DS weighs 14.2kg but is not yet 3 - which car seat?

[Chestnutx3]

We need a new car seat for a new second car for DH to take DS to pre-school from September. I want a car seat that lasts, is not that expensive as will have to buy another car seat for the other car when he reaches 15kg. Any ideas? Looked up the which report and the only one they recommended was over £200.

Don't Group 1 seats last to 18kg? I think it's just that you CAN move them at 15kg if you want to (DD2 is 4.5 and has been a solid and irritating 14kg for the past 12 months!).

Is there a reason you don't want a 9-18kg seat for him? Is he too tall for the one you've got? He's unlikely to put on 3.8kg quickly I'd have thought. The problem with group 2 seats is that they pretty much all use the car's 3 point seatbelt which isn't as safe as a 5 point harness on a group 1 seat.

Keep him in a 5 point belt for as long as you can.

Does your current one only go up to 15kgs? Most go up to 18kgs and it'll take him a good while to put on that much weight.

Group 1 is suitable up until 18kg.

What about one of the impact shield seats? I believe they can then be used as a high back booster when the impact shield is outgrown at 18kg?

There's no such thing as a seat that goes up to 15kg in the UK. The groups they have to fit into are;
0: birth to 10kg
0+: birth to 13kg
1: 9-18kg
2: 15-25kg
3: 22-36kg

I need a SECOND car seat, as DH will drop DS off in one car and I will pick him up in another. His current one if fine in the first car but will buy a new one when he is 15kg. I am looking at the Britax Evolva that is 9-36kg. So was wondering if anybody had an experience of it or other similar?

I've heard that the Evolva is good, but I have no experience of it myself. I think we all knew you wanted a second seat, we just don't know why you wanted to wait until he's 15kg rather than getting one that's up to 18kg in a 5 point harness. If you're planning on getting an Evolva or similar then 15kg is irrelevent anyway. I hope you get it sorted.

I don't want one that is only going to go up to 18kg to save money, as it will mean having to replace two car seats rather than one in the future. I will look at reviews of Evolva thanks.

Something like the Evolva would be perfect for you then. There are so many to choose from but I haven't got to that stage in carseats so I'll shut up now!

We have this one

washford.scene7.com/is/image/Washford/157381?$prod$

which is basically the same as this recaro young sport but doesnt have the name and sometimes works out cheaper if you shop around

www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_499753_langId_-1_categoryId_165554

we have the evolva 123 in dh's car and it seems sturdy and comfy (ds is 4 1/2 now). It has quite a wide base so takes up a bit of room but that probably makes it comfier to sit in. You wont need to replace your existing car seat until your lo is 18kgs so he should get a bit longer out of it.

Evolva has been purchased but not yet fitted. Will probably change the other car seat when DS is 15kg because it will enable to seat to be used by DD's friends for school runs we share in the morning. All so complicated!

have you checked it fits your car? we had a problem with seatbelt length in a couple of cars, check it incase you need to return it :)

Well Britax says it will fit the car on the website and bought it from John Lewis so no problems returning it.

Britax said it would fit my car a scenic and a Megane. Both halfords and mothercare checked it too.

Its quite a difficult seat to fit because of the amount of belt needed and the tension/routing it takes.

just thinking if you have to check/return it within so many days lol,u dont want to miss it! the fit finder said it would fit our cars too lol, - it did, BUT was VERY difficult to tighten it enough as you had to tighten it before you could clip the belt in as our seatbelts weren't long enough:(

Sazm you explained it much better than i could!

lol :)