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Britax Römer BABY-SAFE i-SIZE product test: the feedback thread

Hello.

This is the feedback thread for those of you who are testing the Britax Römer BABY-SAFE i-SIZE car seat for us as part of our latest MadeForMums product test.

You should all have received your car seat (or it's speeding its way to you right now!). Do have fun testing it out with your baby and please also take some pictures of your child in the car seat.

Then, please give us your feedback on this thread by answering the following 5 questions:

1.     What did you think of the car seat when you got it?
2.     How did you get on with installing it in your car and adjusting the straps and headrest?
3.     How comfortable do you think your child is in the car seat? ? Please post up the picture(s) of your baby in the pushchair (to upload a pic, click the little camera icon at the top right of the 'Add your reply' box)
4.     What do you think of the lie-flat seat and also the adjustable base?
5.     Would you recommend this car seat to a friend?

Everyone who leaves quality feedback and answers all 5 of our questions (and is part of our product test) will be put into a draw to win a £100 Amazon voucher.

Thank you so much – and good luck!

 

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  • Any idea how on earth I get it off the isofix Base? Can't find a single instruction on how to do it and getting incredibly frustrated!!

  • Hi Purple Star, we'll ask Britax for you and come back to you asap. 

  • It's okay we've finally worked it out! Instructions are inside the Base which couldn't be accessed until we had the seat off the top haha sorry x

  • No worries at all! 

  • 1.     What did you think of the car seat when you got it?

    I thought it look well padded, attractive, and comfortable for the baby.

    2.     How did you get on with installing it in your car and adjusting the straps and headrest?

    my husband installed the base and said it was very easy. it had a green indicator to show that it has been correctly installed, and took less than a minute. The base itself has a nice thick arm which looks so secure in the car and doesn't move an inch. 

    However I felt the instructions were poor and I couldn't work out how to get the seat to recline or how to loosen the straps ! neither are dealt with in the instructions as far as I can see and I ended up phoning up Britax to ask how it was done, this was very annoying. This was so simple but not actually obvious from looking at the seat. 

    the seat has a 5 point harness, so straps the go round the waist too. I didn't get on with this and found it more fiddly to get the baby in, especially when you are putting her into the seat that's already in the car. the buckle sits within thick padding, which looks comfy, but in practice makes it difficult to click the straps in as you can't get a good grip. I got so frustrated with this today that I gave up and used the old car seat as I was in a hurry. 


    3.     How comfortable do you think your child is in the car seat? 

    She seems happy and comfortable and I thought the seat was a bit more reclined and less bucket like than other seats. This is the case even with it as upright as it could be, the position where the shoulder straps are at the top. The only thing I did notice was the fabric wasn't as soft to the touch as our existing seat, a Cybex Aton. It's slightly more scratchy (like polyester) rather than soft cotton. I wouldn't say it was uncomfortable at all, it's just that if I were being picky I would say it could be softer. 


    4.     What do you think of the lie-flat seat and also the adjustable base?

    We didn't use the lie flat option as our baby is 7 months old. I didn't appreciate initially that you can't iust recline the seat for comfort. It only reclines by moving the shoulder pads into their lowest position (appropriate for a younger baby)   , and I didn't notice a dramatic difference. 


    5.     Would you recommend this car seat to a friend? 

    Probably as there is nothing wrong with it, it is isize compliant, comfortable and i like the fact it keeps the newborn in a safer position. But personally I prefer my Cybex. image

  • I'd just like to say thank you for the opportunity to test this car seat and base.

    1.     What did you think of the car seat when you got it?

    When the car seat arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the look and feel of it. I was previously using a silver cross car seat which had been passed down from my sister so I had no knowledge of other car seats out there and was surprised by how stylish and comfortable it looked.

    I felt the car seat was light weight(a necessity when your baby just keeps getting heavier) and also loved the hood and how it easy clips on or off depending of if you need it or not.

    One downside, however, is from looking at the car seat size I am unsure whether my daughter will actually fit in there comfortably up to 15 months old. However, that's just an observation and only time will tell. The second negative aspect is the buckle clip. I found that after aligning the two shoulder straps together, to then clip it into the buckle required a lot of force. It seemed as though the padding around the buckle got in the way so it was a bit of a fiddle to clip it together. I found the easiest way to do this was to extended the straps extra long everytime, then I had enough leeway to get a good grip and force the clips into the buckle before then re-tightening the straps. Which in all honestly was a bit of a hassle. However they were the only issues.


    2.     How did you get on with installing it in your car and adjusting the straps and headrest?

    Having never had an Isofix base before I found installing the base pretty tricky. I must of spent a good hour reading the instructions(of which there was about 20 booklets each in a different language which I though was a bit wasteful) before turning to YouTube and following a video demonstration which took me two minutes to watch before I felt confident that I had the seat base installed correctly.

    However the actual car seat was very easy use, adjusting the straps length is quick and simple, along with an easy 'click and pull' to higher or lower the strap position. Fixing the car seat on to the base was easy as you literally just had to click it into place which really helped make life a lot easier since I have a tiny 3dr Fiat 500. I can finally put my daughter in the back of my car instead of on the front passenger seat which is a big relief. Removing it from the base I again found very straightforward, pulling the leaver at the back of the car seat and lifting the seat from the base which came away very easily :)

    (Also, with the Isofix base installed there is a lot of room for the front passenger seat to have adequate leg room which until now, having a car seat in the rear of the car meant the front passenger had no leg room with the seat having to be pushed all the way forwards).


    3.     How comfortable do you think your child is in the car seat?

    Isabelle looks very comfortable in the car seat, it feels very padded and secure. As she is almost 8 months old we were unable to test the new-born support insert that comes with the seat, however likewise, this also felt padded and comfortable.

    She hasn't shown any signs of being uncomfortable in the seat and will happily sit and enjoy car journeys in the seat! :)


    4.     What do you think of the lie-flat seat and also the adjustable base?

    For the first couple of days I didn't even realise this 'lie-flat' function and adjustable base was available on the Isofix base. I think when reading all the instructions there was so much to read I must of just missed this part and what it was telling me to do(good old YouTube came to the rescue again). However once I understood what this does I was very impressed. I changed the position of the base to lift it up slightly as it was on a downward angle before, and the car seat seems much more 'in the right place' and overall looked like it fit the model of my car much more securely. I think its a good function to have, but I do think it needs to be made more clear about what it is actually there for, as I only found out after additional research.


    5.     Would you recommend this car seat to a friend?

    I would definitely recommend this car seat to a friend who is pregnant, however I think it would only be good value for money if they were going to be using the seat from new-born as it doesn't seem like it will last until 15 months old (Although she's only 8 months so I wouldn't know for sure) and I would also advise them on getting a compatible pram base if there is one so the seat can also be used on a pram making it even more value for money as it is quite an expensive car seat. Also I would probably add I would recommend going into a shop to buy this car seat, not to buy it online, as I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the installation hadn't of been as confusing as I found it being a first time mum with no knowledge of Isofix or car seats.

    The images of my girl in the car seat are on my partners phone so they will be uploaded once he returns from work! imageimageimage

  • My Review

    Daughter: Rebekah- just under 8 months old.

    What did you think of the car seat when you got it?

    The box was extremely heavy and the delivery guy carried it straight into the living room for me.

    Once opened, I was really happy as I saw a nice bright red car seat with base. First thoughts were that not only did it look appealing but also strongly made.

    2. How did you get on with installing it in your car and adjusting the straps and headrest?

    My husband installed the Base into one of our cars and he found it fairly easy. Being a man, he didn't read or need any instructions and therefore I think this was an easy step.

    The instructions for adjusting the straps were useless. It took us nearly 35 minutes with strong determination to work out how to do this step. Very frustrating - if I had a newborn baby, I would have found this very stressful. On the other hand, purchases like these are usually in shops where you are shown how to install.

    My dad tested out the car seat with the 5 point harness system and found it very good, in fact better than our maxi cosi seat.

    3. How comfortable do you think your child is in the car seat?

    The car seat is well padded and looks very comfortable but the ultimate test was actually driving her in it. She seemed happy and fell asleep easily. I would give the comfort factor a 100%

    4. What do you think of the lie-flat seat and also the adjustable base?

    This was not used as we like to keep her slightly upwards however it is a good feature to have.

    5. Would you recommend this car seat to a friend?

    I would recommend this to a friend, however i think this car seat would be great from 0+ and if shown how it works beforehand. 

    The main negative are the instructions as they don't help at all. 

    Overall, it is a good car seat but I wouldn't say it is the best. It's also slightly heavier than other seats.

  • Will try and upload pics in the morning as doesn't seem to be working. 

  • Phew - I'm quite relieved that I'm not the only one who smoment half an hour trying to work out how to adjust the straps, and struggled with doing them up! Was thinking it was just me but actually the instructions are awful!

  • *who spent 

  • Hey Coxy - it was ridiculous! I felt like giving up. 

  • I managed to adjust them fine because they were a similar design to my current seat but fastening the thing up was so tricky! At least we all are the same so we know we're not being odd haha!

  • Here are some pictures of my daughter in the seat....she seems to approve! imageimage

  • Hi thanks for giving me the opportunity to test this car seat. Here is my review:

    1.     What did you think of the car seat when you got it?

    When the car seat arrived I thought it looked really sturdy but comfortable. It looked well padded and a lot nicer than my current car seat.

    2.     How did you get on with installing it in your car and adjusting the straps and headrest?

    My partner was able to install the base into our car very easily, literally 2 minutes! The car seat then just slots on really nicely. However it took us ages to work out how to adjust the straps (loosen and tighten) as this was not clear in the instructions. It took a lot of fiddling around until we worked it out! The straps were however easy to move up and down which was great as it took a few tries to get them in the right place for our little one who is 3 and a half months old. We took out the newborn insert as it was not needed.

    3.     How comfortable do you think your child is in the car seat?

    Our baby was extremely comfortable in the car seat and gave us a big grin just before we set off...she often cries in the other one so this one obviously felt nicer to her! She looked safe and secure and really snug. She even fell asleep in it on our way to the supermarket!

    4.     What do you think of the lie-flat seat and also the adjustable base?

    We didn't need to use the lie flat function as our seats are flat anyway. We are not aware of how the base is adjustable and couldn't find anything in the instructions?

    5. Would you recommend this car seat to a friend?

    I would definitely recommend this car seat to a friend as it is safe, secure and comfortable for our little one. We already have the britax pushchair which it slots onto nicely..perfect if my baby falls asleep on a car journey but I need to pop to the shops quickly without disturbing her too much.imageimageimage

  • I took a few pictures to show how the seat fits in my tiny fiat 500! image

  • Teddy 4months old. 

    What did you think of the car seat when you got it?

    image
    I was very impressed with the car seat when it arrived. The quality of the Britax Römer is of a very high standard. It ticks all the boxes a baby car seat should. However there was some damage during delivery because of the way the product was packed. One of the ISOFIX insertion aids, had been squashed and fractured under the weight of both the base and the seats. It is my recommendation that the insertion aids are attached to the seat in a different position. Fortunately my ISOFIX fastening points are exposed on our back seats so our insertion aids were not required, I have included a photo of the damage:

    image

    2. How did you get on with installing it in your car and adjusting the straps and headrest?


    I found the instructions simple enough and straight forward, although I think I would have preferred both seat and base instructions in one book. Rather than two separate leaflets which I had to hunt round for because of all the different languages.
    This is our first base where we had the arm reaching out into the foot well so after reading up about fitting and the safety limits for this part, our base was quickly in position. I found the adjustments for this arm easy to accomplish and the tilt adjustment for the base interesting. I am positive both these features make this product much safer for our child compared to other baby car seats we have had.
    At this point all of the indicator marks were positively showing green all over the base, then came inserting the seat. Now it's an easy and great fit, but after feeling a firm click on both sides of the seat the indicators were showing half red / green. Nothing is affecting the seat for this result but as a point of note if you push and hold the seat down you see full green indicators. Then when you pull up on the seat slightly you notice that the seat is 100% locked in position but red indicators are more prominent. This confused me on the first installation until I was confident that the seat was firmly inserted on both sides.
    Our son was too big for the head rest but I did have a play and found its adjustment and removal easy, so he fits better into the chair. Also good because it comes out in one piece.
    The straps are great I like how the shoulder pads look safe and comfortable on our son. Plus they are stationary, you would not believe how the pads moving on other car seats annoy me.
    The buckle inserts are strong which is a great advantage but I do find when connecting the buckle inserts into the buckle it is a little annoying as the protective material around the buckle often gets caught between the connection.
    Once connected the tightening and loosening of the straps is easy enough but on a cold day the button for loosening can get quite cold because it's bare metal, maybe coating this in a plastic / rubber could remedy this. I like how the strap you pull to tighten is fixed at one end, nice touch.

    3. How comfortable do you think your child is in the car seat?

    I think he is super comfortable in the seat, as soon as I put him into the seat he was gurgling with joy and on his first trip out not even a whimper as he slept the whole journey.

    imageimageimageimage

    4. What do you think of the lie-flat seat and also the adjustable base?

    The lie-flat is a great option to have when your child is asleep but so far our son has preferred the slightly upright option.

    As mentioned before I feel the adjustable base is an interesting and safe additional option, for a start it meant I could ensure the base was adjusted within the correct limits for our rear car seats.

    5. Would you recommend this car seat to a friend?

    100% it is a quality product and quality brand. The few drawbacks I have mentioned are minor issues which are cosmetic and can be avoided through user familiarity of the product. If improved they would only enhance this great product slightly.
    Anyone thinking of getting this car seat should also know it fits alongside two other ISOFIX car seats in cars equipped with three ISOFIX attachments across the rear seats. Therefore perfect for families with three or more children and cars that can accommodate this many car seats.


    Thank you for letting me review this product.

  • Thank you for letting us test this car seat. It was perfect timing as Oliver (6 months) has outgrown his first seat (a silver cross which came with their travel system).

    1.     What did you think of the car seat when you got it?

    Very impressed with the quality of both the seat and the base. Appeared to be much sturdier than our current one and therefore gave us more confidence in the safety of it.
    Even though we didn't need the infant liner I was pleased it came with the seat as we had purchased one separately for our last seat.
    The padding made it look very comfortable and being less of a bucket seat than our current one meant Oliver's legs would be able to go straight as opposed to bent at the knee in his last one.
    I love the fact the hood attaches to the handle and goes back and forth with it.
    I was surprised that it wasn't bigger and heavier, but this was a good surprise! Knowing it goes up to 18months or 88cms I assumed it would be bulkier than our old one but it's about the same size, just much better designed.
    One of the great things we noticed at first was the grey straps. It's a small thing that can make life so much easier. Our old seat has black straps against a black fabric which can make it hard to find and move them out of the way in a dark car. The grey straps are much better.
    Love the compartments for the instruction books, which I haven't read yet as my husband just figured it all out .... as men do ... at some point I'll read the instructions!

    2.     How did you get on with installing it in your car and adjusting the straps and headrest?

    My husband adjusted the straps straight away, and thought the mechanism was fantastic. He showed it to me and I have to agree it was very easy to do. No more fiddling with straps in little slots!!
    He installed the base very quickly and easily into the car and then the seat just clipped in!
    We haven't had any problem with the 5 point harness system fastening and the padding but it is the same as our old one so maybe we are just used to it.
    I found the locating the button through the cover to release more of the straps quite tricky and had to press in several places to find it as it's not marked on the cover where to press. Our old seat has a plastic button on the cover that says press here which is a lot easier.
    Also I would prefer the fitted correctly green indicators on the seat to be side facing so you can see as you put the seat in at a glance.

    3.     How comfortable do you think your child is in the car seat?

    He was very content in it and fell asleep straight away. He looks to be sat in a better position than the old one and it wasn't such a squash and struggle to get the straps on him.

    4.     What do you think of the lie-flat seat and also the adjustable base?

    This is the best feature! The back seat of my car is slightly angled so our current base and seat was fixed at quite an upright angle. This meant that when Oliver fell asleep his head fell forward onto his chest which I hated as we frequently do long car journeys and this can be dangerous. The lay flat feature compensates perfectly for this and we have it in that mode permanently and when Oliver sleeps his head stays where it should! We are doing a long journey on Wednesday so this will be a good test but I am much happier with him sleeping in the car now.

    5.     Would you recommend this car seat to a friend?

    Yes I certainly would but only if they were planning to buy a Britax pram or travel system. My biggest disappointment was I couldn't get adaptor brackets to fit the seat onto my silver cross wayfarer pram. I miss the convenience of being able to take the seat out and onto the pram, especially if he is asleep as I need to wake him to get him out and into the pram, and I have to carry the pram seat in the car rather than just the base.
    Other than that the seat is great quality, comfortable, and with some brilliant features!

    Here are a few pictures:

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