Good Egg Car Safety
Safety Advice for Families
How to fit an ISOFIX car seat
ISOFIX car seats are considered safer than seat belt fitted child seats, because the risk of them being incorrectly fitted is reduced. However, not all ISOFIX seats fit all vehicles, and mistakes can still be made.
Here are some tips to help you fit your child’s ISOFIX car seat
You must check the vehicle compatibility list to ensure your ISOFIX car seat is compatible to your vehicle. Not every ISOFIX seat fits every car, so it is important that the child seat manufacturer confirms that it is a safe fit. You can find the fitting list on the child seat manufacturer’s website.
Don’t forget! The seat must also be suitable for your child!
Once you have bought your seat, read the manual thoroughly. This will not only give you specific instructions on how to fit your seat safely, but you will also find information which is essential to your child’s continued safety.
To begin fitting your seat in the car, locate the ISOFIX points in your vehicle and attach the ISOFIX guides if required. Once you have done this, release the ISOFIX arms, so they are extended, and ensure the support leg is away from the seat base.
Attach the ISOFIX arms to the ISOFIX points in your vehicle, you should hear an audible ‘click’ and the indicators will turn green. You may now have to push the child seat firmly into the vehicle seat back to secure the fit.
Now lower the support leg to the floor, so that it fits firmly, but is not pushing the base of the seat upwards. If your seat uses a top tether strap instead, pass this over the back of the vehicle seat as instructed by your manual, attach to the tether point, and pull firmly – there should be no slack in the tether strap.
*please ensure you attach your tether strap to a top tether point, indicated in your manual – and not onto a luggage hook.
If your child seat fits using a separate ISOFIX base, you can now click the seat into place. Remember to follow your manuals instructions - some combination ISOFIX seats require you to fit it in full recline! Once you have clicked the seat unit into place, check that all of the indicators have turned green.
Comments 8
I have a new isofix carseat for my daughter who is 5 months today. It is not safe enough to use as it moves too much and the harness does not tighten enough. The website I bought it from are talking about having it repaired. Is this safe? There are no onions faults but definitely a problem with it.
Hi Rhiannon,
Thank you for commenting!
Some child seats have the ISOFIX fixed at one length when fitted, so there may be a gap, other ISOFIX seats can be pushed back into the vehicle seat to be flush. Check your child seat manual, to see if you can push the child seat back into the vehicle seat - not all seats do this. Also ensure that your car is listed as compatible with the child seat.
If your seat is listed as compatible, and you cannot push the seat into the vehicle seat, then yes, this is safe. You may want to check the back rest of the vehicle seat to ensure it isn't reclined, the back rest must be in it's fixed upright position.
Kind Regards,
The Good Egg Team
Hi,
We've just got a new car seat with isofix but it won't fit flush to the seat in the car. We've attached the top tether correctly but it would tip back a good couple of inches if our son pushed on the seat in front. Could we need shorter isofix fitments? Or could it be something else?
Thanks.
Hi Claire,
Thank you for your enquiry.
We're going to need a little more information to help you with your enquiry. Could you please send the following information to enquiries@goodeggsafety.com and one of our experts will be happy to help:
1) The make and model of the child seat
2) The make, model and year of your car
3) Photographs of the seat installed, and the issue you are having.
With this information, our experts will be able to help you.
Kind Regards,
The Good Egg Team
I want to purchase a new isofix seat for my 3 month old son as he's massive and is quickly outgrowing his baby carrier, also the base for the baby carrier is only fitted with a seatbelt and moves from side to side when going around corners.
I have a new Ford Mondeo which has isofix points in the back behind the passenger seat however my car has airbags EVERYWHERE! Including in the back of the front seats, I have the car seat at the moment in the middle of the back of the car away from any airbags however with an isofix this isn't going to be possible, is this safe? The new seat will be rearward facing.
Thanks
Hi Claire,
Thanks for getting in touch.
We have looked into this, and the Ford Mondeo does not have frontal airbags for the rear passengers. There is an option to add an airbag to the seat belt, and this can cause problems with fitting child seats. The airbag seat belt is not allowed to be used to belt fit a group 0+, 0/1, 1, 1/2 or 1/2/3 car seat. You can only use ISOFIX for these stages in the Ford Mondeo.
The Ford Mondeo also has iSize approved ISOFIX, so this means that if you buy an iSize child seat for your little one, it will automatically be compatible to the car.
I hope this helps, and if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail me on enquiries@goodeggsafety.com
Kind Regards,
Kat
Good Egg Lead Expert
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