Wednesday 27 July 2016

Review: Mothercare Madrid Car Seat

I'm not going to lie, the world of car seats is a minefield to me and when it came to choosing Ava's next seat I was stumped. There are so many seats out there, each with different features and ranging from budget to eye-wateringly expensive. We plan to buy a new car soon, and didn't want to spend a fortune only to realise the seat wouldn't then fit in our new car but unfortunately we couldn't keep Ava in her infant carrier much longer. That girl has got to be sitting up and seeing what is going on in the world!
 
 
 
With that in mind, we eventually settled on the Mothercare Madrid Combination car seat, which retails at £90 (but was a steal at £45 when we bought it!). This is a group 1 seat which is suitable from birth to 18kg (approx 4 years) and can be either rear or forward facing. With new guidelines coming into force requiring children to rear-face until they reach fifteen months, I knew I wanted a car seat which would allow this, and then further use once Ava is ready to face forward. The seat has a five-point safety harness, with individual harness tensioners for added safety and extra deep side wings for impact protection. It also reclines on it's own axis, and has three positions.
 
The installation instructions are my biggest gripe with the seat- they are rubbish! There are no words, just pictures which are quite obscure and hard to make sense of! I ended up watching a tutorial on Youtube, and googling for further explanation. As a result, the seat took much longer than anticipated to install but I think this would easily be fixed if they just added some text to the instructions! This isn't an isofix seat, so the belt does obstruct your way when getting the child into the seat. At the moment this isn't a problem as Ava is small enough to fit through the top gap, although when she's bigger I'll have to put her in from the other side. Saying that though, by that point she will probably be ready to forward-face and there wont be an issue, but keep it in mind in case you maybe also have another car seat at the other side.
 
 
 
Once (finally) in, the seat does feel really secure and looks protective. The cover is well padded and seems comfortable, and there is a removable insert and headrest for younger babies. I will say though that the seat is very upright, so personally I wouldn't use it for a newborn. Ava has just turned 8 months, and has been sitting up confidently for about 2 months so it is perfect for her, but I'd be hesitant to use it before six months. At the moment we are rear-facing, and I can only get the seat to recline into one position, but Ava has fallen asleep a few times and it's been perfect- her head doesn't fall forward which is something I worried about. The side wings are perfect for this too as sometimes her head will fall to the side slightly, but these support her and prevent it from falling too far. I am looking forward to trying out the rest of the recline positions once we move to forward facing, although it'll be just my luck that she stops napping then!
 
 
 
I think the seat looks great too, and definitely more expensive than the £45 we paid for it! It is also available in red (although be aware that I've seen this in real life and I'd definitely say it is pink). The cream insert can be separated, and the whole cover is removable so can be washed if any accidents occur. So far, both Ava and I are loving the seat, and she is thoroughly enjoying being able to sit up in the car. I actually wish I'd moved her a little earlier and saved myself some moaning car journeys!

Pros
- Price
- Can rear or forward face
- Can use from birth if required
- Removable, washable covers
- Five-point harness, easily adjustable straps
- Deep side wings
- Comfortable
- Reclines ( three when forward-facing)

Cons
- Can only recline once when rear-facing
- Instructions difficult to follow
- Seat belt causes some obstruction when putting baby in
- Bulky (base also takes up some of the middle seat)

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