Bugaboo Frog - please tell me about it, and ISOFIX vs old stylee car seat

[christiana]

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Hi Christiana,

I have had a frog and didn't really get on with it, but you will find lots of people on here rave about them. I did like the carrycot part and they are relatively easy to fold, but I just couldn't get used to the folding mechanism and the two part thing annoyed me. I have a nipper 360 for the school run and I love it. Is my absolute fav pushchair(I've had many). I'd go for the double nipper 360 over a bugaboo with a board any day. The bugaboo just doesn't cut it over rough ground like the nipper does. I have never had a XLR so can't comment but think it should be a good option for what you are suggesting using it for.

As for isofix, I have it but don't use it. All three of my childrens seats are non-isofix. I just chose the best non-isofix from the which report. I don't think there is a huge difference between the two as long as you buy a decent seat. I can post the best buys from Which? if you would like.

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Imho, non-Isofix is OK until the age of about 3. Because car seats for toddlers are fixed to the car with the seat belt, then you fix your child onto them with their own five-point harness.

DD graduated to a booster seat, which doesn't have a harness/belt of its own, and is only held place with the weight of child & seat belt going over both. This type of seat wobbles around all over the place unless it is Isofix. Really, the difference is quite dramatic.

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Yep, you can have a board on the nipper. I had a kiddyboard(the version which clips to the back axle) on mine.

The weight(or lack of!) was the main reason I chose the nipper - have lots of steps to bump up to the school playground! So sturdy as well, and compact. I do have a newborn inner but have never used it(dd2 was 8m) - looks great for tinies though.

Have just looked at the Which? best buy table and it has changed somewhat from the last time I looked as most of the Best Buys seem to be Isofix. Will just post stage 0+ seats as presume that is what you are interested in

Maxi Cosi Cabriofix with Easyfis base

Britax BABY SAFE Plus(Isofix)

Mothercare Meteor with base

Recaro Young Profi Plus with base

Britax BABY-SAFE Sleeper

Jane Strata

Mamas and Papas Primo Viaggio Isofix

Mothercare Meteor

Mamas and Papas Pro Sleep IP(Isofix)

Britax BABY-SAFE(belted)

Chicco Auto-fix Plus

Hauck Zero Plus

There weren't any 0+ in the Don't Buy table.

If you want a more indepth review of any of the car seats I can probably cut and paste. HTH

We have a Recaro Monza and it's brilliant.

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That's tricky. Ds1 was four when ds2 arrived and I still wished I had a double at times - he's always been a reluctant walker and sometimes it's good to load them both on and go for it rather than dallying waiting for a tired toddler! How good a walker is dd?

Buggy board I think can be got for the bugaboo.

I like the frog but if you have a nipper already it's a tough call. I had a cameleon for a while but soon got fed up with the tiny little wheels getting stuck and practically tipping it over every time I went down a steep kerb.

I've got a Mountain buggy now which is great but pretty much same as the nipper.

I think it would be nice to have the frog as a pram when baby is tiny, I like proper prams rather than using a forward facing buggy.

In short, I would keep the nipper for when baby is a bit bigger, and get the frog for when he is small then sell it on after maybe 9 months or so.

Don't bother with the double if she's a reasonable walker.

And don't put a newborn in a maclaren unless you only roll it round very flat paved areas - it makes them fling their little arms up all the time unless you have very good suspension/ big wheels.

HTH!

You could get a v cheap stroller for on buses etc.

It's comfortable and well proportioned (many booster seats are quite hard). Good head support on the sides, so DD can sleep in it (many booster seats don't have real side support for the head, and when they do, it's not really soft enough to sleep on)

Also, you can plug in an iPod, Nintendo DS, DVD player etc so their noise sound comes out of headphones disguised in head support and doesn't drive you crazy on long trips

As I understood it, the main advantage of ISOFIX is that it removes the potential for incorrect fitting - and given some estimates reckon 80% of child restraints are fitted incorrectly that could be a big deal.

In terms of safety, a correctly fitted non-ISOFIX restraint should be just as good as its ISOFIX equivalent. So the question is how, confident are you you'll fit it correctly every time?

Re. the Frog, IMO the main advantage is that you can have the child facing you in both pram and pushchair mode. I've got a Gecko and it's a good fit for my priorities, but it isn't fantastic on muddy paths and going into 2 parts isn't ideal - then again it takes up remarkably little room in the car and it is pretty light. Pros and cons. It doesn't sound like you'd need the double Nipper for very long - and once you've got it you've lost your single, which would be useful longer term.

Could you cope with a good sling (for DC2) for those days when DD really doesn't want to walk? I'm still carrying DD from time to time and she's nearly 2 (I've got one of these, one of these and one of these)?

Correct/incorrect fitting isn't half the story for non-Isofix booster seats.

Imagine if your car seat wasn't fixed to the floor of the car and your seat belt was the only thing holding you in place. Can you imagine how much you would both move about the place at each bend?

It is worse for a child who is much lighter than an adult and hence doesn't weigh down the seat as well.

Non-Isofix baby seats are OK because they are fixed to the car with seat belt, then baby is belted in with the seat's own five-point harness.

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CoteDAzur, your Recaro Monza sounds fab! Like the idea of the speakers hidden in the headrest - that's my idea of heaven!

You are absolutely right with your point about the non-isofix boosters, especially with a smaller, lighter child. All the more reason to keep them in a group 1 seat with harness for as long as possible. There are some very tragic stories on YouTube regarding younger children in boosters. Their lives could probably have been saved if they had been in a harnessed seat.

I read some research regarding child restraints - they made the point that the children that tended to come out of accidents worst were those at the "small" end of the range for any given child restraint. There's a very good safety argument to be made for keeping children in a child restraint for as long as possible, rather than moving them to the next one up as soon as they fit the minimum criteria. I find it amazingly sad that a lot of this isn't better known

I'd see what price you can get the frog for. I've never had a problem with little wheels and curbs, personally, and they do hold their value well if you're buying 2nd hand.

I'd love to have kept DD longer in her Britax, but she is quite tall for her age and her head was sticking out which is not good in an accident. And she had exceeded the weight limit of the Britax.

I curse my old banger every day for not having isofix! We've just started selling the britax kidfix in our store and when i fitted one for a customer it just felt so much safer than the non isofix graco hbb i have for my son.

That Recaro looks fab too!