Narrowest car seat help

[Narrowestboosters]

Hello

looking for some advice on the narrowest car seats out there.

Weve just taken out a lease on a new car - an electric Renault scenic and found out I’m unexpectedly pregnant. No scope to change the car without a huge financial penalty. It’s pretty roomy but doesn’t have 3 isofix or 3 full seats in the back.

Currently have an 8 year old and a 4 year old. The 8 year old needs a booster seat and the 4 year old is quite tall and has gone into a high back booster.

Does anyone have any advice on the narrowest high back boosters and a narrow booster seat that could go in the middle seat?

Do you have a good independent car seat retailer near you? If so I would make an appointment to go there with the car and the current seats you've got and see what combinations they can recommend. It's a lot easier to fiddle around with different combinations in person rather than ordering online.

The Axkid Up is quite a narrow high back booster. If you can find a car seat retailer near you, you can try out the best combinations for your DCs and car.

Thanks will check out the axkid

I don’t think we do. Only Halfords and similar

We had this issue! In the end we got a cybex cloud z facing backwards in the middle for newborn. And then 2 britax romer i-size either side for 7 and 5 year old. You really need to go to a carseat shop to try different ones. It may not necessarily be the narrowest that fits, but the ones that jigsaw together best. We couldn't use isofix for any of them unfortunately, as it just wouldnt fit. So had newborn seat seatbelted. This was in a skoda kodiaq ,so not even a small car! It's a real issue with most cars.

How tall is your 8YO? If they’re 135cm and just need the booster to get a good belt fit then I’d put them on a bubble bum in the middle since that is super narrow. The Britax hi liner is a narrow option for the 4YO. Baby keep them rear facing as long as possible so the DC in the middle has more shoulder space. If your 8YO isn’t tall enough for that yet you might want to belt install an infant carrier in the middle with 2 narrow HBBs on either side, then by the time they’re ready for the next stage seat your 8YO will hopefully have grown! It may involve some trial and error to get it right so visiting an independent in person as PP recommends is a good idea.

Thanks - yes 8 year old is 140cm so would get in a booster although I’ve heard bubble bums are better for occasional use rather than as a permanent solution?

thanks for the advice - sounds like we need to go somewhere to try these things out

I think they’re said to be for occasional use just because they’re backless and that’s never the optimum choice for a small child that still legally needs to be in a proper car seat. The thinking is that it’s better than nothing when you can’t practically take a large seat around with you i.e. in a taxi. It’s not a comfort thing, actually they’re more squishy than other backless boosters so if anything more comfortable. And at 140cm 8YO yours doesn’t legally need a seat at all, it’s just something to raise him up if he can’t get a good belt fit. So personally I’d be ok with a backless booster, especially in the middle seat which is the safest position. The only reason I’m saying the bubble bum specifically because it is v narrow but you could play around with other options. Also it might be worth trying him in the middle with no seat at all. The middle seatbelt is usually lower than the others so in our car my 8YO can get a good belt fit in the middle but not yet in our other seats. Good luck figuring it all out- it’s like a jigsaw isn’t it?!

If you look on Axkid's website they should show stockists near you. The Axkid Up is a very expensive high back booster so might not be the best solution, though might be worth investing in for the 4yo perhaps but any Axkid stockist would have a combo of HBBs and larger rear facing seats and infant carriers so you should be able to try lots of things out.

Agree 8yo might be able to get a reasonable fit in the middle seat with no booster, and this would be legal. If the belt is over his tummy rather than hips/top of thighs, it isn't a good fit though and he would be best with some kind of booster, backless would be OK or sometimes high back are narrower at the base, because of less need for the "arms" (backless boosters need the arms to hold the belt in place). Maxi Cosi are good to try for this.

In general you'll probably need to wait until you actually have the car. The width of seats is not hugely helpful information as it's about the shape of them, where the seatbelt buckles are, how the seats fit together etc.

Do you already have a newborn seat or will you be needing to get a new one? Do you think you'll want the carry type seat, or would something which stays in the car be OK?