Well the once new born is now a rather big for her age 6 month old and I will need to be upgrading the rearward facing car seat to a forward facing one.

As the Octy has Isofix anchor points I am looking at whats on offer.

Does anyone here have any experience of any isofix seat and any good features they recommend or bad design that mean if they were to buy another one it would alter their decision?

I like the look of the Recaro with black fabric and silver mesh which would go with the Vrs but is a little pricey at

Check out Which Online. They have comprehensive reviews of most of the car seats and I used their free 30 day trial to pick the seat for our newborn

Chris

ISOFIX seats are thin on the ground because as far as i know there still isn't an agreed standard for the location of the fixings. That's why car manufacturers do their own child seats but IMO these are often rubbish.

We went for a Chicco car seat and have been really pleased with it. Well put together and comfy linings but it is quite big. It's not ISOFIX though. Just uses the seat belt to anchor it in but this method is very effective anyway. Cost about £90.

Can I recommend you go to Mothercare? They sell ISOFIX seats, to cover all ages and sizes. They are also well trained, and will check that the seat is right for your car.

ISOFIX is far safer than a belt mounting: even the best fitting belt-mounted seat can sometimes twist out of position in an accident. The latest ISOFIX seats use a leg that props against the car floor, so rotation of the seat is impossible, and the seat shouldn't twist either because the ISOFIX mountings are rigid, and square to the seat.

The ISOFIX seats available from Mothercare (Britax: there aren't many designs around at the moment!) fits the Fabia vRS. It's worth getting each seat checked with your car, though.

Manufacturers don't actually make their own ISOFIX seats for their cars: some sell the Britax seat as an 'official' seat, but Mothercare is cheaper anyway.

One other important issue: don't forget that there is a recommendation that babies don't spend more than 2 or 3 hours at a time in a child seat: they should lay flat when out of the car, so all-in-one systems aren't ideal. It's better to keep the child seat and pram separate.

One other important issue: don't change to a forward-facing seat until the child can sit up and support its head without help.

More advice here:

http://www.mothercare.com/stry/makingasafechoice&layout=mainlayout

Skodas own were flippin expensive.We decided not to bother with theirs

Bought our first ones from Mothercare.Will be back to check out their isofix jobs in a few months

Bought our first ones from Mothercare.Will be back to check out their isofix jobs in a few months

Let us know what you opt for

Chris

Mothercare's range for Isofix seemed fairly limited. Most of them seem to have a base which is isofix and the seat clips on, but not sure if that's the duo-isofix so they can be used using the seat belt.

it seems that the stylish ones are expensive but the cheap ones are bulky and ugly, i'm sure it's more than looks and thematerials are better as well.

Jane sell an isofix seat :

http://www.babybabyshop.co.uk/item--Jane-Indy-Plus-Car-Seat-ISOFIX-Navy-Premier--bodyguard_deluxe_carseats

but it says from 9 Months ... but if you baby is large for her age it might be ok ... as usual check with an expert.

Has anyone got experience of this seat or any other Jane car seat, as i've no knowledge of their product or reputation?

http://www.babybabyshop.co.uk/item--Jane-Indy-Plus-Car-Seat-ISOFIX-Gris-Premier--jane_carseat_12

Also not sure if this seat has a seperate isofix base and if it can be used using the seat belt if other members of the family take her for the day and their car doesn't have isofix.

Janes home page is http://www.jane.es/

We're expecting twins and have just purchased the powertwin pushchair that they make.

The company appears to be well thought of on the baby forums as far as I can tell

Go to this page and then click on the FAQ section at the bottom ... loads of interesting info including :

The Indy Plus is not actually an ISOFIX seat, it just uses the fixing points to increase stability.

The Indy Plus can be used in a car without the ISOFIX fixings

The Britax ISOFIX seats can also be used with a seatbelt, in cars where no ISOFIX mountings are supplied.

I'd be a little hesitant about buying a child seat online: it's a very good idea to check that it fits your car properly before you buy, and shops tend to have 'experts' to check this. Some councils also offer this service.

All seats come with padded linings but our Chicco seat is also covered in a soft foam/rubber type material like they use on steering wheels. We went for this seat as we reckoned it would provide better protection for the baby if he should bump his head. Most other seats just seem to be manufactured of hard plastic