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Original poster

Jane Matrix car seat - is it only in the lie-flat position that it's not safe?

25 replies

Ceolas · 17/05/2007 19:34

Or is it crap altogether?

OP posts:
Original poster
Ceolas · 17/05/2007 20:08

?

OP posts:
LoveAngel · 18/05/2007 09:26

I bought the whole Jane Matrix travel system when I was expecting DS and it was the worst purchase I made full stop. It was soooo heavy and bulky, not easy to fold at all, all the accessories were fiddly, getting the bloomin' carseat attached and unattached from the frame initself was a complete mission...I used to end up crying floods of hormonal tears everytime I went near the blimmin' thing!

I think we used it for about 3 months (max) before we finally gave in and bought a lightweight McClaren's buggy and a maxi cosi careseat! Wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.

LIZS · 18/05/2007 09:38

iirc Which ? didn't rate it lying flat but was ok in the inclined setting.

appledumpling · 18/05/2007 09:41

Thank you, thank you, thank you LoveAngel. I hate our Jane Matrix car seat with a passion. It is an absolute nightmare to fit in the car and frequently reduces me to hormonal tears of utter frustration. One of the clips is fine but the other is just nigh on impossible to fasten. Even DH struggles with it.

The carseat weighs too much for me and it sticks on one side when I'm trying to get it out of the frame. I have a bad back so don't need this at all.

Finally, the one of the poppers on the strap of the bag doesn't work properly so if I want the bag over the pram handles for easy access eg. in Tesco, it's lopsided and bangs around my legs.

Rant over, sorry. In its favour, once the pram is assembled it is lovely to use. Once the car seat is in I feel DS is safe as houses. It's just the faff of getting the car seat out of the frame and in the car but it is a BIG faff.

PigeonPie · 18/05/2007 09:43

As a car seat in the lie flat position, I thought it was great. I didn't have the whole travel system, so never had to get it out of the car, but it meant that ds slept the whole way to Cornwall when he was 3 months old (apart from 1 stop for a feed) and that's a 6 hour journey.

It was recommended to us by a shop who only sold things if they'd been tried and tested and was safe.

PigeonPie · 18/05/2007 09:43

However, I only used it for a short while sitting up as it was a nightmare to get DS into then.

MrsBadger · 18/05/2007 09:45

Great off-road pushchair, good carrycot, but carseat is unsafe to use in car if lying flat and some people say it's too upright for tinies when it's sat up.

Diplidophus · 18/05/2007 09:47

I loved it!

The lying down position was superb and comfy for the baby. There is no evidence to suggest it is unsafe (it wouldn't be allowed). The velcro belt made it dead easy to get DS1 in and out of.

Yes it is heavy and bulky - but so is any all-terrain 3 wheeler. It is a bit of a faff getting in and out of the car - so as soon as he was old enough is just went in the pushchair for out and about.

I would buy it again.

MrsBadger · 18/05/2007 09:48

(and it's sold as 'safe' in that it passes the EU safety tests, but all lie-flat carseats/ in-car carrycots do significantly worse than rear-facers in independent tests - only excpetion is the monstrous Aprica )

LilRedWG · 18/05/2007 09:49

I would buy again too. Love my system and complies to all safety regulations and exceeds many.

littlelapin · 18/05/2007 09:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChippyMinton · 18/05/2007 09:53

I bought one to use the lie-flat option and could never get it fixed in the car to my satisfaction. Used it upright as a car seat, and flat as a pramette, both were good, and the buggy chassis (a Millenium, they don't make them anymore) is very sturdy.

fruitful · 18/05/2007 19:33

I would love to know exactly why it got that result in the recent Which report. And why it got a good result in the 2002 report. Especially since the tests that Jane had done on it were done by the same test centre that MaxiCosi use, and are the same as the Which tests... This is the original Matrix, we bought ours in 2002.

I loved it in the car, found it really easy and very fast to get in and out once I worked it out (the instructions are appalling). Getting it on and off the Powertrack was ok as long as I stood in the right place and no one tried to help me!

It was too upright and too difficult to fit in the car once we used it upright. But fantastic for the first 6 months.

Sadly won't be using it for baby 3 as don't have a big enough car. But I will still use it on the pram.

MrsBadger · 18/05/2007 19:39

I have the full text of the 2005 Which that slated it (along with the Navetta and other in-car carrycots), but it's at work - will post on Mon.
As I recall it mentioned the single strap round the abdomen putting pressure on internal organs in the event of a crash vs a harness that goes over the shoulders...

GColdtimer · 18/05/2007 19:43

IT was great for the first few months, brilliant on the pram because of its lies flat and upright options but we never used it in the upright position in the car so we did end up buying another car seat. I had a Jane Carrera and didn't find it bulky at all. I liked the fact in the early days I could lift the car seat out of the car and put it on a chassis rather than a bulky travel system.

We brought it on the strength of Which report so not sure how it could have done so badly this time around.

MunchiesMama · 19/05/2007 07:30

Hi Ceolas

Please do not buy this car seat! I was also going to buy this system and the lie flat car seat, i signed up to Which? online and their tests on this car seat showed that its safety rating was poor and they advised that this car seat should NOT be used as it was not safe, and that any accident could result in serious injuries!

I was shocked as Jane advertises this car seat as really safe and they show lots of safety standards, I guess Which? online just does more rigorous testing....

The normal car seat (think it is called Rebel) passed Which? safety tests.

Hope that helps.

fruitful · 19/05/2007 08:27

I love the way you all trust Which so implicitly!

They don't do more rigorous tests, they did the same tests and got different results. That does perhaps explain why the first test rated the seat highly and a later one didn't.

LIZS · 19/05/2007 08:53

They do test differently to the Euro safety / BS standards though , at higher speed for example, but agree it is not the be all and end all. A recommended seat one year can be reduced in status the next time around or may just not be tested and therefore be omitted from their listings (they don't do all available seats every year).

NannyL · 19/05/2007 09:57

The reason is in the earlier test they tested it sitting up as a normal car seat

and in the recent one it was tested in the carrycot position.

A VERY safe seat when used like a seat...

caused the crash test dummy seriouse injuries when used as a carrycot. simple as.

Should you choose not to believe the independant tests and the injuries caused to the crash test dummies that is your perrogative... the jane matrix is not the ONLY seat to have been shown to be dangrouse in a crash.

Years back the mothercare daytona was SO dangerouse it was the only thing in the history of the magazine to score 0 In the event of a small crash the babies neck would have snapped and baby would have been dead.

there are LOTS of seats they have found do NOT offer enough protection in a crash... including most (but not the travel tot) mothercare seats, the graco high backed booster, britax highliner, britax ranger, britax trio, all group 1/2/3 car seats (except britax evolva 1/2/3)

The standard for car seats to be tested in is 30mph in a front impact similar to a car driving straight into a brick wall at 30mph which is not representative of many crashes at all.

Which test at faster speeds with different types of impacts so actually see how the crsah test dummies survive in faster crashes mroe realistic of real car crashes, and pesonaly if the dummies are injured in these them thats a good enough reason for me not to use those seats and choose the ones where they dummies are not so hurt.

Car seats that kill children in crashes conform to the BS / EU safety standards so i personally dont trust them at all

horsemadgal · 19/05/2007 18:07

NappyL, which seats are recommended as safe please.
Thanks, M x

MrsBadger · 19/05/2007 18:20

any seat sold in the UK has to meet current EU standards, but this year's Best Buys as judged in independent tests by the consumer magazone Which? are:

Newborn - 13kg
Maxi Cosi Cabriofix (with Easyfix base)
Britax Cosy Tot Isofix
Britax Cosy Tot Premium

1-4 yrs (9-18kg)
Maxi Cosi Priorifix
Britax Duo Plus ISOFIX
Maxi Cosi Tobi

4-12 yrs (15-36kg)
Concord Lift Evo PT
Concord Lift Protect
Maxi Cosi Rodi XP
Britax Hi-Liner
Britax Evolva 2-3
Concord Lift Evo

horsemadgal · 19/05/2007 23:01

Thanks MrsBadger, it's all so confusing though as NannyL says the Hi-Liner did not offer enough protection???

NannyL · 20/05/2007 09:29

just read my previouse post

I did not mean the britax high liner doesnt offer enough protection.... (it does very well in independant tests...

i was meaning the britax cruiser plus! when i was typing!

sorry for the error!

horsemadgal · 20/05/2007 11:27

Oh good, thanks NannyL.

JaumeVF · 14/02/2021 16:21

what do you mean by DS? thanks

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