Best stage 2/3 seat?

[yazzy85]

I need to buy a stage 2/3 seat for my nearly 4 year old. Which ones are the best? I have had a look at Maxi Cosi as thats the brand we have had before. Any advice please.

[4yoniD]

I have a Maxi Cosi Rodi Fix and a Cybex Silver Solution X-Fix. I put quite a bit of research into both - they are not the best money can buy, but the best (safest etc) I could get at a reasonable price.

I massively prefer the Cybex. I wish I had two. I can list all the reasons if you are interested.

Also worth noting whether you want isofix. It means a heavier car seat which is harder to swap from car to car. It also means that if you have a crash without a child in the carseat it won't fly around the car hitting anyone (you should do up the seatbelt otherwise - who does that?). Also will hold the car seat in the correct place, while other car seats can slide around over time and need to be pulled back (not a major thing obv, but every little helps)

[4yoniD]

Sorry, should have said - 4 is young for a group 2/3. If s/he is within the weight limit of your group 1, and his/her head doesn't protrude further than stated in the manual, don't change.

However I had a giant 3 year old who demolished the weight limit on group 1 and HAD to go into group 2/3. The Cybex was the safest car seat I could afford (I got a bit obsessed as I didn't want to put a 3 year old into a booster, but couldn't afford a special needs/ extra large group 1).

Remember the high back boosters only work if they sit in them nicely - not lean forward/around etc. I spent a year shouting at my 3 year old :( Didn't have that problem with DD1 - she was petite and went into a group 2/3 age 6 when I could explain to her why she had to sit nicely.

[yazzy85]

Thank you so much 4yoniD. He's very tall and 20kg so quite big for the current maxi cosi tobi. I will look at the Cybex one you recommended.

[FishWithABicycle]

Definitely go for isofix if you can.

We have a Britax one like this. The isofix bars disconnect easily when needed and fold away if you want to use it in a car without isofix so it's very easy to move around if needed.

I was trying to find one with cup holders but couldn't find one with as many safety features as this and cup holders too and decided that safety was more important!

[whitelisbon]

Don't get cup holders. They end up as a dumping ground for whatever the kids ram in them, which then festers and refuses to come out until it's almost walking by itself.
DS says it was an apple core, I'm still concerned that it may have been a being from outer space. He now has hollows where the cup holders were.

[AliceMum09]

yazzy85 the weight limit for any Group 1 seat like the Tobi is 18kgs, you should have stopped using it when he got to that weight. You need a new seat ASAP.