Quite possibly THE most important thing you’ll be buying for the safety of your new baby is a car seat. It’s not the most glamorous, or the most fun – in fact it can be very confusing – but it’s essential that you know what you need to keep your little one safe when you’re driving. After having several of ‘those’ pregnancy moments in various baby superstores while looking at car seats (you know, the ones where you have a hot flush/a cold sweat and feel utterly overwhelmed by it all) I knew that I should have got my head around the laws and the safety requirements before I’d even begun. And so we’ve put together this post, along with our own personal choices on car seats, which will hopefully guide you through the process with ease, whatever stage of car seat you’re after.
Where To Start
Ok, let’s start at the very beginning – your car. Does it have Isofix anchor points? The answer to this is probably yes – as it has been a manufacturing requirement for modern cars for a while now. These points allow you to fix an Isofix base into your car, on to which you can clip your car seat. This has been proven to be a safer way to attach the car seat, rather than just using the seat belt. Then, you need two things – the actual car seat itself, and an Isofix base which helps you to attach the seat correctly and safely to your car. The Isofix base fits to the anchor points (and in some cases a third ‘tether’ point in your car). So the Isofix base is permanently in the car, and the car seat can be clicked in and out as you need it. (I’m aware this is extremely basic – but when I started out no one ever actually explained that to me!)
Technically, at present, Isofix isn’t a legal requirement and some car seats can be fitted using a seatbelt, but Isofix is recommended as it ensures a correct fit once the system is in place in your car. And eventually, it will become a legal requirement to use the Isofix system with the new regulation i-Size seats.
Top Tips To Getting the Right Car Seat
Before you buy:
– Advice is to avoid second hand car seats, as you cannot be sure of their history.
– Research & Prioritise Safety. All seats must pass minimum standards of safety some manufacturers test way beyond these standards.
– Get independent advice. If not from Child Seat Safety then contact your local authority road safety team. Many have been through the IOSH course or can direct you to someone who is experienced.
At the point of sale:
– Ask for the car seat expert in store to serve you, if they aren’t available ask for an appointment or come back when they are working.
– Where possible, make sure your accredited expert shows you how to fit the seat in your car – this avoids confusion & should give you confidence to fit the seat correctly yourself.
– Don’t worry if you haven’t done this. Car seat fitting clinics occur across the country so drop in & get your car seat checked. I’ll be honest here, this is something we didn’t do before having Elle, but it’s so SO important. No matter how safe a driver you think you are – it’s other people you have to worry about and you want the peace of mind that if you are involved in an accident, you’ve done all you can to protect your baby.
The Law – What You Need To Know
There was a period of time when I got very confused between Isofix and i-Size. Maybe it was my foggy pregnancy brain, but I just couldn’t make sense of it all. And when the new legislation was brought into place when Elle was a few months old – I was even more confused. To be honest, that might have just been me (!) and it could well have been my post-baby crazy hormones, but I’ve written it down for you in a way that helped to clarify things for me…
The current law (which changed in 2006) states that all children travelling in a car must use the correct car seat appropriate to their weight or height, until they are either 135cm in height or 12 years in age – which ever they reach first.
New car seat legislation (i-Size) was introduced in the EU in July 2013, and became part of UK leglisation in Spring 2015. However, at present it doesn’t replace the current legislation, but sits alongside it.
The key differences that the new legislation enforces are that it requires babies and toddlers up to 15 months old to travel in rear facing car seats (currently, only children under 9kg in weight have to sit in a rear-facing seats). And the seats have a five point harness – this provides increased support for the child’s head and neck, and better protection in the event of both frontal and side-impact.
i-Size also classifies seats by the child’s height rather than weight – which as you’ll see from our experiences below can be at very different times depending on your child…
(For more info on i-Size seats and the Isofix system, have a look at these websites – i-Size.org and how does Isofix work?)
The RMF Team’s Choices
To help you come to a decision over which one to buy, I asked the team which car seats they invested in and why…
Charlotte
Mabel had the Maxi-Cosi Cabrio fix and was rear facing until she was 18 months, we chose it over the “newer” Pebble as it was lighter in weight – it transferred easily from the car onto our Quinny Buzz and we had the family fix base. Choosing a toddler seat was more difficult, logistically James and I now need a seat each for nursery pick ups and drop offs and from extensive research the seat we wanted was the Maxi Cosi Axiss Fix i-size but at £350 (!) having one each just seemed too expensive. We managed to find an ex-display in Mothercare that we bought for £250 (it had never actually been used and came with all of the regular warranties and guarantees) so it’s definitely worth shopping around. For the second car we bought a regular Pearl as it fits on the family base that we already have.
Lorna
We bought the Silver Cross Simplicity as it matched the Silver Cross Surf travel system we had, which I know is a pretty poor excuse to purchase a car seat, but it checked all the safety requirements too. Easily clipping into place on the Isofix base in the car and then transferable to the pushchair frame if needed.
We chose our Maxi-Cosi Axiss car seat for Anabelle after seeing a friends in action and were totally mesmerised by the fabulous 360° swivel action. It makes popping the kids in the car so much easier. I remember the days when the boys were little, I would be half climbing into the car (bottom in the air) scrambling to put the straps on. Not a pretty sight & not at all good for your back! Now it just seems a breeze, plus Anabelle adores facing forward like her big brothers.
Lolly
Our first car seat was the Silver Cross Simplicity Car seat purchased primarily because it slotted easily onto our Silver Cross Wayfarer pushchair chassis without the need for additional adapters. In fact the Simplicity has been a bit of a godsend in terms of portability; I’ve been able to quickly manoeuvre Hector from car to shops without the faff of strapping and unstrapping from car seat to pushchair and back again saving me time and effort and keeping him happy too. The Simplicity comes with a newborn wedge for smaller babes which can be removed to give a little bit more room as they grow. We also purchased the Isofix base for the car seat as well for peace of mind as well as for convenience. Both came with a free two year guarantee.
Hector grew out of his first car seat at about 10 months old but then he was at the time already the height of a one year old which actually is what the car seat is specified to accommodate up to. We picked the Maxi Cosi AxissFix i-size car seat after a lengthy discussion about various models to replace it. Literally from the moment Hector sat in it he’s loved it which makes car journeys a breeze. Granted the seat is at the pricier end of the spectrum but it does come complete with an Isofix base and is suitable for babies from 4 months up to 4 years which means you’re going to get your wear out of it. My favourite bit about the AxissFix has got to be the fact that it rotates 360° which means that securing Hector in the seat (facing me) is easy peasy and then I can spin him back into position for travelling.
Lottie
We chose the Maxi Cosi Pebble and Isofix base. I’d read good things about it and liked the idea of the Isofix rather than using a seat belt each time. It made it a bit more spendy but I knew we could use it again for the next size up. We had the Bugaboo so got the adapters which was a dream. It was so easy to pop the car seat on to pop to shops rather than transferring baby from car seat to pram.
For the next seat we went for the Maxi-Cosi Pearl. In honesty we weren’t really sure which one to get so just chose that one! This idea worked until I had Alice a bit sooner than planned and so Molly had already moved to the next seat by this point and we had to therefore use the pebble with the seatbelt for Alice as Molly’s seat ONLY worked on the base which was a pain. It also meant we had to move the base everytime we swapped cars to travel anywhere in Edds. Very annoying.
Now the girls are both in the bigger seats so Alice has the Pearl and we got Molly a Maxi-Cosi Tobi which just works with the seat belt so much easier. Molly can actually move to more of a booster seat now but we haven’t made the purchase yet. The good ones are so expensive still and she does fit in her current one. We’ve been looking at a Maxi Cosi one but suggestions welcome!
Your Purchases
As always, we’d love to know which car seats you’ve bought and why – we’re all on the look out for recommendations, Lottie, Becky & I are all thinking about the next stage seat – so we need group 1, 2 and 3 suggestions please.
And hopefully if you’re about to purchase a car seat for the first time, this will have helped to clarify things for you 🙂
And finally, please tell me I’m not the only one who was totally baffled by car seats to begin with?!?!?
Fern x
It’s a total minefield. We’re off travel system shopping again this weekend, we’ve spent months looking online and I thought I knew what pram I wanted (bugaboo bee3 in yellow and black) which would then answer the car seat issues as we’d get the compatible one for that pram. Well that was until a disastrous trip to John Lewis last week, it was so busy I couldn’t hear myself think never mind commit to forking out close to £1k! and the bee3 looked quite small so I’m swaying more to the buffalo now or maybe a Joolz or a silver cross wayfare oh hang on what about that Phil&Teds……..
Don’t worry Jo – I cried in John Lewis once during pregnancy! We have the bee3 and I love it – but it does sit low compared to other prams (and we didn’t buy the bassinet as it’s suitable from newborn without it). It is very light however and the basket is amazing and means that I can use it as a stroller for shopping trips and meeting up with friends in town until Elle outgrows it completely.
Do have a think about what you actually want to use it for, as it’s very much a pavement/concrete buggy. If we do any walks that involve sand/mud/forests we always have Elle in the carrier, rather than the bee3 as it just can’t handle the terrain! x
Thanks Fern, we went to a large mothercare today and after having a good old push around we’ve decided on the Bugaboo Cameleon as it seems just that bit more sturdy and better for the terrain where we live. The other good thing being the maxi cosi first size carseat our good friends are giving us is compatible (with adapter) so it’s one less thing to think about until we’re in our stride with this parenting malarkey.
I remember being sooo confused about car seats when I was pregnant! It took a lot of research to figure it all out! We went with the maxi cosi pebble with the family fix base mainly as it seemed a popular one and my research told me it was one of the safest. We’ve just moved my daughter up to the next stage and gone with the maxi cosi 2-way pearl, so that she can stay rear facing for longer. On that subject it’s really worth mentioning that extended rear facing has been proven to be a lot safer for toddlers in the event of a serious accident – I found this website useful…. http://www.rearfacing.co.uk
Also I’m sure it varies depending on area but I found the ‘car seat experts’ at my local mothercare absolutely useless and I knew more about car seats than they seemed to!! Halfords on the other hand were great and seemed totally up on all the latest info. That’s just my experience though! x
Thanks Sarah – glad I’m not the only one! I remember thinking I’m sure I’ve tackled more complicated things than this in my life before…why can’t I get it?!?
And thanks for mentioning about toddlers being kept rear facing too, that website is really helpful.
I’ve heard good things about Halfords from lots of people 🙂
x
I second the Halford’s recommendation. We spent two very long afternoons in Mothercare and still didn’t end up with a stage 1 carseat! The Mothercare staff only seemed able to recommend something if the manufacturer’s website said it was compatible with your car – information that anyone can access, and spectacularly unhelpful if your exact car model and year of make isn’t listed (like mine!) … whereas the very helpful Halfords man tried loads in the car and used his knowledge to assess the fit, etc.
I agree with Sarah above about rear facing for as long as possible- it won’t be long before its legislation till 4years old so definitely worth investing now. I also got the isofix and the Pebble- very happy with it and super easy to get in and out and on to buggy (Bugaboo Chameleon 3)
Imogen was tiny so has only just grown out of Pebble (16m) and we’ve moved her in to the Nuna Rebl. It’s nearly £400! Yikes. But totally worth it as she can be rear facing till 4.
I did so much research I feel like I should have a GCSE in the subject! Very overwhelming and such a broad price range. My Mothercare were super helpful – I just asked which was the best on the market and went from there. (Tip- go in and see it first but if you buy online using Quidco and using a coupon in the back of Gurgle magazine you can save £40!)
I think Elle will be in her Cabrio Fix until 16 months too Sarah, as she’s quite dinky. I’ve just looked at the Nuna Rebl – it looks amazingly comfortable and safe too – may have to start saving for this. Does Imogen like being in it?
Thanks for the money saving tip too 😉 x
Wow, I really needed this article, I had no idea what a minefield car seat shopping would be. I never even knew a rotating car seat existed but it really appeals to me as I’ve got a 3 door car. I’ve just done a bit of googling and it seems like rotating car seats don’t tend to be compatible with travel systems. So my question is what’s more useful – a car seat that clips into travel systems so you don’t have to keep getting baby in and out of the car seat, or a rotating car seat that you will have to get them in and out of but it’ll be easier to do it?!
And my second question – and this is where I reveal myself to be a complete baby dunce! – is do you put the car seat in the back seat or in passenger seat (I know you have to have the airbag turned off) so you can actually see the baby when it’s rear facing? I assume the whole isofix thing means you can’t chop and change this too easily…?
And that’s me off to have a baby meltdown…..?
Hugs Laura and breathe…
I *think* the car seats for newborns (group 0 and 0+) don’t come as rotating seats anyway – but please someone correct me if I’ve got this wrong!!
If you’re going to be popping out in your car and getting baby in and out of the car into the buggy often – like if you’re going shopping/meeting friends, it’s very useful to be able to put the car seat on to the buggy – as often the new born baby will fall asleep in the car and you don’t want to have to wake them up by physically getting them out of their seat – you can just move the car seat instead. Although it does mean forking out for adapters to put on the buggy so you car fix the car seat to it…just another thing to buy (!)
The rotating car seats tend to be for older babies/toddlers and by that point moving them from the car seat isn’t usually such a big deal, as on short journeys they probably won’t fall asleep unless it’s nap time. (Which gets a bit more predictable as they get bigger).
The car seat is best in the back of the car really, you can buy a set of mirrors that you attach to the seats so you can see the baby if you want to 🙂 and yes, once the isofix base is in, you’ll probably want to keep it there, as it’s a bit of a faff getting it there in the first place!
I hope that helps x
It certainly does help, thank you so much! I’m getting a family hand me down of a travel system with an accompanying car seat that clips in / out so I think that sounds like the best option for when the baby first arrives and then we can tackle the rotating car seat business when the baby is a bit older. Phew, thank you!
Hooray, make the most of family hand-me-downs!! When are you due? Hope you’re having an ok pregnancy 🙂
And yes, keep things simple for as long as you can! x
Due in March and so far have done absolutely no baby shopping, but all these RMW posts are great and I’m taking notes for when we can put it off no longer!
Britax dualfix rotates and can be used from birth but I’d agree that being able to take the car seat out easily is really useful and I do miss it now that we moved on to a stage 2 seat (axiss fix which is great). Also I didn’t find moving the isofix base too much of a faff and we swapped between cars quite often. I’d even say it was quicker than seatbelt. Hand me downs are great – everything I’ve been given worked well and even if you don’t get on with it its a free trial before you commit to buying something different.
I am not a parent or anything but I love the Rock My company so I read all the websites like RMS, RMW haha.
I have been reading this with interest about rear facing as a lot of my friends are parents but one question that I have is – We are deaf so if the child is rear facing in the backseat, how will we know if the child is ok? as front facing would make it easier for us to glance in the mirror and see that the child is okay.
I know this is a safety thing but how does this work for the deaf parents who can’t hear their children and if they are distressed while rear facing in the back seat?
We have a mirror that is attached the the headrest on the back seat so that we could easily see P when she was rear facing the both the cabrio fix and the joie i-anchor.
We have got the i-anchor as P’s next stage seat but infact it is suitable from birth to 4 years and can rear and forward face on the isofix base.
Now that she is nearing 2 we have switched it to forward facing, it seems to have stopped her car sickness a little!
Hi Shona,
Thanks for commenting – love that you enjoy all three blogs!
You can get a mirror that you attach to the headrest so you can see baby when they are rear facing 🙂
And ultimately, you have to do what works best for you – as long as you are aware of the safety requirements and the law. x
We started with the Maxi Cosi Pebble and matching isofix base. The main reasons were that it fitted our pram system (Uppababy Vista), had the best safety record (according to Which) and we liked the ease of the isofix click in base. We used them both for just under a year and I would hugely recommend them; in fact the isofix base would be my top new baby recommendation (I was a new driver and the stress of strapping a car seat in with a belt made me so nervous… the isofix base calmed me down so much and made getting E in and out of the car a breeze.
When E turned 1 we shopped around for a long time and eventually settled on 2 Britax Versafixes (one for each car). We wanted another isofix car seat and discounted the Maxi Cosi ones available at the time as being too chunky and cumbersome. We liked the Axiss but sadly it wasn’t compatible with our cars (Mothercare told me there was quite a list of cars it won’t fit). x
Thanks Fern for explaining about Isofix as I’d heard of it but had no idea what it really meant until now. I’ve tasked my husband with finding our car seat so have forwarded this to him as it looks like a really good starting point for us.
Thanks Sarah – I know what I’ve written is the total basics, and the comments have been great so far with adding detail 🙂 so hopefully it will help your husband!
x
We had a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix first, as it came in a bundle with our Uppababy Vista (and the Maxi Cosi adapters are included) … it was useful to be able to put the car seat on the travel system, although we didn’t actually do it that often – as newborns are only supposed to stay in the car seat for a maximum of two hours at a time, plus I was a bit in love with the carrycot part!! We used the Easyfix base.
Now we have the Maxi Cosi Tobi and are really happy with it – it feels very secure, even though it’s only fitted with a seatbelt (much less of an issue for a toddler seat that stays in one car all of the time) and sits quite high up, so Orla gets a good view of the world!
A couple of my thoughts on the whole process – firstly, I regret doing so much research (bear with me!) … I looked at all the Which reviews and it put me off loads of really good seats, that were recommended by shops, etc. When we then struggled to find a car seat that would fit properly in our quite old car, with very early random size isofix points, this made us really worried that our daughter wouldn’t be safe – the important thing to remember is that to be sold in the UK, car seats have to meet high safety requirements!! Ditto worrying if you should be buying a more spendy model (particularly if you’re on a budget!).
Secondly, if you don’t have an isofix car, my understanding is that isofix is not necessarily safer than a properly fitted seat-belted seat, but there’s much less chance of you doing it wrong, which is what makes them statistically safer. So if you need (or choose) a seat belt fitting – just make sure you know how to fit it safely – and take advantage of fitting clinics etc, as mentioned in the post.
This is a great comment, thank you Amy.
I’m pleased you mentioned about the seats meeting the UK requirements, as all too often as parents we feel pressured into buying expensive models when a cheaper version is just as safe – it just doesn’t have as many fancy parts/as nice material etc…
And yes good point about the seat belt, I think there’s just more room for error isn’t there? x
Really helpful post, I was really unprepared when buying our first carset and didn’t have a clue about isofox etc. Second time round, I did much more research and ended up opting for a carseat which goes rear facing until aged 4 (although it can be turned around if needed) as I believe there are safety benefits to rear facing. My daughter has a great view out the back window. If you can, it is definitely worth waiting until the Christmas sales as they bring out new colours each year, we got a bargain from the mamas and papas website last year.
We had the maxi cosi pebble with adapters to go on our Icandy and the isofix family base. When we moved to the toddler seat we also had the issue of having to buy 2 seats for 2 cars. We ended up with the pearl to go on the family fix and a britax dualfix. The britax is great- would definitely recommend! It can be forward or rear facing so can meet all your needs. It can also take a baby from birth- we didn’t get to benefit from this bit have the cosy liners in case we have another child. Top tip- halfords give you a 10% discount if you buy 2 chairs at once. We bit the bullet when the britax was on a bit of a deal so the final price of 2 wasn’t as bad as it could have been!! I think both chairs are great but with the isofix base they are quite bulky and heavy, hence the decision to buy 2 rather than have to lug & changeover between the 2 cars!
I chose the cybex Aton q for my 2 month year old little boy, mainly because I loved the orange colour and ‘armadillo’ styled sun hood. It slots easily onto our uppababy vista and he really loves sitting in it, the car seat is very well padded and cosy looking. I am constantly receiving compliments from members of the public about my ‘cool pram’ and the orange colour provides a bit of variation to my usual grey uppababy. I agree £300 (including isofix) is an awful lot for something which will probably not last a year! It also has fastened very easily into my mum’s car without the isofix.
We had chosen a Cosatto Giggle travel system and you usually have to purchase the car seat separately – however last January they had an offer where if you purchased the travel system (chassis, lay-flat carrycot and stroller) you got the car seat free which was worth £120! So it’s definitely worth waiting until after Xmas to see what deals are around.
The good thing about buying the same brand travel system and car seat is that no adaptors are required, you literally click the car seat into place on the chassis and off you go! It makes life a lot easier when Isabel has fallen asleep in the car and you don’t want to disturb her by putting her in the stroller just to dash into the supermarket!
We paid out £125 for the Isofix base as I wasn’t confident enough that I would tighten the seat belt enough or correctly each time I put Isabel in the car. It’s definitely a lot more convenient just to plug it in, with a simple “click” you know your baby is nice and secure.
This post has been really useful as the car seat is Group 0 so we are currently looking into the next stage seat for her – thank you! xx
Thanks for this post on travel systems, car seats and other baby travel essentials. We’re currently looking for a replacement for the seat from a hand-me-down system that we had. It will probably be an isofix car seat we go for, but all the information/advice helps.
I asked Uppababy if 2014 Vista is compatible with any i-size car seats, the maxi-cosi pebble plus in particular, since maxi-cosi pebble (the non-isize version) is compatible. They said no, “there is not an i-size seat that is compatible with the earlier model of vista 2014 but the maxi cosi pebble plus is an i-size seat which is compatible with the 2015 vista.”
I found it odd that maxi-cosi would change the car seat socket from pebble to pebble-plus, so I decided to check for myself. When I checked out for myself, the maxi-cosi pebble plus (i-size) does fit Vista 2014 using the actual maxi-cosi adapters that come with the 2014 Vista! When I told Uppababy about this, they responded “Unfortunately as we have not tested the Maxi-cosi pebble plus on the 2014 vista chassis we cannot recommend it for use. It would be at your discretion if you wanted to use it on the 2014 chassis.”
I am not sure if Uppababy misinforms people so that they buy the 2015 Vista, or this was just a case of the particular customer service staff not researching this properly.