Both of our car manuals (a VW and an Alfa) suggest that the isofix car seat fitting should not be used when the child is under 10kg. Anyone know why this might be? Surely it’s more secure than a seatbelt fitting?

Me n the misses pondered over this for a while as our preferred travel system did not include an isofix car seat.

We questioned the sales person and without bigging up one over the other she explained that isofix essentially fixes the car seat to the chassis thus transferring all the bumps in the road directly to the seat in which you little one is strapped to whereas a seat secured with a seat belt allows a little more movement between the car and the seat therefor creating a slightly less harsh ride.

We went for the seat secured by the seatbelt and it’s been great…

I’d second the seatbelt fixing for the seat, also means the you don’t need to spend extra on a base

We’ve used an Isofix one in our car (BMW) since birth…. never read anything to say not to, to be honest. I was led to believe that neither Isofix nor belt fastening was inherently safer, but the Isofix method was much less likely to be fitted incorrectly. I’m now researching Group 1 seats and the latest Which report suggested that most (92% in the test they did) car seats are incorrectly fitted, so worth bearing in mind.

The fittings on our Isofix are only 2 points, both at the back of the base, with the third ‘anchor’ point being the carry handle against the seat back… I’m not sure that this would transmit bumps any more than using belts.

We bought a lie flat car seat. Takes up a bit more space but it’s ace.

The boy has had some issues with his lungs so oxygen desaturation was a big enough risk factor to justify the cost.

Not sure about the bump theory tbh. We started with an isofix travel system as they’re great when baby is asleep in the car, very easy to transfer to buggy. When William grew out of that we got a seatbelt secured seat and that’s good as its always in the car, and William NEVER sleeps anymore!

Thanks all, the bump thing seems to make sense. Wondered if it was just the car manufacturers trying to cover themselves by being super cautious.

Iso is more practical for newborns up to approx 10 kgs because you carry them around in the rear facing seat which then just clips in. Couldn’t be quicker or easier. Once you’re using a forward facing seat there’s not much difference in ease of use because it remains in place anyhow.

Used a Maxi Cosi family fix ISO fix base and a Cabriosomething from birth and worked reall well. Mine had a ‘leg’ that hung over the front of the seat onto the floor to prevent ‘diving’ in event of an accident. I have a stupidly hard riding car (for an estate) and baby transapp slept in it fine. I’ve since bought the second seat which clips into the same base but is forward facing. Not the cheapest, but the Father in Law paid so it was all good!

Not sure if you would be interested, but we have a Britax Baby safe and isofix base for sale. Both in excellent condition.

I can’t see much difference between the 2, vibration might transfer through isofix though.

Is it more to do with that a non isofix will decelerate slowly than an isofix in a crash, therefore safer?

We had one car isofix and one not. Would go for ISO every time just fir the convenience

I can’t see much difference between the 2, vibration might transfer through isofix though.

Is it more to do with that a non isofix will decelerate slowly than an isofix in a crash, therefore safer?

We had one car isofix and one not. Would go for ISO every time just fir the convenience

We found non-isofix really insecure on the leather seats in my car as well. It just slipped and slopped around to the point where I had no confidence in it staying in place in a crash no matter how hard I tightened the seat belt.

Had isofix for the baby seat is great. A base in each car and 1 seat that went between the cars. Really easy to move the sprog around. Now he is bigger we have 1 isofix seat and 1 seatbelt fixed seat as the 1st base we were given wouldn’t take the next size seat.

Wee fella was always happy in old seat and slept well in it.

Thanks monkeyp but already have a base and seat. Was going to just fix it with isofix but the car manual got me worried.

I really havn’t heard of it being an issue. I’m sure that my car’s manual didn’t (Audi A4 avant)

The base still sits on the cushy chair even with isofix. Actually, most of its weight will be on the foot I suppose, which you still get with the non-isofix ones. Isofix is really not that rigid.

Incidentally, we asked for a stage 2 booster in isofix and were told they didn’t make them because it was pointless; the seat being secured along with the child in the seatbelt. However in Germany most of the stage 2s were available in isofix, and it’s rather nice and secure I must say.

I am a little averse to lugging babies around in car seats though. They need to be snuggled up close and warm to a parent I reckon. So it was carseat to sling for us.