Babyauto Volta 360

[IckleShield]

Hi!

We are looking for a car seat for a friend of ours to carry our newborn (due December). She wants a 360 preferably but we don't want her to spend a fortune.

We have a travel system in place in my car and my husband is working out which seat he prefers, so we are sorted.

But, I was wondering if anybody had any experience with the babyauto Volta 360 and it's ease of use, safety and longevity for newborn up to 4 years at least (I know it goes further).

Our friend is extremely dyslexic and struggles with installations etc, so wants something fitted by my husband permanently in her car for hers and our newborns safety.

Any help much appreciated, thank you!

[teaandlotusbiscoff]

As the baby auto covers all groups up to age 12, often there tends to be a compromise in safety somewhere in order to fit all groups (0+/1/2/3). There are many other spin seats which could work, such as:

Joie 360
Baby auto signa
Chicco around U (although this is only RF to 15 months).

Or another alternative would be to buy one of the “family style” bases, eg, joie i anchor, Maxi Cosi Family Fix, BeSafe and axkid do one too but I can’t remember the name of it. That way if you have one compatible with your car you can move the baby seat or toddler seat easily as it only clips into the base so very easy and quick to do

[IckleShield]

Thanks for your response.

Where does it say that car seats which span more years compromise in safety?

[teaandlotusbiscoff]

Obviously this may not be the case with the BA Volta but it is a general thing in seats eg group 1/2/3. For example, the Joie stages doesn’t perform too well in forward facing harness but does OK in booster mode or rearward facing. Similarity with group 1/2/3 seats as not all of them are the best necessarily safety wise as it has to cover being able to fit a ~9kg baby up to a preteen so there typically is some sort of compromise.

I don’t know much about the BA Volta so obviously could be different but this is generally what I’ve heard about these types of seats. Seems similar to the Joie every stage except it has isofix and spins, so if you were to use it RF until baby outgrows the weight limit for example then forwards as a booster it should be OK

[BertieBotts]

It's a generalisation - if you look at seats which span all stages that have been tested by ADAC they tend not to do very well. Actually anything that combines a booster with a harnessed mode tends not to do that well. It's just a contradiction in terms because you need a harnessed seat to be sturdy and strong which generally involves weight and stability whereas a booster seat should be lightweight and flexible.

I wouldn't have safety concerns about the seat just used up to 18kg.

However, there are a number of issues which I'd point out before you buy it.

Firstly it's rear facing only to 13kg. About 75% of children will be at least 2 years old by the time they get to 13kg, but you can rear face longer with a seat which goes up to 18kg or 105cm (which is about 4 years).

It must be fitted with top tether and isofix - your friend would need to make sure she has top tether, it's less common than isofix. In addition, the tether has to be fitted every time if you want to use the rotation feature, which could be an issue, and it would be quite tempting to just go oh let's not bother with the tether - which would be really dangerous as that's what prevents the seat from moving forwards in a crash.

The fitting instructions are quite complicated and not very clear. It looks like it uses isofix + top tether OR seatbelt only in rear facing mode, and isofix + top tether + seatbelt in forward facing mode. Because of the complexity and the instructions being confusing I'd say there's a chance of misuse.

You can only use the rear facing position in the most reclined seating position. That's quite frustrating for a lot of toddlers who would prefer to sit up so they can see out of the window. However, it's also common among Group 0+/1 seats in the lower price bracket so this may be difficult to avoid. Plus as this seat has a lower rear facing limit, it might be less of an issue, but I know my DS wanted to be more sat up by 10 months, and a year certainly.

It looks like there is only one position for forward facing too, which might be too upright for a child wanting to take a nap.

I'd suggest you look at/compare the following in the same price bracket:

Joie Stages - belt fit, RF to 18kg
Britax First Class Plus - belt fit, RF to 13kg
BabyAuto Dupla - isofix + seatbelt, top tether, RF to 18kg / FF harness to 25kg

Or even a combination of two e.g. Joie Juva + base (£85) and then Britax Eclipse (£60)

None of those are rotating seats. Joie 360 Spin is a cheapish rotating seat which would tick all your boxes, if you can find it on offer it commonly goes down to about £160 in sales which might be doable if you combine with voucher codes, especially if you have until December to buy it.

Osann One I am not keen on because there was a safety question mark over it as a model. Apparently only from one supplier, but still.
There is a Bastian model (I forget the full name) which is a cheaper spin one which also cannot be spun with the top tether installed.