Integrated child seats

[Amarillo]

I find myself very alarmed with safety of the California option, for both the Beach and the Ocean, of integrated child seat(s).

From the DfT website:
=================
Child’s weight Group
0kg to 10kg 0
0kg to 13kg 0+
9kg to 18kg 1
15kg to 25kg 2
22kg to 36kg 3
=================

The VW California's integrated seat (see image below) is rated as Group 2 with the side head rest and as Group 3 without the side head rest. I cannot comment on its effectiveness as a Group 3 child seat, but it is woeful, at best, as a group 2 seat.

My older son is 16.5 Kg, so well within the range for a Group 2 seat, yet having observed him closely fall asleep in this Group 2 seat I will no longer trust it to offer protection in the event of a crash, and have reverted to using a RodiFix seat.

Returning from Somerset yesterday I sat in the rear of our van on the three seat bench, with our two boys while Clare drove. Ben was diagonally opposite me, rearward facing on the swivelled integrated Group 2 child seat. As children on long journeys often do, Ben fell asleep. The belt and the side head rest failed to keep him in place and he slumped across the seat, head hanging well out of the seat on the window side, and feet well out of the seat on the other side. I really do not believe this should happen in a Group 2 seat, designed for small children over 15 Kg. It certainly couldn't happen in a RodiFix (see image below) which has a height adjustable head restraint and side restraints to stop the child's body falling out of the chair.

Both seats, as is normal with Group 2 seats, harness the child using the vehicle's seat belts, but I suppose a key difference between the two seats is that the integrated seat relies on the movable arm rests as side restraints, while the RodiFix uses fixed side pads.


Group 2 RodiFix above

Group 2 VW integrated child seat above

 

[DM]

We used to have an integrated child seat in our Volvo XC90. It was ok to be able to carry an additional child on an unplanned basis for short journeys but I would never have used it as a primary child seat.

 

[Borris]

We have the integrated swivels in our ex demo Beach. The van is used mainly as a people carrier for our family. There are normally five of us in the van including yours truely, Mrs B and three of our eight grand children.

So far after almost a years use the integrated seats remain unused. All three children have high back adjustable child booster seats fitted across the rear bench. The two outer use the Isofix and seat belts and the middle just the seat belt.

Unfortunately the two youngest (both fidgety, noisy little minxes) have always hated being strapped in and have in the past constantly wriggled out of their straps which are actually the vehicle seat belts. This causes grandpops to get very hot under the collar whilst I regularly stop to sort the little dears out. Therefore Nanny now uses one of the swivels, facing rearwards to act as ring master. I also bought some extra (approved) straps from Halfords that attach to the existing seat belt to create a sort of full harness. This appears to have done the trick.

As for the integrated child seats, they may get used occasionally for extra grand children passengers or their friends but not for regular use. I too think that your most precious need to be restrained properly. In an ideal world I would prefer to see all children strapped into full five point racing harnesses.

The other thing about these integrated child seats is that you cannot adjust them.
They are in effect a one size fits all solution until your child reaches the next child weight group. IMO they do have one advantage in that the child can travel facing rearwards which is much safer in a frontal impact.

 

[Amarillo]

At £162 more than the standard seats, integrated child seats are not a cheap option.

However, it has made one decision easy for us: when we depart on our grand tour of Europe at the beginning of June, the seats will remain in our garage. We may take one on the second part of our trip after we briefly return to the UK at the end of August so we can take two extra passengers from time to time in our van.

 

[Borris]

At £162 more than the standard seats, integrated child seats are not a cheap option.

However, it has made one decision easy for us: when we depart on our grand tour of Europe at the beginning of June, the seats will remain in our garage. We may take one on the second part of our trip after we briefly return to the UK at the end of August so we can take two extra passengers from time to time in our van.

Wise decision. The Beach is so much more usable as a camper with the swivels removed.