pulling in to the left to park on the road f you're not on a driveway or car park. You can easily use mirrors to keep an eye on a rear facing car seat behind the passenger too, not sure how you'd set it up for behind the driver seat but I guess you could.

www.maxi-cosi.co.uk/c/best-location-car

I will also add, that there is something like an 8% difference in safety between passenger and driver side, so go for the side that you usually park on (if you park driver side on the kurb, or passenger side is right by a wall etc, go with driver side)

ISO fix is only on either side of our middle row of seats, they are safe at all stages.

I will use either side of the rear depending on what I'm doing, prefer passenger side most of the time. Both are fine though, we had twins last time and had to use both sides. Never used ISO fix in our current car as we use the 3rd row all the time and need to slide the ISO fix seats for access.

Ours is behind the passenger side. It's a bit bulky so with DH behind the wheel most of the times, he wouldn't be able to adjust the seat properly.

You don't have to use the seatbelt option. It depends on the seat itself. If it comes with isofix base, that's what you will use. If this is a newborn car seat though, you'll have to upgrade around 15m and may have to buy a new isofix base if you chose a car seat that's not compatible with the one you are buying now. Just thought I mention that in case you didn't know.

I once read that the safest is behind the driver. In case of accident, the reflex is to avoid the impact, so take the impact on the passenger's side. So the driver and behind it, would be safest in that circumstance.

Thank you for your replies! All very helpful! Do you recommend using a mirror too so can see baby?

Personally think a mirror can be a bit distracting when you are the driver.

We've got one but I agree I don't really like it...we never let her eat in the car so I just glance at it when it goes quiet in the back to check whether she's asleep or plotting 😂

@penguin7

Thank you for your replies! All very helpful! Do you recommend using a mirror too so can see baby?

We put DD2 behind the passenger seat.

I also have a largish mirror that goes on the headrest behind her that I can see her in from my rear view mirror. She’s a lot calmer with it too because she can see me even when I’m not looking at her. I’d say I look at her maybe twice in a journey. It’s just quick glances