Car seat recommendations

[3dogsandababy]

Please give me your car seat recommendations!

My 14 month old son has just outgrown his infant carrier and I want to get him the safest car seat possible! He's currently between the 75th and 91st percentile on both weight and height so need one that lasts for years preferably.

I'd do my own research but I'm locked out of my which account and don't know enough car seats to google them individually!

Thank you!

The spin seats are the easiest to get the child in and out. We have the Joie one but I believe other brands such as Cybex do them too.

The Axkid Minikid is a great seat, as your son is higher on the centiles it will last him years as the weight limit is 25kg. It’s read-facing only, not sure what your thoughts are on that, but it’s been put through rigorous safety testing and comes really highly rated. There are a few other good 25kg seats I believe, worth joining a group like Car Seat Advice UK on Facebook.

Given his percentiles I’d definitely go for a 25kg ERF seat. My DD is 91st for height (only 40th for weight though) and outgrew her spinning Cybex seat before she was 3. I bought a 1,2,3 stage seat but although the harness can be used until 22kg, it has to be changed to a seatbelt at approx 105cm and she’ll be too young to safely use it.

I’ve now got a Britax Max Way Plus and it’s a great seat. The 1,2,3 seat will (Britax Advansafix M) will go away until she outgrows the max way as I really like it.

If you don’t want a rear facing seat, the Joie Bold harnesses to 25kg and as far as I’m aware there’s no height limit for the harness.

Axkid minikid

We are getting our almost 2 year old an axkid mini or move.
We have a nuna norr currently which is rf up to 18kg (from birth) but are having another baby so baby will have that and she’s having the axkid.

Please research extended rear facing before making a decision. Axkid minikid is a popular choice for this as it rear faces to 25kg. We have a Britax max way plus which is another option. They are both plus tested too. If your child is on a higher centile, a 25kg RF seat will be the most cost effective and safest option.

Yes get a 25kg seat unless you want to buy twice. I had a 91st centile height daughter and didn’t realise she’d be out of her 18kg seat by 3. That was quite an expensive mistake! Also don’t assume the 25kg seats will last tall children until 6-7 that you sometimes read. Mine was out of her maxway at about 41/2. Tall children and car seats are much more logistically challenging. My other child is tiny and will easily be in her 18kg seat until 4.

Yes I would buy a 25kg rear facing seat as otherwise you will end up buying extra. Definitely dont get a spin seat for a larger than average child unless you really need to as they will be outgrown quicker.

Thank you for these! I will get googling 😊

A 25kg seat does sound the best, I'm just concerned that he'll be too small for it right now? I'm assuming it'll come with extra padding or something to keep him snug until he grows?

I have a joie ispin 360 and I love it! So easy to get them in and out in a smallish car and at 2.6 and tall they are still comfortable rear facing in it. It does only go up to 19kg though I believe

I'd been looking at the joie I spin 360 as that's supposed to be really safe, and I like that it's rear and forward facing. I just don't know if he be in it long enough to spend £250ish on it. But can you put a price on safety?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

My dc went in at about 9/10 months old and at 2.6 still fits really well. It’s meant to go up to 4 but dc1 will come out and into a belted one when dc2 outgrows their infant one so when dc1 is about 3.3 I guess.
I thought it was worth the price, people pay £1000s for a pram which is only used for a year or so. I spent my money one a cheaper travel system and expensive car seat.

14 months is far too young to be forward facing

What does he weigh?

Definitely an extended rear facing
If you have the money there is a new Axkidd one called One. It is not belted fit but isofix if you’d prefer this and has extenders for tall leggy children rear facing up to 23 kg

It is eye watering though in terms of cost

Their other models are great too

A further vote for axkid. We have the move as at the point we needed a new seat my son was too short for the mini kid but had he been a higher centipede child we would’ve gone straight for that

*centile not centipede 😂

😂 centipede.

I wouldn't have him forward facing now, I just liked the option for the future.

I can't remember how much he weighs 🙈 I just know he's been above the 75th percentile for ages, he was 91st when he was born.

Given his height and weight a 25kg harnessed seat would be your best bet as he will hit 18kg before 4. I have the britax max way plus which is great and Swedish tested. Other good ones are the Axkid move or mini kid. Rear facing is safer and before the age of 4 they should be harnessed rather than use the car seatbelt in a high backed booster.
Which reviews for car seats aren’t very good, they mark seats down for looks and score rear facing poorly as they aren’t isofix.
The car seat sub forum has lots of advice, there’s one poster who is a mine of useful information.

Another vote for the axkid minikid! If he’s outgrown his infant seat he will fit just fine. Here’s my youngest at 7 months in the minikid and my eldest when he was nearly 5 in the same seat.

The ispin will be a waste of money - he will grow out of it before he’s safe to travel in a high backed booster (around 4.5 years at the earliest) and you’ll need to buy a 25kg seat anyway. So you may as well buy one now!

Don’t worry about forward facing now - you can cross this bridge safely (and cheaply) when the time comes with an appropriate high backed booster for your car once he is at a safe age (absolute minimum of 4/4.5, ideally later ie. after he has reached the limit of the 25kg seat)

I’d also recommend the Axkid Minikid. It should fit him ok now if he’s on the taller side - our 50th centile DD was in it from just a little older.

Don’t go by Which for car seat recommendations- there are infinitely better sources of information, which don’t mark down excellent seats because they don’t have a good colour selection, or because Which installed the seat incorrectly during their own testing ….. Seats which have passed the Swedish Plus Test are generally considered to be the safest.

Britax Max Way Plus is a brilliant seat, we have it. I think it's on offer for £215 atm.

Other good options are the Axkid Minikid or Axkid Move.

My advice is to go to a specialist car seat retailer to try them in your car and try DC in them. I thought I wanted the Minikid but when we tried the Minikid and Maxway Plus, we much preferred the latter. The shop will also fit it for you which is a huge bonus!

www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

If you're on Facebook the group "Car Seat Advice UK" is very good.

Ideally you should weigh and measure your DC to confirm centiles as it can obvious change as they grow.

Thanks for this. I'm not on Facebook but will see if my husband can join the group for me.

It really is a minefield 🤯

Tbh the group will tell you more or less what we told you, Britax Max Way Plus or Axkid Minikid/Move

The type of car you have is relevant as well.

Oh ok 😂

I have a Nissan qashqai so think it's comparable with most car seats...?