We seem to have been a little slower than our mainland european counterparts to embrace the rear facing car seat but it is hard to ignore all of the studies out there that say, they are not just safer than forward facing seats, they are five times safer. So it doesn’t exactly tax our grey matter to know that rear facing seats are what we should be buying. Unfortunately though, they aren’t that easy to find here in Ireland, or in the UK for that matter .
Last week, we bought Lollipop her follow on car seat (up to then she’d been in her Maxi Cosi baby car seat). I did quite a lot of research on which one to buy and ultimately plumped for the BeSafe iZi Combi Isofix X3.
BeSafe is the leading Norweigen child car seat manufacturer and their iZi Combi Isofix X3 is the latest model of their award winning seat. It’s suitable for children aged between 6 months and four years and is one of only a few seats approved to the Swedish ‘Plus Test’ standard which in conjunction with the standard ECE test (required for sale within the EU) form the strictest safety standard for infant seats used today. This model can be used as either a rear or forward facing seat but we’re only going to use ours rear facing. Its very easy to install and use and is packed full of safety features.
You do need to install a mirror to allow you to see your baba when you are both in your seats in the car but since all baby car seats like the Maxi Cosi are rear facing you’ll probably have one anyway. It is also quite large so it won’t suit every car (check out the compatible car list) but Mr Moo’s seat is pretty big so we’re used to that.
Its not a cheap seat (its around £305 – £310 Stg) but my sister and I took the recession by the horns and looked for a bulk discount for buying two. After a few calls, we got the best deal (and I’d have to say the best service) from In Car Safety Centre in Belfast. Here, my sister (who was charged with the collection and haulage duties….well I had done the research!!) got really great personal service and installation from the owner of this company. Don’t worry if you aren’t near Belfast, In Car Safety Centre have an online shop or you can get the Izi Combi Isofix X3 from Amazon.
I am delighted with the seat, Lollipop seems to love her new view (she’s up quite a bit higher now and can see out of the window) and the peace of mind associated with buying one of the safest seats out there is well worth the extra few quid!
