Baby & Co - Pushchair, Pushchairs, Travel System, Travel Systems, Car Seat, Car Seats, Foot muff, Strollers, Buggys, Buggies

A new innovation that is becoming more widely available on most modern cars is Isofix. ISOFIX stands for "International Standards Organisation FIX". It is a new standard for installing child seats into cars, which is being adopted by vehicle manufacturers and is intended to make fitting child seats quick and simple. When cars are manufactured, ISOFIX points are built into them. Child seat manufacturers build ISOFIX fitting points on their child seats. This will enable ISOFIX child seats to be simply plugged into the ISOFIX points in the car. The benefit of ISOFIX is that it will create a rigid link between the child seat and the car to provide extra solidity. The ultimate aim is that any ISOFIX child car seat you buy will fit your car simply by plugging it into the ISOFIX points. The Britax Cosy Tot ISOFIX has all the features of Britax Cosy Tot and installs in your car using the specially designed base and ISOFIX connectors.

ISOFIX is an essential development because many people find it difficult to fit child seats correctly, and many surveys have found that a high proportion of the child seats are not fitted securely enough.
Misfitting of universal seats is also common largely due to the complexity of fitting seats into cars using the adult belts. AA surveys typically show 70% to 80% of child seats misfitted with around 30% being seriously misfitted.

Most child seats are currently designed to be fitted by using a car's adult lap and diagonal seat belt (or sometimes, just a lap belt). However, car seats, seat belts, and their anchorages vary dramatically between different models of cars. Car seats have different shapes; some seat belts are much shorter than others, the position of the anchor points differs so some are further forward or have shorter stalks than others. All these factors make it virtually impossible to make a child car seat that fits all cars.
ISOFIX is designed to solve all these problems.
Unfortunately, it is taking a very long time for the technical details of the ISOFIX standard to be finalised. And then, the Regulation R44.03 will need to be updated to include the new standard.
However, a number of ISOFIX seats are already available, although they are currently only approved for specific models of car in which they have been tested. For example, Britax's Duo ISOFIX seat has been tested and approved for use in more than 80 car models.

The Britax Cosi Tot Premium has been especially designed to give increased side impact protection
The Cosi Tot fits with all Britax Travel System to create a total travel solution for your baby. The Cosi Tot features ASIS - Advanced Side Impact System Deep, softly padded side wings for optimum side impact protection. Newborn support with integral pad offers extra support and allows your baby to lie in a more natural sleeping position. A sun/wind canopy offers your baby extra protection from the elements and an easily adjusted 3-point one-pull harness ensures your baby is secure in this car seat. Finally, the infant carrier has a comfortable carrying handle and a head support provides additional support for newborns.

There are a few products worth discussing here. A new manufacturer for us is Recaro; Recaro comes to the child car seat market with a wealth of experience in adult car seat manufacture, whether for racing cars or aircraft. The reason we like these seats is not only because of their high quality production but the ISOFIX option is very economical. Recaro offer an ISOFIX base that can be used for the 0+ car seat the Recaro Young Profi but after your child out grows his or her 0+ car seat and moves on to the next stage, Stage 1, the base can be utilised with the Recaro Young Expert. Allowing you to continue to use ISOFIX.

In the hugely competitive stage 1 market we feel that several manufacturers should be mentioned, including Britax, Recaro, Maxi-Cosi and Mamas and Papas. In this stage there are two ISOFIX options we offer, the Recaro Young Expert and the Britax Duo Plus ISOFIX. Both offer exceptional levels of comfort and safety.

These are just some of our favourites, there are many more choices available. Why not visit in store to discuss your requirements in more detail with our trained advisors who will be able to demonstrate all the features and benefits of the products on offer.