Toddler car seat that works with / without isofix

Hi all – the baby has made it to 1, so we need a bigger car seat. The wifes car has isofix, but our camper and my car doesn’t. Seems to be quite hard to work out if a given seat supports seat belt installation or not – some seem to once the kid gets older, but not when they’re under 15kg.

Ideally we don’t want to buy two seats… any suggestions / recommendations. The ideal would be a rotating one, but they seem to be isofix only.

Also – a lot seem to need a top tether anchor point – my wifes car doesn’t seem to have this (despite having isofix – 2010 focus).

Tbh I’d get 2 seats.

I’m sure they all have it, but Maxi-Cosi has a compatibility checker on it’s website which is quite handy
https://www.maxi-cosi.co.uk/c/car-seat-advisory-tool#/

Hmmm, both of our cars appear to be too sh** to appear in maxi cosis compatability checker!

I spent ages going round in circles looking at car seats recently

Wife’s car has isofix so wanted to use that, but loads required a top tether and on her car the anchor point is just under the tail gate, so you’d have a webbing strap across the boot and need to leave the parcel shelf out (so we’re never going to go for one with a top tether)

In the end I bought a Graco Avolve, it uses isofix and the seatbelt at the same time
It can be used without isofix though, so the isofix is only really there as a secondary attachment

Thought about rotating one, but most were group 0 upwards I think, and I wanted one that started at group 1

If both cars were isofix fair enough to swapping.

Like you we have 1 iso and 1 not. So bought two non isofix seats and left them in respective cars perminantly.

Ended up with an axkid mini kid and some maxicosi piece of crap in my car.

Tbh I’d get 2 seats.

If you can afford it there is no point economising on safety. And the faff of moving a seat between cars is a royal PITA. Isofix for your wife’s car, non iso for yours.
Used Recaro isofix and maxicosi non-iso in our two cars

Just to add to my earlier post

I bought a cheap Halfords seat for my car as he’s unlikely to go in it that often if ever (but it’s good to have one just for emergencies)

My in-laws bought a Joie spin 360 for their car, which is nice and isofix without tether, but I don’t think you can fit it belt only

I’d echo the above and go for 2 seats, one in each vehicle, appropriate for the vehicle type.

Isofix seats have large amounts of metal & plastic structure in them for the isofix mechanism, all of which needs to be retained by the seatbelt if being used “belt-fit” only.  Thus in an accident the belt is restraining the mass of both the child and the seat itself.  Not a problem for the belt, but does this additional load get transferred through the child in the case of an accident (thinking high-backed boosters in frontal collision).

Having used (and still use) both belt and isofix seats, once in the car there is little real difference in function in the toddler seat category, nor much difference in convenience in removing/moving around.

I’d be looking at some of the Joie range of seats.

Note that some establishments advise that rear-facing is the best option upto 4 years old now.  Not legal requirement, but worth considering. Some belt-fit Joie seats can be fitted forward or rear facing for a large percentage of their weight/size range.

Car seats are a nightmare to choose, and with the collapse of Mothercare its really hard to find somewhere to trust to get in-person advice from.

The in car safety centre had a good reputation when I was looking a few years ago.  They were only in Milton Keynes at the time, but appear to have expanded.  https://incarsafetycentre.co.uk/

Havin 3 kids made my situation even more challenging!  Just trying to get them to fit, even in a 7 seat MPV!

Good luck,

Keith

oh, and seatbelt routing is colour coded – red areas for forward facing, blue areas for rearward facing.

And remember that seats with support legs (as are all others) are tested on a crash-test rig with a 6″ thick solid steel floor….  No car has a floor to that spec so I’ve always been sceptical of statements around how much safer that type are – what if the leg were to punch through the car’s floor in an accident?  Cars should be designed with a strengthened & testes area of floor for every seat designed to take a child-seat.

After many years of child-seats. I’d now personally go for belt-fit without a support leg every time from toddler up.  Maybe have an isofix base for a baby seat.

Cheers,

Keith

EDIT: and check any car headrests are removable or do not interfere with the position of the seat too….

It’s a minefield, I tell you.  Get 2 seats for your own sanity if nothing else!

Ugh thanks everyone. Two seats is a PITA. Most of the time it stays in one car and only rarely goes in my mondeo. Means I’ll have to find somewhere to stash it as most of the time the mondeo is in tip run / seats down / bike carrying mode. Annoying.

If you’re anywhere near crystal palace I’ve got a seat that, as of yesterday, is surplus. The 18+ month old followed in the steps of his two sisters and turned into a ‘rear facing travel now induces exorcist style vomit’. So he is now forward facing, and to give room for his sister’s along side him he’s now in a non iso fit seat that can be shuffled over a few inches.

The now surplus is a Joie i-anchor. The base does iso fix or seatbelt attach. (And the seat cover has just been washed too 😆 ) free if you want it.

I might be slightly off the mark but my understanding is the ISOFIX is no safer than belt fit *assuming* the seat has been fitted correctly. ISOFIX’s big benefit is that it is harder to fit poorly.

So in your situation I’d personally get a decent belt-fit seat.

We have three kids in car seats, two ISOFIX, one belt fit as that’s what’s in the car. Whenever we need to move seats about (every so often) the belt fit seat is easier to move between cars by a country mile.

what if the leg were to punch through the car’s floor in an accident?

The cars already **** then because the front seat that pushes up against the seat is missing to allow the child seat to rotate forward. – oh and the seat belt holding the seat in place has already failed.

The axkid Is considerably more solidly fitted despite a leg than any other child seat I’ve seen.

Would I buy it again….no. you need a monsterous car for it……

Get 2 seats. I know they say don’t buy 2nd hand but as long as it’s clean, newish and doesn’t have blood n hair in on it seems like a lesser risk than swapping seats about.

The amount of landfill kids seats generate is unreal. Most of ours have been used but you find lots of grandparents selling or giving them away as they buy them but hardly use them then grand kids grow up.

what if the leg were to punch through the car’s floor in an accident?

The cars already **** then because the front seat that pushes up against the seat is missing to allow the child seat to rotate forward. – oh and the seat belt holding the seat in place has already failed.

If the seat is isofix (so not held with a belt), it will rotate around the fixing, loading the leg into the floor.  Baby seats don’t rest on front seats for support, as they move forward in impact too.

It’s not that likely to happen in reality, but I bet none of the test data looks at car floor strength (other than to check there’s no underfloor storage, which most MPVs do have, but are the only type of car than can reliably take 3 child seats in second row…  Grrrrr).

I was more trying to highlight a potential issue with manufacturers claims of increased safety.  Having s seat that fits your child, your car and is properly installed is more important than brand or features I believe.

If the seat is isofix (so not held with a belt), it will rotate around the fixing, loading the leg into the floor. Baby seats don’t rest on front seats for support, as they move forward in impact too.

Have you looked at the axkid at all which I’m referring to as it’s what we have. It’s not isofix, anchored to the front seat and braced off of it , has a leg to the floor and passes the swedish plus test …which is higher speed and shorter brake distances than the regular ECE testing.

And the reason we had to buy one …….they can take more heavier kids than isofix seats.

Most cars won’t even take one of them in the back…never mind 3 ….. We don’t have a particularly small car but at 6 ft 4 I can’t sit Infront of Jnr.

Ah, no I’ve not looked at any seat in particular trail_rat, my comments were meant to be generic advice/considerations, not specific to any brand or model.

singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/toddler-car-seat-that-works-with-without-isofix/#post-12171545

Based on this, I’d go with a belt fit seat that’s compatible with both cars, given the occasional second car usage.

Hope it’s helped. And not made things worse!

Belt in seats by preference here. And I’d add a vote the those saying to get two seats! Find somewhere to store the other, having as many seats as cars (and drivers) has saved our bacon when the unexpected has happened.

Also worth remembering that car seats are one of the few things that get cheaper as the kids get older, so don’t fret too much about the cost, it gets easier!