When it came to choosing our next car seat after the Britax Baby Safe Plus Infant Carrier I knew that I wanted another Britax car seat.  I also knew that I wanted an isofix seat as they are so user friendly to fit and you have the reassurance that the seat is fitted correctly, hence we chose the Britax Safefix Plus Group 1 Isofix Car Seat.

Britax Car Seat Safefix Specification:

• Group 1 car seat
• 9kg – 18kg
• From approximately 9 months – 4 years
• H: 65 cm W: 49 cm D: 55 cm
• Weight: 14kg

Britax Isofix Car Seat & Pivot Link

ISOFIX system anchors the seat directly to the car’s ISOFIX connection points eliminating any margin for error when installing the seat: Only 30% of child car seats are installed correctly when using an adult seat belt compared with 96% using the ISOFIX system.  The Britax pivot link system reduces the childs forward movement within the seat, Britax have a video on their website to demonstrate the difference … I think this was one of the key selling points to us.  Click on the Videos & User Guide Tab to view the video

There are 2 indicators on each side of the Britax Safefix Plus Group 1 Isofix Car Seat that you press at the same time to release and remove the car seat – they also indicate that the seat has been installed using the ISOFIX correctly – they should both be green.  It is extremely simple to remove and install the car seat using the ISOFIX system – It takes a maximum of 5 minutes.  The buttons are pretty hard to press in and I can’t imagine that a child would be able to do it – although Britax do advise that you check them before each journey … just in case.

Option to Install the Car Seat With 3-Point Seat Belt

The ISOFIX can be hidden away if you want to install the seat using the seat belt.  To install with the seat belt is also extremely simple and the instructions for both belted and ISOFIX installation have also been stuck to both sides of the seat so you don’t have to hunt around for the instruction manual.

Quick Remove Cover

Without interfering with the harness!

As I knew the seat cover would need to be washed at some point, this feature really appealed to me as safety was top of my list I didn’t want to be removing and re-threading a harness every time I wanted to wash the cover.
The cover comes off very easily leaving the harness and headrest, which makes it a very quick job and not something you have to plan in and again find a manual to do.
The fabric has a really nice feel to it too, very soft and slightly padded which makes it look like a very comfy seat.

Car Seat Harness Retainers

Make it easy to get your child in and out of the seat.

On the side of the seat are two plastic sections, where the harness can be popped in to when they’re not being used.  It’s handy as not only does it stop your little one sitting on an uncomfortable harness, it also stops the metal parts from getting too hot if it’s a very sunny day

Support Leg

The foot prop is another safety feature that gives extra stability to the seat

Chest Pads

Special performance chest pads that additional energy absorption, they also seem to keep Beth from escaping – she has never managed to get out of her harness
The chest pads are padded so they also look more comfortable than just a regular padded strap.

Side Impact Protection

Deep, softly padded side wings
I recently tested out the Evolva 1-2-3 and although it’s still a great seat the fabric wasn’t as soft, there was no recline and it felt very open in comparison to the Britax Safefix Plus.

Height Adjustable Headrest and Harness

Easy single-handed adjustment from the front.

The headrest raises up and down – more than I realised apparently! I thought Beth had grown out of her seat until I realised there was still another notch.
When you move the headrest the straps also move so they are always in line with the headrest, just another thing you don’t have to worry about.
It is easier to do this without a child in the seat although I have managed to change the position with Beth sitting in the seat!!

4 Recline Positions

Although it has 4 recline positions we have only ever used 2 of them – completely upright (left) or completely reclined for snoozing (below).  It’s handy to have another 2 positions in between, but we have never needed to use them.

Safefix Downsides

The only negatives I found with this seat:

The Britax car seat is a bit lower than other car seats, such as the Maxi-Cosi but this doesn’t seem to bother our traveller at all (shown in the picture below).

It is heavy so I wouldn’t want to be continuously moving it between cars – but there is something reassuring about its weight and overall feeling that it is very well-built and safe.
It can be a bit tough to tighten the straps, but I have always been guilty of tightening the straps as much as possible so there is no chance of escaping as we’re on our travels!
Padding around harness clasp can pop off quite a bit as it’s only held on with velcro, but again this has never caused us any bother as it fixes on very easily.

Where to Buy the Britax Safefix

Britax have a number of styling options for the Safefix Plus, from jet black to cow print with ears (cowmooflage).  Amazon stocks many variations of this Britax car seat, depending on your style.