Extended Rear Facing (ERF) car seats, excellent local service

[bluesuperted]

We just bought our second Extended Rear Facing (ERF) car seat using a fantastic local service that two friends had previously used. I was thrilled we could manage this in our small Golf.

Margaret is passionate about ERF and car seat safety and offers in home (yay!) consultations - free if you buy from her large selection, ?30 if you don't - and is incredibly knowledgable and approachable. A breath of fresh air compared with the lack of knowledge and misinformation from high street retailers, online guides and even sources such as Which?.

She has a thorough website and Facebook page:

http://bit.ly/1l0323v

And her number is:

07752 253499

She is a local mum and her service is second to none. Having previously trekked to Milton Keynes for an ERF seat she offers a brilliant alternative, will fit the seat correctly in your car and brings a selection (based on initial chat) to your home. Cannot recommend her highly enough and hope her service enables many more people to enjoy ERF peace of mind. My 3.5yo loves his seat, has a great view and never complains in the car, he was a crap traveller as a baby but is proof that ERF car seats can be enjoyed even by babies who are not fans of their infant bucket-like seats!

[collyflower]

We bought our seat from Margaret and she is great. Came to fit it for us and is on hand anytime we have a query. She knows her stuff. I'm really glad I heard about her and erf before I needed our second car seat.

[The Nappy Lady]

Very pleased to hear about this service, I really hope more parents start to stick with rear facing for longer it's so much safer.

[bluesuperted]

Me too, remember you being a vocal proponent years ago, ahead of your time! It's such a great service/idea and Margaret really REALLY knows her stuff. The more we talk about the massive benefits of ERF the less it will seem like a niche choice, which it absolutely shouldn't be! And Margaret's service makes it far more preferable than schlepping to a specialist retailer. Also, worth saying that the price of these seats seems to be coming down, ours was ?170 (there were cheaper ones too) which is a lot but given it could easily last 4 years/to 18kg (Hauck Varioguard for my youngest child) it's a small price to pay x

[Undiscovered]

Just wanted to add a big thumbs up. After struggling to get am ERF seat to fit previously (big hubby!) Margaret has managed to sort us out. Picking it up next week when she'll also fit if for us. Highly recommended!

[bluesuperted]

Great news Undiscovered! It's such a brilliant service and have had a good number of PMs too so I'm really glad I posted!

[etta166]

I've also now made an appointment to see Margaret on Tuesday to discuss fitting 3 ERF car seats into the back of my car. Fingers crossed this will work.

[bluesuperted]

That's great Etta, hope she can find the best solution for you.

[etta166]

I thought I'd come back and add that Margaret was great, and brought loads of seats for us to try in various combinations. We ended up getting 2 Axkid MiniKid seats that fit easily into our car along with a CabrioFix, making it 3 in a row all facing backwards. Margaret was so helpful and knowledgeable. I can strongly recommend getting in touch if you are thinking of getting to next stage of car seat after the infant carrier.

[Undiscovered]

We got the Axkid mini too and will get another once no 2 pops out the top of her 0+. Husband can drive in front of it. Bought a mirror for my nearly 3 year old and she's absolutely fine (she was forward facing for overs year previously too). I travelled 200 miles last week sat in between the two seats ( I have a Ford Focus) and there was plenty of room - more than with forward facing as the bulky bit isn't next to your bum (if that makes sense). She happily crosses her legs and slept soundly.

The seat lasts til 25kg which for my little lady will most likely be high school, so well worth the investment.

[bluesuperted]

Great to hear about the ERF success stories, it really seems that there is always a solution even with very small age gaps and more than 2 kids.

Yes Undiscovered I agree, I sit in the back all the time, for my sins, and it's actually fine! I do look like a total loon getting in and out but keeps me supple! Also good to hear about your formerly FF daughter being fine turning to RF, I think as long as they are comfy and have a good view most kids simply wouldn't find it an issue; lots of people imagine kids in tiny group 0 seats at age 3 and that is just not the situation at all!

[bluesuperted]

Bumping this for anyone else looking at upgrading to the next stage car seat.

[devsdev]

Thanks very much for posting this. We'll be going to CarGiant tomorrow to look at second hand cars and I think we'll stick to looking at the Golf/Focus/Civic range on the basis that we'll get ERF seats and hopefully fit in an adult as and when required (I'm assuming I'll be the adult so will give me an extra incentive to get into better shape!). Do you know if we should be looking at cars with Isofix for these kind of carseats? Will get in touch with Margaret as well. It'll be much cheaper to buy a rear-facing carseat than paying for a bigger car!