Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Kiddy Guardianfix Pro 2 Car Seat: Review



Car Seat Safety...


It goes without saying, that as a parent your child's safety is of the up most importance. Nothing comes before them or their well being, whether in the house, at school or even on the road.

Safety in the car is vitally important to me and as a worrier generally, it does tend to terrify me when we venture out on long journeys. I worry our car seats aren't safe enough, that the belts and clips may not be strong enough and I am constantly looking over my shoulder to check on Alf (aged 4) and Soph (21 months) to see that they are still strapped in and looking secure.

I was asked to review a car seat from a Kiddy, a market leader with some of the safest and unique car seats for babies right up to twelve year old children. From the options available, we chose to review the Guardian Fix Pro 2 seat, as we would be able to try it with both children and it was definitely a better choice than the two we have currently. We couldn't wait to try it out!

On the seats arrival, the children were super excited to see who could sit in it first and so the squabbling began. They were both desperate to sit in it so we got straight to work fitting it in the car. I could see we may have to buy a second if this was the way it was going!




Product details



  • Group 1/2/3 9 months to 12 years approx
  • Kiddy Original Impact Shield
  • Extra Comfort - Breathable Fabric
  • One hand adjustment of head rest and shoulder rest
  • Extendable and elevated leg support
  • Kiddy Shock absorber
  • Comfortable head rests
  • Superb side protection
  • High performance shock absorbing material
  • Adjustable snooze position
  • Weight: 7.5kgs
  • Dimensions:H x Wx D
  • 46 x 65 x 40 cm to 60 x 81 x 52 cm


First Impressions


Having had cheaper brands and a supermarkets own high backed booster more recently for Alf, it was amazing to see the difference in quality between them and the Kiddy seat - worlds apart. The seat looked really comfortable, extremely well made and 'tough' straight away.




I couldn't imagine how the bumper would look in place, so I was interested to find out. The colour (Marakesh) is really lovely and not as bright as it looked in the website picture, which I was really pleased with. The little details on the seat were very good quality and it looks safer than anything we have been able to afford previously.



Preparing/Fitting




For younger ones, the seat comes ready to use, nothing needs building or putting together, just heights adjusted for your passenger which was incredibly easy to do. We have never used Isofix points before and discovered that in our car, despite it being listed as compatible, it was a real pain to fit. It took two of us to click it in place, basically because the seat cushion is too high (padded) and has to be held down. We have a 2008 Vauxhall Vectra, so at least plenty of room to play around in. I noticed on the instructions you can use extra clips that attach to the Isofix point which make fitting easier - however these are an accessory and would need to be purchased separately, but in my opinion they are well worth having to make it easier, especially if you have a car like ours and will be putting the seat in and out regularly. On a standard flatter seat though, this should be a simple case of clipping out the connectors on the chair and clipping in place. This was more a fault of our car than anything else, but worth thinking about if you are using Isofix too.



Using With Soph - Now 21 Months Old



I was really excited about using this seat for Soph, she has her brothers hand me down seat, so I couldn't wait to get her in a nice squishy new one of her own.

Soph was very excited about this seat and climbed straight in with a beaming smile, holding onto the armrests and wiggling her bottom in place, a very happy little toddler!

Next up was to pop the guard on the front. This part sits comfortably within the arm rests guarding the child's body, giving them a comfortable resting point too. To fit, we simply had to slot the bumper bar into the gap, resting firmly against her tummy and fit the regular seat belt over the top. Simples!




This is where princess bossy pants kicked in with a resounding 'NO!'. Soph just couldn't understand what the bumper was for she just would NOT let us get it on. We tried on a day where she was in a better mood but still to no avail.  By the time we had got it on, as soon as we got the seat belt out she had pushed it off again. I think if she had had this seat from the offset (9 months), she would be used to it so it wouldn't have been a problem, but introducing it to an extremely bossy 19 month old just didn't work for us, she is now 21 months and we have tried again with the same reaction.

Luckily though, there's one we prepared earlier - her lovely big brother Alf.



Using with Alf - 4 Years old



Alf has been using a very cheap high backed booster, we didn't realise there would be much of a difference when it came to this stage, having visited a large retailer and compared a few models.

One major issue for us more recently has been that he has started to get car sick, he also never seems to be comfortable and when he fell asleep, his head would hang forward looking very unsafe as well as uncomfortable. We knew we were driving to Wales this month, so waited for this longer journey (5 hours in total each way) before publishing this review and here is how we got on with Alf.

Thankfully, he and we love it!


First things first. Alf's car sickness has vanished (YES VANISHED!) simply from switching to this seat. He literally hasn't mentioned sickness once and we have been trialing this for a while now. I hadn't even considered that this would affect that at all. I thought car sickness was more of a motion thing for him, but presumably it was more the bumps and the fact that this lovely cushioned seat absorbs those bumps and stops his little tummy getting too jiggled. 

As any parent that has dealt with car sick will understand - I am absolutely over the moon to not have to worry about sicky journeys any more!


On longer journeys Alf has fallen asleep really easily, his head comfortably rests in the head area and he looks so much happier and safer sitting in this seat than his previous one. 

The adjustable width of the seat and the soft cushioned edges allow for extra comfort. The seat belt fits really nicely over his lap and through the guides on the seat, it's very easy to use and adjust the height and width using only one hand. 

The fabric is very breathable, meaning that even on a very hot long journey, the seat wasn't left sweaty, nor was the boy.

This seat will be able to grow with Alfie now all the way through his car journeys as a child and he absolutely loves it, especially as his favourite colour is orange and he has his very own arm rests!


I feel so much more assured for Alf's safety using this seat, I love that he no longer gets sick in the car and that we were able to have a five hour journey without a single complaint or difficulty with the seat. I would have loved to have had this for Soph when she first went up to the second stage car seat, as it was just a little too late to introduce a new seat with her being so bossy!

In terms of a car seat for an older child I would absolutely recommend this seat and Kiddy products to anyone. The quality is noticeably better than most brands I have seen and the safety features are really reassuring for parents. The seat is easy to adjust, it isn't super heavy and has made a huge difference in Alf's happiness whilst travelling, as well as my own.

You can read all about this car seat on the Kiddy website here.





Disclosure: I was sent this seat in exchange for an honest review. All words and thoughts are my own.