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Original poster

rear facing group 1 help?

17 replies

kezboosnez · 01/06/2008 22:16

i have been looking for a rf car seat for my 6m old dd after looking at a few other threads and watching utube i want her rf for as long as pos, i have a citroen picasso with isofix and wondered what the best option would be if anyone could help that would be great

OP posts:

Teaandcake · 02/06/2008 09:48

Hi, How about this? Its the only rear-facing Group 1 seat with ISOFIX that I'm aware of.

Theres not really much choice on the UK market.

MrsBadger · 02/06/2008 10:05

if she's only 6m she should be fine in her group 0+ rearfacer for ages yet.

MrsJohnCusack · 02/06/2008 10:14

my DS has only just moved out of his 0+ rear facing seat at nearly 15 months. so you might be OK (I was like you, wanted to keep him rf for as long as possible). There's even less choice here in NZ and they don't even have isofix here - grrr

Pixiepants · 02/06/2008 10:20

Hi, Britax have an isofix one available from In car safety, both in their shop in Milton Keynes and on-line. Volvo dealers can get order this one too and would be able to fit it for you. At 6 months your LO might still be too light for a group 1 seat. Could you borrow a RF group 0 for a few months until she reaches the weight for Group 1?

In car safety also have belt retrained RF seats. As you have found out, it's quite hard to find these products and info about them. A campaign to raise awareness has been set up and you can get loads more info at www.rearfacing.co.uk. I'm getting the impression that Britax are reluctant to sell them in the UK as they think UK parents would have trouble fitting them, as there are a few more stages involved in fitting them correctly. Isn't this a rubbish reason for not giving parents/carers the choice to buy the safest product easily?

HTH

Pixiepants · 02/06/2008 10:24

Oh, I'm assuming that kezboosnes doesn't have a seat at the moment....If you already have one I second Badger and Mrsc

Lionstar · 02/06/2008 10:43

The bizzare thing is that Britax actually make the rear-facing models here in the UK and then ship them to Scandinavia.

I have also heard that the reason they don't sell them in the UK is 1. They don't think people will fit them correctly (apparently in Scandinavia all seats are professionally fitted) 2. They don't think there is demand, and 3. The seat instructions have not been written in English - only Swedish etc.!!!

I am sure there would be the demand if people were better informed about the safety aspect. Also if everyone who is interested in this went into all their local seat suppliers and grilled them about rear-facing then maybe the message will get through. I've done this in all the local suppliers I could including Mothercare and even asked the managers to contact the seat manufacturers and get back to me - who knows, it might get them thinking.

Pixiepants · 02/06/2008 11:09

Lionstar, not sure if you were on the recent thread about all this, but there's also a petition to raise awareness here if you'd like to sign.

I'm beggining to understand why the manufacturers don't push RF, as so many people are very negative about the seats just because they're different. Absolutely no reason not to offer the choice though.

I imagine that all child car seats were given this sort of reception when they were first introduced, but now most parents realise the importance of them.

Hopefully, like you say, if we keep raising the subject, in shops, to road safety officers, the media etc, and here on MN a few more people might get to hear about them so that in time they become more widely available.

Pixiepants · 02/06/2008 11:10

Meant RF 'Group 1'

Original poster

kezboosnez · 02/06/2008 20:35

hi sorry have been out all day.dd is in her m&p baby car seat just now but her head is nearly at top of it,ok weight wise as she is 21lb and seat goes up to 13kg. went in to mothercare to ask about a new seat today and they said it was a waste of time getting rf seat she would be fine in ff as she is heavy enough didnt even ask if she could sit on her own i was so angry my poor dp listend to me all the way home had a look it britax isofix on the web page has anyone have one? had also found a recaro one but can't find out much info about it. thanks

OP posts:

Original poster

kezboosnez · 02/06/2008 20:46

sorry teaandcake just reread post again and it has info about recaro this is what happens when i try put dd1 to bed, feed dd2 and read mn.

OP posts:

silverfrog · 02/06/2008 20:53

we hae the britax rearfacing isofix seat. dd1 was in it until she was over 3.6 ish, and had plenty of room. we did move her forward facing when she was under 18kg, but that is because she kept getting her feet stuck in her RF seat, BUT this was not due to lack of room - it was due in part to dd1's enormous feet (!) and also dd is autistic, and she couldn't work out how to NOT get her feet stuck. Ironically, she is now over 18kg, and so is (legitimately imo) ff but she would now understand how to put her feet....

Anyway, the seat is good, it served us well, and it is waiting for dd2 to be big enough for it (she's 15 months, but a tiddler, so a while to go yet!)

Dummymumm · 02/06/2008 20:57

go onto britax.co.uk/fitfinder and it will tell you which seat fits your car, is ISOFIX and can be used rf then ff when lo is older. great website for finding car seats, shame other manufacturers don't follow their example. it even tells you where it will fit in your car, ie front, back, centre

Dummymumm · 02/06/2008 20:59

also, if you get in touch with your local council's road safety dept they should have somewhere where you can go and try out various car seats before you buy one.

Pixiepants · 02/06/2008 21:32

Kezboosnez, I don't blame you for being about that comment from a carseat advisor...thats shocking. Imagine if that advice was given to someone who didn't know the risks involved in FF so young?. Would you have chance to complain so they can look at their staff training? (I realise you're pretty busy thou )

Pixiepants · 11/06/2008 21:11

Kezboosnez, bit of a delayed reply to your question from 2nd June, but I have the Britax Fixway RF isofix as of this morning. The isofix fitting is great. I got it from my local Volvo dealer. The tether's have a catch/clip to attach to the base of the front seat that is specific to Volvo cars, but you get around this by looping the straps around each side of the front seat in other makes of car. (Hard to explain, but will do more clearly if you need to know). It does create a bit of a blind spot in the side back window, but wing mirrors solve this! Cost a lot more than we planned to pay for a FF seat, but that was before we found out about the benefits of RF, and a bit of juggling and cost cutting made up the difference.

I tried a belt restrained RF seat initially but the seatbelts in our car caused 'buckle crunching' so it had to be sent back. Buying a RF seat hasn't been hassle free but I'm really pleased with the one we have and am glad I made the effort...and hopefully won't ever have to put the seat to the test!!! HTH

Original poster

kezboosnez · 12/06/2008 20:44

hi thanks think i will pop into volvo and see what they say, as we have a fake floor in the back dont know if i can get isofix as they all seem to have a leg that goes on to floor. do u mind me asking how much volvo asked? i had budgeted for about £300 but recaro is only £200.does feel like no one that has anything to do with car seats or citroen wants me to have a rf car seat and pepole keep telling me that they put baby in a ff car seat and their were fine. give it a few years and hopefully rf it will be the norm.

OP posts:

Pixiepants · 12/06/2008 22:56

There is a 'leg' on the one I have but it's adjustable. If the Volvo garage can't advise you on the safety of this, you could check with Britax in Sweeden! (I e-mailed them in English in the hope that some one would reply and got a very helpful response. I can get the e-mail address if you need it, but I just googled for it).

I paid £247...(BTW I had to show the Volvo man how to do the tethers, so do get back to me if you do get this one and run into difficulties)

Good luck in your quest, and hope the false floor isn't a problem after all. I know what you mean when people say FF are fine, and of course they are! Children are loads safer if they're in a properly fitted carseat, FF or RF....it's just that RF is 5 times safer, as you already know. Whichever seat you end up with, and I hope you find a suitable RF, you'll know you've tried your best.

I too hope RF will be the norm in a few years, and think how people must have reacted when car seats were first introduced. I remember the fuss when seat belts were made law (even though I was very very young )...and now we don't think twice about it.

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