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Joie i-Anchor i-Size Combination Car Seat product test: the feedback thread

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  • Thanks so much StubbornBrit and EachPeach for your feedback. We're loving all these wonderful pics!

    And thank you too, ljrodgers, for coming back to update us on the insert. Callum does look loads more comfortable now - bless his little socks!

  • Well we did as suggested and fitted the wedge, and what do know it worked!image

    Fast asleep within a few minutes and no floppy head, thank you for the advice.

    Chloe was very happy to be back in the joie, she loves to use the bar to look in the mirror, and we will continue to use it now her head is well supported. 

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    I'm happy to say I would now happily recommend this car seat.

  • Due to moving house I've only been able to use the Joie i-Anchor Car Seat and Base a couple of times so far but initial impressions are very positive.

    Although our son is almost seven months old I like the fact the seat comes fully assembled in newborn mode so it can be used straight out of the box at the hospital.

    For us, we needed to remove the newborn inner layer and that initially made the seat a little too big. After a quick look at the manual however it became obvious that part of the discarded liner can be used as an additional 'wedge'.

    Adjusting the straps to ensure a correct fit was incredibly straight forward (a click of a button to release more strap and then pull to tighten). There is a need to loosen the straps to get him in each time, before re-tightening, but in many ways this is a positive as it ensures he is always securely fastened and is unlikely to do a Houdini escape act.

    Previously we've been using a Maxi-Cosi Pebble and the comfort and protection offered by the i-Anchor looks far superior. Particularly impressive is the amount of support offered to the back and side of the head, which should ensure our son is kept in a secure and upright position even if he nods off. Jacob also seemingly likes the taste of the strap supports which is a benefit as he is teething! image  

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    Having used a Maxi-Cosi FamilyFix Base with the Pebble, installing and adjusting the i-Anchor Base was almost identical and therefore pretty straight forward. The ability to use a seatbelt in addition to the Isofix points to secure the base to the car is a notable difference however and that offers additional peace of mind. Furthermore, having the different reclining positions clearly marked (1-7) offers a useful guide.

    The general look and feel of the product is very good and the fact it's both rearward and forward facing, and rated for use up to 18kg/4 years, should make it a sensible long-term option. It certainly fulfils the criteria we were considering when looking at new seats that fully abide by the recent law changes and research into safety.

    Only time will tell how it lives up to regular use and being washed etc but at this point in time I only have a couple of minor concerns.

    Firstly, based on the first few uses at least, mastering the buckle to clip baby in could take some time. It's a little fiddly!

    It can also be quite hard to get the angle needed to get Jacob into the seat from outside of the car, which is something that I envisaged being an issue with most rearward facing seats left fitted within a car. Consequently I had been looking at the seats/bases that can swivel but without having testing one of those yet I can't comment on which is better but it's certainly something to consider if you have back issues etc.

    The only other problem with the i-Anchor is one of practicality given I've become accustomed to unclipping and porting the smaller, lighter Pebble about, but that's hardly something that should be held against the seat as it's not really designed for that particular purpose. I would definitely recommend a smaller car seat that can clip on to a buggy etc for newborns as it does make life a lot easier and means one less thing to put in the boot!

    Overall, the Joie i-Anchor Car seat is a lovely, well-made product and one that I would thoroughly recommend.

  • Thanks for your feedback, MummyJ15. We're dying to see the pics of your son but it looks like they haven't loaded properly. We can post them up for you, if you like? Just drop us a mail at contactus@madeformums.com, and we'll sort that out.

    thehoads: Thank you so much for having a go with the wedge – and so pleased to hear it worked! Thank you – and thank you to Chloe, too!

  • Sorry I have no idea why the photie didn't work. Here's my second attempt :-)

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  • Hi here's my review for my 2 year old Emilija.

    When the car seat arrived it was like christmas for my kids, they loved opening the boxes and I had great fun installing it in the car, it took a matter of minutes and I found the instructions really clear and easy to follow.

    Emilija loves her new car seat, we've been debating an erf seat for some time and this is perfect, we have quite a small car (Polo) and most seats look cramped when rear facing but this one is really roomy!

    I would definitely recommend this car seat to anyone looking for an ERF seat on a budget!

  • Many thanks to everyone who's left their feedback so far. It's all so interesting.

    vbrdbrg: do you have any pics you could post up please? We'd love to see them.

    We're just waiting for 1 more person to post their feedback (they've been delayed by a family emergency) and then we'll do the draw for the winner of the voucher.

  • The boxes were rather large and heavy but I know car seats are quite chunky these days. I opened the box when the seat and base arrived which was packaged as you normally expect when  you order a car seat. When I unwrapped the seat I noticed how padded the seat was- it felt really sturdy,thick and safe. 

    Popping the car seat into the car was relatively easy, however I did follow the instructions. This took me less than 10 minutes but I was alone which made things easier! 

    I liked how the headrest could be moved up and down, nice to have a bit of flexibility. 

    I loved the colour too, a quality product had arrived. 

    My child seemed quite comfy but it took him a bit of time to get comfy in the seat. The headrest is comfy yet almost stiff at the same time as its so 'protective' but I was worried he looked a little uncomfortable. You can move the headrest up and down so I had to spend a bit of time adjusting my child so that he sat still and would be comfy once we started to move. I added the middle wedge to give him more support, I really liked that this was provided as part of the package. 

    I'm really conscious that experts now recommend children and babies are rear facing within the car so I was really glad to receive this and test it. I liked that I could use this seat safely but I was aware that the price of rear facing seats are quite expensive. I was have brought one of these due to wanting the best for my child. However, now I have used one I'm not sure I would now buy one due to how upright the seat was. I felt it would be more suitable for an older child, perhaps of a year onwards. It was very upright and as mentioned it looked a bit uncomfortable for his head, making it look quite stiff! It the seat was able to recline then I would have been happier but he seemed to be happy! He looked Ok and the main thing is that he was really safe. The seat didn’t move around at all and kept him firmly strapped in. If you're after safety first then yes this is the product for you 

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

    I would recommend this to a friend. I think this product is a really high quality product, great value for money, especially as it lasts from birth to 4 years. I can use this in the future if need be. It's safe, sturdy and also nice to look at. He looked very comfy which is great for a long car ride- keeps them happy. The only thing I would say is take it up quite a lot of room in the car if you do have other people or stuff in the car! 

    I haven't got any pictures as I don't want to publish my child's face, I hope you undertdand this! 

     

    Thank you Joie and Madeformums! 

  • Thanks so much all of you for your feedback on this product test. We hope you and your child enjoyed trying out the Joie i-Anchor i-Size Combination Car Seat for us.

    Now that all the feedback is in, we've put the name of everyone who answered all our feedback questions into our prize-draw hat, and the winner of the £50 Amazon voucher is... EachPeach. Congrats to you (we'll be in touch to arrange sending you your prize)!

    Sorry that you can't all win but please do look out for our next product tests. We really do value all your testing and feedback!

  • Thanks very much - just in time for some Christmas shopping! image

  • Well a couple of months down the line I thought it was worth posting an update.

    I have been using the car seat almost every day, and it seems to be getting easier to get my son strapped in - partly the crotch pad seems to lie flatter after several months of use, partly my son has now outgrown the newborn wedge so we seem to have more room to get him in (and partly, no doubt, that I have got the knack of it now!)

    We took the wedge out last week as my son didn't fit comfortably in the seat with the wedge in any more. We subsequently had him on the most reclined setting during a long car journey, and he slept fine without his head lolling (he is 10 months now).

    This weekend I cleaned the seat covers for the first time, they came off really easily once I had checked the manual on how to do it. No risk of ripping/tearing, minimal fiddling, and no re-threading or re-routing of the belts - so I was confident that the belts are still safely in the right place, which isn't the case in the cosatto seat I had used for my daughter. The covers came up clean at 30 degrees and went back on easily too, they popped/clipped into place and the seat looks like new. I'm really impressed at how easy this was to clean.

  • Hiya EachPeach, thanks so much for posting your update. I have to say, I discovered just this week how important it is to have a removable car seat cover after my toddler was profusely sick in it, and the cover is not at all removable. I was hosing it down in the garden, in the rain and must have washed it repeatedly to get the sick smell out. Turns out, bicarb of soda mixed with warm water does the trick of removing the sick smell like magic!

  • Hi I understand this product testing and the thread dates back to last year but I am interested in the part where you mention there was a lot of movement in the seat after it was installed. We bought this seat at the weekend and my husband installed it but we seem to have an issue with quite a lot of movement to. Our son seems pretty comfortable and we wanted to keep him rear facing and the seat was high up on the top safety rated seat list however the movement makes me think it isn't installed correctly despite all of the green lights being on. 

  • I have this seat and ours doesn't rattle, if you're concerned about the fitting take it to Halfords or to Mothercare, either will check the fit for you for free.

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