Jane Matrix car seat - lie flat

[SuzanneSays]

Hi - has anyone had good/bad experience with the Jane Rider / Trider/ Muum pushchairs and matrix car set which can lie flat? The Trider and Rider did well in the Which table, but don't mention the car seat. Jane are as far as I know the only manufacturer of a lie flat car seat. I am a bit worried that they are not as safe as a conventional car seat. Also the fitting looked a bit fiddly. Any ideas? Thanks!

I had the matrix (with rider). I loved the fact that it laid flat and had a 5 point harness, which looked safer to me than the 3 point. You can also sit it up and as it's bigger than other seats it will last you longer. A Moses basket mattress fits in great so that's really handy if you stay anywhere, saves taking a travel cot or anything.

However, it is very heavy so don't be under any illusion that you'll be able to walk any distance carrying it. I could just about get it into the house or onto the pram.

The fitting isn't that difficult once you get used to it, you can get an isofix base but it's very expensive. The seat takes up two seats in the lay flat position so bare that in mind if you need the space.

The Matrix was slated by Which years ago due to poor safety results in a crash. The test dummy was almost decapitated whilst laying flat if I recall correctly (check out the YouTube video).

Britax also make a lie flat car seat but it doesn't sit up and is only suitable to 8kg I believe.

That was the previous version which only had one strap over the tummy (like a lap belt) so yeah you can imagine it not doing much in a crash!

The matrix has a low limit (10kg I think) for use lying down than a higher one for sitting up.

Thanks -tryingtocatchthewind - how do you find the car seat in the sitting up position? Have seen some reviews saying it is too upright for baby to sit comfortably. Arghhh - hate pushchair buying!

Never seemed to bother my LO but we moved to the britax 2way elite pretty early as he was above the centiles!

I think it would depend on the slope of your car seat, any car seat would seem upright if your seats are quite sporty and sloped.

The strata is also a good seat as the recline of the seat is more flat than standard seats

I have the Muum/Matrix Light 2 combination for my 5.5 month old.

I use it every day for walking and train journeys and also several times a week in my mum's tiny car (3 door Citroën C1).

The original Matrix Light got bad reviews however the Matrix Light 2 scores well on Which. Their only complaint is that the Isofix base is tricky but I just use seat belts which work fine.

As mentioned above the car seat is heavy but it's perfectly doable to get it in and out the car. my DS is over 18lb and I can still get it into the back of the car in lie flat or sitting up mode.

I tend to use the lie flat option in the car while I can since it just looks much more comfortable to me, although he is at the age where he likes to look out the window so I probably won't get away with that much longer! The lie flat position is an option to 10kg and the upright position is suitable to 13kg so you get a bit more use out of it that a maxicosi or similar small seat.

In addition to the 2 car seat positions there are a couple of reclined positions you can use when the Matrix is on the pushchair chassis. All of my baby groups buddies have had to move on from their carrycots as their babies don't want to lie flat all the time so this feature really extends the life of the carrycot function.

I bought a Moom footmuff which is advertised for smaller car seats but fits the Matrix Light 2 as well. If you decide on this seat I'd highly recommend this extra expense, it's very comfy and waterproof and DS loves it.

I considered the three pushchairs you mention (Rider/Trider/Muum) and decided on the Muum in the end. I prefer the standard 4 wheel set up and I really like the way it folds, its so straightforward compared to other pushchairs we looked at, and it fits in the tiniest boot (albiet by popping one of the wheels of but this takes seconds).

It can be folded with the pushchair seat on but I've not yet had to use this as DS is still in the Matrix. The seat unit on the Muum is larger
than the Rider/Trider and while the other seats do look a bit more stylish the Muum unit should last me well into toddlerhood!

Sorry for the essay but I remember not being able to find much info on these options when I was looking so wanted to help as much as possible

I have a muum here at the moment, it's quite a bit harder to fit in a small car with the pushchair seat on than it is just the chassis. It's reasonably bulky folded with the seat on and because of the recline mechanism the seat itself is quite bulky off the chassis too. Seat and chassis are very hard to fit in my 2014 i10 boot, I haven't achieved it yet but equally haven't spent a lot of time trying.

I had a twone some time ago, my friend has one currently and the rider/trader/twone seat is bigger than the muum one, taller in the back etc. Both are perfectly big enough to see most children to about 3 anyway though.

I like jane pushchairs overall, I'm not sure about the matrix light, I probably wouldn't personally but then again I have no need for it so depends on your circumstances I guess.

Thanks for all the feedback-think we're going to bite the bullet and get the mum with matrix2 car seat. It is heavy to carry, us hopefully shouldn't need to carry it far very often-fingers crossed I don't drop the baby!