Isofix bases

[Mrs CW]

Hi all,
OH and I have brought a maxi-cosi car seat for LO and are now looking into isofix bases for the car and getting a bit confused! I was just wondering is it necessary to have a base that fits a car seat up until the age of 3 or will the base that just fits the newborn car seat be enough?
I know once LO gets big enough the car seat will remain in the car and that you can use just the belts to strap it in so is the base still needed then does anyone know?
Thanks for any help
Cat x x x

 

[Sam's Mum]

Is it a car seat that you can use until they are 3, rear facing then forward facing? I don't know of any (although it's been a while since I looked) seats for 1+ years that have a separate base in the car - the whole seat either attaches by isofix or using the seatbelt x

 

[positivity :)]

yeah i thought they all attached to the isofix?! x

 

[Mrs CW]

We've got a rear facing new born carbo fix car seat and will be getting a bigger one once it's needed. Looking at the description for the bases one says it fits the carbo fix and then the next seat size up when required but the others just seem to fit the carbo fix. X

 

[Mrs CW]

Maybe I'm reading it wring and my preggo brain is getting confused! X

 

[Sam's Mum]

If you're buying a new one when you need to change to the next size up I'd just buy an isofix seat, and get a base for your newborn one x

 

[jomc]

Ok so stupid question... do you HAVE to have a base? Ive bought a travel system so the car seat fits on top of the pram unit. Didnt come with a base. Are they designed for added sturdiness / safety in the car?

 

[JJ Mum]

They are added for ease of use I believe, sort of click and go.

My three older kids used a baby car seat (the ones with handles for newborns) they are totally fine for use in a car without a base thingy. I just had another baby last year, (hes 7 mths now) and still in his first car seat , it goes rear facing just on the cars normal seats in the back and its perfect. You just use the car seat belt to fit to the car as per the instructions with your seat. Mine show it on the car seat label too. (I got mine from my sisters travel system, and she was keeping her isofix type base. She said I could buy one , but they are about £100 when I looked, silly when pushchair was free!

I would say they are a bit of a pain to strap in manually, and bases look good for click and go type thing, but I have only know the old fashioned way! so fine and won't be in it long, my son is now 18.5 lb and when he gets to 9kg 20lb I think he will use the next seat forward facing anyway which will perm strap into car.

Also depends how much you will go in and out of the car, I prefer walking.

 

[JJ Mum]

Just thought, you can also get things that go in the car in the back and run along where the seat pad meets the back of seats so that when you put in the baby car seat, it helps the position of the baby seat, eg more lieback etc as all cars have different angle seats and all babby carrys are different.

 

[jomc]

Thank u!

 

[Lilelephant]

We have a travel system and altho u can buy a base the women in the shop said it isn't recommend til baby is a few months old cos it holds the seat in a different position so we r gonna just strap it in with the belt


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[jomc]

Cool thanks hun!

 

[Mrs CW]

Thanks for all the replies. We're looking at them because of the ease of clicking the seat into the base but I think we need to do some more research. I do a lot of walking when on my own but at weekends evenings we'll be using the car x

 

[positivity :)]

my OH is insisting that we have an isofix and i would say it probably is a good idea. my OH says that he done some research and the isofix is recommended because its safer and more stable and eliminates the risk of incorrectly fitting the chair to the strap and seat xx