Advice on infant car seats please!

The law regarding child car seats is a bit of a minefield, tbh

Have a read of this - www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules/using-a-child-car-seat-or-booster-seat

Personally, I would never put my grandchildren in anything other than professionally fitted car seats. Professional fitting is essential, because not every seat will fit every car correctly and safely. Unless you know exactly what you are doing, you may end up driving your grandchildren round with next to no protection, even though they are in age/height appropriate seats.

Thanks again for all this advice - it really shows how complicated the whole car seat business is! Sorry to confuse Wobbybits, the GC are definitely two and a half but I wasn't sure what the proper name for the right car seat was - so I used infant instead of baby. I should have used the term toddler car seat! I can't 'wait' till the family come here as we need to pick them up at the local airport. However I am going over to see them today though flight cancelled so waiting for change details . I will check all this out with them and get something sorted. Why is life so complicated these days???

Some people will buy second-hand ones and, if they are still as new then you can sell them with a clear conscience.

I am amazed that they are charging £10 per day each for hiring them - daylight robbery!

I think it comes down to what you can, or are prepared to, afford for just three weeks use considering reselling can be difficult. It might be best to wait until the parents are here to see what they consider safe for their babies and also be sure of getting the right size seats.

We used 'belt and braces' ie Isofix and the seatbelt.

I agree with SueDonim and would not buy from Ebay.

We did buy a second hand baby seat from a neighbour because we knew its history and trusted her absolutely.
If you don't know the history of a second-hand car seat it could have been in an accident and that would compromise its effectiveness if you had an accident.

At the end of the day it is what you are most comfortable with fitting and how confident you are with your system. I would be happier with ISO fix if I were not frequently putting the seats in/out.

I speak From some experience, our daughter has both ISO fix ans seat belt types. I find the seat belt one she has very easy, whereas on the leather seats of my car the ISO fix one is difficult to insert securely and takes several attempts to get it to lock. The softer cloth sets in her car are easier.

Granarchist, by its very nature, you cannot see any damage that is invisible to the naked eye. Also, it isn't just the shell of the seat. The webbing straps may also be weaned in an accident, that why seat belts the,elves should be replaced after an accident, let alone child seats. If the child is uninjured, the seat has done its job and it should be discarded.

Is it not as easy for someone installing a 'seat belt' seat to do it incorrectly? The ISO fix brackets when properly installed have a colour point on the bracket that changes from red to green when it is locked securely.
I bow to your superior knowledge when it comes to the anchor points maybe this should be pointed out to the bodies that ratify these International standards.

The title of this thread is confusing, the OP is wanting seats for 2.5 year old children, that age is not classed as infant and the seats are very different.

National Childbirth Trust has good nearly new sales of all kinds of equipment as well as clothes and toys. You don't have to be a member to go and NCT have branches all over the country.

I do agree that damage due to misuse or accident may not be obvious, second hand seat should only be bought from a know reliable source where you are sure that the seat is perfect.

Regarding ISO fix, every time the seat is put into the car there is the potential for the locking system to not engage properly, the built in seat belts do not suffer that problem.

Hmm, not sure why my italics haven't happened there!

No screaming, Granarchist, but I would never buy a second-hand car seat. Check out the ROSPA website:

^A child car seat that was in a car when it was involved in a collision should be replaced, even if there is no visible damage.
It may have been weakened to such an extent that it will not provide the same level of protection in another accident.^

It's the fact that ISO fix anchor point are simply just two components welded to the floor pan of the car, welds can fail and these are not tested as part of the MOT. In addition it relies on the integrity of the ISO fix mechanism in the child seat, which again is not tested in the MOT, thirdly it relies on the user correctly engaging the seat into the ISO fix point, again another point of potential failure. For a larger child a seat that utilises the built in seat belts, which are tested and rated for the weight of an adult are IMO safer. ( I do have an engineering degree and am qualified to have this opinion)

*Wobblybits^ ISO fix anchor points are an integral part of the cars framework and are part of the car from manufacture. They are are recognised International Standard in many parts of the World including the EU. I don't see how you can think a seat belt system is safer.

Wobblybits - that is very interesting. I was unaware of that. We learn something new each day. Thank you.

I think the seats that utilise the cars own seat belts are safer. Using ISO fix just gives an extra potential point of failure. The car seat belts are checked for safety at each MOT, ISO anchor points are not.

good quality second hand car seats for babies are easy and cheap to acquire (I got one for £1 on ebay) because babies grow out of them so quickly. (Please don't scream about possible damage to them - if you remove the cover it is obvious if the plastic is cracked anywhere - just do your homework) but with 21/2 yr olds second hand seats will be difficult as they dont grow out of them for ages and they are pretty revolting by then anyway. I bet there are other grandparents around who could lend you seats, I have a booster seat that I am continually lending out. So if you cant borrow I think Halfords is the answer - but personally I would get ones that can fit to seatbelts - isofix are the ulitmate but the joy off being to swap them from car to car is very very useful. I know we are concerned about child safety but if you look at the actual statistics child car passengers are very safe these days and common sense should prevail.

We bought two seats from pramworld.co.uk cost £113 for two with isofix which is not so difficult to fit really and the safest method of keeping the children safe. A small price to pay for grandchildren's safety.

The local Mumsnet suggestion is a good one. Car seats are a devil that get rid of as they can't be sold in charity shops, second hand shops or auctions. Even our local women's refuge turned mine down. I had two baby seats in excellent condition and ended up leaving them at a church bring and buy in the free take as seen section.

They can be bought at car boot sales, but that's a rather dodgey route whereas buying on Mumsnet usually means a trip to the mum to collect them, which gives a better idea of whether they're trustworthy. I got a good child seat this way for £20 having gone to the house with excuses of 'it's not quite what I was looking for' ready on my tongue just in case!

Thanks for all this advice - it is really useful as other grans mentions things I had not thought about. I have been on GN a couple of times before but am not a 'regular' contributor though I read it every day. I find it so helpful on occasions when I am feeling sorry for myself as I am a long distance Gran . I will definitely check with DS and DiL before getting anything at all (I have learnt to do this anyway over the past two years!). I doubt if I can keep any car seats we buy as it is unlikely they will be back in the UK for several years but you never know.

Even checking over a used car seat isn't safe. If a seat has been involved in an accident the plastic can have minute, invisible-to-the-naked-eye stress cracks in it which will fracture in the event of another crash.

I'd put safety first and buy new, then you know your GC will be safe.

We have an informal 'borrowers' group in the village and have most kit amongst us. The most popular items are stairgates as they work for dogs too. In fact, the stairgates are mine and I don't know who has them currently!