ERF bigger baby

[mylittlesandwich]

I'm sure this has been asked a million times but there's new seats coming out all the time. I bought an ERF seat and I thought that was job done. However I had a big baby. He's 11kg at 8 months so 18kg definitely isn't going to be 4 years as I had thought. I'm a few months off needing it but I now need to look for a 25kg limit seat.
I have one that turns just now which is brilliant and ideally I'd like the new one to do that too. Can anyone recommend one that they've used personally? This will be his 3rd car seat so I'd rather not spend too much but obviously safety is paramount.

[mylittlesandwich]

Bump

[teaandlotusbiscoff]

Unfortunately there aren’t any 25kg spin seats. Although many have low sides and due to the direction (unless you have sliding doors!) it does tend to be easier to load DC in and you don’t necessarily have to open the door as wide.

Low budget~approx £180-250 ish
Britax two way elite—RF and FF
Axkid move - basic edition of the MiniKid, RF only
Britax MaxWay - like the Move, more basic version of the MWP.

Middle budget, £250-300

Diono radian 5 — the only seat which can RF and FF with harness up to 25KG. Bare in mind that the other FF seats only harness to 18kg then turn into a HBB. Although apparently it is very difficult to fit
Britax Multi-Tech - similar to the Evolva but nothing rear facing and forward facing

high budget approx £300

Britax MaxWay Plus - more advanced version of the MaxWay
Axkid MiniKid - Holy Grail, self adjusting tethers and the headrest adjusts each time, so often you have to loosen the straps before undoing.

I know there are more but these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head, I’ll get back to you with the others

[teaandlotusbiscoff]

Almost forgot! BeSafe Izi-plus too, in the high budget category

[mylittlesandwich]

@teaandlotusbiscoff thank you so much for that, I'd been looking at the Britax max way plus, it's on special offer just now but I'm not sure if that means they'll bring something else out and I'd be better holding off a bit. He's still got 7kg in his very handy spiny seat.

[teaandlotusbiscoff]

If you’ve got a few months till you need it I’d hold off. Typically IIRC they tend to bring out new seats in September, but I have seen the MWP for only £215 in quite a few places which is technically not that much more than the regular Max-Way!

(Also shamelessly tagging @bertiebotts as she probably knows more than I do )

[BertieBotts]

I don't actually have tagging turned on but I was here anyway :)

If you're 7kg off the weight limit of the spin seat and don't need it for another baby, I'd just wait. DS2 has just had his 2 year check and he's gone from being off the charts to just over average so I actually think he may be fine now in our Joie 360. Maybe you'll find similar happens to you :) No harm in doing research of course in order to be prepared if/when he does need a new seat but I would hold off buying it until you need it, especially if you like the spin feature (the recline also tends to be less flexible in bigger seats).

I don't think Britax are due to bring a new ERF seat out. I could be wrong but I don't get any vibes in that direction. Joie maybe... they keep hinting at it but if they are they are keeping it v much under wraps. You tend to get the big baby shows in September/October and new seats will be unveiled then.

The two I do know about are Axkid One which is a new isofix seat up to 125cm and 23kg (very expensive) and Klippan Opti 129 which is a seat that is approved up to 125cm and 32kg, which is the highest RF weight limit in the world. These are both under the newer regulation which is less constrained in terms of weight limits so you might see more interesting seats along these lines over the next couple of years. I would not be surprised if Concord extend the height limit on their Reverso. That would be much more affordable than the Axkid One.

The problem with spin seats for bigger kids is they get really unwieldy, especially if you want them to rear face - their heads would be touching the ceiling! The 25kg seats have the kids sitting lower down. They can generally climb up themselves from about 2 years old because of the base of the seat being lower.

Another lower cost option you could look out for is a forward facing seat which harnesses over 18kg. These tend to need top tether. But they are becoming really popular and I would think more will be released over the next year or two.

[BertieBotts]

Remember that their growth rate about halves at one year and then about halves again at roughly 2 years so although he's probably been piling on the kilos up until now, he won't continue to put them on at the same rate indefinitely. Seven kilos will likely take several years to put on. DS2 was 11kg age 1 and is now only just 13kg age 2.

[mylittlesandwich]

Thank you @BertieBotts you know so much! You're right there's no rush just now, he doubled his birth weight at 6 months and he's only gained about 1.3ish kilos since then. I mean selfishly having a big baby is good because he's not so fragile but he's outgrowing so many things.
Being able to turn his seat is very useful just now and hopefully by the time we need a new seat he'll be more able to get in and out himself. He also seems to like his seat, he naps in it and it's a good height for him to see out the window.
@teaandlotusbiscoff with discount codes I've been able to find the MWP for £205.