Seat for holiday?

[TJBear]

I'm looking to buy a 2nd car seat for holiday use for my 2yr old DD. Have seen the Britax evolva 123 and Recaro young sport. Can anyone recommend (or not!) these seats? I'm not sure how safe the stage 123 seats are for younger children. Another one that looks good is the Maxi Cosi Priori SPS so comments on this would be helpful too. Thanks!

Not used any of those myself, however when shopping for a second carseat for DS (16 months) I found the height of the 123 car seats unsuitable - he would never have slept in them as he was below the head support, it was forcing his head forward IYKWIM.

Are you flying at all? And are you going to be using the seats in a rental car? If so, where are you going?

Yes, flying with Easyjet to Spain and hiring a car. I don't want to hire a seat when we get there as I saw the seats for toddlers when we went last year and they looked a bit rubbish! We took our cabriofix which was much easier when she was smaller.

We were thinking we should buy a 2nd seat which we could use at home too, hence looking at the 123 type seats, but now I'm not so sure. Our current seat is a Besafe Izi Combi so all these FF seats are new to me! Maybe a cheapish Britax one would be better just for the trip.

The Britax Evolva needs a very long seatbelt to fit it, and it's not an easy one to fit either.

We had a Priorifix which was excellent, I would think the Priori is basically the same seat without the isofix?

Evolva's do need a long seatbelt, do you know what car you are going to be renting (could check what fits on the Britax Fit Finder beforyou go, you see)

If you are taking a baby seat on the plane, the Britax Eclipse is certified for use on aircraft :) However, you are going to need a versatile seat, not every seat fits every car so you could get one that seems great, but actually buckle crunches when you get it in the hire car and lo and behold it's not safe! :( (The Priori and the Eclipse fit very similar so same prob with both, but Eclipse can be used on place)

Another option, although a pricy-er option, is the Kiddy Guardian pro, It again is approved for flight use, will fit almost any car, and is safer than a harnessed seat. It also converts to a HBB for when LO is older :) It IS £169.99, but safer, more compatible and last ages :)

Thanks, that's very useful info. Britax Evolva is ruled out. Last year the car hire place gave us a Ford Focus so I guess we could get one again or they also mention the Hyundai I30.

The buckle crunch is a worry, I've seen the Britax prince mentioned for air travel too. Is that better or worse than the Eclipse for buckle crunch?

I think I might go and have a look at the Kiddy seat as it sounds a good option. Do you think the impact cushion will be too hot in Spain though? We'll have A/C but the car's still hot when you first get in. Will have to check if Easyjet will allow it on the plane too.

Thanks again!

The prince is going to have a similar complication, and it also doesn't fit many cars particularly well. If it doesn't fit in upright mode you will only be able to use it constantly in 1st recline or sleep mode - i'd avoid tbh! The Eclipse can be reclined on the move and is a slightly user friendlier.

With the Kiddy getting warm, I don't think it'd be bad because they've designed it to circulate air, it's got like a "honeycomb" structure inside it to keep it cooler too :) The Kiddy is well worth a look x

We went to try our LO in the Kiddy seat today, we'd pretty much decided that we would get one if she seemed ok in it. Unfortunately, she didn't seem happy and as she got upset and started pushing on the impact cushion she started to slide down in the seat!

Now thinking it might have to be the Recaro young sport if we want to be able to use it at home when she's older.

Going round in circles!

I use the Prince in 1st recline mode and it's fine. It's one of the few seats that I don't have buckle crunch with, the seat belt stalks are quite long in my car.

Very lightweight and easy to fit too.

You could check on the Britax fit-finder site if you have an idea which car you might get.