Child Car Seats

[Wendy]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone with young kids could recommend a good second stage (Group 1, 9mths-4 yrs) car seat that will fit into the back of the Stag well despite the fact that the seatbelts unroll from the lap rather than the shoulder? I know there probably aren't many of you out there in this situation, but I thought I may as well ask...

When Megan was small we borrowed a Britax seat, not sure what model, but the friend we borrowed it from is now using it again so we can't borrow it for Thomas. The seat he uses in our everyday cars (MaxiCosi Tobi) will only fit in the front of the Stag (with a lot of effort as the seatbelt is only just long enough), but that's not very helpful as that means that my 6' husband then has to travel in the back and, funnily enough, he's not too keen on that!

Anyway, if anyone's got any recommendations that would be very helpful, as without a seat that will go in the back I can't see the Stag getting much use over the next couple of years :-(

Thanks,

Wendy

[PaterB]

My everyday-used maxi cosi priori (which is a bit more compact htan the tobi) fitted quite well in the back seat. Because of the inverse seat belt construcion of the Stag you have to pull the belt hard to lock it an then tighten the seat to the rear bench with the lever on the seat. If your kiddy is big enough you may also consider using a seat of the next range, these are much lighter and a breeze to install compared to the bulky and heavy group 1 seats.

[Wendy]

Thanks for your reply! I guess the seabelt route on the Priori must be different to that of the Tobi, because on ours the tensioners work on the lap portion of the belt, so in the back of the Stag that would just cause more belt to be unrolled from the reel. Unfortunately, Thomas is only just 13 months old so it's going to be a couple of years before we can put him in a high back booster. The seat we borrowed when Megan was small was suitable for fitting with 3 point belts or just lap belts, so I treated the Stag 3 point belt as a lap belt and threaded it through the seat accordingly, if you see what I mean...

Might be easier just to leave the husband at home and teach Megan to read maps :-)

[PaterB]

The priori tensioner also works on the lap part of the belt. Try to fit the seat as usual and then thighten up the whole belt as much as possible by hand. Then tuck hard on the lap portion to lock the belt and take out the last bit of slack with the kiddy's seat tensioner without unlocking the belt. Takes a bit of practice but works. Easier than refitting the seatbelts the other way round anyway :-)

[Steve JP]

I put our Group 1 seat on the front seat of the Stag for our grand daughter, are you saying the Priori would work with lap belts in the back? Surely not from a safety point of view. (I haven't either type in the back in mine)

[PaterB]

... not with a lap belt alone. I was referring to the 3 point rear belt which (oddly) pulls from the side than from the top. Lap belt alone wont work safely.