If you’re anything like me you’ve heard of the new ‘i-Size’ (or the ECE R 129) car seat safety standards, but you’re not exactly sure what they entail, or how they affect your family. Instead of explaining it to you here, I will send you over to an article that I found very comprehensive. In summary, infants will rear face for longer (at least 15 months) and infant car seats will steadily all become ISOFIX. However, for now, the most important thing to note is that the new i-Size law runs alongside current regulations, not instead of.
Before buying car seats I did a lot of online research. I found Which? particularly helpful all those years ago, making it easy to read up on all the best car seats, and very eye opening too. The Evoluna i-Size is a Which? ‘Best Buy’ and has achieved the highest ever score for a Group 0+ infant carrier. Impressive.
Otto and I have been testing out the KIDDY Evoluna i-Size car seat for the last few months, a car seat that (as the name suggests) is approved against the new ‘i-Size’ regulations. The KIDDY Evoluna i-Size is packed with state of the art technology, to not only protect in the event of an impact, but your infant’s health and development too. It is also the only i-Size lie flat infant carrier in the world.
A lie flat sleeping position is good for blood supply, it keeps the baby’s head, neck and body inline and keeps airways open. The Evoluna also has a three point harness, five shoulder positions, a newborn inlay, padded straps, side impact protection and a memory foam energy absorbing head support, plus an enhanced breathable shell air circulation to keep your child warm in winter and cool in summer. KIDDY works in partnership with The Lullaby Trust; the leading charity working to promote safer sleep, support bereaved families and raise awareness of SIDS.
So far, the two things that stand out to me are how easy the car seat attaches to the ISOFIX base. It literally two seconds – one to clip it on, and one to check the indicators have turned green. An ISOFIX can be bulky, but they really give me peace of mind. The second thing is the lie-flat feature. If Otto has just fallen asleep and we get home, I always transfer him to his bed, but if he’s due to wake up any second I can just bring him in the house, lay him flat and wait until he wakes up. Oh…and I’ve just thought of a third – the huge sun hood. It comes down much lower than my previous infant car seat (Maxi Cosi Pebble). It really does the job.
I opted for the all black car seat, but it was out of stock, so I chose the white outer and black inner colourway (Heaven), which I actually really love.
Two things to consider before buying the KIDDY Evoluna i-Size car seat is that it is slightly wider than your usual infant carrier, and it is also slightly heavier. However, both of these things make sense when you consider that it is designed to carry a heavier child.
I’ll be giving you another update in a couple of months’ time, but so far – we are big fans!
E xx
A very big thank you to Kiddy for sending us the amazing KIDDY Evoluna i-Size car seat and the ISOFIX base 2, free of charge for review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.
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