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Eye Jnr is ready for his next seat and Mrs Eye wants a rear facing one as they're much safer.
Does anyone have one or can you recommend one?
BTW it has to be ISOFIX.
Thanks in advance.
Hi,
One of the best sites for that is Securatot. I've got two Isofix ones, and one belt fitted I just got the other week. Isofix lasts until 18kgs but beltones last until whenever as it has no weight limit.
Britax Max Fix - good decent seat.
Cybex Sirona - it swivels 90 degrees to the side - and can become front facing if you want (don't see the point myself).
Besafe Izi plus (note: Belt fixed, I know you said Isofix).
We bought one two days ago from Mothercare - they carry them out to your car so you can check they fit and don't wipe out visibility etc. Can't remember which one it was but suspect it was the rotating one mentioned above (which is very, very handy for getting the wee one in and out). Still reeling at the price three weeks before my tax bill...
We use a BeSafe Combi X3 - a bit of a faff to fit (we don't have Isofix) but once in it's incredibly solid - more rigid than the car's own seats. There's an Isofix version I think.
does the safety benefit outweigh the boredom factor of staring at a headrest/seat.
+1. Ours both went into forward facing seats somewhere around 9-12 months IIRC. They're at the stage where they're becoming more sociable and interested in what's going on, each to their own but I'd rather promote that than wrap them up just in case the worst were to happen.does the safety benefit outweight the boredom factor of staring at a headrest/seat.
Maxi cosi stuff seems to be pretty good in various models and sizes which is what we've used for our two, was pretty dissapointed with Britax kit which was crap quality for not much cheaper than the maxi stuff.
As with tonyd, I don't think we would have lasted long with a rear facing second seat when we changed at 10 months old, especially with the first trip being a drive down to Morzine 😀
does the safety benefit outweight the boredom factor of staring at a headrest/seat.
This. Travelling with Mini Ox is a pleasure since we put him in a forward facing seat. The rear facing one drove him to distraction, even with a mirror so he could see us.
I'd say the safety benefits of a rear-facing seat is negated completely by having to put up with an angry 1 year old screaming for the entire journey.
I argued for a forward facing seat for just this reason but there's no getting past the real world stats. Five times safer than forward facing.
Oh, and the new seat is high enough for the wee man to look through the side window.
Might be safer [i]if[/I] you crash but I'm sure a screaming bored kid might make a crash more likely in the first place. I'm sure not crashing is safer than crashing by more than 5 times 😉
My two love facing forwards in my new car because they can see right out the windows
We've got forward facing seats for mini-me, he's been in one from about 9 months / when he grew out of his one that went on the pram.
All this talk of rear facing being safer, does the car into which it's strapped not have an impact on this? [i]i.e.[/i] if it's in an older car that isn't as safe in a crash as a newer car does that have an impact on the safeness of he seat?
Ours doesn't get bored - shes high enough up that she can see out the side and back windows, has great fun pulling faces at cars behind.
does the safety benefit outweigh the boredom factor of staring at a headrest/seat.
We've got a mirror on the headrest so he can keep an eye on us and most of our long drives are done at night so he's usually asleep so staring at a headrest isn't an issue.
Oh, and the new seat is high enough for the wee man to look through the side window.
His Maxi Cosi is on a Isofix base so he's much higher and can see out at the moment, plus we have an estate so there's more to see out of. And the dog usually travels next to him (belted in) so he can always start at her which he loves doing anyway.
What seat do you have Ben?
Like most others on here I'd recommend forward facing. Our little one is so much happier facing forwards.
If your anywhere near Milton Keynes this place is excellent:
[url= http://incarsafetycentre.co.uk ]In car safety centre[/url]
You make an appointment and then try their recommended seats out in your car(s). Looks like they have a new shop in Essex too. I think they import seats from Sweden.
We have the Britax 2 way elite which is excellent, but not isofix. The boy has also never got bored being rear facing, as its all he knows and its high enough for him to see important things like bin lorries.
What seat do you have Ben?
BeSafe Combi X3.
As usual in these situations, the missus researched it extensively, ordered it, then presented it to me for fitting - so I'm not an expert on the things.
Are the 5 x safer figures not from the manufacturers of rear facing seats? and do they not relate only to frontal collisions?. Given that my driving preference is not to drive into stuff I hope there is in fact more risk that I will be involved in side impacts in to my car (no difference in safety) rear impacts into me (forward facing better) or no impacts in which case happy interested child chatting to me and looking for dustbin wagons and busses.
Like helmets it essentially boils down to a personal value judgement. There is no right answer. Mothercare are fab to buy from .
@ Ben Thanks, read your earlier post but not the name!
Sorry 😳
The "5 times safer" relates to the fewer accidents in countries where rear facing is the law.
Kids heads are proportionally massive to their bodies, their necks can't handle the force as well as adults , hence rear facing being safer. The people here arguing for "forward facing"...it's just dumb.
Edit: Sorry by accidents i mean fewer fatalities.
Do rear-facing seats force you to put the front seats forward much? Obviously depends on the seat, car and driver, but our rear-facing baby seat has to go behind the passenger seat, because I struggle with lack of leg room if it goes behind the driver seat. Is this likely to be even more of a problem with rear-facing toddler seats?
Our little one is ready for a new seat, and there's a good chance we'll be needing two seats at the same time in future.
We got a BeSafe rear facing one too. The stats are not the manufacturers' marketing claims, they reflect official testing. It's worth noting that there are several countries where front-facing is illegal until something like 4 years old. Our little chap is perfectly happy in his - as mentioned above, he doesn't know any different, and can see plenty out of the side window.
Bit more expensive, bit more of a faff, but seemingly genuine safety benefits - makes it a no-brainer if you ask me. Saying "yeah but the little one might get a bit bored and grumpy that way" is an entirely different sort of no-brainer!
[b]PDW:[/b]I would say it does take up more space compared to a forward facing but it is still very much doable.
my wife's got a hugely impractical Scirocco and I can sit in the front passenger seat with the rear facing seat is behind me. So it's definitely doable. I've got a rear facing seat behind me in my car, which is a Hyundai Santa Fe (so big car) and the seat touches my seat's back (which is no bad thing) and I'm 6'1.
If you get a belted rear facing - you can actually put it in the middle of the seats (which meants both rear seats to the side of it would be somewhat compromised, depending on the width of the car of course) as the backrest will then have a bit more space sticking up between the two front seats.
so the direction a passenger is facing reduces the chance of an accident??
The stats and rational all seem to be based on high speed frontal impacts as being the most dangerous and causing the most risk to a forward facing child. Also real world is based on driving experience in countries with different traffic conditions and historically different car safety standards . Trends in passenger injuries in rural Nordic countries involving saabs and Volvos may well be different for different reasons.
The safety happiness socialisation and brain development off ones offspring is a highly personal and emotive subject not assisted by calling others dumb or brainless.
Oh what an arse...
Approx 15 months ago when we were buying our seat, we went with Maxi Cosi FamilyFix as that took a Pebble Group 0 seat and then we had planned on using the Pearl forward facing jobbie which dd is about ready for now. I've just checked on Maxi-Cosi's site and lo, they now do a 2wayPearl, but surprise ****ing surprise, it needs a new base - the 2wayFixBase.
I'm sure they could have designed a rear facing Pearl seat; after all the Pebble faces rearward anyway. But I suppose that wouldn't get a load of anxious parents reading that rear-facing seats are the new must have up till 4 years of age, trooping off to Mothercare and John Lewis to spend £375 on a new base and seat.
Pah! 😡
Might be safer if you crash but I'm sure a screaming bored kid might make a crash more likely in the first place
The other issue, aside from boredom, is discomfort: where do their legs go when they are rear-facing at age 2? I don't find sitting with my knees round my ears for two hours particularly comfy so I doubt my daughter would 😀
Still, there are good arguments for them and they are standard in some other countries, like Sweden: http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/
Oh what an arse...
Our sentiments exactly. We went down the FamilyFix route as well DD and have the exact issues as you do.
The only difference I can see to the FF and FF2way is the foot rest thing as a the Pebble is the same for both bases.
Not having tried a2way seat in our FFbase I don't know if the bigger one will work. I might pop along to Kiddicare and see if it fits.
@ GrahamS
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We've got a little car - a Forfour - and with the rear-facing seat behind the passenger seat it's a little cramped at the front but still enough space for me to fit with my knees brushing the dashboard - I'm 6'1".
Herself is coming up for 4 years old, and still has plenty of leg room, running out of vertical adjustment now so we've only got a few months more with this seat I think.
Our sentiments exactly. We went down the FamilyFix route as well DD and have the exact issues as you do.
I can't be sure from the website eyerideit, but a quick google threw up somebody's question to Maxi-Cosi on Facebook:
Maxi-Cosi UK
Hi LindseyThe 2way Pearl can only be used with the 2wayFix base. It is not compatible with the Familyfix.
The bastards added a smiley face at the end of their answer. I might go and troll their Facebook page and ask why they couldn't have designed a FamilyFix compatible rear facing seat. 😈
^ That doesn't look particularly comfy to me eyerideit - little one looks okay but your eldest looks to have her knees forcibly bent and splayed to the sides.
I'm probably looking at this through the eyes of an old man with bad knees, but my legs would seize up if I was sat like that for a few hours.
How do you deal with changing DVDs etc? Looks like she'd struggle to reach the headrest herself never mind an adult leaning in from the passenger seat.
Never used rear-facing seats with our two it would have been too distracting to look at them while driving.
Far better to have them facing forwards and enjoy the full experience of how a real Dad overtakes
*cough*
It's not for me to decide Rocketman, Mrs Eye is in charge of all baby based decision. I merely act as research and procurement.
Maybe it's because of my *Dad overtakes* she wants a rear facing seat. 😯
Graham, DVD's???? It's all on iPad these days.
Another recomendation for the in car safety center in Milton Keynes, they've got the best range we could find. In the end we got Kiss2's (isofix) as it was the best fit on our Passat also got Britax 2 way elites (non isofix) in our Focus (these were the best fit in the Saab 93 we had prior to the Passat)
I'd recommend going somewhere you can try the seats in your car, we ended up sending one back as it didn't fit then going up the MK when we got a new car.
My boys (2 1/2 and 1) are happy facing backwards but then they've never known anything else...
Graham, DVD's???? It's all on iPad these days.
Aye we still use DVDs in the car - not sure I'd want my iPad being held up by a sleepy 3 year old where I can't catch it. Plus DVD players are dirt cheap these days so we can just leave it in the car ready to go. It plays off SD cards too so easy enough to carry stuff about.
Maybe it's because of my *Dad overtakes* she wants a rear facing seat
🙂
If ours were still small enough - I would go rear-facing based on the safety research.
Thanks for the help everyone and especially to swedishmatt - for the link.
I just tossed an £800* Aprica seat into a skip.
does the safety benefit outweigh the boredom factor of staring at a headrest/seat.
That's the reason we turned our kid around at about 14mo or so. That and her comfort. After all, that's the same reason I don't sit rear facing in the passenger seat 🙂
And the 5 times safer quote - I wonder what that really means? Five times more likely to die? Injuries are five times worse?
* no, we didn't pay that for it
And the 5 times safer quote - I wonder what that really means? Five times more likely to die? Injuries are five times worse?
The "5 times safer" relates to the fewer accidents in countries where rear facing is the law.Kids heads are proportionally massive to their bodies, their necks can't handle the force as well as adults , hence rear facing being safer. The people here arguing for "forward facing"...it's just dumb.
Edit: Sorry by accidents i mean fewer fatalities.
These figures are not made up by the manufacturers, they are the result of safety research.
Someone asked if it didn't make a difference if your car is old and unsafe. Yes it does. Your child will be five times more likely to die in a head on collision, whether it's a Roller or an old 305. I can put up with a bit of frustrated crying given those numbers. And it's nothing to do with driving into things - more to do with the standard of others' driving.
I was driven into last month, doing 30 on the high street - my car was written off. You cannot legislate against other peoples' stupidity.
I'm not disputing the 5x research. But this has been talked about on telly recently.
Your kid is not 5x more likely to die in a car accident. Your kid is 5x more likely to die IF you have a car accident. So chance of death generally within the first 4 years of life is only very slightly increased.
We weighed it up and made a decision based on the happiness and desires of our particular kids and the risk. As I'm sure you all do 🙂
Fair dos. I sometimes don't wear a helmet. And my dog doesn't even own one!
@ eyerideit
Well, tbf to Maxi-Cosi, they did reply to my question on Fb:
Due to the function and performance of the iSize unit 2wayPearl vs standard forward facing Pearl it was not possible to use the same base. Changes were required to the base to make ERF suitable and to make it meet iSize standard. If we could have used the same base to help keep costs down we would have done, but it was not something we were able to do.As with all companies and all products we are continually developing new ideas and moving forward with technology and safety standards and new advancements do occur. This does not mean the seat you have is any less safe than it was when you first made the purchase, it simply means that there have been natural developments and there is now an even safer option available to you should you wish to use it.
The Maxi Cosi FamilyFix base used in combination with the Maxi Cosi Pearl remains one of the safest solutions on the market and will continue to be sold for years to come. Parents who have brought the Pebble infant carrier and FamilyFix base can be confident that the Pearl will be available when their child needs it. The new 2wayFix base and 2wayPearl has been developed to meet the newly-launched iSize regulations and will be sold alongside the current Pearl, providing parents with a choice of options.
5 x safer is utterly meaningless aside from the variability of source if we are talking of a change of 80 in 100 to 20 in a 100 i will put up with the other risks of rear facing infavour of the physical safty if we are talking of a change from .002 in 100 to .01 in a 100 then lack of frustration for child and passenger and improved interaction with the child mean i will have crankbrat face foreward . crashes are rare events crashes with a restrained child where the child is harmed are rarer crashes with a restrained child where the diffence between forward and rearward seats makes a significant difference to outcome even rarer that .
Thanks DD. Looks like our familyfix's will be appearing in the classifieds soon!
Crankboy, it s true what you say but convincing Mrs Eye is a different kettle of fish, to her it doesn't matter how small the percentages are, it's safer so it's better.
That's the end of it.
FWIW, (I've skim read through the posts)
WE have a Maxi-Cosy seat - can't find a link to the exact one). It's not ISO Fix (but neither's the car).
Our son screamed and screamed from the second he was in his rear facing car seat until he was lifted out. He also seemed to get travel sick.
When he was about 1 year old, we put him in the forward facing seat and he loves it. He can see out of the window , chatting away and enjoys the car. Ours can be fixed forwards or backwards. Surely there are ISO Fix seats that can too.
Oh, and the chance of a child (under 16) dying in the UK as the occupant of a car is 0.00000035. Five times more likely in a forward facing seat is 0.00000175.
Oh come now. You can't post stats like that ^^^ without a source.
*IF* I ever have a head on accident and I sincerely hope I won't, it will almost certainly be the fault of the other driver, who's had a heart attack on a 60mph stretch of road / crossed the motorway upside down due to buying remoulds / pushed his luck on a 'B' road. Why? Because I'm a tight auld Scotsman who drives as if he was on an invisible bike but still holds his head up in a confident manner.
It's not inevitable but *IF* it happens, my wee boy will be five ****ing times more likely to live. In a head on crash.
Those ^^^ numbers are a nonsense. Either it'll happen, or it won't. That's 50 / 50. My child is in a rear facing seat, like it or no.
User removed interesting to learn I have a 50/50 chance of being killed in a meteor strike today. On those odds I think I will stay in bed.
Thanks DD. Looks like our familyfix's will be appearing in the classifieds soon!
Really? Tbh, I've done a bit of reading up since this thread appeared and decided that the probabilities have so many zeros after the decimal place as to be meaningless in the real world. So, I'm sticking to the option with which we were perfectly happy a little more than a year ago. I'm still not convinced that Maxi-Cosi couldn't have designed a rearward facing seat for the existing base - but they're saying they couldn't and I have to take their word for it.
Existing i-Size stuff seems to be saying that rearward facing is better up to 15 months. Our wee fella is 13 months and is a small baby anyway so I reckon we'll get another month-ish out of the Pebble. In which case, his neck should be strong enough to go into the forward facing Pearl when the time comes.
Friends of ours had a flipping enormous baby who had to go into a bigger seat somewhere between 8 and 9 months 😯 - so I'm glad I'm not in their position - difficult choice.
Where has this statistic come from anyway? (serious question) Generally, statistics like that whiff a bit of "Tell mummy and daddy their baby will be five times safer and they'll spend anything to get themselves a new system."5 times safer
Why? Because I'm a tight auld Scotsman who drives as if he was on an invisible bike but still holds his head up in a confident manner.
Tbh, sounds like it's more likely someone will drive up your arse. 🙂
User removed interesting to learn I have a 50/50 chance of being killed in a meteor strike today. On those odds I think I will stay in bed.
Ahh, but there is also a 50/50 chance you'll win the lottery today so it might be worth the risk
User removed interesting to learn I have a 50/50 chance of being killed in a meteor strike today. On those odds I think I will stay in bed.
If you stay in bed, there's a 50/50 chance you'll be abducted by aliens who happen to be morbidly interested in the human lower digestive tract.
Decisions, decisions.
The problem is if they drive up his arsenic the child is 5x more likely to be injured the good thing is that the chances of that accident are slim the chances of that accident with sufficient speed are slimmer the chances of that accident with sufficient speed causing an injury to his child are really really slim.
You can get the most dramatic risk changes on the margins. My school had a 300% increase in cannabis miss use. Clearly something drastic needed to be done. It had 500 pupils in year one Joe was found behind the bike sheds smoking a spliff in year 2 Joe and his three mates were found sharing a spliff. Not such a dramatic problem after all.
Crankboy, it s true what you say but convincing Mrs Eye is a different kettle of fish, to her it doesn't matter how small the percentages are, it's safer so it's better.
She should stay at home (you know, the place full of gas pipes, electricity and choking hazards).
My school had a 300% increase in cannabis miss use. Clearly something drastic needed to be done. It had 500 pupils in year one Joe was found behind the bike sheds smoking a spliff in year 2 Joe and his three mates were found sharing a spliff. Not such a dramatic problem after all.
Result! You quite possibly had a per-capita reduction in consumption through the sharing of spliffs! More headline grabbing stats to testify to the effectiveness of your school's anti-drugs programme. 😉
to her it doesn't matter how small the percentages are, it's safer so it's better.
Simply wear your helmet and any body armour you have to bed. When she asks why point out that you are now safer so therefore it is better. 😀
Seriously though - it's up to everyone to do what they think is best for their kids. At the end of the day I didn't think the increased risk was significant enough to justify the discomfort/inconvenience etc. Other will call it the other way. That's fine too.
Simply wear your helmet and any body armour you have to bed. When she asks why point out that you are now safer so therefore it is better.
I do! only when it's Business Time.
Better safe than sorry eh?
If you really wanted to slash the risk of your kid being killed in a car crash you wouldn't drive them anywhere. It's by far the most effective solution.
It's by far the most effective solution.
Except you are more likely to be killed as a pedestrian!
Then don't walk anywhere either.