Massively cheating here but I'm a nan now and whatever. Car seat Q....

[Wurfit]

Can anyone recommend a good car seat for a 1yo, for grandparents to have in their car for daytrips and stuff?

It entirely depends what stage of car seat the 1 Year old is in and if their parents want them rear (much safer!) or forward facing (I wouldn’t!). I would just ask the parents or ask them to bring their preferred seat with them.

You should get something rear facing and with a 360 swivel seat so loading / unloading is a bit easier on your back. I personally prefer my parents to have a fixed carseat in the back so Dad doesn’t feel pressured to carry DS in his seat - would rather DS wakes up then Dad damaging his back! Cybex have some amazing ones.

Look at Joie seats. Ideally you need a seat that can rear face to 18kg. I had the Stages, which could rear face or front face until 18kg, then be used as a HBB... My 7yo has growth space.

What kind of budget are you thinking of spending? How old is your car?

And yes, the parents' preferences on rear vs forward facing would be quite important. (If they don't mind, go for rear facing, it's safer :) )

Joie ispin 360

Thanks everyone.
I'll ask DSD which seats she's been looking at, they only have the 0 stage one now as they don't drive and very rarely travel by car.
Not being a cheapskate but as long as it's safe, it will be used so rarely that I'm hoping not to have to spend £300
Definitely want to go rear facing.

You don't have to spend £300 to stay rear facing, don't worry! It makes sense to spend a bit more for a seat which will be used every day but I wouldn't go for bells and whistles unless you want to.

This is a very good article which explains all the cheaper rear-facing seats, features, space taken up in the car and how they are used etc.

erfmission.com/extended-rear-facing-car-seats-that-wont-break-the-bank-seatbelt-install/

The Joie Steadi is on offer at the moment at Argos for £70 which would be a really good deal, although I'd highly recommend asking them if they would let you try the seat in your car in the car park. If it doesn't fit securely, the Joie Stages would be better, that's about £120, but does sometimes go down to £99, if you're not in a rush.

Personally I would not bother with the Every Stage because you can get a basic but good booster seat for £30 when the time comes, so the extra £60/£100+ isn't really justified. (The booster mode in Stages is not really worth writing home about - but you do get a little bit more height from it for rear facing.)

If you wanted something to last a bit longer the Britax Max Way is about £180 now which is the same price as the Two Way Elite. These last until 6-7 years on average, whereas the Joie seats can rear face up to 3-4 years depending on the size of the child.

That's really helpful Bertie, thank you
P.S I'm not on MN very often anymore as my son's all grown and life is very different now (like, new husband, acquiring steps, becoming a stepnana different!), but it's lovely to see an old face. Although I'm a serial namechanger so you won't know me from Adam