CabrioFix is easy to fit (Maxi Cosi Cabriofix)

Member Name: buzzard_cad

Product:	Maxi Cosi Cabriofix
Date:	19/10/07 (3522 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can be used in multiple cars using rear seat belts

Disadvantages: Heavy with baby and additonal Iso-fix base did not fit a car with Iso-fix fittings

A car seat for a baby is cited by most parents as the most important decision that they can make for their little bundle of joy. Before I start this review I'll confess that I didn't really see it that way as I know, that when I was born I was cradled in my mothers lap when ever they drove the car anywhere. I suppose that is where my reckless nature comes from. Anyway Mrs Cad was sucked in by the hype and took it on herself to drag me to superstores over several weekends to look at car seats before buzzard_cad 2 was born. It wasn't the best idea, but it gave us an overview of the massive choice we had. In the end we choose a few that we liked and Mrs Cad booked her car in to a high street store chain so she could test a few car seats.

In the end we purchased the Maxi-cosi cabriofix seat for several reasons, firstly and most importantly it fitted her car and secondly it was easy to fit in other cars as well. This seat costs around £100 on the high street, but like the pram we bought the car seat online saving us about £10. The seat itself has several fixing options which may require additional expense. The first is to use the seat belt to hold the seat in position with no extra fixings. The second is to use a separate plastic fixing base called the 'easy-fix base' that is held by the seat belt and allows the car seat to be locked into position easily. This costs around £60 and will only work on some cars. The safest option is the 'Iso fix base' this can only be used if your car has the 'Iso-fix' system and again has a lock system that holds the seat in place. For those who wish to know what an iso-fix system is, this is where the car manufacturer has installed some small metal lugs to the car body which are located behind the rear seat. These lugs will enable an Iso-fix base or car seat to be fixed rigidly to the car. The idea being that this will retain the seat in an accident and protect the baby more than the seat belt would. The Maxi-Cosi 'Iso-fix' base is an additional £100 extra to the car seat.

Unfortunately despite owning a car with an 'Iso-fix' system namely a Honda Jazz, the Maxi-Cosi 'Iso-fix base' would not fit the car. The 'easy-fix base' held in by the seat belts would not fit either so we were left with the only option of fixing the car seat by using the seat-belt. It's all very confusing as the Honda website and Maxi-Cosi's website have conflicting information and Mrs Cad was slightly upset about not having the safest option for BC2, but at least we tried the options before we bought the seat.

So after discovering that Mrs Cad's car was unable to take the bases that would allow for easy 'clunk-clip' fixing we were left with just the standard car seat. The car seat itself is in the group 0 category, which means it is suitable from birth up until the weight specified which in this case is 13kg. The seat is rear facing which is the standard for all group 0 baby car seats. The one we bought is black in colour although there are other colours available such as grey, blue, pink and red.
The car seat has a large handle for carrying, which can be rotated towards the head end so you can get baby in and out of the seat easily. To move the carry handle there are two buttons at the point it joins the seat, when pushed simultaneously these allow the handle to be moved and will lock into position when it is moved back.

For restraining the baby in the car seat there is a three point harness with two shoulder straps and one between the legs. This harness can be loosened off or tighten by pushing a grey button at the leg end of the seat. Clipping the harness in with a wriggling baby may require two hands, but to release it will only require one. For very young babies there is a head support which stops their heads from rolling sideways and a foamed insert that can be removed when baby gets bigger. The car seat also has a sun shade which can be found at the join of the plastic base behind the head end of the seat. If you pull it out fully it has two hooks which will attach on the carry handle and so negate any need for the 'look I'm a parent now' sun shade stuck on many car passenger windows.

With baby inside the car seat it can be a little on the heavy side and Mrs Cad did hurt her back within the first month. Mind you this was probably due to her historical back problems and the fact that her 'pelvic floor' was shot to pieces. Since then we try to carry it with both hands and close to out bodies, but this is not always possible. So in one hand and by the side of the body it can put a strain on the back especially as the babies weight increases, but normally distances to the car are quite short. Lately we have taken to leaving the seat in the car and carrying BC2 to the house now that she is breaking the 9kg mark.

Finally fixing the car seat in the car by using the seat belt is quite easy. It is a five point operation and uses the lap belt part across the seat with the shoulder harness around the head end. To tighten everything up the final action is pull the seat belt tight once everything is secure. Despite our initial disappointment over the easy fix bases we feel that we have a good deal now as this baby seat will fix into any car modern or older and always feels secure. My Focus is newer and is was okay in that and my mother has an old Pug 306 and it fitted well in that car too.

So overall the Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix is a good car seat and will fit well into any car due to its easy seat belt fixing system. The easy fix clip on bases will added extra safety as well as cost, but it is worth checking these out at a baby car seat fitting centre before you buy as they may not fit the car you own, despite the information your car manufacturer gives you. This car seat can be used with the Quinny pram for a complete travel system, however we felt that it was better to have a separate pram and car seat for the baby. I can highly recommend this car seat as it is practical and comfortable for the baby.

(c) 2007 buzzard_cad
This review may be found at other review websites under the same username and is also written by me.

Summary: A good easy to use car seat for baby