Which car seat?!!

[Vijac]

There are so many, I am completely confused! My son is nearly two but still in his rear facing from birth car seat as he is small and still only 80cm so his head is still not above the back. However, it is getting close now and it is time to get the next one up. We did consider extended rear facing but I think that they are too long for our car. Then I have the option of now-4 years, or now -12 years. Surely the latter makes sense, is there a reason that you would choose the In between one and get two instead of one. We have isofix in our car and would like to use it but it seems to bump up the price, is there a big safety difference? Any recommendations please?

I would go for a group 1 one - as you say he is small and will probably get a lot of use out of it. They tend to recline if he still naps in the car. I don’t know if you are a member of which but you can see their safety ratings for a pound if you are not. The top safest are kiddy seats - not isofix. I personally don’t like isofix seats as my mums car doesn’t have it and they have no strap option - I think they are marginally safer but easier to fit properly.

Thanks. Do any of the 1-3 seats recline too? What other things should I be looking for?

Anyone else got any recommendations? Thanks

I agree, go for a Group 1 seat as you will get long enough use out of it if your son is not yet 13kgs at nearly two.
The seats that cover Groups 1,2 and 3 are often very upright, so when the child sleeps their head tends to fall forward. Also, if your son is not very tall his head might not even come up high enough to be within the headrest. If you wanted one, I'd recomend the Britax Evolva.
You don't have to use ISOFIX, I've had two cars with ISOFIX since I've had children but have never had an ISOFIX seat. It's not safer than using the seatbelt, it's just a simpler method of fitting a car seat.
As a compromise (because you've looked at ERF but think the seats will be too big) you could get a Group 0+&1 combination seat. I have a Britax First Class, there is also the Maxi Cosi Opal and Concord Ultimax. You can only use them rear-facing up to 13kgs, the same as an infant carrier, but they are bigger seats so are more comfortable for the child. That way you could keep your son RF for a bit longer, and then you just turn the seat to face forward and use it like any other Group 1 seat.

We got the maxi cosi axiss (well 2 so we had one for each car) and its been brilliant. It reclines so they can have a sleep. And it swivels round so it faces the door while you out them in. Very easy to lift them in and strap them in. We're keeping them to use with dc2.

Do you mind me asking what car you drive? A couple of thoughts-I've just purchased an Axkid Mini and it is great (it's new to the market and is ERF but incredibly clever)- incredibly compact and is going to keep my 5 1/2 year old rearfacing for at least another year or more - so would give you a really long shelf life. I would also like to gently encourage you to have a peak at the new I-Size legislation that has come into effect from the EU (it will run alongside the current legislation for a while), but it says that all children under 15kg should be rearfacing. Although it is not in "force" so to speak (it runs alongside the existing legislation for a little while), I would always consider carefully why they have taken the trouble to get it in place ;)

Finally, if you absolutely can't fit an ERF seat in your car, I would possibly divert you away from the ones that go until the age of 12....My reasons being- once they get to the point of using a 3 point seat belt and using the seat as a High Back Booster, in the event of a crash they will have not just their body weight, but also the weight of the seat crushing their little chest into the seat belt. The longer span seats, by their nature, tend to be much heavier, particularly the isofix ones, so I would suggest look for something that suits your purpose now, and then buy a specific High Back booster that is lightweight and is designed with that one purpose in mind at that point.... I hope this helps?;) x