Hi folks, 

 

We are looking at getting a vrs octavia and I wondered if anyone could recommend any baby seats for the impending arrival? What are you parents using?

My daughter is now 2 but when she was first born we used the Maxi Cosy Pebble with an Isofix Base. No problem with fitting it in the VRS.

My daughter is now 2 but when she was first born we used the Maxi Cosy Pebble with an Isofix Base. No problem with fitting it in the VRS.

Ditto. My daughter is 3 months old and we have the same model. I haven't got the Isofix base, but strapping in is no problem. We purchased ours from John Lewis, who were really helpful and allowed us to check the fit in the car. My wife's car is a Panda, so we wanted to check before we purchased.

when my son was a new born i used the concord Air.Safe + the ISOfix base..

Now that he is 14months old he is using the Britax - Romer Dual Fix and he is loving, but this seat can be used since born.
the seat has 360º of rotation, so you can choose in which way (front facing or rear facing) he/she will travel according to childs weight/age.

it can be rotated towards the door for get in/get out convenience.

Edited 8 June, 201610 yr by SpikiE

I've got the Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus seat and the Two Way Fix base

 

Base

Seat

 

It's easy to fit as the seat clicks into the base and it beeps + lights-up to let you know it's located properly. The downside is that you can't comfortably fit two adults into the back of the car but I imagine that's the same for any most cars this size.

Also, when you're looking at car seats and if you haven't yet bought a pram, check whether there are adapters to make the pram and car seat clip together.

 

We've got a SilverCross Surf2 and can drop the car seat onto the pram base which is great if you don't want to wake the baby while out on shorter trips. (We were told that babies should only be in a car seat for ~2hrs max before taking them out for a stretch.)

9 month old girl here, tucked safely into a Joie isafe isofix.  Very similar to the pebble 2 but got it when mothercare had an offer on and basically got the follow on seat for free, hence the Joie.  Been very pleased with it.  LO will be moving on to the follow on seat soon

Britax dual fix big but really useful, we love it and have one in both our cars. rear and front facing, 360 deg swivel and means it's so much easier and less back braking to get them out either side especially if forced to park in tight spot, not cheap tho!

Edited 8 June, 201610 yr by skyjawa

Maxi cosi pebble plus with isize on a 2 way base as we intend to get the Pearl as our next size up.

I have to question why anyone wouldn't get an iso fix base for their seat, you can easily make errors when strapping a seat in - too tight, too loose, strap in wrong place etc the base is just clip in and listen for the beep - job done.

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Maxi cosi pebbel and isofix base here too. With adaptors to fit the pram (travel system as they call them).

Made sure iCandy did the adaptors to fit the seat as there are occassions where this is so much easier than the full pram setup.

I echo why wouldnt you choose isofix if you have the system in your car.

Cheers guys, useful info!

I used the following:

1. Group I - Jane Strada. Good, safe but heavy.

2. Group II - Romer / Römer / Britax Safefix. Deemed the best thing on the market. Expensive like hell...and completely rubbish if you ask me.

    - seat buckle despite proper closing (and a click) OPENED itself few times!!! We have to now check it twice every time. It's built also in a way that it can easily trap pieces of clothing.

    - weight - almost impossible to move

    - isofix release buttons are easy to press by accident and within the child reach (other kid / and seat's passenger before strapping in) - kid has released the seat 3 times already !!! And there is no warrning - you have to  be very careful.

    - last but not least: construction is not easy to clean (even for mechanical engineer). Disassembly is very difficult with enormous amount of tiny places where dirt is being trapped. Absolute horror if your kid pukes. Just look at the strap/belt protectors what were they thinking putting all those holes there? The frame and upholstery is even worse...

For us Romer / Römer / Britax Safefix and similar are SIMPLY DANGEROUS and full of other flaws that are way beyond acceptance level. We have personally blacklisted them. I strongly advise against buying it.

3. Group III - Recaro Monza Nova Isofix 2 - almost perfect. Suffice to say we are buying same for the other kid

Edited 9 June, 201610 yr by wlange

We had a graco one with the iOS fix base, however at one point we had 2 of them and no issues with space

it's going back a bit, but we had a Jané system that included a pram top / carrycot which could be strapped into the car across 2 seats, meaning the baby could lie flat, safe, for as long as we wanted without the restriction of "no more than 90 minutes in a car seat ruining their spine"

it also connected to the buggy frame, as did the Strata car seat - for which we bought an isofix base.

 

http://www.samueljohnston.com/en/Carrycots-for-Cars/c-72.aspx shows the newest version "transporter" 

Edited 9 June, 201610 yr by Wet Kipper

it's going back a bit, but we had a Jané system that included a pram top / carrycot which could be strapped into the car across 2 seats, meaning the baby could lie flat, safe, for as long as we wanted without the restriction of "no more than 90 minutes in a car seat ruining their spine"

it also connected to the buggy frame, as did the Strata car seat - for which we bought an isofix base.

 

http://www.samueljohnston.com/en/Carrycots-for-Cars/c-72.aspx shows the newest version "transporter" 

 

I used the same thing (Capazo from Jane Slalom), good product although the clips had rather flimsy locks and it was easy to accidentally disengage them.

Altogether we were very happy with entire set from Jane (including both car-enabled elements). Survived mayhem from 2 hyperactive boys with only minor damages and maintenance ;P

Skoda (Octavia & Superb both) was the only car I had that could properly accommodate that huge stroller though - Peugeot 508 was again loosing the game .

ours was a Jane Nomad - so the version before the Slalom, but it was a Capazo carrycot.

in terms of the stroller "chassis" - we got it to fit in the boot of a Mk1 Fabia vRS, but you had to pop the larger rear wheels off first.

If you have only one car and don't plan on moving the seat out of the car then the Nula car seat is a good option. It's ISO fix however the whole thing is one unit and does not come out to fit on a pram base. The benefit is that it's a good chunky, safe car seat that swivels 360 on the base so that you don't have to lean in to the car to take baby out you just turn it so it faces the door and lift out baby. Great if you have back problems.

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We had a BeSafe Izi Go Isofix that has been good for the first year for each of ours. 

 

Eldest daughter moved into a Besafe Combi Isofix which is rear facing up to 4 years but is massive, and braces itself by pushing something into the back seat, which has now left what appears to be a permanent dent.   We also had issues with particularly my wife not being able to tighten the straps enough and then one got twisted and I couldn't get it back despite trying repeatedly. 

 

So now they're both in a Kiddi Guardianfix Pro 2. It has a bumper bar across the children that's held in by the seatbelt and is way easier to make sure they're in safely. Children seem very happy in it too and it's pretty light so easy to move between the cars. It also takes them right up to 12 years old. I'd definitely recommend it for when they're big enough.

Maxi cosi pebble isofix for both of ours, then the Rodi. Different isofix bases but very hard wearing and as they're isofix they stay put when cornering, unlike the seatbelt versions we tried.

Does anyone have any experience with Joie every stage seat? I have been given one by Mothercare to test and review, then I get to keep it. It goes from birth to 12yrs apparently but it's not ISO fix. Opinions welcome and appreciated.

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We never went the iso fix route due to having seen the sheer penetration on some of the side impact videos. However, we did spec. the rear side airbags as well, each to their own but with the driver having 4 airbags I didn't wanna walk away from a crash my kid couldn't

Edited 9 June, 201610 yr by themanwithnoaim

I consider IsoFix a worthy improvement but to be honest not a stand-alone solution. In particular I do not like the smallest seats with base - 2 connections instead of one mean more things can go wrong.

The Group I - Jane seat, we installed with belts only. No IsoFix option in our case whatsoever; but it was fixed rock-hard to the car, way more stable than any IsoFix we had and most likely any complicated setup with additional base.

The Group II - knowing the performance of other parts in the Romer / Britax seat I have used belt fixing facilities in parallel with isofix.

The Group III - Recaro - in this group you use seatbelts anyway, but I ordered both seats with IsoFix, just to provide extra stability/easier maintainability (whole thing stays nicely in place while Little Thing climbs up to it) and maybe some more protection in case of side impact.

 

In case of front impact for Group III I would prefer that kid doesn't get subjected to extra forces coming from seat inertia (dynamic reaction born from seat mass); i.e. seat stays and seat belts carry weight of the kid rather than making kid a piece of ham between floating seat and belts. In case of side impact, the isofix may potentially keep the seat oriented properly, thus making good use of thick side absorbers it is furnished with.

 

I short - imo it's better to have IsoFix but considering it only a supplement and not trusting it for 100%.

Edited 9 June, 201610 yr by wlange

Started off with a Maxi Cosi Pebble, mainly because it came as part of a seat/buggy/cost/base package. Daughter out grew it before 18 months.

 

Moved onto a Britax Dual Fix, well made and comfortable seat but heavy and cumbersome. Side loading very useful, rear facing only lasted until she was 2 (they recommend keeping children rear facing to 4 years old). Still the current seat in the missus' car.

 

Besafe izi combi x3 isofx in my car, it would have done from birth. Just turned round to front facing, daughter will be 3 in a couple of months.

 

I highly recommend this place, they gave lots of great advice and we ended up buying the Besafe seat from them,

http://www.securatot.co.uk/

Edited 9 June, 201610 yr by waaar

Check it in the car before buying. I recently could not get a Britax seat to stay securely belted in (our other Britax is fine) when first put in it seemed tight but within 2-3 minutes of my son being in the seat it was loose, not a 2-3 minutes drive back to the house that I enjoyed having retightened the seat, it was loose again by the time I got home. The seat shape seems to have been the issue. It was a pain having to send it back. It was replaced with an Isofix seat, that's fine. 

We had a pebble with ISOFIX in one car and strap in the other. I actually felt the base felt more secure with he strap.

The contours of the Superb rear seats meant you couldn't quite get it home all the way. With the belt you could adjust the amount of tension with more precision.

We purchased our belt base second hand and sold it on for the same amount. Also it was much cheaper new too.

We now have the kids in Kiddicare or Joie backed booster seat things. Son still uses the belts on the seat. Can get that seat in and tightened down so that it won't budge using the seatbelt.

Tldr; as long as you use a belted solution properly and can really torque it up they are just as good as ISOFIX (imo)