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Maxi-Cosi Maxi Cosi Priori XP
by karlsm93
My little girl may be almost 8 months old, but she outgrown her first rear facing car seat since about 7 months old, and needed to move into a Group 1 front facing car seat. Our first baby car seat was a Maxi Cosi to fit onto our Quinny Zapp, and we were extremely happy with it, and so our immediate thoughts were to look to the next ... size of Maxi Cosi, even though there are plenty of other makes of car seat out there, many cheaper, but not necessarily as safe. Knowing that our daughter would be in this car seat for a while, we wanted to ensure we got a good one that would last, and potentially do any future children we may have, and so I started searching on amazon.
Even within the Maxi Cosi brand there are several front facing seats of group 1 size, but after reading reviews we liked the Maxi Cosi Priori XP, which costs just over the £100 mark, which isn't cheap, but I suppose you get what you pay for! We ordered the Black Reflection in this seat, as we thought it would be suitable for boy or girl if we have any future children.
Group 1 car seats like this one are suitable for babies from 9 to 18 kg. The approximate ages for this are given as 9 months to 3 years, but obviously these are estimates and as I mentioned earlier my daughter was actually in this seat at 7 months, as she is quite a big baby. It is important however that baby is sturdy in terms of holding their neck/head up before using this seat, as there obviously isn't the same support in this area as there would have been in a first car seat. However, I do think I have seen somewhere where you can purchase head rests/pillows that may support the head somewhat in this seat.
Apart from the positive reviews and name of the brand, we were also quite taken with the safety features of this car seat, in that this seat comes with a side protection system which is meant to give added safety against side impact. With the amount of cars and accidents nowadays, you can never be too careful when it comes to child safety in a car as far as I'm concerned. When we ordered this seat, we were also very impressed with the weight of it, and felt that it was heavy enough to be of good solid quality that would protect our daughter was much as possible in the case of an accident.
When it was necessary for our daughter to move into this seat, my husband was the one who fitted it. He followed the instructions which were very good and had it fitted very easily and quickly, using the three point seat belt system. It is very very sturdy in the car and doesn't move an inch, which reassures me no end. When fitting it the belts are tightened to ensure it doesn't move.
In regards to other features of the seat, there are 4 recline positions that are controlled by the one lever, and are very easy to move and work. If we are out and about and I know my daughter is due for a sleep, I can simply tilt the seat back, even with her in it, and I can even do it whilst in the front seat (obviously not when driving!) and she has always went to sleep very quickly in this position, as she seems very very comfortable when reclined.
THe other feature of this seat is the harness. As well as being height adjustable as baby grows, you can also adjust the length of straps using a little pull mechanism which again is very easily worked. There are hooks on both sides of the car seat that allow the seat belts to be held back to allow you to get baby in and out more easily without the belts getting in the way. The bottom part of the harness also has a hook so you don't have to keep reaching under baby to fish it out.
The only slight negative, and this is very very minor is that sometimes I find the belts don't stay that well hooked back and very often one might come out of the hook and get in the way, but then again maybe I am not taking enough time to hook them back properly.
All in all, we are extremely pleased with this seat, particularly in regards to its ease of fitting, as well as the safety features of this product. It is sturdy and heavy and you are reassured that your child is as safe as can be. The recline positions are also an advantage particularly if you are doing longer journey's and a baby is likely to need to sleep in the car. I would highly recommend this car seat, and certainly my daughter is very comfortable and happy in it!
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Maxi-Cosi Tobi Car Seat
by wazza115
When Lauren was approaching 8 months old, it was becoming clear that she was becoming to big for in travel system car seat and we needed to purchase a new one.
Again, not having any idea of what we needed, off we went to Toys R Us. When we arrived we stood there for about 15minutes just looking at all the different seats and ... different prices (the prices ranged from £60 to nearly £200!)
After seeking some advice, we decided to get the Maxi Cosi Tobi.
Installation was really easy (after the shop assistant had shown us, before that we would not have had a clue, you simply feed the seat belt around a channel (this is marked in red plastic so you have no doubt where to feed it) at the rear of the seat and the other underneath. The channels also had clamps on so you could be sure the seat could not come loose.
One of the things that first attracted me to it was that it has quite a big base meaning that it sits about 3 inches higher than the others. Lauren had a tendency to get quite bored on long journeys so I though this was ideal as she would be able to see more.
Once she was in it, it was clear to see I had made a good choice; she had a really good view out of the windows and actually fell asleep on the way back from purchasing it (which was very rare for Lauren!) Another good feature is that you can recline it pulling the positioning handle which is based under the seat. I found that as a passenger, in the front it was really easy to put my arm back and do this and the handle is quite big so easy to find.
Another unique safety feature that I found was that I knew Lauren was strapped in tight enough as on the seatbelt anchor, there was a green dot, if this was visible, the belt was tight enough. I have read some reviews where people have said the belts kept coming use, I did not experience this and this was used as our main car seat and Lauren went in it daily. It must be common though as there is a section in the instruction manual explaining how to rectify if you did experience this.
As with most car seat of this range, the seat and pads on the seat belts are removable so that they can be washed (we had all sorts in ours when we took it off!)
There are a few accessories available (I have not seen these in store but I did see them online at places like Amazon) such as play tray, sunshade, different coloured covers and drinks holders). I did not purchase any as they can be quite expensive (as you are paying for the Maxi Cosi name).
The seat is suitable from around 9months to 3.5years, I found that it lasted Lauren until she was nearly 4, although she is quite tall for her age, she is quite slim (if that's the right thing to say about a child?!), we took her back to Toys R Us when she reached 3 and a half and they said she was fine.
The RRP of the product is around £150, I believe we paid about £110 as I had a discount voucher and it was also on special offer. If you are thinking of buying from Toys R Us, make sure you are signed up for a Gold Card and to the Baby Club as we got loads of money of vouchers by doing this.
I would recommend and a great car seat.
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Maxi-Cosi Maxi Cosi Rodi XP Imageline Ningbo
by lexipoo
When it comes to my little one and her car seats, I'm not going to lie, I am a little bit OCD! As I do a lot of driving, naturally, I wanted to find the safest seat on the market to ensure my daughter is well protected in the car. After a LOT of research I found a car seat that had a 5* rating for everything, so I bought one for my car ... for when I do long journeys. To make it easier, I always buy a second car seat to be used in my partners car or as a spare. The other seat was very expensive and, unfortunately, I simply couldn't afford to spend another £250+ on one of the same, so I looked at the cheaper options and found the Maxi Cosi Rodi XP, which was coming in at around £100.
I was going to order it online, but wanted to check it out in the flesh first. I went down to my local baby store and tried it out in my car. First impressions were really good! It's not as trendy as some of the other car seats about, but still looked really attractive and comes in a range of colours to suit your taste. I sat my daughter in it and she said it was really comfortable and didn't want to get out! The fabric is good quality, and you can tell that its going to be quite hard wearing and not to hot in summer. The cover is really easy to remove and is machine washable too, so keeping it clean shouldn't be a problem. The seat is nicely contoured and not too wide, so fitted around my daughter well, and, as you can see, there is a lot of side protection (especially around the head), which would obviously be a great benefit if, heaven forbid, there was to be an accident. Also, I have since found that this head/side protection acts as a great pillow too, when little one falls asleep in the car!
One thing I would say do if your looking at purchasing a car seat, is checking with the manufacturer that the seat you're looking at is compatible with your car. The majority of the time they're fine, but some seats don't sit as well in certain models of car, so it's always best to find out before buying one to avoid any problems afterwards. I did this, and the Maxi Cosi Rodi came back s compatible. When trying it in my car the first thing I noticed was that it was really lightweight, which is great if your going to be moving it between cars, as I often would be. When fitting my daughter, at first I did find threading the seat belt through the shoulder clip quite fiddly, but after a few goes I got used to it and soon found it really simple. Its clearly marked in red where the seat belt needs to lie, so fitting it wrong is virtually impossible! When fitted in, because it is quite light there is a bit of movement, but to be honest, I found that with all the booster seats that aren't fitted with an Isofix base.
I tried a lot of different seats that day, but in the end I did go for the Rodi as I felt it was the best buy there. I had previously checked out the safety ratings of various different booster seats available and it had earned itself a good 4* rating (3* front impact protection, 4*side impact protection, 4* overall), one of the highest rated car seat I could find in that price bracket, and a lot of great reviews.
I've only had the seat a couple of months but I have no complaints so far. As I said, this was bought as a second/spare seat, but I have found it excellent for everyday use and short journeys, and would definitely recommend! However, personally, I do still think that if you are someone that does a lot of long journeys and motorway driving it is worth spending the extra money to get a slightly higher rated 5* car seat, to ensure your child has the extra protection.
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