gone are the days when i spent saturdays in the pub, on the terraces or at the cricket.

today i was in Mothercare.

it wasn't all bad...some humour to be had.....whether it was watching the dads tyre kicking prams or testing the turning circle.....or the moms calling the kids to heal with "contemporary" names. " Fallon, Kirby ! Come here !"

anyway. wondered if you fine gents had any advice for before I'm forced to drop 500 quid on pram / carrier jobbie for junior. i think the best bet, would be once of those baskets that clips straigh from car and onto the push chair ? what do you think ?

Isofix all the way - we had twins 3 years ago and they were a lifesaver. No faffing about with belts etc.

Yep isofix is the way to go I find Maxi Cosi and Quinny (it's the same company) do the best kit for seats and push chairs. 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

Yep, I can feel your pain... It's been over a year now since my little'en was born and I gave up my season ticket for West Ham...Well worth it though, bless him. (No West Ham jokes please)

We opted for this [url] http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores...-_-Froogle


You get an adapter that holds the Maxi Cosi baby seat in the Microlite [/url] http://www.maxi-cosi.com/gb-en/carseats/baby/cabriofix

The adapter are here [url] http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores...554_10001_


Then you will need the ISOFIX base [url] http://www.maxi-cosi.com/gb-en/carseats/baby/easyfix


We are on this now [url] http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores...0001_14601 It's the business...


The Microlite is very light and not to big, and it's nice to have something a little differnt from all the others.

There are so many systems about now, so good luck in finding yours.

When is your little'en due?

get him a cool recaro
http://www.recarochildseat.com/home.jsp 2002 td6 vogue, 06 supercharged facelift

Love the kiddy recaros

thanks for all the input.... this really is a crackin little community.....junior's current eta is 25th Dec. but missus won't let me call him Jesus.

i like the look of the maxi cosi....and am starting to hatch plans to have 2 "docking stations" - one in my car and one in hers.

I guess the car seat / booster thing comes in a few years ?

JJ

wait till you see what the docking stations cost  2002 td6 vogue, 06 supercharged facelift

Quote:

anyway. wondered if you fine gents had any advice for before I'm forced to drop 500 quid on pram / carrier jobbie for junior. i think the best bet, would be once of those baskets that clips straigh from car and onto the push chair ? what do you think ?

I bought a fancy kit where the frame supports the car (rear facing) baby seat or a pram, then later it becomes a pushchair. 700 pounds all in... then when it arrives you find out that you need the ISOFIX base too as it's not included. So that was another 160 pounds on top.

We used the rear facing car seat for the usual 9 months before he could go in a front facing. We used the pram for 4 months as he was walking at 10 months and wanted to stand in the pram at around 9 months. Then we used the pushchair for three months only. The big kit ones with chunky frames and the interchangable bits are good over rough terrain, but I'm not sure they are worth the money as since our son was a year he hasn't used the pushchair at all. He walks everywhere and when he gets tired I put him on my shoulders. Much better (in my view) than shoving him out in front.

If I was to do it again I'd not buy a big fancy (and expensive) kit.

I'd get a good rear facing car seat on an ISOFIX base, (this is the most important part) together with a frame and possibly pram so you don't have to pull the baby in and out of the seat all the time as you go too and from the car. Then I'd go for a cheap small fold up pushchair that will easily go in the back of any car. No problems with ours as we had the FFRR, but you just don't use it long enough to justify the cost.
We specifically wanted him to walk, to see things. Not be stuck in a pushchair like other kids we see, some of which are old enough (3+) to walk ages ago, unless the parents are just not prepared to go at a slower speed.
It makes my brain boggle when you see an older child in a pushchair sucking on a dummy.

On bigger car seats...

We had a Britax and it was good. About 160 pounds. But the Recaro is the same price, and it's a better seat.
We bought a Recaro too and we never use the Britax now. The Recaro has much more head protection to the sides which also help when the child is sleeping to support it's head. Like the other it goes from 9 months to 12 years, so it'll last a long time.

We use a lot of car seats at work (special needs transport) and while I have not seen them all the Recaro is the best I've come across. It's not expensive and is priced at the same as any other well known make of the same ago spec.

WARNING: Do not leave a car sear or ISOFIX base in your FFRR all the time. It will probably press new shapes into the nice soft leather.
I left the ISOFIX base in for two weeks (with out baby seat) and the lines on the side bolsters of the back seat took over a month to come out!
The manuals have a small warning about this, but it's made worse in the FFRR by the very nice soft leather. You can mark the seat permenantly.

I think that's it...

Just don't get caught up it fashionable baby stuff. Get practical.

This is what we got for 9 months to 12 years. I would definately reccomend it.

http://www.recaro-seats.co.uk/child-seats/young-sport.php#image

we put a folded bath towel under the seat bases to protect the leather 2002 td6 vogue, 06 supercharged facelift

darrenmax wrote:

we put a folded bath towel under the seat bases to protect the leather

As Darren said, otherwise it leaves marks on the leather...

doublejay wrote:

thanks for all the input.... this really is a crackin little community.....junior's current eta is 25th Dec. but missus won't let me call him Jesus.

i like the look of the maxi cosi....and am starting to hatch plans to have 2 "docking stations" - one in my car and one in hers.

I guess the car seat / booster thing comes in a few years ?

JJ

Yep, get 2 it's worth the money and saves all the hassle...

I hope your looking forward to lack of sleep from December...

Once you are familiar with the ISOFIX docking station it takes about 10 to 20 seconds to fit only.
Just ram it home and it locks in automatically.

Fox wrote:

Once you are familiar with the ISOFIX docking station it takes about 10 to 20 seconds to fit only.
Just ram it home and it locks in automatically.

Very true fox , but my other half had trouble lifting the god damn thing as it was so heavy, let alone sliding it into place...

I told her she needed to eat more shredded Wheat and start building those arm mussels... She opted to buy another one though...