Car seat for 3yo

[Outnumb3red]

I currently have a kiddy with the impact cushion, similar to the guardianfix. (Suitable from 9mo to 12yrs) However, it was DS1 originally and now needs replaced. I'd like a seat that will do him from now till he no longer needs one.
It must be a seat that is easy to move from car to car for use by gps etc.

Any recommendations?

[sleepismysuperpower1]

try here, it's lightweight, and can convert from a 3 point harness to high back booster, then to a booster cushion as your dc gets older x

[BertieBotts]

Unfortunately that one linked doesn't do very well in safety testing.

What's your budget?

I really like the Britax Advansafix one as when it converts to a booster seat you get a really nice quality booster seat which is rare. However what I'd like to do before I bought it would be borrow a 9 year old and see how comfortable it is for the later stages, because I'm not sure about that given that it's on a base.

For a budget seat look at Joie Elevate. Not much more than the previously linked one but does better in safety testing. It's still not great though, but would be better than a booster seat on its own.

If you'd like to keep your child in a 5-point harness for a bit longer (25kg/up to about 125cm height, rather than 18kg/about 105cm height) and you've got a top tether point in your car look at the Joie Bold or Cosy n Safe Excalibur. That is an extra step for moving between cars though, but may be worth it if you don't want him in the adult belt too soon.

You could if you want to go for something like the Joie Every Stage/Verso which will have him sitting rear facing (children often find this fun) until he's 18kg at which point he can use the seat as a booster seat forward facing. Worth noting though that this seat is not recommended to be used forward facing with the harness, as the crash results for it aren't very good.

Otherwise for a bog-standard 123 seat, Britax Evolva is supposed to be pretty good.

I wouldn't currently recommend another impact shield seat. I had one for my DS1 but I think their day has passed and I'm not sure they're very highly regarded any more. I think they are OK for children on the smaller side (but rear facing is even safer for those children, and much easier to achieve now) but once they're close to the weight limit of it they actually seem to perform worse than a booster seat, so not a very good idea.

[Outnumb3red]

Thanks.

My mum has the first one linked. And although I don't mind it for occasional use, I wouldn't buy it as my everyday seat as I feel it is quite flimsy.

In terms of budget, I don't mind paying up to £200 for the right seat.

I wasn't aware of that guidance in relation to impact cushions. I have always used seats like that. I like it when they fall asleep and it reduces the head hang.

Main preference for the kiddy seats is the ease at which they can be used and moved to different cars. Ds goes to gps twice a week. (Not the same gps) and I can't afford to buy a car seat for each car so the current seat gets moved from car to car. Neither gp is particularly good at this kind of thing so I need to ensure the car seat is easy to fit so that he is safe in their cars.

The britax advansafix looks a good option. I'll go see them and see how easy they are to fit.

[BertieBotts]

Yes I always really liked that about the Kiddy as well. Do they have isofix in their cars? Because an isofix seat would generally be the easiest thing for swapping if that's a possibility. And then once he moves to a high backed booster it's nice and easy again like the Kiddy seats.

[Outnumb3red]

Their cars are fairly new, so I think they will have isofix. But I'm going to check and make sure

[justrestinginmybankaccount]

I just bought the Joie Travers based on the safety reviews on Which? I really like it. Depends if your 3yo is up to the right weight and height yet though.

I was happy to spend a lot higher but was really happy with the reviews on this one. I got it in Halfords online after googling it for £79.

[mumderland]

We have a Joie all stages which goes from birth - 12 years. Never had any problems with it