Comfy Group 2-3 car seat needed - which one?

[Dysgu]

Today I noticed that DD1's head is slightly over the top of her Group 1 car seat - so we went to Halford's to look at Group 2-3 seats and to weight her (we don't have scales at home!) and she is exactly 18kgs so at the top of the weight limit for her seat too.

So we now need to buy a new seat but which one?

We started off with a fabulous Graco Group 0 seat which we loved as it came with the base so was a simple click and go model. It was wonderful for both DDs.

DD1 currently has the Maxi Cosi Apriori (sp?) which she and we have really liked. She tends to still sleep if we are in the car for long journeys or during the late afternoon so we especially like the recline ability of the seat. The headrests have just recently become 'less good' at holding her head when sleeping but then, she is basically too big for it now!

DD2 has a Britax Group 0-1 seat which we bought because DD2 was/is bigger than DD1 at the same age and seemed to fall forwards in the Graco and the Britax one was meant to fit in the car facing backwards - however, it turns out it didn't fit our 'limited edition' car so we had to stick with the Graco until DD2 was big enough face forwards.

So we have no particular make/brand in mind - and to be honest, the cost is not the big issue either.

I do want a 'proper' booster seat with back support thing rather than just a booster as DD1 needs to head support for sleeping and we make several long journeys around the country and abroad each year.

I would like a car seat that is reasonably slim fitting as then we might have room to use the middle seat - we have a 2002 Skoda Fabia Silverline which seems to get narrower each time we add a car seat.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO - any recommendations? Slimline, good head support - and usual safety aspects?

Sorry for the extra waffle...

i have had a maxi cosi rodi sps but have been looking at ones again as mindee is moving into a hbb and the other one is still in use! have been looking at the monterey sunshine kids as it looks isofix and is much cheaper than the britax isofix one. haven't checked out safety ratings or reviews yet as i won't need it to half term holidays!

:)

Sunshine Kids Monterey is a fantastic seat - it has adjustable sides and height to tailor it to the child (i.e. it can fit a short heavy child or a tall light child or tall regular child or.....). It's an American seat and is very well known over there, their UK website is here. It's narrow too at 38cm.

Which? have slatted it though as if you turn it in to a no-back booster it doesn't give good side impact protection (no shit sherlock!)and they always give the lowest rating a car seat has scored if it does more than one thing. Trouble is NO no-back boosters give good side impact protection and I doubt many people will spend £60+ on a high back booster only to use it as a £10 no-back booster .

Anyway, it's a good seat and I'll be purchasing it once DD1 grows out of her Britax Two Way Elite.

Hi

I have the Graco nautilus 1 2 3. This has the high back you want plus side impact protection. It also has a really handy drinks holder too.

I had a graco 0 with the fixed base and loved it too.

The nautilus is just as good in my opinion. It will last to age 12 aswell. It has a recline feature if lil ones fall asleep, it also can be turned into a booster seat once they are much older.

we hae the britax adventure which is fairly slim as it has no armrests
the headrest on it is nice as it supports their head if they fall asleep