child seat for my 2 year old?

[mrash]

ok, im new to this forum so be gentle with me!! I have a 1 series BMW, and am looking to get my wife a Mini, however, she is concerned about a child seat. Ideally we want an Isofix seat, but i dont want to pay £300 for one from Mini. My daughter is 2, so a seat that will last as long as possible would be ideal, preferably one that will convert to a booster seat at a later stage..we already have the quinny zap, so we know that fits in the boot

[Rakey]

first of all welcome to MINI2

Ok, now have a read of this, which will tell you all you need to know about buying a car seat

http://www.mini2.com/forum/minis-chi...e-parents.html

Right, the main points to remember are:

You must try the car seat before you buy it, every car is different, there are even variations in the same model/brand/make etc..

You must try it in both cars that it will be used in, I cannot stress this enough

Then the other thing to remember is that buying a car seat is all about the weight and height of the child, not the age, so you need to find out how heavy and tall the child is to determin which seats might be on your possible list

Ok a few things to look out for, yes Isofix is good, yes it is easier to fit, but you shouldn't dismiss the normal belt type fitting seats, as these are not too hard to fit and are just as safe if fitted correctly.

Things to look out for, is the seat tested to the new standard of R44.04? As this is the standard that is just coming in to replace R44.03, the main difference in the standard is that the new one tests for side impact collisions unlike the old standard

When choosing a retailer to buy from, make sure you feel that the person fitting and talking to you knows what they are talking about, that they are confident, if you have any doubts buy from somewhere else, even if it costs a bit more. As the seat and advice as important as each other, you must get the right advise and the right seat, as it could save your childs life.

Don't buy off the internet, and don't buy second hand or take a used seat from a friend.

One of my favourite seats on the market at the moment is the Maxi Cosi Tobi, but I think this is too small for your child, but as a rule I do prefer people to look at the major brands such as Maxi Cosi/Britax or the one that I work for Silver Cross

[mrash]

I have a britax at the moment, eclipse si, which is secured by the belt, which is fine to fit. Its just a bit bulky, and doesnt fit in the mini well at all. All of what you said is what i went through and did when i bought her 1st seat, and is common sense, but its good to see people re-iterate the importance of a child seat. The cost of the mini seat is ridiculous, i dont mind paying more for better quality etc, but that isnt the case with this seat.
The thing is, we have got the car, so cant go down to mothercare to try out the seats, and dont want to buy the car, unless we know we can get a safe seat for my daughter to sit in. There must be someone on this forum with a 2 year old, and a mini, and a car seat.. ...
Just out of interest, what do you do for Silver Cross?

[Rakey]

I work as part of the design team, developing new products, and ensuring that they meet our QC standards, and the legal standards

Have a look on the Britax website, there is a fit 'guide' on their site, that will give you an idea of what in their range 'should' fit in the MINI

[mrash]

i work with high speed cameras, so i do a bit within the automotive test industry, fhi g rigs and such like. Just wondered if you use them at your place?

[Rakey]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrash

i work with high speed cameras, so i do a bit within the automotive test industry, fhi g rigs and such like. Just wondered if you use them at your place?

No, we do our testing either in China for development work and car seat testing is done at TNO in Holland

[mrash]

we have cameras at TNO, i checked the mini website, they do a seat for £150!!! good option

[Abi]

We have a two year old soon to be three and have used the Maxi Cosi Priori XP from when he was about 10 months. It works well for us. We both have Mini's. He goes in the back of my One and in the front of my Husbands 'S' (with the airbag switched off). I was worried about fitting it initially, but it really is easy to swap between each car. Most importantly for us, its fits very snuggly.

I hope this helps.

Abi