Best 0-4yrs swivel extended rear facing car seat?

[clemmy0m]

Hi,

As the title says really looking for a car seat that goes from 0-4years, that offers extended rear facing to at least 2 preferably 4 years as will have a newborn and a 2 year old that will use it, swivels to help get your child in and out the car. Ideally easy to swap between cars.

Any suggestions would be great!

I love the Joie 360 spin.

Cybex sirona lasts well and our long-legged dd fit in it until just over 4.

Another vote for the Cybex Sirona.

Thank you so much!! Which model of the cybex sirona do you have? There seems to be a couple of swivel ones!

We're happy with our Joie spin 360. Dd is 3 and 1/3 and still rear facing in it. I don't know if it's just me or our isofix, but I do struggle to get it out. I usually make dh do it.

Thank you seven that's good to know as my friend has said exactly the same about her 360, she loves it but not easy to transfer between cars. I wasn't sure if it was just her car that was the issue rather than the seat.

We have the cybex sirona s I-size. LOVE IT!! 😍

Just thinking....we swapped ours between Audis and it was fine but when we test-drove a Hyundai, installed it then went to remove it it, it took 2 salesmen and my husband over an hour to release it from the Isofix. I ended up walking my child around the local supermarket for 45 mins while they sorted it out.

Might be worth looking at feedback from that side of things? Sorry to confuse you even more.

Is child long of body (as in height comes from torso not legs) or above 50th centile for weight?

If child has a long torso they'll outgrow a cybex sirona by height before 4 and the Joie 360 or Nuna reble plus is a better swivel seat.

If child is above 50th centile for weight they'll outgrow any 18kg seat before age 4.

Is there a reason you want swivel? Something like a britax 2 way elite has low sides which makes it much easier to get a child in and out so no need to swivel but if you get a second set of tethers it's so easy to switch between cars.

We have the GB Vaya which is very similar to the Cybex swivel seats.

These seats, although great, are heavy and cumbersome to move and I wouldn't want to do this on a regular basis to swap between cars frequently (especially if you might be recovering from a c section). They're not a bad weight to lift but once you add in the twisting to get into position in the next car it's not a great manoeuvre. I would imagine this will apply to any swivel seat as they have to have a substantial base to do the swivel.

I bought a Joie Stages ERF to use as a second seat to save swapping the GB Vaya between cars.

Thanks for the replies they are all very helpful! Fluffsmum that's great advice, yes the reason I ideally need the swivel is I'm currently 6 months pregnant and struggling to move my son in and out of our besafe izi plus (which I think is fab), I'm also having another c-section so the swivel will make life a lot easier once baby is born too. The reason I say 4 years is that he's already big 91st centilie for weight and height and ideally I need this seat to work for my son over the next few months whilst I'm recovering and friends/family will be using the car seat in their car a lot too, the besafe is fiddly to transfer between cars unless you know how! I know it is unlikely to last him much past 3 but if I can get a few months use out of it and the newborn can use it too will make the expense worth it! X

I was about to buy the cosatto come and go which is newborn to four, swivels, and can rear face until 4 or forward face, we're planning to rear face but the option when he's older is good. They've been out of stock for a week or so , I emailed and they're launching new car seats in October. We have the wow travel system and its been brilliant, light, easy to use, excellent safety testing and a 4 year no quibble warranty, so I'm going to wait and see what their new offering is.

None of the swivel seats are particularly easy to move between cars as they are all bloody heavy! The joie 360 is a decent seat and reasonable safety wise. I’d avoid cosatto seats as they tend to score poorly on safety. Cybex will be outgrown quickly. Most 2 year olds can be taught to climb in and out of their car seats so you only need to buckle them in. I managed fine with a 3 year old post c section in a non swivel rear facing seat, to be honest carrying the baby in their baby seat was the hard bit!!

Joie 360.

clemmy0m have you tried a swivel with a heavy child in (as in an older child) as they are surprisingly heavy to turn, I wouldn't have been able to do it following my c section. Might be worth trying before investing.

I’d recommend trying them in the shop. I found the Cybex Sirona much easier to buckle and recline. The Joie was more fiddly so I didn’t choose it.

@welshweasel not sure if you're looking at the older cosatto high back boosters but their newest ones are tested and designed in conjunction with the RAC far beyond R129 standards

Thanks again! We have been trying to teach him to climb in himself but because my car is quite high up he still needs lifting at least for part of the climb, he can do it in my other half's car which is much lower but he needs it Mon-Friday so it's not possible to use that car instead. I've tried the maxi cosi axissfix plus which I found easy to fit and to swivel with my son in but it didn't seem as robust as some of the others on the market and quite small so wanted to keep shopping around. I've used the joie 360 with a friends child of a similar proportions to mine and found that ok to swivel but not tried moving it etc. Really interesting to hear experiences post c-section and swivel being hard. I really struggled with the car seat and other basic things for a while after my son which is why I'm worried this time! Although I'm hoping I will be back to normal more quickly and driving sooner than six weeks as I'm having an elective this time round and hopefully not an emergency but Its probably wishful thinking.

The cosatto come and go scored poorly in ADAC testing actually - not sure about newer ones but that was one you mentioned. The safest seats out there are the Swedish plus tested seats.

I was back doing the nursery run by car 2 weeks after my elective section this time. I’d look at getting one of the Swedish plus tested 25kg erf seats - they tend to have low sides so easy to get kids in and out. We have the axkid minikid and it’s by far the best car seat we’ve owned (we’ve had a few!). Avoid the axiss fix, only rear faces to average 2 year old.

I wouldn’t have been able to remove a swivel chair after my CS. But then I couldn’t even carry the little basket style carrier I had at the time. I find my Cybex swivel really easy to use with only one hand.

I had the Cybex Sirona and loved the swivel function, especially for the baby stage. DS is in the 75 centile for height but managed to stay in it until 4yo. It is extremely heavy though and there is no way I could have carried it to swap it cars post C-section.

We have the Britax romer dualfix isize. Nearly 3 year old, very tall. Not too heavy to swivel, fits well, easy to use. Feels very comfortable. Easy to change positions. Good safety record.

With the Britax it's heavyish but you could get your oh to move it between cars at the weekend. The swivel isn't hard just need to make sure it is fully facing backwards and push the button in fully and turn.

We have the Joie 360 in one car and Britax Romer in the other one. Although the Britax claims to recline more than the Joie DD does look comfier in the Joie one although we're happy with both. I'd say the Joie one is marginally easier to swap between cars but essentially they are both just two isofix clips and a support leg. That said I couldn't have done that post section - they're heavy!!