Cali compatible baby seats (Group 0+)

[Ricotansky]

Hi,

I'm after a bit of advice from people who might have already solved this problem. (I did do a search but could only find stuff about seats for bigger children).

We have a baby due in November and I am currently navigating the minefield that is baby seats. I was hoping to find something that can be used in our California SE and also in a MK7 VW Golf.

Both have ISOFIX so does anyone know if we can get away with just getting an infant carrier and swapping between the car and van?

Do we also need to get a car seat base for it to work on the back seat of the van? I was hoping to avoid getting a base as we won't really benefit that much from being able to attach the car seat to the buggy easily. Is there another reason for getting one?

Also interested if anyone has any particular seats (for a newborn) that they love, or hate!

Apologies for the ramble, that is probably enough questions for now...

Thanks

Rico

 

[tuono001]

We just used our maxi cosi car seat and just swapped the base between car and van. The isofix in the van is a right pain to get to. When they were older (12months plus) we had/have a britax seat which swivelled and reclined, it was very comfy for the kids and hopefully when No3 gets into it. It's bulky but then it's for their safety. All stuck in a pop up tent when at a site.
If you use both vehicles regularly then ebay for a second base is good. I bought a base, for the maxi, for £20 recently.
Hope this helps you a little.

 

[Ricotansky]

Thanks for the reply, I'll take a look at the maxicosi.

I still don't get why you need the bases though! Can the seat not be fitted to the car without one?

Not sure about buying second hand, my inner worrier would probably go into overdrive!

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[tuono001]

The base makes fitting and removing the car seat so easy. Fitting with just the seatbelt is a right old pain, you'll soon be wanting a base. Plus the base holds the seat better in place as the whole thing is connected to the isofix.
Depending on the seat/pram setup i think some just fit from base to pram straight off. Our pram has two adapters for the car seat and they seconds to fit.
Tip, if you haven't bought the car seat yet, get a test fit first in the car. This will give you an idea on legroom in you front seats, some of the new seats are quite big.

 

[Rich20]

We bought the Maxi Cosi Pebble and Pearl outfit. It uses Isofix which is brilliant. Very easy to fit and transfer between cars. The Pebble fitted on the Maxi Cosi pushchair frame as well. The Pearl is in use now and is good for quite a few years. It reclines, faces front and rear. Great quality, expensive but well worth it. I would not by second hand ( I am sure I read that car seats are on the banned list at car boot sales) as you do not know how they have been treated. I wanted to have piece of mind that if such an event occurred, it would not fail.

 

[Lewis]

Agreed. Definitely head to John Lewis for a car seat fitting (I found them more willing to give us a long period of time than Mothercare).

The base is essential imho. For convenience and for safety. As above, you'll soon get sick of strapping in and out a baby carrier.

I'd recommend the Maxi Cosi iSize 2 Way Fix base for your main vehicle. It's pricey but will work all the way up to 4ish years and allows rear facing to that time too (child size depending). After your Maxi Cosi Cabriofix baby carrier you switch up to the 2 Way Pearl seat and both work in that base.

I think it's a good recommendation to get a cheaper second base if you can. I'd just recommend, if buying second hand, to look at local kids pages or 'mum's groups' on Facebook as you have a better idea of where it's coming from and if you go for an established user you know you can trust them and that the base hasn't been abused or been in an accident.

 

[Ricotansky]

Great, thanks for all the advice, it really helps. Looks like a base is the way to go, I didn't realise you can still use it after the first year, that makes the cost a little less painful!

Seems like we need to take a trip to see which one fits in the car!

 

[Amarillo]

We went the MaxiCosi base and seat route. The base did the pebble then pearl with the family fix base. I wouldn't worry about buying a second hand base, faults can be identified. The seats are made of polystyrene and hairline fractures cannot be seen, so be wary of second hand seats.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Rich20]

Also handy are the Isofix guides which help a lot when locating the arms of the base into the fixings. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172884381224 for example.

 

[Ricotansky]

Just thought I'd post an update, we went for the Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus and the 2waybase after much deliberation, and it fits.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone who contributed!

Cheers

Rico

 

[tuono001]

Looks good, I would suggest using the seat nearest the door so you don't have to keep climbing in and out.

 

[Ricotansky]

Good idea, but then how does the baby reach the fridge to pass me a beer?

 

[sapto]

Just thought I'd post an update, we went for the Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus and the 2waybase after much deliberation, and it fits.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone who contributed!

Cheers

Rico

Looks great! How easy is it to access the 2bench - drawer if the Pebble is "fixed" in?

 

[Ricotansky]

Hmm I didn't think to try that! It will open as far as the leg on the base I'd have thought. There should be enough access for a rummage in the drawer!

It won't open fully though, but we only use that drawer when in camping mode, so the car seat will be somewhere else at that point (not sure where that will be, but one problem at a time!).

 

[RodCouncil]

We use BeSafe in Sweden but they are sold in the UK, I did a comparison with Maxicosi and Britttax in the butik, the BeSafe just feelt solid and most Swedes seem to go for these which is not a bad yardstick.

The same base is used for the big seat that comes next so a nice expense saved and the alarm is quite useful to ensure it's mounted properly, so far it's been super easy to use and even the isofix base wasn't too much of a struggle, They do adapters for all prams too, so very vesatile and have a million and one very useful acessorries, they are bit more up market though so not cheap.

One drawback is the leg doesn't allow for the drawer to open much so not ideal in the camping mode, but it's not that difficult to remove and put on the front seat, or for camping use the seat without base.

 

[sapto]

So today was the day: Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus fixed with (only) the seat belt: tight! No rattle! Great! First run from hospital to home went well! Look forward to further trips!

 

[Ricotansky]

So today was the day: Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus fixed with (only) the seat belt: tight! No rattle! Great! First run from hospital to home went well! Look forward to further trips!

Congratulations! We are 5 months in now, it gets easier!

 

[sapto]

Congratulations! We are 5 months in now, it gets easier!

You got this station solution: IMO the best way to fix these seats. Unfortunately our Cali is too old for ISOFIX. However at the moment it‘s okay and I already start looking for an afterward solution (like the Britax Römer Max King).

 

[sapto]

Our Maxi Cosi Pebble plus in combination with our Joolz Geo (adapter needed): pefect for short shopping trips (under an hour).

 

[LisaLaserVanLife]

@Ricotansky may I ask which model you drive? We have the T5.1 Beach from 2012 and I struggle to locate the Isofix points.

We are expecting our first child and I'm looking to use a Maxi Cosi Familyfix3 base, but we have 0 experience in installing it!