Trying out the Britax KidFix XP SICT Car Seat - Review

Ever since we reviewed the Britax B-Agile 3 I've been thoroughly impressed with Britax. I feel like they are at the forefront of innovation and safety when it comes to travel products for children. Not only are their products safety conscious they are also design conscious. I didn't think twice about accepting the Britax Kidfix XP SICT Car Seat and as Noah was getting too big for his car seat the timing was good. Now I know that you'll all think hold on a minute, Noah is only 2 years old and typically this seat is for 4 - 12 year olds/ children who weigh 15 - 36kg but he is the size, and weight at 19kg of a lot of 4 year olds! Big boy I know! So he fits perfectly in this seat and it isn't any the less safe for him being younger, it is the child's weight that you should consider most when changing up to new Group 2/3 car seats.

It's a forward facing seat and comes in black fabric and has washable covers - which is a good thing when your kids like to snack on longer journeys! But far more important than what it looks like is how it performs and this is where I was really impressed. 

It has advanced side impact cushion technology (SICT) which helps to protect children in the event of a side on collision. On each side of the seat there are two round white disks that you can unscrew. You unscrew the disk closest to the window in order to give more side impact protection. Then the other nifty thing is the XP chest pad that diverts 30% more crash energy away from the child's chest compared to a normal seatbelt. 

The seat uses our car's ISOFIX connections so it means that the seat is fixed firmly in place and doesn't slip about (unlike Isla's seat that we really need to replace!). The seat uses the existing back seat belt in the car, so no more 5 point harness for Noah (see my point about that below). Everything is geared towards total safety and touch wood we never have a serious accident but if we do I know this seat will keep Noah the safest possible.

One thing I will mention, just for the purposes of people who have rather large 2 year olds like I do - mentally they don't quite understand the need to not 'pop' the seat belt, which they are able to do when they use the back seat belts that come with the car. This happened on a couple of occasions. For us this actually happened when Noah was having a tantrum and this was always before we'd started the journey. My way to deal with it was simply to let him finish the tantrum (imagine a bucking bronco in the back of the car), calm down (him and me) and then belt up and get on the way. Thankfully tantrums are few and far between now and he understands the need to be belted up - "I won't undo my seatbelt Mummy" said on many occasions when getting in the car! 

You can find more information on the product here: http://www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/car-seats/kidfix-xp-sict

We were sent this car seat for purposes of review. All opinons are my own.

Britax B-Agile 3 - Mumbassador Review

This Dream Machine, the Britax B-Agile 3, arrived in our house recently and I was so excited about it that I asked the OH to put it together before I got back from work. I say put it together, all that involved was putting the wheels on and the hood on, I think I could have done it myself. I'm told that as soon as it was up Isla and Noah were pushing and shoving to get in it first - they were pushing each other round the living room it was *THAT* exciting! This was all before I got home. So I was pleased to see that the new wheels had been gladly received. I do love a buggy, I think if you have a good one it can be the best bit about buying and using baby equipment. It's such a huge purchase and you have to research it well.

We've been sent this buggy as part of the Britax 'Mumbassador' (this makes me think of Ferrero Rocher every time I say it) programme and I was really quite flattered to be asked to join the Britax team. As a family we have never tried any Britax products so I was interested to see how I would take to a new brand. Before we owned the B-Agile I think I felt the name Britax was synonymous with safety and quality and with this buggy they have come up trumps. It's lightweight, easy to manoeuvre and sleek. The harness is safe and easy to fix and the frame feels really sturdy. It's already had the thumbs up from my mum, she says she thinks it's so lightweight that Britax must have been thinking of the Grandmas' when they designed it. She said 'it's brilliant, so easy to push, it just glides'. So there you are, one happy Grandmother. 

We've used it a fair bit for Isla and Noah and I would say that so far my favourite bits (apart from how easy it is to get around with) are the massive hood that extends further still when you unzip it and it has a mesh section so you can look directly through the hood to see baby. Great for checking if baby is asleep. Also I love the basket underneath which is great for when you do a little top up shop and you don't want to carry shopping bags. There is also a very nifty storage pocket in the the canopy for keeping important things to hand like keys and purse.

There's one other use for the B-Agile that you might not realise, it's a very good seat to watch Thomas the Tank Engine on TV in the morning......

We were sent the Britax B-Agile 3 to review - all words and opinions expressed are my own. Over the coming months we will review Britax products and let you know of latest news, offers and updates - keep your eyes peeled!