Can anyone recommend me a car seat for a corsa?

[BellaBoo0512]

Me and OH have been and bought a new car today as we couldn't find any next stage (9m+) car seats that would fit our toyota celica.

Can anyone recommend a decent car seat that will go in the back of a 2 door vauxhall corsa? Preferably extended rearward facing.

Also, judging by the photo (should be attached) is there quite a while to go yet before LO needs a new car seat?

TIA x

 

[MumToEva]

I understood that a baby outgrows an infant carrier when their head reaches the top of the carrier, so based on that I reckon you have a bit of time left, but not a massive amount, especially if LO has a growth spurt any time soon. If it was me I would be looking to pick a seat soon, and either buy it now or have it eyed out so you can buy it immediately when needed, and keep an eye for special offers in the meantime.

You could look at the swivel seats, like the cybex sirona or the britax dualfix as they would allow you to swivel baby forward to get them in, then turn him RF. but they tend not to be as big as some of the other ERF seats and therefore won't last as long, particularly if your LO has a long torso. What a lot of people do in 3 door cars is get in the opposite side so there is space to sit and put LO in from there - if you go for that a straightforward ERF seat would be fine instead of swivel. If your baby is long, then you might also want to look at the up to 25kg ones rather than the up to 18kg ones, though they have to be belt fixed rather than isofix.

Mydaughter is in an ERF seat and i'm currently looking for the right option for my son - I found incarsafety's website good, plus the babycentre forum has a ERF section where some of the members are experts in ERF seats so could advise you on specific seats to look at.

 

[BellaBoo0512]

I understood that a baby outgrows an infant carrier when their head reaches the top of the carrier, so based on that I reckon you have a bit of time left, but not a massive amount, especially if LO has a growth spurt any time soon. If it was me I would be looking to pick a seat soon, and either buy it now or have it eyed out so you can buy it immediately when needed, and keep an eye for special offers in the meantime.

You could look at the swivel seats, like the cybex sirona or the britax dualfix as they would allow you to swivel baby forward to get them in, then turn him RF. but they tend not to be as big as some of the other ERF seats and therefore won't last as long, particularly if your LO has a long torso. What a lot of people do in 3 door cars is get in the opposite side so there is space to sit and put LO in from there - if you go for that a straightforward ERF seat would be fine instead of swivel. If your baby is long, then you might also want to look at the up to 25kg ones rather than the up to 18kg ones, though they have to be belt fixed rather than isofix.

Mydaughter is in an ERF seat and i'm currently looking for the right option for my son - I found incarsafety's website good, plus the babycentre forum has a ERF section where some of the members are experts in ERF seats so could advise you on specific seats to look at.

Thank you for your reply we are only picking the new car up on Wednesday and OH has booked the day off work so we will go and buy a new seat when we've got the car. I thought LO might have a bit of time left in his current seat but he's growing fast! Hopefully I'll be able to find a rear facing one, the car doesn't have isofix so I think I'm going to need a belted car seat x

 

[MumToEva]

If you need a belted one anyway,I'd say go for a up to 25kg one so that you can keep LO RF for longer - I have a besafe seat for my daughter and while it is a lovely seat generally, I know I wouldn't get as long as I want out of it for my son given that he's a longer baby (he's something similar to your LO in terms of growing room left in his seat yet he's only 7 months). I've been researching online and think I have narrowed it down to the britax 2 way elite and the axkid mini kid for us as they both go up to 25kg and have plenty of growing room for a baby with a longer torso. Plus the 2 way elite is one of the cheaper options (by no means cheap at £220,but cheaper!) and can be used as a high back booster when they do turn FF.

Not sure if that's any help to you,but somewhere to start looking anyway. Ideally go to somewhere that specialised in ERf seats if you can as they should have the knowledge to advise you properly.

 

[MumToEva]

Here is incarsafety's website - lists a wide selection of seats plus give size info etc for a lot of them.

https://incarsafetycentre.co.uk/category/extended-rear-facing/

 

[BellaBoo0512]

If you need a belted one anyway,I'd say go for a up to 25kg one so that you can keep LO RF for longer - I have a besafe seat for my daughter and while it is a lovely seat generally, I know I wouldn't get as long as I want out of it for my son given that he's a longer baby (he's something similar to your LO in terms of growing room left in his seat yet he's only 7 months). I've been researching online and think I have narrowed it down to the britax 2 way elite and the axkid mini kid for us as they both go up to 25kg and have plenty of growing room for a baby with a longer torso. Plus the 2 way elite is one of the cheaper options (by no means cheap at £220,but cheaper!) and can be used as a high back booster when they do turn FF.

Not sure if that's any help to you,but somewhere to start looking anyway. Ideally go to somewhere that specialised in ERf seats if you can as they should have the knowledge to advise you properly.

Thank you! I'm hoping to keep Thomas rearward facing for as long as I possibly can. There is a place called pram world near me and I've been told they are really clued up and helpful when it comes to car seats so I will go on Wednesday

I just hope it isn't too awkward with a 2 door car

 

[Noo]

2 door? Shit, we got rid of my gorgeous 2 door as we just couldn't make it work. What age is it? If It's a new shape it'll be more spacious that the previous model.

 

[BellaBoo0512]

2 door? Shit, we got rid of my gorgeous 2 door as we just couldn't make it work. What age is it? If It's a new shape it'll be more spacious that the previous model.

I told OH we need a 4 door but he was insistent on getting this car

We've currently got a 2 door and haven't had any problems until we realised the next stage seat up won't fit it's an 06 reg... not the latest model.

 

[xLaura]

Britax first plus is a good place to start however it won't last as long as some of the others. Also joie stages? Be-safe izi? But yeah go to pram world and they will be able to tell you what will fit! as without your model year ect it's hard to see what would fit.

I'm not sure how you would go about getting LO in and out in a 2 door car if it's a ERF car seat depending on the size of the seat and the space in the back? However I've no experience of this so I don't know how it would work exactly it just seems it could be quite awkward.

 

[BellaBoo0512]

Britax first plus is a good place to start however it won't last as long as some of the others. Also joie stages? Be-safe izi? But yeah go to pram world and they will be able to tell you what will fit! as without your model year ect it's hard to see what would fit.

I'm not sure how you would go about getting LO in and out in a 2 door car if it's a ERF car seat depending on the size of the seat and the space in the back? However I've no experience of this so I don't know how it would work exactly it just seems it could be quite awkward.

I like the joie stages, they don't sell that in pramworld but Halfords do. The car is quite small in the back so a rear facing will be awkward but I don't mind if it means LO can rear face

 

[xLaura]

I think the only issue your going have is being able to get LO in and out of his car seat with it rear facing and staying in the car but I'm sure you will get the knack of it eventually

 

[Noo]

My car was a new MINI (1 year old when I got rid of it). It had more space in the back and door area than my 04 Corsa (I wrote that off - oops!) and couldn't get an infant seat in and out without practically tipping it upside down and twisting it diagonally. I really can't see how you'll get a baby in/out ERF unless awkwardly using the other door. My 8 year old could JUST get in/out without a seat in the way. I think you'll find yourself pretty stuck. I had to swallow a £4k loss on my MINI (bought 2mo before BFP) and get a 2010 5 door Fiesta which is JUST big enough.

 

[BellaBoo0512]

I thought the next stage up car seats had to stay in the car once they had been fitted? :/

 

[Noo]

I thought the next stage up car seats had to stay in the car once they had been fitted? :/

They do but a 9 month old baby is a similar size and more delicate than an infant car seat I think you may struggle getting him in and out of a RF seat. Do you know anyone with same car to see how awkward? I guess if you took the car to mothercare/kiddicare or wherever you'd get a better idea. Are there any videos on youtube?

 

[BellaBoo0512]

I thought the next stage up car seats had to stay in the car once they had been fitted? :/

They do but a 9 month old baby is a similar size and more delicate than an infant car seat I think you may struggle getting him in and out of a RF seat. Do you know anyone with same car to see how awkward? I guess if you took the car to mothercare/kiddicare or wherever you'd get a better idea. Are there any videos on youtube?

No I don't know anyone with the same car. Were going to go to pram world and halfords on Wednesday so hopefully someone there will be able to help I didn't realise it would be so difficult to rear face in a 2 door car

 

[Noo]

I think the issue would be with RF you're putting the baby in from the opposite end to FF. FF you'd be coming from where the front seat is but RF you'd be wanting to come in from the angle where the door should be. You may manage fine from the other door and crawling along the back seat but I'd be worried about bumping baby :-/

 

[BellaBoo0512]

I think the issue would be with RF you're putting the baby in from the opposite end to FF. FF you'd be coming from where the front seat is but RF you'd be wanting to come in from the angle where the door should be. You may manage fine from the other door and crawling along the back seat but I'd be worried about bumping baby :-/

yeah that is a bit of a worry.. it won't be too bad when he is walking and can climb in himself. I'll see what they say on Wednesday. I'm going to look into one of them swivel seats if I can get enough money together x

 

[MumToEva]

I think the issue would be with RF you're putting the baby in from the opposite end to FF. FF you'd be coming from where the front seat is but RF you'd be wanting to come in from the angle where the door should be. You may manage fine from the other door and crawling along the back seat but I'd be worried about bumping baby :-/

yeah that is a bit of a worry.. it won't be too bad when he is walking and can climb in himself. I'll see what they say on Wednesday. I'm going to look into one of them swivel seats if I can get enough money together x

Hey Hun. It was me who suggested the swivel seats, but I hadn't realised your car hasn't got isofix. Pretty sure they are all isofix, though not 100%. Sorry! You can get isofix anchor points fitted at a dealership, though it costs a fair bit (saw somebody had paid around £100 somewhere).

Post a thread here and you should get some good suggestions:

https://community.babycentre.co.uk/groups/a3861985/extended_rearfacing_support.

Some of the members are sellers of ERF seats or company reps, so they know what they are talking about and will be able to advise you better.