Britax Duo Plus
If you have arrived here and live in the US, sorry, but I’m afraid this particular Britax car seat is not available to you. The closest is the Britax Roundabout which is also an exceptional product.
The Duo Plus seats have exceptional safety features and have been developed following extensive research by Britax, who, as a manufacturer have stood the test of time.
The only information about specific seats you will find on this site is about Britax. Why? Other makes are certainly good, safe and popular. But when buying car seats and strollers, most people do their research first and decide for themselves. This is what I did, and Britax was my manufacturer of choice.
The Britax Duo Plus ISOFIX compatible car seat is one of the best seats for all round protection you can get for your child.
- In Group 1, the seat is designed for children and babies from 9-18kgs (9 Months – four Years approx)
- The Si-Pro system gives excellent side impact protection whilst incorporating a unique and patented pivot link system that provides the best possible protection in any front or rear impact
- Britax ISOFIX system anchors the child seat directly to the car removing the need for adult seat belts
- Incorporates ‘pivot link‘, a safety feature patented by, and unique to Britax. This reduces any movement of your child within the seat should an accident occur
- The Britax Duo Plus Isofix has deeply softly padded side wings for optimum protection from a side impact
- Adjusta-Fit system allows easy headrest and harness adjustment to accommodate your growing child
- User friendly side elastics, the seat is capable of reclining in to 3 positions
- Some cars may additionally require a Performance Pad and/or Top Tether Strap
- Before fitting you must ensure this seat is compatible with any vehicle you may wish to use it in. Download the fit-finder HERE.
- Dimensions: 46x48x68 cm
- Weight: 8.9 kg
The Pivot link system is unique to Britax and to Isofix seats and restrains the top part of the seat from excessive movement in addition to the Isofix fitting securing the bottom. To the best of our knowledge, no other Isofix seat has this unique system. Please let us know if you find one as this one feature is why we choose this one particular seat.
The Britax Duo Plus Isofix comes in a range of colourways. Candy Hearts (nice and pink!), Olivia and Nicolas appear to be the most readily available. However, if you have a month to spare take a look at Felix, Jet and Bella. A few more colourways can be found by CLICKING HERE.
If you happen to need a Britax car seat for a larger baby, or one that lasts up until 12 years (approx) try the Britax Evolva range.
Britax are a manufacturer with a good pedigree for safety and comfort and should be one you are considering when looking for a car seat for your children.
PS: You can download the User Guide HERE.
PPS: Both the product links on this site have been included as they seem to have the best discounted price we could find from a reputable dealer.
In fact, latest research has found that a child of less than two is 75% LESS likely to experience a serious injury or die when in a rear-facing seat. Likewise, children between 1 and 2 years of age are five times safer than those riding in a front-facing car seat.
Why? The answer is fairly simple and to do with physics. While rear-facing, the force of any collision will be evenly distributed over the body. In contrast, while forward-facing the force is concentrated on the seat belt contact areas which may lead to more serious neck and head injuries. Our recommendation for a rear facing seat is the Britax First Class Plus.
The point here is don’t put your child forward-facing until their head is one inch of the top of the seat structure or the weight for that seat is reached or until at least two years of age.
Rather than tell you more, just watch the video below and you will realise why you should keep your child in a rear facing position for as long as possible.
Now when I found that the question, “why are car seats good for children” is one that is regularly asked in google, I was gob smacked to say the least! To me, and most people it is blatently obvious, but I guess that if you are a very young mum without much experience of life, then you may be tempted to think that you are the safest driver and nothing will happen. You may also be unsure of what to look for and what type of seat to get.
Even if you were the safest driver on this planet, that does not account for the billions of other people on the road who may not be, for weather conditions, pot holes and a miriad of other possibilities! All you have to do is look on the Internet and see just how many babies and children are saved from potentially fatal or life changing injuries by being secured in child car seats. Thankfully, as it is law in most countries that a child be secured in the appropriate seat, you rarely hear of babies and children being thrown from cars.
Put Your Child In A Car Seat – Now! Never assume nothing will happen even on a short journey. Even in a minor collision a child can suffer neck and brain injuries, let alone being flung through the windscreen like a missile. Being held by an adult is not a compromise either, as in some circumstances, injuries can be worse. Even a second hand car seat one is better than nothing but read these tips.
For newborns, try not to use the seat too often until they are about 6 weeks old. They should also be in a rear facing seat for as long as possible or until at least 1 year old and/or 20lbs when the seat should be a forward facing one until 4 years and/or 40lbs.
If you can stretch to a new seat then find one with ISOFIX fittings unless you want one that is part of a travel system that comes in and out of the car easily. ISOFIX seats will usually fit most cars, but do check before you buy if you car is pre 2006.
Any seat must have a 5 point harness for very young children, as they grow, a 3 point will suffice and they may move onto a booster seat. A booster seat allows a bigger child to wear an adult selt belt by raising their position and allowing the seat belt to slip through a clip so that the belt does not cut across their neck.
Our favourite seat is the Britax Duo Plus, only available in the UK but out of all the ISOFIX seats it has a unique pivot link system that in addition to holding the seat secure at the base, also stops excessive movement at the top of the seat in any impact situation.
As I realise most of you will already have your children safely secured, I apologise if I offend. But having found this question being asked in Google I thought I’d just vent my emotions!
Not all ISOFIX child car seats are equal!
Britax were the first to incorporate ISOFIX into their car seats in 1997, so watch this video which explains more fully the ISOFIX system and the additional benefit of their unique pivot link system.
Britax insists on going the extra mile when it comes to safety, over and above what is required by law.
Well, truth is, there are the rules…and there are the recommendations. These things aren’t always the same. Let us bottom line it, shall we?
First, the rules. For now in the US, the FAA does not insist that infants and children under two years are restrained during flight. These are not the ‘restraints’ one might think of on a gurney in a mental health ward. Heavens, no! Rather, this language refers to the idea of airlines requiring infants and toddlers to have their own seat, with a car seat or seatbelt adapter appropriate to their size. For the time being, parents are permitted to purchase their own tickets, with children riding free or at discounted cost as an ‘infant in arms.” Specifically, it is required that these children be held on an adult’s lap during times of takeoff, landing and turbulence.
These regulations vary internationally, with many EU nations having regulations that stipulate all passengers, including infants and small children, utilize a restraining device. Customarily in the UK, airlines use a loop device or tether for small children attached to the main seat belt. The vast majority of countries have regulations that are far less specific. For families travelling abroad, I encourage parents to call the airlines to gain useful and updated information. Even still, I add a caveat that the staff on aircraft or in farflung airports may be far less familiar (or far more annoyed) with the use of these safety seats with the littlest kids. Like the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Universe reminds us: Don’t Panic.
The FAA and the National Highway, Traffic, and Safety Administration( NHTSA) have held numerous symposia and conferences over this topic over the last ten years, and are moving towards universal restraining device requirements for all who board US aircraft. They aren’t there…yet. The agencies have wavered, in part, from studies in the middle of the last decade that suggested that the requirement for infant/toddler safety seats would be prohibitive, forcing the purchase of a ticket for the children under two (remember, they can travel free under current regs, right?). Fearing a stampede of stickershocked people down the jetway and to their cars on the highway, the government made a rather fascinating ‘public safety’ decision. In essence, officials felt the relative risk of dying of ‘infants in arms’ due to a mishap on a plane was much lower than the risk of death or injury in a motor vehicle accident. Hence, the rules still stand.
Change seems to be seeping in slowly. Legislation passed over 10 years ago required domestic airlines to accommodate passengers with FAA-approved types of child safety seats. The ‘approved’ status is an important one, for not all seats are compatible with airline seats. This constitutes a gamechanger for some families who may need to buy a special seat for air travel (that may or may not be useable in a car). Is the 100 bucks worth the relatively small risk?
To put it bluntly, the risk of being in a plane crash is a relatively uncommon event. The relative odds of dying in a flight run about 1 in 8 million when using data quoted from the early 90’s.(other odds for comparison: odds of dying by bee sting run about 1 in 100,000; death by lightning, are about 1 in 84,000) Research of plane crash deaths and injuries revealed that approximately 1/3 of younger passengers died of head trauma. Extrapolation of automobile and aircraft crash data also conclude that children riding in the lap of an adult–no matter how tightly they are held onto–are at greater risk of substantial injury than other passengers. Children in planes riding in car seats may actually suffer fewer or less severe injuries than infants in arms.
While the risk of an aircraft crash is tiny, the risk of running into substantial turbulence during a flight is much more common. For this reason, the FAA has actually launched an information campaign urging the use of child safety seats to protect against falls and head bonks due to turbulence.
Child safety seats may afford some protection when appropriately sized and used in ideal conditions (if ever being in a plane crash can be called ideal, anyway). This is reminiscent of the fantasy scenario in our physics problems sets in pre-med; one assumed zero gravity and no friction for some computations. Nifty, but almost never true. In any event, these findings offer a basis for the movement towards better restraining of our youngest kids, when we are closer to building better, lighter, more effective airplane car seats.
On the upside, new technologies, such as insertible platforms on standard seats or child-friendly modifications to seat belt harnesses may be available in more planes in the next few years. Consumers should expect the rate of this rollout to be directly affected by the pace of regulation. When the rules pass, I reckon we’ll see a flurry of changes for airlines to be in compliance. Til then, it goes slowly.
What are the recommendations?
The American Academy of Pediatrics has weighed in with a lengthy article on this issue, and eventually, they restate their support for universal restraint for all passengers. The AAP call upon the FAA to implement this ASAP. (Ok?) These regulations will provide appropriate seating for children of different ages and sizes. For example, children under 12 months may require rear facing seats, while toddlers and preschoolers may need adaptive harnesses. Kids above 40 pounds may be permitted to use standard seatbelts. Oh, there’s more, but you get the idea.
In the meantime, families do have options. Parents can purchase FAA approved car seats for flights. Note bene again: seats that are safe and compatible for airplane use may not be able to be used in automobiles. Can anyone else hear the sound of parents groaning and car seat manufacturers gleefully clapping their hands? Before plunking down the bucks for a purchase of a one-seat -does-all for their child, or before having another large item to tote to the gate, I urge parents to do their research and talk it out with their children’s primary care doc. Here is a great blog on this topic to get that process started.
Is lugging a car seat worth it? From a cardio point of view, definitely. Nice workout. And, from a safety standpoint? Yeah, sorta. Yes, if you crash (but this is an event with low probability). If there is turbulence, those littluns best be secured whatever your mode of travel. (Full disclosure: for our upcoming trip, we are opting to check the car seat as baggage and go kid on the lap). There is no question, however, we parents will face an unavoidable scenario if traveling with one or more children under three. We will all have our turn carrying satchels and kid gizmos, lumbering like a gear-draped chandelier, searching for our seats, with our without a car seat.
In the meantime, a father of a family I work with much gives us a final perspective on why car seats on planes are a great idea. This may be the most compelling reason of all to suck it up and get one. I’ll paraphrase him here: “In the end, its a better deal for her mom and me. I know exactly where she is, and, I get a free lap for the flight.”
Free lap versus free ticket? Tough math, there. Choose your way, and bon voyage!
(Written by Jack Maypole and taken from http://thefastertimes.com/pediatrics/2010/04/14/wouldya-couldya-shouldya-carseats-on-airplanes/)
