Car seat?

[Mrs Eleflump]

Are car seats really particularly different to each other in terms of quality and safety etc? They seem to have quite a wide price range, and I have no idea if one brand is 'better' than another or if it's just a case of whichever you prefer?

I assume they all have to meet a certain safety level or it'd be illegal to sell them...

Is it worth shelling out a bit extra for e.g. a maxi-cosi pebble/cabriofix, or would one that comes with a travel system be ok?

My car has isofix points, do I still need to get a base if I don't want to fasten the car seat in with the seatbelt? I really have no idea how it all works :/

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to go into e.g. Mothercare or somewhere like that completely clueless, in case we end up being sold something that's not actually right for us.

Opinions?

 

[EmzyJA]

I'm getting the maxi cosi as it goes on the pushchair I bought. Plus I've already bought the easy base for it I found the easy base very handy with my daughter. Just saved a lot of time and effort. So I'd get one that fits to your car or get an easy base for whatever one you get (my personal opinion)

I had a graco one for my daughter that came with the travel system and it was great although didn't cost a fortune. I think they all have to meet the safety standard so I'd go with something that you like at a reasonable prices that isn't too heavy. Maybe one that's compatible with your pram or like I said that you can fit in your car. Also worth looking at reviews online to see what people thought of them before deciding on one

 

[vickyandchick]

I have no idea either however I've noticed that whilst the maxi cosi cabriofix sells for £135 I can get it for £93 in Toys R Us.
As far as I'm aware you have to get an isofix base to fit into the points in your car if you don't want to use a seatbelt. It also depends on what travel system you are getting, if a car seat comes with it then I'd say use that one as not all car seats are compatible with every pram.
I never realised how much research I'd be doing

 

[RosieRosieP]

The only thing I notice when looking was the difference in padding.

I really liked the mothercare expedior travel system but the car seat seemed smaller than the others we looked at so we went for the Graco Evo system in the end as well as the base for the car.

As for safety I naively though if they weren't safe the shops wouldn't sell them x

 

[Yo_Yo]

We are getting the maxi cosi pebble as it fits quite a few prams including the one we are getting.
Not sure if you can use it without a base, but if definitely recommend a base as it's saves lots of hassle. You can usually but isofix bases, or bases that just strap in.

I also wouldn't buy a black car seat as they get really, really hot in warm weather-my last two babies had black seats and I regret it.

They all do have to adhere to standards, and they say don't buy them second hand as the safety can't be guaranteed.

 

[BigAl]

Whilst in theory yes they all do have to pass safety tests, some are more safe than others. For instance the ones from supermarkets that cost £40 have been subject to more than one recall notice, due to safety issues. I would be tempted to go with a better brand rather than a generic one that comes with a travel system. Some carseats are compatible with lots of big name prams though, so worth looking out for.

 

[Kittycat155]

My main thing was to find a car seat that could stay rear facing the longest time possible as that is very important to me. I ended up with one that can rear face 40lbs/40 inches. Mine was $85 US. Pretty cheap compared to what you can spend over here.

 

[Serenyx]

We are getting the maxi cosi pebble as it fits quite a few prams including the one we are getting.
Not sure if you can use it without a base, but if definitely recommend a base as it's saves lots of hassle.

You can use it without a base, the rubber padding around it is supposed to help grip the seatbelt (so we were told the other day).

This is the same one we are going for. I narrowed it down to between the pebble and the cabriofix and then after looking at both DH decided he preferred the pebble. His car has ISOFIX, but mine doesn't so we need a seat that can do both.

 

[3Minions]

Every car seat has to pass the identical safety tests. They are all equally safe. That said, the higher the price, the more bells and whistles they have. As a pp said, the best seat is the one that's going to let your rear face the longest. I know that in the UK you're rather limited when it comes to that. And I'm fairly certain you can import seats from Sweden with higher rear facing limits because of the limited UK selection. If you're interested in that at all, go to car-seat.org and post on the international forum. Adventuredad is in Sweden and runs a store so he'll be well equipped to answer your questions as they relate to Europe.

 

[babypeanut25]

Although the all pass a certain standard some will pass with the bare minimum requirements and some will go above and beyond. We chose a Peg Perego Sip 30/30 as our infant carseat which retails for $300 Canadian. When we needed to switch him we went for the Peg Perego Convertable as it rear faces until 45lbs.

 

[littlefishygg]

We have to get a maxi cosi as it fits with the travel system we are getting. I went and spoke to the mothercare people and she told me that the difference between the cabriofix and the pebble is that the pebble is 30% more safe (although obviously the other one has passed all the relevant safety tests). We weren't going to get an isofix base because I thought they were a waste of money but we actually tried to take our friends baby in our car last week and it turns out the seat belts in my peugot 306 are too short to fit around a car seat so we have to get the isofix base. Luckily my car has the attachment points despite being from 2001 otherwise we would have to buy a new car just because car seats wouldn't fit!

 

[Mrs Eleflump]

Thanks for all your replies, ladies, this is really helpful. I really like the look of the maxi-cosi pebble, and it goes with the travel system I fancy (Babystyle Oyster), but will have to see if I get on with the Oyster pushing it about in the shop etc before deciding on it for definite.

Maxi-cosi have apparently brought out a new base called 2WayFix which is compatible with the pebble/cabriofix and a version of the Pearl that is 2-way, so can be rear-facing up to 4 years. It's quite pricey but as others have said there's very limited choice for extended rear-facing in the uk.

I think the UK is starting to catch on to the extended rear-facing thing, so it will probably become more easy to find seats that do it

Anyway, you've convinced me that a pebble and an isofix base are indeed worth the extra £, both for safety and convenience. My car is pretty new (09 plate) but the maxi-cosi compatibility guides don't feature the make/model (Hyundai i20) anywhere. However it does have isofix points so I'm hoping there shouldn't be a problem, especially if I take the car into Halfords or somewhere to get the base fitted.

 

[Buttercup84]

Honestly, yes I do think it's worth paying out for a more expensive carseat as you generally get what you pay for. It's true that all car seats have to pass minimum legal safety standards but some will far surpass these whilst others will just about pass them. The Which website is really good (think they do a trial for £1 aswell if you just wanted to check the carseat reviews) They do their own safety testing and the results are quite scary sometimes, how badly some seats perform compared to others when all of them passed minimum safety standards! https://www.which.co.uk/baby-and-child/baby-transport/reviews/child-car-seats/