Rear-Facing Support, Questions & Answers

[sausages]

You're being provocative.

Obviously keeping my child safe is important otherwise i wouldn't have spent the extra money on a ERF seat that i had researched as being the safest option for my child. We also wouldn't have bothered about putting our parents on our insurance and would have bought a FF seat to use in their car as they have often moaned at us to do. I also wouldn't be avoiding car journeys longer than 40 minutes because that's when DD gets travel sick and i would have turned her to see if that cured the sickness like many people have said we should.

Thank you, though, for making me feel like shit in a place i was certain would be supportive of our choice. Yes. It is a massive pain in the arse compared to all the other parents i know with their easily portable FF car seats. I'm sorry if i felt i could be honest about that in a forum where RF is encouraged.

It isn't "easy enough" and we have "had a look." But, thanks also for assuming that we just couldn't be bothered to explore that option first. I'm sure that going through the rigmarole and expense of adding our parents to our insurance and swapping cars is FAR easier. Not.

It just makes me sad that i felt i could ask a valid question on a support thread only to get shot down for it. What a lovely, welcoming place you make it seem. Again - not.

 

[Lliena]

Sorry didnt mean to make you feel like that was just a suggestion.And wasnt being provocative at all. I just didnt like the term you used of "pain in the arse".

 

[sausages]

Okay, thank you. I guess i should have thought about my turn of phrase before clicking post. I just type how i speak usually and i guess without the benefit of seeing my face and hearing my tone it could easily be misconstrued. x

 

[Eala]

I saw a video on YouTube recently on how to fit the Izikid Combi, I'm sure I did....

Here it is - it's by Securatot, so I trust that it's done right

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0N_6BLHiqg

I have to admit, when I saw the video (I found it when I was looking for a different seat for someone else), I thought "What a faff" " One of the reasons we got the seat we did was that it does both Isofix and belt fittings, and the belt isn't complicated! Maybe I'm just lazy, but for me the worry (like you!) is that if I move it and it's hard to fit, I'll do it wrong!

 

[Rachel_C]

I totally get why you would say it's a pain in the arse. We have the isofix version of the seat you have - I KNOW it's really easy to fit it but I've still never dared to take it out and refit it, just in case I get it wrong, and it's way easier than the belt version. I've read so often how most car seats aren't fitted correctly, and if it's not in right, I'd guess there's not much point in RF cos it's not safe whatever seat you have and whichever way they're facing! Could you go back to the place you bought it and ask them to watch you refit it to check? And also get your parents to take their car too and get it fitted in their cars too?

Or would it be a viable option to get another seat for in other cars? I think you meant that both you and your OH's parents take LO. If both of their cars were isofix, you could buy one seat that would work in both of their cars. I assume that if they wanted to buy a FF seat for their cars, they were willing to pay for it? If both sets of parents would contribute the money they would have spent on a decent FF seat, you might have enough/nearly enough for a RF seat of your choice.

 

[soootired]

YEY for this thread!! I have been getting irritated with my carseat for ages and have just put up with it, but now i may be able to find a solution if you can help me!!

We have the BeSafe Izi Combi with the belt straps cause our car is too old for isofix. It's a Ford Focus. The shop we bought it from fitted it for us and we have since been scared to take it out and move it to any other car. It just looks so complicated and we daren't try it in case we do it wrong and have an accident and it's not safe.

Our parents have DD a lot (lucky!) and we have ended up just putting them on our car insurance so that they can take our car when they need to drive her anywhere. It would be FAAAAAAAR easier if they could just take the blummin car seat into their car.

Anyone else have this problem? Is there a way around it? Are the seats as hard to fit as they look? Both DH & I plus our parents would need to be able to do it and DH's mum is about as scared of stuff like that as you can be - she has OCD so would need to know she'd done it properly iykwim.

Do we just need to get a different seat?

We planned to ERF DD until she was quite a bit older, but at the moment we are planning to turn her at 2.5ish because it's such a massive pain in the arse.

I have the same problem.
I have the isofix besafe and even that is a "pain in the arse" to move from car to car. I think its cos its the other way round it makes it difficult to get through the door. The which report really slates the old belted besafes for being difficult to fit correctly so I see why you dont want to risk moving it. I wouldnt really trust my mum to move the isofix one. I was going to insure my mum in my car but felt my lo would be safer in her car that she was used to driving. (our mums sound similar on the paranoid front lol) She doesnt really get the rear facing thing and just went to halfords asking for the safest seat asuming that is what she would get. obviously being forward facing as uk dosent seem to want to sell rearfacing seats grrrrr. My lo has no trouble swiching from one to the other and while not perfect i still think it is safer than my mum driving a different car or fitting the seat incorrectly.

 

[Nic1107]

OP, looks like you have a great set-up!! I have an Eddie Bauer seat for Carmen that goes RF up to 45 lbs.; we're looking into getting a different one when we have the $$ that has some sort of air-padding thing on the sides that transfers energy from impact in the event of an accident. Or something. It's really nice though and also RFs up to 45 lbs. We're ERF all the way!

 

[mommyof3co]

OP, looks like you have a great set-up!! I have an Eddie Bauer seat for Carmen that goes RF up to 45 lbs.; we're looking into getting a different one when we have the $$ that has some sort of air-padding thing on the sides that transfers energy from impact in the event of an accident. Or something. It's really nice though and also RFs up to 45 lbs. We're ERF all the way!

I see you are in the US, I think you might want to read the labels on the seat or your manual again, none of their seats RF that high But it should RF to 35lbs and FF to 40lbs. I think all of those ones are the 3 in 1 combos that also do booster to 100lbs? If so those have very short shells so it probably won't last you to 35lbs The air ones are the complete air, it's a great seat! It RF to 40lbs and have a very tall shell so will last a long time! They have new ones coming out to FF to 65lbs but the current ones FF to 50lbs. The only seat in the US right now that RFs up to 45lbs is the Radian XTSL (the one in my original post) and the Radian 80SL

 

[Nic1107]

Oh, thank you!! I was sure it said up to 45 lbs. but I could be wrong, she'll be under 40 lbs. for quite some time yet (still only about 17 lbs) but we're going to get the air seat as soon as we can. I haven't seen the Radian ones anywhere, I don't know if they're available in my area. The Eddie Bauer seat has been a bit of a disappointment; for some reason the strap the goes up between her legs is really short and her little thighs get squeezed so she doesn't like it. The air seat has a nice long strap though and is much easier to adjust also! Fortunately we have a decent-sized car though because that thing is gigantic, lol.

 

[twiggy56]

My Britax Multi-Tech is now ordered and on its way as of last night!!



cant wait! Hope fitting it is easy as we dont have an carseat saftey places that fit the Multi-Tech in Scotland

 

[lynnikins]

from my experience the britax manuel is quite easy to follow ive moved my britax FC+ around several times and had no problems refitting it myself , i really want the multi-tech

 

[twiggy56]

you know the multi-tech has just gone on sale at carseat.se?

Down from €345 to €285!

So roughly £297.50 down to £245.75....

where iv just bought mine from!

 

[mommyof3co]

Oh, thank you!! I was sure it said up to 45 lbs. but I could be wrong, she'll be under 40 lbs. for quite some time yet (still only about 17 lbs) but we're going to get the air seat as soon as we can. I haven't seen the Radian ones anywhere, I don't know if they're available in my area. The Eddie Bauer seat has been a bit of a disappointment; for some reason the strap the goes up between her legs is really short and her little thighs get squeezed so she doesn't like it. The air seat has a nice long strap though and is much easier to adjust also! Fortunately we have a decent-sized car though because that thing is gigantic, lol.

Yeah we had an Eddie Bauer one for Landon...it was FF only though, but we didn't really like it either, the straps were weird on it. The Radian isn't sold in many stores, only online most places. But it can be a bit of a pain to install in some cars, I think the Complete Air sounds great I've tried Hayden in it a few times, I really like it but can't really justify another seat haha. 40lbs RF will still last you quite awhile, she sounds on the smaller side, my 5yr old just hit 40lbs over the past 4-5mo probably

 

[dom85]

Does anyone know of the best rear facing seats for smaller cars? I'm looking at getting a Clio and I also like the look of the Britax Two Way but it looks like its got a really high back (which I need for Brady as he is very tall) so not sure if it will fit? If it comes to it I will have him in the front and turn the airbag off, but in that situation, what do you tether it to in the front seat? (probably a really dumb question)

Also, if you think it would fit where can I buy one in the UK? I've been looking for about an hour on google and cant find one in the UK, only on carseat.se but ideally I'd like to get it from a UK seller.

Thanks

 

[Rachel_C]

There are quite a few shops in the SE if you're ok to travel a bit. I really liked Baby Nest in Croydon, not sure if that would be too far for you though. There's a list of who sells what here - https://www.rearfacing.co.uk/buyersguide.php

 

[twiggy56]

woooo hooo! Got my Britax Multi-Tech today!

It looks fantastic! And the demo vid looks easy enough to install it....im VERY happy with my decision....

it arrived at 4:30 by courier and it starts to get dark then so didnt get the chance to put it in the car and try abigail in it but when I do...I will post pics!

For now here is abigail exploring (and loving!) her new ERF carseat

 

[AFC84]

Does anyone know of an ERF seat that can be used before 9 months? My LO is almost 7 months and barely fitting in his stage 0 seat, so I'd like one asap really. Was looking at the stage 0+1 combination seats that can be used from birth to 4yrs, but they all seem to say to turn them around at 9 months. Not sure if this is just recommended as the norm or if it's not actually possible to continue RF longer

I can only really spend around £150 if that's possible

 

[sun]

Just an update and note to people who are looking at this seat:

We got it to fit RF in our "compact car" - a Mazda 3 Sport!
It is a little squishy for my OH (he is 6'-2") but he is ok with it!

Also it is a great-looking car seat and easy to install plus TONS of room to grow...

xx

 

[Eala]

Does anyone know of an ERF seat that can be used before 9 months? My LO is almost 7 months and barely fitting in his stage 0 seat, so I'd like one asap really. Was looking at the stage 0+1 combination seats that can be used from birth to 4yrs, but they all seem to say to turn them around at 9 months. Not sure if this is just recommended as the norm or if it's not actually possible to continue RF longer

I can only really spend around £150 if that's possible

What does your LO weigh? It's his weight as well as his age that will determine if you can turn him. Unless his head is nearly (or actually!) coming up over the top of his seat.

The Graco DuoLogic series are ERF, birth-18kg. The GracoLogic I is pretty much the same as the II, just you can't take the seat part off the base. It's about £250 though, shipped from Sweden . There is also the BeSafe Izikid range, but again, they tend to be £250+

I know you can get 0+ seats which go up to 13kg RF and might be a bit roomier for your LO, until he reaches 9kg? Or, Hakan at carseat.se said to me:

We normally say it's ok to move on to the 9-25 kg RF seats when a child can sit by themselves

so you could possibly go for a 9kg one if your LO can sit unaided. The thing is though, it seems to be difficult to get an ERF seat for less than £200, though I think one lady on here got one for £190 or thereabouts.

 

[twiggy56]

Is the Britax First Class not from birth?

...just looked, its from birth to 13kg for RF. So until about 28 and a half pounds...which is pretty good...

Halfords have it for £99.99 at the moment https://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs...6-b2c0-dc36b54a327e&istItemId=mrimpl&istBid=t

They will fit it for you too...

its not the longest ERF seat but its from birth and is in budget