Advice needed - baby car seat questions (merged)

mum2kathryn

We've got the Maxi Priori Cosi XP and really rate it. It perfomed well in the Which tests, its well padded and fairly easy to fit. We've had ours for over a year now and it hasn't faded as far as I've noticed (grey velour). Ours came from Mothercare, I think Toys R Us also sell it as well as others. You're probably looking at £100 - £130 which isn't cheap but I think worth it for a safety critical item you'll use for several years. Don't know about it fitting your car but Mothercare or similar will be able to check for you.

We've also got a Mama's and Papa's pro-tec (for our other car) which is also very good but its quite tall and doesn't fit in all cars, especially ones where you can't remove the headrest.

HappySad

FIRST - Which? magazine June Issue Page 66.. Photocopy from your library then this will tell you everything you need to choose a safe and good value car seat. Some car seats are expensive and offer less safety. This guide will allow you to choose the safest seat which is really what getting a carseat is all about..... I'm using it right now for choosing a seat for new baby.

code-a-holic

u Had a scenic - maxi xosi fit in it beautifully. And the best seat i've had! Had a few

natalie1974

Anyone needs a copy of the latest Which car seat report just PM through my profile including your email address and I will happily send it on to you .

Natalie

joey_2

Have posted this in the motoring section as well but I thought this would be more suitable of course it's a family matter!!!

I m thinking of getting a renault megane scenic (well pretty much decided!) but my one worry is - can I fit 3 booster seats in the back? Because I know it has 3 full seats but I thought the middle one looked slightly smaller, I can't really try it out because I only have 2 boosters and they are really bulky ones.

Does anyone have this car or one like it? Can you tell me if it is possible or not? And if it is could you tell me which seats you use and where you buy them from? Do you need to buy special narrow seats, do narrow booster seats exist in fact cos when you look on the shop websites they don't give measurements for them at all???

Would appreciate any help with this!!!

Thanks,
Joey. x

Threadhead

I believe the rule is; ifyou cant fit a booster seat in the middle of two other child seats, then its not necessary to have one. Obviously, if your kids are very small, then you wont feel comfortable with this.

jap200

joey wrote: »

Have posted this in the motoring section as well but I thought this would be more suitable of course it's a family matter!!!

I m thinking of getting a renault megane scenic (well pretty much decided!) but my one worry is - can I fit 3 booster seats in the back? Because I know it has 3 full seats but I thought the middle one looked slightly smaller, I can't really try it out because I only have 2 boosters and they are really bulky ones.

Does anyone have this car or one like it? Can you tell me if it is possible or not? And if it is could you tell me which seats you use and where you buy them from? Do you need to buy special narrow seats, do narrow booster seats exist in fact cos when you look on the shop websites they don't give measurements for them at all???

Would appreciate any help with this!!!

Thanks,
Joey. x

We had a new baby, a 2 and a 3 year old, so needed a car that we could fit 3 full size seats into, but didn't want (and couldn't afford) a full size MPV. We looked at the Scenic - but my sister (also with 3 kids close in age) had one and her major problem with it is the narrow middle seat. You definately can't fit 3 full-size car seats in a row in the back.

We ended up with a Citroen Xsara Picasso, which is very similar to the Scenic, but the major bonus is that it has a wider back seat, with 3 full-size seats (and 3 proper seat belts). Another advantage is that the airbag in the front passenger side can be easily switched off (just using the car key in a special 'hidden' place), so you can use a rear-facing child seat in the front if you want to.

We have now moved the older 2 children onto booster seats, but for several years had 3 full size seats in the back. It was a little bit of a fiddle to fix them in as you have to squeeze your hand between the fairly tight-fitting child seats, but they do all fit in. The easiest car seats to use were the ones with their own harness as you can do them up in the front, rather than the ones that rely on the car's own seat belt as you need to squeeze you hand down between the seats each time to locate the clip.

I would highly recommend the Picasso and have no regrets - 4 years on. The price is similar/maybe lower to the Renault Scenic.

My sister sold the Scenic soon after getting it because of the narrow middle seat and 'upgraded' to a Zafira - but her family income is bigger than ours!

BusyLizzie_3

We have 4-year-old twins and a 2-year-old, all in full-size car seats in the back of a Scenic, which we bought new in 2003. We had the car seats checked by the car seat safety team at our local council, and they were approved as being correctly fitted and safe.

donny_osmonds_mad_fan

MY mothercare one in the scenic for my little girl wouldnt fit in the middle which is a bit of a shame as we wanted her to sit in the middle...so I would like a thinner one too....will watch this post lol

Sagaris

I don't think there are narrow booster seats, because they need to be a certain width to accommodate a child, and also the 'horns' on the sides of the seat need to be wide enough to hold the lap belt in the correct place away from the child's pelvis. What most people seem to do is to put a child on each of the side seats then one in the front, with the front seat pushed back as far as possible to avoid injury from the airbag, should it go off.
Be very cautious about using rearward facing infant carriers in the front seat, even if the airbag is switched off, although the car manufacturers say it is safe, none of them will put it in writing when I have asked them if they can guarantee the airbag will still not deploy in a crash! Statistically the safest place for anyone to be in a car is in the centre of the back seat - which is the one that seems to cause problems for parents!