any recommendations on car seats?

[Nimbus]

We're looking to get our boy his next stage (1+) car seat. I'd love rear facing, but peuguet 206 is just too small, so my research tells me. Do any of you have any recommendations for the next stage seat? We don't have isofix (cars over 10 years old), and we don't want to spend a fortune, but obviously want our baby to be safe!

Any help would be greatly recieved
Thanks ladies

 

[jane99]

Britax - a very good make & they always score well in "Which" car crash tests.

Dont Buys from Which - rigorous crash tests of child car seats reveal several models you should steer clear of buying. Not only are these child car seats not up to scratch, some scored up to 70% lower than our Best Buy child car seats.

Here are some of the dont buys from Which:
Safety 1st - Tri Safe
Mamas & Papas - Pro Tour
Brio - Zento
Chicco - Neptune
Little Shield - Combi 123

 

[Nimbus]

Britax - a very good make & they always score well in "Which" car crash tests.

Dont Buys from Which - rigorous crash tests of child car seats reveal several models you should steer clear of buying. Not only are these child car seats not up to scratch, some scored up to 70% lower than our Best Buy child car seats.

Here are some of the dont buys from Which:
Safety 1st - Tri Safe
Mamas & Papas - Pro Tour
Brio - Zento
Chicco - Neptune
Little Shield - Combi 123

Scary to think that they can even be sold! Thank you so much for this.

 

[Nimbus]

and, the Brio - Zento is a rear facing... i'd justr assumed that rear facing was safer. Mamas and papas i would have just thought would have been well made, clearly i've been brainwashed by advertising and prettiness. Oh my, i really will have to do more research. don't want to get his wrong

 

[purpledaisy2]

We've got a Maxi Cosi Tobi and its fab. Well worth the extra money we spent on it x

 

[jane99]

and, the Brio - Zento is a rear facing... i'd justr assumed that rear facing was safer. Mamas and papas i would have just thought would have been well made, clearly i've been brainwashed by advertising and prettiness. Oh my, i really will have to do more research. don't want to get is wrong

In Kent, you can view back copies of Which in your library. So its worth checking out if your libraries do the same. Or you can join Which for a month's trial for a £1.

Agree with post below, Maxi-Cosi are a good make too & score well in Which.

I personally would only buy a Britax or Maxi-Cosi car seat.

 

[Eala]

Just randomly - have you tried e-mailing Hakan at www.carseat.se, to see if he knows of any rear-facing seats which would fit in your car? They have a much wider choice over there! If you're interested in rear-facing, it can't hurt to ask

In terms of FF ones, my friend has the Maxi Cosi um... Priorifix, I think it is, for when her LO is in my car. Seems like a good seat, and we had a Maxi Cosi infant carrier which we were very happy with

 

[sleeping bubs]

don't want to cause an arguement but my lo weighs 7kg and is 13months old has been rf until now but now as soon as you put him in rare facing he screams leans forwards and tries to get out he screamed for the whole hr drive the other day even when I sat in the back with him. We have a Britax first class so turned it around for forward facing and laid it back. hv said should be ok cos he is walking running around and rf was not going to help as he was bringing his head forward in it. We have had it ff for the last 4-5days and he loves it. I have a neck support which I use for him as well

 

[Nimbus]

Thanks ladies - off to the library to see if they have any which? and then i'm off to check out what's available close by, then i'll have a further think... it seems like it'll be a pricey number and i def want to get this right

 

[Eala]

I'm not sure why you thought you'd cause an argument... Just because I have my child rear-facing doesn't mean I judge anyone else for not doing it

I posted the link to carseat.se purely because the OP had mentioned that she would like to keep LO rear-facing if possible. If that offended anyone, I'm very sorry

 

[sleeping bubs]

naa don't worry Eala a board which I have been on b4 there was a arguement about car seats on their.

Anyway my lo's car seat is going back to rare facing tomorrow anyway!!! I safe baby is way better than a happy baby in a car seat He may be not bigger enough to go ff facing for a while anyway as he hasn't put any weight on for over a month now still 7kg at 13months!!

 

[Nimbus]

I'm not sure why you thought you'd cause an argument... Just because I have my child rear-facing doesn't mean I judge anyone else for not doing it

I posted the link to carseat.se purely because the OP had mentioned that she would like to keep LO rear-facing if possible. If that offended anyone, I'm very sorry

we're good and happy here - thank you for the link looks good

 

[Eala]

Phew, glad I didn't upset you! I've seen the kinds of thread you mean, I get hacked off with them too - and I ERF!

Mckenzie might get used to being rear-facing, you never know I make sure I have a few different toys for her, and she's also figured out that she can see my eyes and the back/side of my head in the mirror (I have one that clips onto the headrest of the seat, so I can see her ) Most of the time these days she just stares out the window and talks to herself

 

[Nimbus]

So i've had a look about our City for seats, and on my travels decided to go into Halfords as I had read that they were helpful etc (also easy for me to get to). Spoke to the 'expert' and had a chat with him. He started talking about weight 13kg etc, i explained that my baby is a bit of a banana, long and thin, and he'll probably grow out of his seat length ways before the weight and i was concerned as he'd be swamped by the seat - they're so wide compared to my little boy. He then insisted that my boy would be fine until 13kg regardless of height. This is incorrect, right? I did say that i thought he was wrong, and then promptly decided to nod and smile, i heard blah blah blah like homer simpson and then left knowing that if he's the expert then i certainly wouldn't trust him to help give me any advice. I wonder how many people have been given this poor advice. Surely it makes sense that if our childrens heads are poking out the top of their seats then they need the next one regardless of their weight. I'm sorry ladies if i've got this all wrong, it just made me upset.

 

[eeyore007]

I agree - it's the head thing. That's so important. I think you have to have a set amount of spare seat free above their head for it to be safe. Frances was in her carrier until 9.5 months, then we moved to rear facing (britax hi-way), again after advice from Hakan (carseat.se)!!
We have a rover 25 so not much different to your car. It's a bit squashed, but OH and me are small so it's a small compromise.
Definately think the halfords expert is wrong there re the head. I think they are however very good at stopping you putting bubbas forward facing too soon. I went in there at 8 months trying to get her a seat and the man there was most insistant I didn't go forward yet and wait a few more weeks. In the meantime though I did what you're doing now and ended up finding out about rear facing and went down that route instead.
Happy bubba in our rover:

 

[Nimbus]

Ok, well i've contacted the carseat.se peeps and hopefully they can help. I've just looked at the car seat that another gent advised me on (in mothercare) with the britax website and turns out that that one is not compatable with our car. Seriously, this is ridiculous, i think i'll need a new car in order to get a car seat that doesn't look like it'll fall apart. Oh dear. Hoping to get a speedy reply and then some peace of mind. Thanks for your help! what a cutie Frances is

 

[lottie_2007]

We got Harry the maxi cosi tobi from mothercare, it was on offer too so we saved £40 on it! He went in it for the first time at the weekend and it is fab! Lottie has the maxi cosi priori xp and i much prefer the tobi it seems much more compact for a 9 month old! x

 

[eeyore007]

I thought that too!! Was rather hoping that I'd have to insist on a nice new audi. However, Hakan came up trumps and meant the rover stays!! Love it really!! Hope they can come up with something for you!! (tried to find the bit of paper that came with my hi-way that listed the cars it fits, but house monster has gobbled it up)!!

 

[Nimbus]

I thought that too!! Was rather hoping that I'd have to insist on a nice new audi. However, Hakan came up trumps and meant the rover stays!! Love it really!! Hope they can come up with something for you!! (tried to find the bit of paper that came with my hi-way that listed the cars it fits, but house monster has gobbled it up)!!

Audi - now i'm dreaming!

I got in contact with britax - told them that some shops want to sell me their car seats that are inappropriate for our car and therefore unsafe. I also asked about stockists for their rear facing seats like the hi-way etc. I got a response this morning with a link to all the stockists (woo hoo) and a link to a website which looks decent. Now to tell the OH of my finds and hope that he doesn't cry too much... still a new car would be more pricey!

 

[Nimbus]

quick update - not heard anything back from Hakan... we'll wait still. I did get a response from Britax and the link they gave me came up trumps. It was to the 'in car safety centre' and following another moment of frustration with mothercare (cue husband saying there must be something in there we can get)... they tried a few and yup, they told us they don't fit and perhaps we could get the seat belt adjusted !?! I gave them a call. Very helpful and they confirmed that our car is a pain to deal with... in fact they only sell 3 models to 206 owners! One is rear facing - the britax elite, 2 ff, britax first plus (only in forward position) and a kiddy seat (got good reviews with which, but i need to look into it in more detail). I think the problem with our car is the fact that it's 10 years olf so doesn't have the isofix points, but hey at least i now have a list (short, but sweet) of seats that are compatable. Thanks for your help and advice ladies!