Car seat dilemma

worlds goodest teecher

We are trying to decide on a new car seat for our 17 month old. We are down to the Maxi Cosi 2 Way Pearl and the Cybex Serona. Can anyone recommend either of these or let us know why we shouldn't go with either of them?

We want to keep our petite child rearward facing as long as possible.

We like the cybex but don't like the bulky forward facing harness which we may require if leg room becomes a problem.

Any advice is appreciated.

8vjohn

Feel your pain! Did a lot of research on this lately as wanted to keep rearward facing too. Settled on a joie spin 360 for my little man. I did consider the cybex too at one point but just couldn't see where the extra money went.

Edit: don't forget you have to buy a separate Base for the maxi cosi!

Anne_cordelia

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

We are trying to decide on a new car seat for our 17 month old. We are down to the Maxi Cosi 2 Way Pearl and the Cybex Serona. Can anyone recommend either of these or let us know why we shouldn't go with either of them?

We want to keep our petite child rearward facing as long as possible.

We like the cybex but don't like the bulky forward facing harness which we may require if leg room becomes a problem.

Any advice is appreciated.

We discounted the Sirona for that same reason. The impact shield for forward facing is awful. Have you looked at the Axxid Minikid? Rear facing to 25kg and Swedish Plus tested so one of the safest seats on the market.

worlds goodest teecher

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

We discounted the Sirona for that same reason. The impact shield for forward facing is awful. Have you looked at the Axxid Minikid? Rear facing to 25kg and Swedish Plus tested so one of the safest seats on the market.

We have a few Mothercare vouchers after the Christmas so we were only considering the seats that they have, but thanks for the advice.

Anne_cordelia

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

We have a few Mothercare vouchers after the Christmas so we were only considering the seats that they have, but thanks for the advice.

Ah ok. I just looked at Mothercare to see their selection. Personally I am only going for a Swedish Plus tested seat but Mothercare don't have any. The dualfix is a good seat too though. Do you know if they are all compatible with your car? The best thing to do is try them in your car with your child and see which works best with car/child combo.

Reviews
http://www.madeformums.com/reviews/car-seats/car-seats-from-birth/cybex-sirona-car-seat/1771.html

http://www.madeformums.com/reviews/car-seats/car-seats-from-9-months/maxi-cosi-2-way-family-pearl/1604.html

http://www.madeformums.com/reviews/car-seats/car-seats-from-birth/britax-dualfix/1594.html

worlds goodest teecher

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

Ah ok. I just looked at Mothercare to see their selection. Personally I am only going for a Swedish Plus tested seat but Mothercare don't have any. The dualfix is a good seat too though. Do you know if they are all compatible with your car? The best thing to do is try them in your car with your child and see which works best with car/child combo.

Reviews
http://www.madeformums.com/reviews/car-seats/car-seats-from-birth/cybex-sirona-car-seat/1771.html

http://www.madeformums.com/reviews/car-seats/car-seats-from-9-months/maxi-cosi-2-way-family-pearl/1604.html

http://www.madeformums.com/reviews/car-seats/car-seats-from-birth/britax-dualfix/1594.html

Thanks for the info.

Baby_Bear

There's a very good and informative group on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/456353881062172/
Some very knowledgeable people on there who will help you.

jonnybravo

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

We are trying to decide on a new car seat for our 17 month old. We are down to the Maxi Cosi 2 Way Pearl and the Cybex Serona. Can anyone recommend either of these or let us know why we shouldn't go with either of them?

We want to keep our petite child rearward facing as long as possible.

We like the cybex but don't like the bulky forward facing harness which we may require if leg room becomes a problem.

Any advice is appreciated.

We discounted the Cybex Serona for the same reason. Think we're going to go for the Besafe izi modular combi but it's so hard to know which is best.

bored_newbie

If you could find a store that sells either, it's a good idea to see how it is in your car.
I had an isofix base for the baby car seat and decided to replace it with a seat that uses the seatbelt.
I had to return it today because it just didn't suit my car.  The incline of my back seats meant that when the car seat was facing rearward, the seat was too upright. I hope it was just that car seat or else I'll have to go back to isofix.

worlds goodest teecher

Went with the Cybex in the end. When we were having the car seat fitted we were informed that our Ford C Max requires filler pieces in the underfloor storage space behind the front seats, otherwise the seat would not function as designed and the child safety would be compromised in the event of a head on crash. This is the same for all car seats with a supporting leg as the leg provides resistance. Didn't realise we had underfloor storage in the car to be honest. Scary to think that if we had fitted the car seat ourselves our children's safety might have been at greater risk in the event of a head on crash.

Called two different Ford dealers in relation to purchasing the filler pieces, neither had ever heard of them. Had to contact Ford directly. Begs the question, how many parents are driving cars with underfloor storage spaces and isofix seats, unaware of the potential risk?

seamus

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Called two different Ford dealers in relation to purchasing the filler pieces, neither had ever heard of them. Had to contact Ford directly. Begs the question, how many parents are driving cars with underfloor storage spaces and isofix seats, unaware of the potential risk?

We had a bloody nightmare with this. We had a Renault Scenic with underfloor storage and couldn't find a straight answer anywhere. Non-renault dealers told us we needed the filler piece, Renault dealers had never heard of it and maxi-cosi's documentation flat out said it wasn't suitable for the leg.

When we moved up from the maxi-cosi, we went with a Britax one with a leg and Britax expressly told us the car was fine because the lid of the storage was reinforced. But we still weren't 100% happy with it so traded the car in after a while for something without the storage.

Bloody useless storage space anyway, get practically nothing into it.

jlm29

seamus wrote: »

We had a bloody nightmare with this. We had a Renault Scenic with underfloor storage and couldn't find a straight answer anywhere. Non-renault dealers told us we needed the filler piece, Renault dealers had never heard of it and maxi-cosi's documentation flat out said it wasn't suitable for the leg.

When we moved up from the maxi-cosi, we went with a Britax one with a leg and Britax expressly told us the car was fine because the lid of the storage was reinforced. But we still weren't 100% happy with it so traded the car in after a while for something without the storage.

Bloody useless storage space anyway, get practically nothing into it.

I'm just starting to look at changing my car, and the underfloor storage is coming up with a few of them! What a dose! I have a minikid though, and the support leg is a bit longer, so I think it goes to the floor in some of them! I've just realised it'll be an issue with the maxi cosi though!

worlds goodest teecher

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Called two different Ford dealers in relation to purchasing the filler pieces, neither had ever heard of them. Had to contact Ford directly. Begs the question, how many parents are driving cars with underfloor storage spaces and isofix seats, unaware of the potential risk?

I have still not got this issue resolved. As I mentioned in a post above, I contacted Ford Ireland in Cork and explained the dilemma. I dealt with their CRC adviser. I explained the situation and sent him pictures of the space. He advised my local ford garage of the necessary parts to order. They were not the correct parts. He then advised them of the correct part. When I collected it it was the same piece of foam that was already there, the same piece that was in the picture that I sent him, the cost of this piece of foam is €80+. When I emailed him about this he totally washed his hands of the issue saying that unless I bought the car seat recommended by Ford (they seem to Britax or Recardo car seats) that they are unable to help me, he never even asked what type of car seat it was. Now I am back at square one with a very expensive piece of foam that I don't even need. Absolutely disgusted. Definitely won't be buying a Ford again.

January

Join the FB group Ireland Rear-Facing carseats for toddlers and children. You will get the advice you need on the specific piece of foam from there.

worlds goodest teecher

January wrote: »

Join the FB group Ireland Rear-Facing carseats for toddlers and children. You will get the advice you need on the specific piece of foam from there.

The RSA had been in my area earlier this week according to this page, a pity I didn't know.

January

Yeah, the check it fits service is amazing, the guys that do it are on that group.