Advice needed - baby car seat questions (merged)

maplegirl2011

john lewis have them for £79.50 and there is a £10 off code (have pm'ed you) before the end of june to bring it to £69.50.

http://www.johnlewis.com/Shopping/Product.aspx?Type=SKU&Id=230461595&oplinknum=1

amberviolet

Just wondered if anyone knew the difference (if any) between the britax Hi-liner and the britax evolva 2/3.

Thanks

Sorry just found the answer

jessbrown100

Hi all!
Does anyone know if there is a web site anywhere that shows what car seats are compliant with what cars. We want to buy a travel system for our baby (due September ) but don't really know where to start because of the car seat thing. We have a 4 year old Vectra so if anyone has any experience of this I'd love to know.
Thanks in advance,
Jess x

frostyspice

Hiya, why don't you try the Britax website. They only talk about their own seats of course but they do have a 'fit finder' page where you can type in your car model and it tells you which of their seats are compatible. I like Britax seats and they tend to come out well in the safety tests.

Mothercare and Halfords will also advise you, but then you might feel that you have to buy from them, and they're not cheap.

lady_stardust

I did some research into this as I have a Fiat Cinquecento which has smaller seats and shorter seatbelts than many cars and when I tried a friend's seat, it didn't fit. The Britax site was quite good but there was still a caveat saying that the seat may not fit in "cetain editions of this vehicle". Well, mine is a Sporting model so that still isn't much use to me.

Ultimately there is no substitute to physically trying out the seats in your car, as you need to be able to see if you can get it in and out easily.

I think manufacturers who don't have wide availability on their seats and don't distribute to retailers that let you try them out are really shooting themselves in the foot.

In the end I went for the Maxi-cosi with the Easybase - way more than I had intended to pay but it was the only thing that seemed to fit properly

Incidentally, at Halfords, they tried the seat on its own and said it was fitted correctly but the lad didn't seem convinced - when I gave it a gentle sideways push it fell out of the seatbelt! So it is important to try it for yourself, if the instructions don't make sense and you can't do it easily then it probably isn't the one to go for.

WestonDave

As stated you really have to have them tested in your car - when we went up from the travel system to the next size up the Britax site said one of their seats would fit in our car but when it was tested it didn't. Its not just the length of the seat belt but also in some individual cars the strap that holds the buckle can be too long leaving the buckled belt in a position of strain against the seat.

We are lucky to an extent in that in Bristol near the IKEA (20 minutes drive from us) is a row of shops that features Mamas and Papas (don't sell through 3rd parties), Halfords and Mothercare all virtually next door to each other so we can get all the seats tried and then decide what to get (or to order elsewhere). That said the travel system we got was a Jane which none of those stock so it is also worth trying the independants as well. I have to say as well that the advice from the two independants we have used has been far more convincing than the chains staff even though the latter claim to be trained.

onlyroz

Halfords will let you try it out in your car and will demonstrate how to fit it. If your car has isofix fittings then you should get an isofix chair, because they're much easier to fit to the car, and they're more secure. My mum's 2-year-old Astra has them, and my 3-year-old Picasso does, so your Vectra might.

jessbrown100

Thanks all.
Think I might forget a travel system that includes a car seat and go for a seperate one. There's a Halfords quite near us so think we'll head over to them and see what they've got.
Thanks so much!
Jess

foreversomeday

You can always choose the car seat, and then find out which pushchair/prams are compatible with it to make it into a travel system. If mothercare sell the car seat you buy, I know they have a book which tells them which travel systems are compatible. Other than that, choose the car seat, then research whether you can get a compatible travel system.

tsstss7

Hi all

I'm looking for a bit of help with my choice of car seat for LO who is just 8 mths old and now too big for the first size car seat.

Since he is still very young I'm reluctant to go forward facing just yet so am considering getting this car seat which is a 0+

http://www.boots.com/shop/product_enlarge.jsp?productid=1091579&slmRefer=000&imageid=1

Question is will it it in our car? I have looked at the britax fit finder and results are inconlusive! :rolleyes: I am currently driving a Citroen C5 which has reasonable size seat belts and fits our creativ fix car seat fine. Does anyone out there own one of these and can they give me some advice before I part with waaaaay too much money!!

many thanks all -