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Nania car seats - any good????

21 replies

littlerach · 12/09/2008 16:32

I've just bought a backed booster for dd2 (4), a Graco one, but it doesn't fit properly in one of our cars (Vectra).

I've seen Nania seats on Kiddicare and wondrede if anyone has seen any reviews for them??

--------------------

Hi there,

We've noticed this thread is quite old and some of the products discussed aren't available to buy any more. If you're looking for a good value car seat, why not take a look at our round up of the best car seats available right now.

best baby car seats
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Hope that helps
MNHQ
Flowers

OP posts:
RandomIdiot · 12/09/2008 16:33

I think they got a bad write up on Which...hang on a mo

RandomIdiot · 12/09/2008 16:36

Nania Beline - score 51%

Nanias Beline SP is a light booster seat with fixed back designed for children weighing between 9-36kg (weight category I/II/III, approximately aged one to 12 years old). The protection provided in both side-on and head-on collisions is satisfactory at best.

The harness should be used with children weighing up to 18kg - children weighing between 18-36kg will be secured with the cars adult seatbelt. Its quite large, and, depending on the shape and size of your cars seat, it might be necessary to remove your the relevant adult head rest to allow space for installation. This might become frustrating if the seat is regularly installed and removed, but its a small price to pay for correct installation

The standard of finish quality was judged to be better on this seat than for others. The factors considered included things like plastic moulding quality, fabric finish and stitching, as well as things like sharp edges where welded joints haven't been fettled properly.

The head support is excellent and the instructions are clearly presented and easy to follow. But both installation and buckling-up is somewhat tricky - our experts felt that the risk of incorrectly installing this model is greater than with many other seats weve tested. Incorrect installation severely reduces the amount of protection provided so great care should be taken.

The padding is nice and soft, but the seat can only be washed by hand. The view for the child isnt terribly good due to the large padded wings that provide support and protection for the child. The leg support is insufficient, which reduces the comfort of the child.

Pros: Good quality of finish, clear instructions

Cons: Not very safe, uncomfortable

Front crash 3/5
Side crash 3/5
Avoiding incorrect use 3/5

nania dreamfix - overall 51%
The Dreamfix SP from Nania is a booster seat with fixed backrest built for children weighing between 15-36kg (weight category II/III, around four to 12 years old). Its easy to install and provides a satisfactory level of protection in both front and side crashes.

As with many booster seats, its quite large and the relevant adult headrest may need to be removed to allow for proper installation. This may become tiresome if the seat is regularly removed from the car, but its a small price to pay for your childs safety.

The clear instructions and the design of this chair makes the correct method of installation obvious, and therefore decreasing the chances of making a mistake although great care should still be taken as European surveys suggest that between 60% and 80% of child car seats are incorrectly fitted, and this dramatically reduces the effectiveness of the seat

The wings on either side of this seat provide the occupant with excellent head support, while not being so prominent that they ruin the view.

Its a forward-facing model secured in three points by an adult seatbelt, which doesnt hold it as firmly in the car as we would consider ideal. The finish quality is of a high standard and the padding provides both comfort to the child and a little extra safety.

Its light, so easy to carry around, but the cover, whilst removable, cant be washed in a machine so must be done by hand.

Pros: Reduced chance of incorrect installation, good view, good finish

Cons: Not very firmly secured, cover cant must be hand-washed

Front crash 3/5
Side crash 3/5
Avoiding incorrect use 5/5

Neeerly3 · 12/09/2008 16:36

i know someone who has two for her DT's, no complaints, and my sis bought a forward facer group 1 and says it's fine - be interested in what WHICH said.

Neeerly3 · 12/09/2008 16:37

ah - not great then hmmmm

RandomIdiot · 12/09/2008 16:39

Sorry....

I am a firm believer that you have to pay to get a good car seat in general.

Doesn't mean that the exensive ones aren't crap in some cases though.

JulesJules · 12/09/2008 16:41

Ahhh. I thought that said Narnia car seats which sounded really exciting...

littlerach · 12/09/2008 16:49

Cheers Random.

What did they say about Graco Junior Maxi?

OP posts:
RandomIdiot · 12/09/2008 16:51

They don't review that one LittleRach.

incidently teh mania onse aren't in teh "don't buy" category.

Miaou · 12/09/2008 16:53

We've got one and I agree about the harness, difficult to fasten at the best of times; absolutely impossible if child is having a tantrum!

ChopsTheDuck · 12/09/2008 16:55

why didnt the graco fit?

I'm the aforementioned with the dts and the nania ones! One of ours actually got broken flying home so we replaced it with a graco junior maxi plus.
The nania is actually bigger than the graco, and less flexible, so I really can't see how a nania would fit if the graco didn't.

The graco is far nicer too, and seems more secure. It holds the belt in the correct position more efficiently and I'm tempted to replace my other nania with a graco too, so I wouldn't relaly recomend Nania any more.

ChopsTheDuck · 12/09/2008 16:56

Oh and one of the harnesses on my nanias actually broke - the clip stopped doing up. Luckily by then they were big enough to use the adult belt, but I wouldnt recomend it for smaller children.

SimpleAsABC · 12/09/2008 17:00

FWIW, the nania ones are the ones we use for work (a home based childcare service provided by a local charity) and I have stuck the cover of mine in the washing machine (and tumble dryer at least 3 or 4 times and it's still going strong!

littlerach · 12/09/2008 17:14

Thanks for replies.

I don't need a nania with a harness as it is to use with adult belt.

The graco does seem to fit, but on the Graco website it says it doesn;t fit my car

Anyone know about Britax Elite?

WE have one of those that I thoght dd2 had oytgrown, but now I've found the instructions, you can remove the harness and use the adult belt.

But there's no headrest really, as it is moulded.

OP posts:
mypandasgotcrabs · 12/09/2008 17:14

Jeez, a trip to Halfords methinks. I only bought the Nania one as that was the only combination seat that would fit rearward in my old car. Bloody hell. Well I'm off to get my shoes on.

RandomIdiot · 12/09/2008 17:58

LittleRach the online guides are jsut that a guide.

If it fits your car it fits your car.

I think someone said a few weeks ago that you could ask somoene in the council for an independant check...and I think the fire service will also check too.

tegan · 12/09/2008 18:17

dd2 (4) has had one for 18 months and it is great and fits our vectra fine

sazm · 13/09/2008 18:26

my sister has a graco hi-backed booster in her 2001 vectra and it fits fine.

BabyShop · 05/01/2010 11:16

Hi,

We actually stock Nania car seats at www.babyshop.co.uk so if anyone has any questions about them i'm happy to help. We think that Nania Car Seats are very good value for money and of a high quality too.

We've only had good feedback from our customers so far about Nania products.

Thanks,

Aimee

TruthSweet · 06/01/2010 10:47

I've got a Nania baby bucket (sold under the name Team Tex) as a back up/spare seat and too be honest the padding for the seat is very skimpy (it isn't the usual EPF but is something similar to the foam you get in padded envelopes, the fabric feels very cheap and the handle is a bit temperamental and doesn't always work. Having said that it is a piece of piss to install, was really cheap (£25) and I have yet to find a car it won't fit in (been in a Corolla, BMW estate, Neon, Leon, Premacy, Octavia, Punto, ford saloon, etc).

It's fine for very occasional use but I wouldn't use it for everyday.

I'm a bit of a car seat nut and like checking out what's in people's cars as I walk past and the amount of times I see a Nania car seat with part of the seat cover partly off, torn seat covers, badly installed (leaning rather than straight up), twisted straps, etc. Obviously this could all be down to user error/kids wrecking the seats but I don't see this with so many other seats.

Carseatguru · 05/06/2013 15:44

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

Carseatguru · 05/06/2013 15:47

Ooops, sorry, made a mistake it is a different car seat from the one tested by which? That is a combination Group 0/1/2

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