BeSafe izi Plus Stats
Weight range: 0-25 kg (approx. from 6 months old to 5 years old)
Installation: Seatbelt install
Lowest harness height: 27cm
Highest harness height: 38cm
Cabin space required: 91cm
Wash: 30° hand wash cycle and hang to dry
PLUS TESTED
RRP: £379.99
When my youngest son was 8 months old, BeSafe had recently come out with their first 25kg rear facing car seat. The izi Plus. Because he was a little chunky monkey, I felt that buying him a 25kg rear-facing seat was needed, to make sure he could stay rear facing for as long as possible, and to further make sure that he was old enough to use a high back booster with the adult seat belt when the day came that he grew out of his rear-facing seat.
From before we already had the BeSafe izi Combi x4 for our daughter (in red). She was far more dinky, her being a premature baby, and wasn’t set to hit 18kg before around age 5. So that was a good seat for her, but not so much for her brother hehe.
Choosing the car seats back then wasn’t that hard actually. Finding an ERF retailer proved far harder since this was 6 years ago. ERF wasn’t that well known as it is now in the UK. But we got lucky and managed to find a retailer.
Originally I chose BeSafe for Caitiebelle, not only because it did well in testing (that was brought up), but also because the company is Norwegian. And so am I! hehe
It felt like I had a piece of home with me every day, which is nice when you have moved far away to a completely new country. I’ll also be honest and tell you that they did offer a nice range of colours and I’ve always liked to have some colour in the back seat! I know… it’s not the important part when choosing a seat – but what can I say… it’s still one of the things I look at.
When it was time to get Henry a new seat – I automatically aimed for BeSafe. I was extremely happy with the seat we already had and hubby was also a big fan. He still is, and we still are.
About the seat
BeSafe izi Plus offers a very good recline for the youngest ones and at the same time offers quite a good amount of legroom the older the child gets.
This is easily increased by ratcheting the rebound bar on the seat, pushing the seat further back, increasing the legroom.
It has an integrated harness that moves up and down with the headrest so it’s easy to adjust. The harness also has magnets on it – which makes you able to put them out of the way quite easily to get your child in and out of the seat.
- The front brace permits very tight installation of the child seat; also installed with anchoring belt
- Identical installation in front and rear seat with the car’s 3-point safety belt
- Option to increase the child’s legroom by moving the front brace
- Rear-facing child seats provide a high level of safety. A rear-facing child seat is five times safer than a forward-facing child seat
- High level of safety through side impact protection (EPS in the head- and body region)
- Long service life, from 6 months to 5 years/25 kg
- Simple adjustment of the headrest and internal harness
- Easy to fit the child in the seat. Magnets keep the internal harness out of the way
Installation
And what I call a perfect installation! :D
Tightening the harness!
Some may think the BeSafe izi Plus can be hard to tighten the harness on. However, I think that if you do it correctly all from the start – you won’t get many problems.
The harness is designed to be tightened thus as shown by us in the video below.
Getting in and out of the seat!
When Henry was almost 3 years old I made a video showing how he gets in and out of his ERF car seat. I often get questions about how the children do this or if it’s “hard” to get a child into an ERF seat as it’s facing backwards. The answer to that question is that no – it’s not hard at all.
It’s actually far easier than forward facing as for example, the car door is not in the way. hehe
Most able-bodied children are able to get in and out of their car seat with a little bit of help from about age 2. It’s actually quite important to let them do these things for themselves as it really helps build their independence, their balance and it also helps to increase their self-esteem.
We re-did the video a few months ago when Henry was 4,5 – but that was using a different ERF seat.
It grew with him & her!
As I already mentioned we bought the seat when Henry was 8 months old. So I thought I would show you his journey in the seat, as well as his sister using the seat – to give you a good view of how it looks also for the older children.
It does take up a lot of cabin space in the car, however, if you have an MPV or any vehicle where you can either utilize the front passenger space without compromising the front passenger safety it does fit quite a number of vehicles. Even cars that seem small. I had the izi Plus in our little Fiat Punto, it’s a very small car, but what matters is not the size of the whole vehicle, it’s the size of the cabin space. There is more space in the small Punto than you find in the “large” Qashqai… just to give you an idea hehe.
Through the years we have fitted our BeSafe izi Plus into a number of vehicles:
- Citroen C5 Estate
- Ford Mondeo Hatchback
- Fiat Punto
- Renault Scenic
- Citroen Xsara Picasso
These are the cars you see the seat installed in below.
Vehicle Fitting List:
I would always advise you to try the seat in the car before buying. The BeSafe izi Plus does have a fit litst – but it does not adhere to it. You can fit the seat into a car that’s not on the list as long as you can get a correct install.
Our Pros & Cons
As with every seat, there are some ‘pros’ as well as some ‘cons’ with a car seat.
Pros:
- The seat sits nice and high on the vehicle seat, this gives the child a good view out of the windows.
- It rear faces to 25kg.
- The seat has a very good recline that is also easily adjustable and can be adjusted during travel.
- BeSafe advertises the izi Plus up to approx. age 5, this I agree with. I would say that the seat fits the average child up to 115-120 CM tall all depending on where they have their length (torso/legs).
- It is PLUS tested! Which is the strictest crash test in the world.
- Integrated harness and magnets to hold them out of the way.
- It’s a very comfy seat according to my children.
- It has a good colour range.
Cons:
- The seat takes up a bit too much cabin space
- The headrest can be hard to adjust, the button you press in can be hard. I suggest making sure the harness is fully loosened and the child is not in the seat, before trying to raise it.
- CAN be difficult to install – make sure you read the manual thoroughly and watch the instruction video. Don’t forget to add the locking clip! (This is an issue I come across a lot).
- I wish the load leg was a little longer in length. Particularly for leg extension into an underfloor compartment. Even just adding one more notch would make it so much easier!
- High price. I wish the price wasn’t as high end as it is. It’s such a wonderful seat – but it’s just not that affordable for the average person in this economy, to be honest. So if you really like this seat I would suggest you start saving for it early so that you have the cash when the baby is old enough to use it (minimum 6 mo) . Some retailers do offer payment plans though.
A bit of both that as you can see. But please remember that this is just my own personal view, you might not agree with me.
Your thoughts?
Do you have a BeSafe izi Plus? What do you think about this car seat?
*I was asked by BeSafe to write a sponsored post review of this car seat. However, as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own!
Therese has completed the ‘Advanced Child Car Seat Training Course’ at TRL (Transport Research Lab) and is a CPD accredited car seat expert. She blogs about in-car safety, car seats, tips, reviews, giveaways and advice. She’s a mum on a mission to change the law and raise awareness. She is also a breastfeeding advocate and gentle parenting promoter who loves cloth nappies, baby-wearing, BLW and co-sleeping/bed-sharing.