It's a war zone in the back of my car (Prince Lionheart 2 Stage Seat Protector)

Member Name: azana

Product:	Prince Lionheart 2 Stage Seat Protector
Date:	23/02/09 (313 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: stops damage from seat and children

Disadvantages: price

I'm always slightly astounded by quite how much damage children can wreak in the back of a car. You would think, given the state of my living room even 15 minutes after tidying that I would be used to it, but no. I probably should ban all items of food, but hey ho sometimes they make it into the car along with muddy boots, sticks and toys I didn't know we had.

Enter this item, which, if you have children and a car, you probably need even if you have more control over the back seat than me.

This is called a 2 stage seat protector as it is designed to protect your upholstery from all car seats, from infant up to booster seat, and it comes in two parts. The item is a padded foam protector which protects your upholstery from pressure marks over time. You use the bottom pad only with infant seats, and then the back attaches for stage 2 and 3 seats.

This protector will fit any seat due to the way that is made, the edge curls over the seat as you can see in the picture, and you can use it with isofix and non isofix seats. There is a rim on the edge of the protector to trap liquids or bits, judging from the state of ours this it does well, and the end of the seat does also protect your upholstery from little muddy feet. The finish of the protector is wipe clean, which is also a good thing.

We have two of these in the car, I have to confess they were my husband's idea, I think bought in an attempt to protect the upholstery and encourage me to keep the car a bit tidier. We have used one for over 3 years, and though the car is no tidier, when we do take the seats out to use in another car the upholstery has not been damaged at all. In a previous car we had seats with no protectors and it did mark over time.

We paid a little under £20 at John Lewis, which is quite a lot, but given that we will use it for years still worth it. This item is available on amazon at £21.99.

The thing I could do most to protect my car would be to ban all children from it, but given that I can't do that this protector is the next best thing!

Summary: this fits under your car seat and protects the upholstery