Choosing a Group 1 car seat

A few months ago, as Minnie hit the 9kg mark, I started researching Group 1 car seats. After tying myself in knots about rear and forward-facing options, impact bars or harnesses, isofix and belted models, not to mention finding a great lightweight Group 1 car seat for travel, I realised 9kg was the minimum weight to move her into a bigger seat and thankfully put the decision off a bit longer.

Now, although she’s still not at the maximum weight, her head is getting perilously close to the top of her Group 0+ Maxi-Cosi Pebble and she’s been less and less happy about going into it. While I know she’s still safe, a constantly yelling baby who feels squished is unlikely to improve my driving.

So I set to work doing some research and choosing a Group 1 car seat from the ever increasing number of options out there.

Topping my list was the Kiddy Energy Pro, which uses an ‘impact shield’ bar rather than the traditional four or five point harness [EDIT: No longer available ].

While it looks weirdly unsafe, tests have shown it to be one of the safest options in a crash as it disperses the force more than a harness – putting less pressure on fragile necks and heads. As a bonus, it’s lightweight and uses a seatbelt if you don’t have (or want) an isofix base.

But because of the design, not all babies enjoy sitting in it – which takes us back to the ‘they’re safest, but you’re so distracted by screaming you’re about to hit another car’ problem.

So I headed out to Kiddicare to test one out in real life. I know I rave about Kiddicare (bear with me) but I really do think they’re great [EDIT: Alas now closed]. They’re also one of the few places, along with John Lewis, which stocked the Kiddy range, and they’ve got a car seat mock-up complete with seatbelt so we could try it out.

Unfortunately, while it’s suitable for babies over 9kg and nine months like Minnie, it instantly became apparently it wasn’t going to work. Without a booster seat, the impact shield slotted in fine but she was lost and uncomfortable at the bottom. With a mini booster seat, we couldn’t squeeze the bar in without squashing her.

As I had no Plan B, the lovely Dilip patiently talked us through the different options, giving so much the opposite of a hard sell that I wouldn’t have spent my money anywhere else.

Here’s some of what you need to consider:

• Do you have isofix? If so, will your existing base work with a new model as buying a new base boosts the price considerably.
• How easy is it to use the seatbelt to strap in the model?
• Does it have a rear-facing option – safer but it will limit your choices, and may not fit in all cars.
• Does the seat recline?
• Is it easy to get them in and out?
• Can they see out?
• What’s the safety rating – check Which? for a really intensive review.
• What’s the personal rating? Look online to see what people are saying and for any known problems, although bear in mind more people complain than rave about products.
• Is it easy to clean?
• Will it fit?

Kiddicare also does test fittings, especially helpful if you have a smallish car like I do – some seats are wider than the space in a smaller hatchback, for example so you could end up wasting a lot of money.

Another of our top picks, the Britax First Class, was on the shortlist for having the safer rear-facing option as well as forward-facing… but I came across reviews saying it only fits forwards in some small cars.

Which all brought me to the Maxi-Cosi Axiss. Its clever mechanism means you can rotate the seat round 90 degrees to face the open door – much easier if you’re wrestling a wriggling toddler, and ideal to avoid straining your back (or avoid straining it further) as you needn’t twist and manoeuvre simultaneously.

It also reclines, has a special lever to tighten the belt and a green button pops up to tell you it’s fitted correctly – my main worry about using a non-isofix model.

It’s not a lightweight option, so I doubt I’d take it on my travels, but I’m not convinced many Group 1 seats are particularly good for that – finding a lightweight Group 1 car seat that also ranks well for safety seemed impossible, certainly to get something genuinely lightweight enough to take on a plane but still score well enough to use every day.

And while it’s not the cheapest, in the end, it cost me… nothing. It turns out some friends no longer needed their Maxi-Cosi Axiss and were happy to pass it on. I wouldn’t normally recommend buying car seats second-hand, especially not on eBay or Gumtree for example, as you don’t know if they could have been damaged.

But while our friends’ one might have a bit of wear and tear and the odd stray crumb (which Minnie has quickly added to) it’s otherwise perfect.

Inevitably, having made our decision, the rules are changing and babies around Minnie’s age are likely to be most affected although the new laws won’t apply instantly.

Happily Which? has the details of what the law in the UK is when it comes to car seats.

 

Image courtesy of Depositphotos