Car seats - a bit dull but advice would be appreciated!!!

[PattyToo]

I will shortly need to buy a forward facing car seat for my dd. I am totally bamboozled by the range on offer. Apart from the price differences, any advice on what I REALLY need to be looking for?

the most important thing is does it fit your car?

Go to in car saftey centre milton keynes and they will tell you if not phone them up unit 5 auto cetre, stacey bushes milton keynes 01908-220909

they are brill and will even fit it for you they are experts.

\link{http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/carseats}

oops
carseats

My rough priority order would be :
British standard/ EEC standard
Secure fit in the car (Isofix compatible perhaps)
Additional side impact/head protection.
Secure harness, easily adjustable both at shoulder height as they grow and over the body during use to adjust for thicker coats etc.
Recline feature if your dd is still young and/or you are likely to do longer journeys regularly
Long term flexibility ie if converts to a seat using 3 point adult belt then booster cushion
Washable cover with replacements available at a later date
Weight and ease of fit if you need to move from one car to another often.
Other gizmos such as clips to hold straps as you put child in and out, play trays, cup holders and so on

hth

Thanks - all food for thought - although as I live in Edinburgh a trip to Milton Keynes might be a little too far to get my seat fitted! I take the point though, I presume there must be an equivalent up here.

Halfords and Morthercare both do a fitting service and Britax also have a secion on their web site that will tell you which seat of their seats will fit which car.

perhaps you culd ring them to tell them your model of car and then they could advise about which one and which seat to put it in eg. not all seats fit in all seats esp. the middle one.

you can also call the car manufacturers and they will also tell you the best make/model for your car. check out which.com as well, they frequently do safety checks and the 'top' carseats etc etc

just check with your local Halfords as we bought our car seat on the understanding that they fitted the seats.... well they showed us how to put the seat in but that is as far as they would go - they would not fit the seat for us.... apparently it is not all Halfords stores despite their website and in store information... just a word of warning