Feeling overwhelmed by car seats – help please!

[NewMumJuly2025]

Hi everyone, I’m a first-time mum and honestly feeling a bit lost when it comes to car seats. I've read loads of articles but they all seem to contradict each other or are full of jargon I don’t understand 😩. Hoping some of you lovely people can help answer a few question:
Do I really need to buy one of the big brands (Cybex, Maxi-Cosi, Joie, etc.), or are cheaper seats just as safe if they meet safety standards?
I bought a Graco from Halfords but my husband wasn't happy with it and we spoke to In Car Safety Centre, they said the seat was ok but it had a lower safety rating than others. It was still no problem to use it but there were others that beat it like BeSafe beyond-360 (top of the range) or Joie I-spin 360 if I was looking for a cheaper option.
I don't mind buying another one but just wondering if there was any feedback on using Graco - I feel I should be buying the best one I can????

For safety you should aim to keep your child rear facing for as long as possible. If it had my time again I'd have bought one of the rear facing seats with maximum longevity from the outset. I really recommend the Car Seat Safety UK Facebook page on there. The mods are total experts and the group will steer you right.

Graco is a v big brand. Same parent company as Joie but Graco is American in origin and probably the most popular brand over there.

Yes I’d always get a brand I’d heard of but within those brands I would also look for a seat that has been through ADAC testing or the swedish plus test just because that’s an easy way to know you’re buying something safe.

Is this for a newborn? I’d get an infant carrier as opposed to a fixed spin seat because they fit newborns better, you also have the option to take it out of the car (yes I know they shouldn’t spend too long in the seat but it’s handy on occasion) and they’re more portable if you want to take it on holiday, put it in a friends car, use a taxi etc. Then look to replace it when they’re 1 for a rear facing fixed seat that will take them through to when they’re ready for a booster at 4+.

Thank you - yes i intend to go all the way on the RWF - I am a member of Extended Rear Facing (ERF) Car Seats UK & Ireland and the members there have also been very helpful in providing me with information. I think I am going to swap to a BeSafe Go Beyond and give the Graco to my parents. I have settled myself it is a perfectly fine seat but just took to the BeSafe one! It has a "Very Good" safety score in the ADAC and will hopefully last until 18 months! Hoping to then use the base for the Beyond 360. Thank you both for your comments!! Slight panic now over!! ❤

You don't need to spend a huge amount or stick to big brands in order to get good safety. There is a point where you can go "too cheap" but Graco are mostly fine and anything of theirs which is suitable from birth is absolutely fine. Sometimes it is worth spending a bit more if there is a feature you like. The Besafe Beyond system is pretty unique and is one of those where it's worth the upgrade if you like the features, IMO, so I think you've made a good choice

Which exact Graco model is it you have BTW?

I bought a Turn2Me Grow? Seemed the right option for us as it was up to 6 years I think. My other mum friends had spent more than me so I did wonder if I had spent too little! It seemed too good to be true!

Sign up for a free trial with Which? And look at their research. We always used Cybex, you might get one on Amazon Prime Day.

Ah OK yes that's a newer one, I don't know as much about it. The older Turn2Me is fine though, so I am not sure what ICSS are on about with it having a lower safety rating.

A lot of the seats marketed for newborns are incredibly expensive at about £450 for the set of seat + base, and only lasting up to about 12/15 months. IMO you only really need to spend about £200 for the combo or about £120 to get a seat without base. Everything on top of that is an optional extra.

The downside of the seats which convert from rear facing to forward facing to booster as the Graco one does is that they tend not to give as good of a fit for newborns. And a 6yo still needs a high back booster, so you don't really save money by getting a seat with a booster integrated when it doesn't last you the whole time you'll need one. But given you're getting the Besafe seat for yourself, the Graco is a perfect choice for your mum's car because if you're concerned about the newborn fit, you can just use your own Besafe seat belt fitted in other cars while LO is tiny, and then once they're about 3/4 months and sitting up a bit more, change to using the Graco seat in your mum's car and then it will last them until they are much older, plus you get the benefit of the spin which is always a nice feature to have.