Maxi-Cosi has introduced us to some of the safest and most innovative child car seats on the market. It is fair to say they have revolutionised the infant car seat market and they show no signs of stopping their game-changing ways. The Maxi-Cosi AxissFix Plus is the latest addition to the Maxi-Cosi family and we couldn't wait to put it to the test.
Quick Summary: The AxissFix Plus might just be what many parents have been waiting for. An i-Size compliant car seat that swivels to save your back and is suitable from birth. The excellent safety features and added peace of mind that the seat has passed the R129 (i-size) regulations make the AxissFix Plus a super appealing seat for parents who need to know their child is as safe as possible when travelling by car. The option to rear face up until approximately 2 years old is fab but safety conscious parents who use their car regularly will no doubt be disappointed that the AxissFix Plus does not allow children to rear face up to approximately 4 years old. But one thing is for sure, the fabulous tiny features such as 360 back saving swivel, self-adjusting harness, hold-open harness hooks, infant inlay and several recline positions all add to the golden halo that shines above the AxissFix Plus. The AxissFix Plus is most definitely a quality seat that has been produced with safety at the core of it's design.
Whats good?
- Longevity (suitable from birth until 4 years)
- 360 degree back saving swivel
- Great range of colours
- Non-slip harness and handy stay open hooks
- Memory foam seat padding
Whats not so good?
- Rear facing until 87cm (approx 2 years) only
- High price tag
The Maxi-Cosi AxissFix was the first of its kind, breaking boundaries as it was the first swivel car seat that also met i-Size regulations. Now, many parents are actively seeking out a swivel car seat for ease of use and for their back saving qualities. TheAxissFix Plus is set to build on this popular and clever model.
Never ones to rest on their laurels, Maxi-Cosi has now developed a swivel car seat that can be used from birth, saving parents backs and wallets whilst keeping their little one as a safe as possible all the way from 0-4 years old.
By now, we are all hearing the word ‘i-Size’ regularly when discussing infant car seats. i-Size aims to make car seats even safer. The term refers to seats that have passed new side impact protection tests and are able to be fitted easily, without errors, using the ISOFIX anchor points in your car. i-Size seats also allow children to travel in the safer rear facing position until the minimum age of 15 months old (now a legal regulation) but some seats can allow rear facing for even longer.
The seat of the AxissFix Plus allows your child to rearward face up until they are 87cm in height (which is about two years old). After that, the seat uses its mighty swivel action to rotate into a forward facing seat for children of 87cm-105cm.
Installation
Installing a car seat correctly means you are 8/10 of the way there.
The great thing about the new AxissFix Plus is that as soon as you get it out of the box, a thick booklet listing all of the cars that the seat is compatible with is the first thing that you come to. Granted, this research should have been done before you bought the seat whether you buy online or in-store, however, it’s great to have and refer to. The list of cars the AxissFix Plus is compatible with is way too long to list here but you can check on the Maxi-Cosi website car fitting list or with your nearest Maxi-Cosi retailer.
Installing the AxissFix Plus is easy, thanks to the extra clear and visual instructions on the side of the seat, or the simple quick guide attached to the harness straps when we unboxed the seat, as well of course the instruction manual.
The seat is connected, as one, with its base and to install you need to sit the seat in the car with the tall back plate to the back of the seat.
You might expect the seat to be in with two clicks as with other ISOFIX seats, however, the AxissFix Plus has a third point to install.
When clicked onto the car anchors, the two ISOFIX arms show green indicators to confirm that everything is clicked in securely. This gives great peace of mind that you’re on the right track. Next, you need to attach the top tether strap. The top tether is like a seat belt that clips to the anchor point behind the back seat and gives the car seat total stability. Once clipped to the anchor point, it is adjusted until it is taut by pressing the button buckle that slides up and down the belt. Pull the top tether until the green indicator appears on the buckle, when you see this then you know that the seat is installed correctly and you can place your child in it.
Because the seat has three anchor points to install, it isn’t the quickest – but we can’t imagine it to be the kind of seat that parents want to fit in several different cars. It is likely to stay in situ in one car from birth until it is no longer needed.
Being a swiveling car seat, the AxissFix Plus can spin around completely and can rear face or face forwards whilst traveling in the car. As an i-Size car seat, the child needs to rear face until 15 months. From 15 months onwards it is your choice if you wish to turn the AxissFix Plus to the forwards position, however, it is much safer to keep your child rear facing for as long as possible, which in the case of the AxissFix Plus is 87cm (approx. 2 years old). Ideally, it would have made our day if the AxissFix Plus rear faced until 105cm (approx 4 years old), but it’s still good that it is possible until around two years old.
The Seat
It’s hard not to love the seat of the AxissFix Plus. For one, the range of colours are just wonderful. We tested out the new Nomad Green colour from the Nomad range. Not just pretty to look at, the fabrics are well padded, super soft and cosy.
There’s lots to talk about with this brand new all singing, all dancing seat. Everywhere we looked and the more we used the seat, the tiny details came to light. These all either make parenting life that tiny bit easier or make baby’s car ride safer and more comfortable.
The biggest difference from the AxissFix is that the AxissFix Plus can be used from birth. The included infant inlay needs to be used from 45-60cm. The pictorial instructions on the seat make this so easy to understand and there is no mistaking that the inlay is there for a reason and the seat should not be used without the inlay unless your child exceeds 60cm in height.
The inlay had us mesmerised for a while – its memory foam properties were so soft and comfortable as well as super safe and shock absorbing. The insert makes sure that the babies back is straight which is great peace of mind knowing that baby’s spine is free to develop correctly and that their airways are open. The harness tucks neatly through carefully placed cut-outs around the edges of the insert to make sure it fits snugly and correctly for small babies.
When it is time to remove the infant inlay, the seat is covered in the same super soft material. The headrest cocoons baby and is deep so offers great support and side protection. The deep headrest is also very handy as a pillow for sleepy older children!
Adjustable, the headrest can be moved according to the height of the passenger with a simple squeeze clasp to the rear. The harness adjusts along with the headrest to seven different heights really easily just by pulling the headrest up and down – far easier than threading it through tiny fiddly holes.
The harness surprised us with more lovely time saving and ‘parent-friendly’ features when we discovered the rubber loops that hooks back to the seat shell to keep the harness open whilst you pop baby in and out. This is especially helpful when putting a small baby in the seat. Then there is the added treat of the rubberised undersides of the harness pads. These make the harness ‘anti-slip’ and little people find it very hard to wriggle out of their harness – a total relief to parents who have experienced mini Houdini’s whilst on a car journey.
The seat also has 4 recline positions no matter which direction you choose to use it in. The recline is operated by a lever to the front of the underside of the seat. The recline positions are a welcome feature, especially with small babies in the seat, though if you are operating the recline when the seat is rear-facing, there is a chance of scraping your hand on the back. We recommend spinning it to the side first!
Being a swivel car seat, your child can travel forwards or rearward facing. To operate the swivel action, there are two steps you need to take. First of all, you need to flick the grey slider to the left or right, depending on if you are rear or forward facing. It’s as simple as flick it to the left to turn left and flick it to the right to swivel right.
Then, pull out the lever to the side of the seat and pull it around to the desired position. You can feel the seat click into place so you know when you are safe to travel.
There is a tension belt that keeps the seat stable and helps it to swivel. When in the rear facing position, the tension belt extends from the back of the seat to the seat high-backed shell of the seat. Our toddler tester (19 months) liked to pull and play with this belt when there was nothing exciting happening out of the car window.
Conclusion
The AxissFix Plus might just be what many parents have been waiting for. An i-Size compliant car seat that swivels to save your back and is suitable from birth.
The excellent safety features and added peace of mind that the seat has passed the R129 (i-size) regulations make the AxissFix Plus a super appealing seat for parents who need to know their child is as safe as possible when travelling by car.
The option to rear face up until approximately 2 years old is fab but safety conscious parents who use their car regularly will no doubt be disappointed that the AxissFix Plus does not allow children to rear face up to approximately 4 years old.
But one thing is for sure, the fabulous tiny features such as 360 back saving swivel, self-adjusting harness, hold-open harness hooks, infant inlay and several recline positions all add to the golden halo that shines above the AxissFix Plus.
The AxissFix Plus is most definitely a quality seat that has been produced with safety at the core of it’s design.
