Advice needed for one frustrated mommy...

[jessyoliver]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to this site so guess I better introduce myself! I'm Jess, I'm 26 and I am mommy to a gorgeous little man called Oliver who is 15 and a half months! I have two naughty little jack Russell's (mom and daughter/partners in crime) and a wonderful fiancé and I have just made the most crazy decision ever to leave my job and become self employed! So far so good! Look forward to getting to know you all

Sooo, I was wondering if you guys could point me in the right direction?

A few months back when my little man got too big for his rear facing maxi cosi car seat, we decided to get him the next one up and bought a maxi cosi tobi... However..... At the time we were watching the pennies as I had just set up my business and I stumbled across an advert on a Facebook selling site for a second hand maxi cosi tobi and we bought it! It seemed like it was in great condition and looked like it was hardly used.... It's been great so far...

I have since read articles though about how you should never buy second hand because you don't know if it has ever been in a collision etc and to tell you the truth it's scared the pants off me!! Just after this happened I have noticed that there is also a screw loose on the side which when I went to tighten it, it wouldn't because the plastic has cracked!!! It must have been like it and I've not noticed as it's never been dropped or even moved for that matter and now I'm totally paranoid and won't take my little one anywhere in it until I get a new one to put my mind at rest!!

The trouble I'm now having is which one do I buy!!!! I am completely confused. All I want is the safest (this is most important) and then secondly comfort... I also have a big prob with Ollie's head flopping forward when he sleeps and the recline function doesn't seem to make much difference on the tobi. So far we really like the recaro, young expert plus? I really like the advanced side impact protection on that one.

I would love to hear your recommendations and advice. It's always better coming from other moms who have tried and tested! We are hopefully going to buy one this evening from either mothercare or kiddicare.

Thanks in advance and hope you are all having a great day!

Jess x x

[AndHarry]

Sorry you had a bad experience. I've got 3 carseats for my daughter the same age: a Britax Maxway that goes in my car, a Maxi Cosi Axiss in my husband's car and a Maxi Cosi Priori XP for when she's going in someone else's car. I can recommend all 3, although the Prior XP is definitely the most user-friendly and also has a good recline function.. The Britax Maxway is a rear-facing carseat, which is becoming a popular option due to the increased safety benefits. For more information on those have a look here: www.rearfacing.co.uk/ Mothercare sells rear facing carseats from Cybex and Britax, including options from both manufacturers that can be swiveled to face either direction.

[jessyoliver]

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, that was another thing that concerned me... I read an article about how rear facing are 5 times safer and that they are trying to make them compulsory. Certainly sounding like the safest option at the moment x

[AndHarry]

It's a bit of a pain to get a RF seat if you don't have isofix in your car but if you do it's fairly easy to get hold of one. I was in a Mothercare branch yesterday and saw the Cybex one; have seen the Britax ones in another store too.