Baby Seats

[Plife]

Anyone got any advice on baby seats in the B8 A4? Just looking around and interested in any advice people have.

[kodkod.84]

Does the B8 have ISOFIX as standard? My girlfriends Golf has this system and it looks like you just plug in any ISOFIX car seat in the slots, nice and simple.

[mkc]

We have a Britax First Class seat for our two year old. So forward facing in the back. We put it in the test drive car we had and it fitted perfectly.

[Plife]

Does the B8 have ISOFIX as standard? My girlfriends Golf has this system and it looks like you just plug in any ISOFIX car seat in the slots, nice and simple.
Yes it does have ISOFIX, but from what I read on ISOFIX it still doesn't guarantee a perfect fit!

[TimmyTim]

:D
Anyone got any advice on baby seats in the B8 A4? Just looking around and interested in any advice people have.

We are expecting a baby boy in about 2 weeks :approve: (unless we have another false alarm again :biglaugh:)

We looked on the which report and found that the best buy was a Maxi Cosy Cabrio fix (with isofix base):biglaugh: We got ours from Baby zoom for £166... A lot of web sites wanted between £190-£220

It looks very well made and has a lot of extra features like a built in sunshade! On the Isofix base it has a "Traffic light system" When the base is in correctly the indicator changes from Red to Green! So you know that you've got it right! :D

If you want to check the suitability of any Isofix base to your car! It's well worth going on the manufactures own web site where you can type in the make and model/year of your car...

Get one quick! It'll save alot of ear bashing from the wife! I've been slowly going deaf for the last month! She's happy bunny now and I'm no longer sleeping on the sofa...

[B6Andy101]

Maxi Cosi seems to be a good bet for when your little one is ready for a group 1 seat (forward facing)

Earlier post:

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=43278&highlight=child+seat

Mothercare are pretty good and will you try a few different seats in the car.

Wish the Missus all the best TIMMY TIM. :fing02:

[Plife]

Maxi Cosi seems to be a good bet for when your little one is ready for a group 1 seat (forward facing)

Earlier post:

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=43278&highlight=child+seat

Mothercare are pretty good and will you try a few different seats in the car.



Thanks...tried to find another thread but couldn't!! Definitely looking for a forward facing one. There does not appear to be a great deal of choice out there for ISOFIX seats.

Found 4 I think - 2 Brittax, 1 Recaro and the Maxi Cosi.

[B6Andy101]

I have tried our Maxi Cosi Priorifix in a B8 at the dealers this afternoon. The seat is desgned to move from reclined for sleeping to upright for rascaling. However the seat snags on the rear headrests which can not be placed high enough. This inhibits movement between the two positions. I am advised by the dealer the headrests can not be removed on the saloon.

Has anyone tried a seat in the Avant - do the headrests come out. No mention of it in the Manual kindly posted by A8Tech.

[Plife]

I have tried the Maxi Cosi Priorifix in a B8 at the dealers this afternoon. The seat is desgned to move from reclined for sleeping to upright for rascaling. However the seat snags on the rear headrests which can not be placed high enough. This inhibits movement between the two positions. I am advised by the dealer the headrests can not be remove don the saloon.

Has anyone tried a seat in the Avant - do the headrests come out. No mention of it in the Manual kindly poseted by A8Tech.
That doesn't sound good! Guess I'll need to wait and then try a few seats out!

[TimmyTim]

Maxi Cosi seems to be a good bet for when your little one is ready for a group 1 seat (forward facing)

Earlier post:

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=43278&highlight=child+seat

Mothercare are pretty good and will you try a few different seats in the car.

Wish the Missus all the best TIMMY TIM. :fing02:


Cheers Andy :D I'll tell the Missus... Mother car have some good stuff! A lot of their products are made by Britax and Graco...

[RichardCranium]

That doesn't sound good! Guess I'll need to wait and then try a few seats out!


got the same problem with my daughters high back booster. the seat wont sit against the back rest of the car as the top of her seat impedes the head rest. i right royal PITA.

[mkc]

Surely you can remove the headrest by pressing the button on the side and pulling the headrest up and out at the same time? Needs a bit of force but as long as the adjustment button is depressed whilst you do it, it should come out. Used this method on many cars in the past.

[2.7 S-line]

just had a look at my car seat (i have a maxicosi priorifix) and you're right it doesn't recline without a good shove (and even then won't fully recline)

I never noticed this before as i never recline it now (but sed to a lot), my son is nearly 2 and doesn't like it reclined even when he's asleep !

you can't remove the rear headrests even pressing in the button - even if you could remove it the car seat rattles back and forth with the headrest in the highest setting (so its out of the way) - still feels secure but i'm sure it would not do the back seat much good rubbing back and forth when you corner - rattling would drive you potty as well

not really a problem for me as i don't need to recline it now but would have been a pain in the backside when my son was younger as he spent most of the time in the car asleep and the chair is a lot easier on the neck in the reclined position - real shame as it a very good car seat

2 reasons i bought it originally were its very good safety rating (one of the best) and ironically it reclines more than any other isofix seat i could find !

liked it so much actually ended up buying 2 as only problem i have found was its a bit difficult to get in and out of the back seat of my wife's mini - also few times my wife took the car seat to work with her by mistake leaving me stranded ! so we now keep one in each of our cars permanently - avoids a lot of annoyance all round

[ryan427]

This may be of interest to some who are looking for a seat which is comfortable for toddlers to sleep in. It's made by a German company called Cybex. I'm awaiting confirmation from their customer services department that it's compatible with the A4 B8 but it works by allowing the child seat headrest to recline, tipping the childs head and neck backwards and protecting them by avoiding the situation where they slump forward in the seat when sleeping.

http://cybex-online.com/site/uk/products/car-seats/solution-s.html

I'm currently using a Silver Cross child seat which is very well made and would seem to offer good protection but as soon as my little girl falls asleep and slumps forward it's next to useless.

I'm not recommending these as I have no personal experience but it's something that seems a good idea and may be of interest to others.

Available through mothercare online and kiddie care.

Ryan


Forgot to add, there's also some good videos on youtube demonstarting this seat from a saftey and features point of view

[browellm]

The inability of the rear headrests to be removed is a serious safety oversight imo.

It basically precludes the use of child seats with backrests - the sort you get at age 3/4+ (we also have a maxicosi). All of these designs are meant to have the backrest sit flush against the seat back. In the A4 you get a fist sized gap between them.

Whatever made them implement a design like that, I cannot understand.

EDIT: Well, that's what you get for reading and responding to threads in a linear fashion. Looks like there is a way to remove the headrest. Thanks AndyA6! Would have been nice to see this info in the user manual.

[ryan427]

If it's of interest, I received a reply from Cybex to say thier seats are compatible with the A4 B8.

Ryan

[TimmyTim]

This may be of interest to some who are looking for a seat which is comfortable for toddlers to sleep in. It's made by a German company called Cybex. I'm awaiting confirmation from their customer services department that it's compatible with the A4 B8 but it works by allowing the child seat headrest to recline, tipping the childs head and neck backwards and protecting them by avoiding the situation where they slump forward in the seat when sleeping.

http://cybex-online.com/site/uk/products/car-seats/solution-s.html

I'm currently using a Silver Cross child seat which is very well made and would seem to offer good protection but as soon as my little girl falls asleep and slumps forward it's next to useless.

I'm not recommending these as I have no personal experience but it's something that seems a good idea and may be of interest to others.

Available through mothercare online and kiddie care.

Ryan


Forgot to add, there's also some good videos on youtube demonstarting this seat from a saftey and features point of view


Cheers Ryan,

I've just been on the link and it looks really good...

[alisonj]

In case it helps at all, I have a B7 A4 Avant and I had all three of the rear headrests off last weekend. They were a bit reluctant, especially the middle one, but they did all come out. They also went back in and still work properly ;)

I'd image the B8 Avant will be the same as the B7 as far as the headrests go?

[ryan427]

Received my Cybex Solution S+ car seat today (received my A4 on Thursday:biglaugh: ). Fits perfectly. Removed the headrest in the A4 by inserting a screwdriver into the small slot, pushed the catch on the opposite side and it came right off no problem. The catch is a sprung loaded affair and operated quite smoothly, can't see anyone having a problem.

The car seat itself worked as advertised, headrest part reclined and my three year old slept comfortably without lolling about all over the place.

Kiddie care have a special offer on at the moment and I got mine for £55. Mothercare wanted £100

http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_441_10751_-1__17156_10001_?cm_sp=product_lister_page-_-endeca_promotions-_-banner_product

Ryan

[TimmyTim]

Received my Cybex Solution S+ car seat today (received my A4 on Thursday:biglaugh: ). Fits perfectly. Removed the headrest in the A4 by inserting a screwdriver into the small slot, pushed the catch on the opposite side and it came right off no problem. The catch is a sprung loaded affair and operated quite smoothly, can't see anyone having a problem.

The car seat itself worked as advertised, headrest part reclined and my three year old slept comfortably without lolling about all over the place.

Kiddie care have a special offer on at the moment and I got mine for £55. Mothercare wanted £100

http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_441_10751_-1__17156_10001_?cm_sp=product_lister_page-_-endeca_promotions-_-banner_product

Ryan


Great heads up from Ryan :approve: I've just been on the Kiddicare site and measured the height of my old Britax against the Cyber and there isn't a lot of difference!

As my daughter is 9yrs old she'll be to big for them both soon! But it looks a great bit of kit...

[JBlues]

I am using 2 Britax child seats, one for a 2.5 year old that can be reclined and another for a 6.5 year old. Both are fitted just with a seat belt (neither are isofix) and I have removed the two outer rear headrests to enable them 'sit' properly against the back seat.

[B6Andy101]

Right - having got my Avant, the rear seat set up is slighty different to that of the saloon I tried the Maxi Cosi Priorfix in. The Priorifix sits nicely in the Avant without removing the headrest as would have to be done in the saloon adjust the seat.

Have also sorted the minor rattle when the seat is empty. A little rubber hose on the Isofix bar either side of the seat attachment (NOT WHERE THE SEAT IS ATTACHED). This just stops that 2-3mm sideways movement quite nicely.

The Black reflex cloth and the silver trim matches the interior quite nicely.

Happy days :approve:

[ScottyUK]

I've read as many baby seat threads as I can find but I see no mention of the lack of the ratchet facility of previous A4's. My B6 S4 had this feature where once your fully extend the rear seatbelt, the ineria part is disabled and it's only feeds into the reel i.e. you can lock a non-ISOFIX seat firmly in place.

How is it without this ratchet feature? Don't the seat's work loose?

Cheers

[Jop]

We have b8 avant and use maxicosi baby seat with isofix base.

It's a perfect fit.

[ScottyUK]

I'm aware that it's ISOFIX ready but I have a rear facing seat which goes with the pushchair and a 9month+ seat already.

It'll be expensive to go all ISOFIX if I have to ... hence my question about people using the seat belts i.e. non-ISOFIX.

[jkh112]

I too found that the child seats I use for my daughters fouled the rearheadrests. Despite the earlier threadfs they are easy to remove, just tilt the seat backs forward (so the headrests don't hit the roof when being removed) and push in the little removal button!