Buying Your Britax Duo Plus Isofix – When To Change The Seat

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Sophie

If you buy a Britax Duo Plus Isofix car seat, at some point you will need to change it, but when?

Choosing your child’s car seat is a big decision and one that should not be taken lightly. Buying second-hand is always going to be a risk as you don’t know if the seat has already been involved in a major car accident. If you know where the seat is coming from, it’s history and that every part is there and in good condition, make sure it is less than six years old as this is really the seat’s ‘expiry’ date.

One other problem is knowing when to change the seat and the groups the seats fall under. According to the EC

Britax Duo Plus Isofix

Britax DuoPlus "Billy"

E R 44 regulations you should have a rear facing seat until the child is between 10 and 13 kg. Keeping as close to the 13 kg as possible or until the baby’s head is higher than the seat structure. You can buy multi-group seats to save money as they adjust to fit the child.

* From birth to 9 months or 10kg you need Group 0

* From birth to 15 months or 13kg you need Group 0+

* From 8 months to 3-1/2 years or 9-18kg you need Group 1

* From 3 to 7 years or 15-25kg you need Group 2

* From 6 to 12 years or 22-36kg you need Group 3.

As no child is the same (thank goodness!), some will reach the weight limit before they reach the age limit. In which case, for example, they should change from a Group 1 to Group 2-3 seat when the weight limit is exceeded, or their eye-line is higher than the highest point of the seat.

FYI, the Britax Duo Plus Isofix car seats are in Group 1 and come with a Which Best Buy 2009 recommendation.

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Britax Duo Plus Isofix Seats, But What is ISOFIX and Why Do You Need It?

Posted on November 9, 2009 by Sophie

Given the name,  Britax Duo Plus Isofix car seat, it stands to reason to mention what ISOFIX is. ISOFIX is a relatively new standard that car seat manufacturers and car seat producers now have to adhere to. It stands for the International Standards Organisation FIX. The system is also referred to as LATCH (”Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children”) in the United States and LUAS (”Lower Universal Anchorage System”) or Canfix in Canada.

Basically, cars and car seats are produced with ISOFIX fittings which form a rigid connection where the points

Britax Duo Plus Isofix Black Fusion

Britax Duo Plus Isofix Black Fusion

between the car and seat click together to make a very strong and sound connection between the seat and car. Such a fixing greatly reduces the risk of the seat being badly fitted. Badly fitting infant car seats is a big problem for most countries around the globe and in the UK, figures suggest that this is the case somewhere between 70 to 80% of the time.

Child car seats such as the Britax Duo Plus ISOFIX benefit from such fittings as they make it very quick to securely fix the seat in position – basically, all you do is ‘plug it in’. Seats with the ISOFIX fitting have two arms on the back of the seat which simply push into the discrete ISOFIX anchorage points of your car. No struggling trying to get the adult belt in the correct place and locked in (for those of you who have tried, it is particularly difficult to get the old style seats in and out in the dark!)

The majority of car seats produced for the UK market today have this type of fixing (e.g. the Britax Duo Plus ISOFIX system) although as a lot of people have older cars, the seats that need fixing with adult seat belts are still in production. Since 2006, new ECE approved vehicles have ISOFIX anchor points. If you have an earlier car, do make sure you have the correct fittings before you buy.

Although the results were frightening there is some reassurance for those who do not have ISOFIX fittings in their car. Crash test research has revealed ISOFIX car seats fair no better than regular type car seats in terms of protecting your child. However, ISOFIX will stop you incorrectly fitting the seat which is extremely dangerous as the seat will not support the child correctly in the event of a collision. Basically, either make sure your old style child seat is properly fitted or, if possible, get one similar to the Britax Duo Plus ISOFIX range – either of these options will greatly improve your child’s chance of surviving a major collision.

One final word on ISOFIX car seats:  Although you should not have a problem and manufacturers now are obliged to build standard ISOFIX fixings into their vehicles, not every ISOFIX car seat will fit into every type of car if the car was produced before 2006. It is still worthwhile to check your seat of choice against your model of car.

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Finding A Car Seat For Large Toddler

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Sophie

Since May 2006, it has been compulsory to use child restraint systems in all vehicles in Europe. It is also mandatory to use child car seats within the EU for children up to the heights of 1.35m or 1.5m – depending upon the particular country.

But, if you have a child who outgrows their seat but whose weight exceeds the maximum for that seat, you may have trouble finding a replacement. Group one Child safety seats typically will only accommodate a child up to 18kg and this is also the case with the Britax Duo Plus Isofix. However, some children can be heavier than normal for their age or taller than normal, so what do you do?

When your 2-year-old child is secured in their child seat, is their head above the structure of the seat? Are they close to 36kg? At 2 years, they are not really big enough to sit safely in a booster seat without the 5 point harness.

Britax Evolva

Britax Evolva

Thankfully, there are a few seats available that are suitable for children from 9 months to 11 years and with a weight restriction of between 9 and 36kg. Such seats usually have an insert with a 5 point harness and when the child is big enough, the insert is simply removed. To accommodate the taller child, there is an adjustable head restraint which does the job well.

It seems that not all manufacturers produce these group 1, 2 and 3 seats and the Britax Duo Plus Isofix is unsuitable for larger children. However, try the Britax Evolva range or the cheaper Baby Weavers Beline SP Ice.

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