Compact/small extended rear facing car seats?

[mrsdiddlydoo]

Hello!

We have DS (3.5) rear facing in a cybex sirona which he has nearly outgrown due to weight (upper limit is 18kg). We were planning to move his baby sister (8m) into the sirona and buy him a new seat which will have to fit behind the driver's seat. I had assumed we'd maybe get a high backed booster but having done some research I'd rather keep him rear facing or worse case forward facing in a 5 point harness (which doesn't seem to exist in the UK? Is that right)

We have a Renault clio and dh has long legs so we need to find a seat that is more compact than the sirona but DS can use until he's 25kg. Any recommendations of what might fit or what to try out. Someone suggested mini kid axkid, but are there any other options. A new bigger car isn't an option right now.

We'd consider importing a car from somewhere in the EU if we know it's going to fit.

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer

I keep pimping this seat at the moment but the Diono radian 5 has 5 point harness to 25kg. It's also extended rear facing but I don't know how compact it is as we've only used it ff.

Thanks Apple. I'll check it out. Looks like it probably won't fit rearwards facing according to one review I've just read quickly but great that it's got a 5 point harness!

Britax maxway?

If you're looking at European seats which harness longer I'd still be looking at ERF seats - a lot of them harness to 25kg which is the next weight "bracket" under r44/04.

Or, an i-size seat might be an option but there are precious few around. And might be less use if he is tall.

FWIW, I actually think that a decently supportive high backed booster, with a child who properly fits into one (lap belt crossing hips, shoulder belt crossing collarbone) is better than a forward facing 5pt harness even at 3.5. You get more flexibility in the belt which is better because it tends to fit more snugly, and the wider seatbelt tends to fit a bigger child's body better than a 5 point harness does. There's a lot of publicity about longer-harnessing seats online but I don't feel it really stands up to scrutiny, not in the way that longer rearfacing does. The reason racing car drivers use harnesses is because their cars can behave in extreme ways during crashes including rolling which is unlikely in the vast majority of crashes in modern cars.

I think the problem is getting a younger child to sit properly with just a three point belt so it stays in the optimal position. At 4.5 our Dd still naps on long car journeys so I'm much happier now we've moved to a country where lots of seats have 5 point harness until 25kg.

For very little ones yes. But the nice thing about seatbelts is that they retract, so if they move around then move back into their seat position, the seatbelt still supports them. Whereas a child who wriggles out of their static harness, or wriggles it into a more comfortable position for them, will not have it readjust back to their body shape, and it will be unsafe until it is refastened.

A good HBB will support the child in a sitting up position to sleep. This isn't ideal because the side impact wings don't work properly when a child is resting on them, but it's better than nothing. (I agree for naps it's probably better overall to have a seat designed for them).

Britax advansafix is 25kg FF with a 5 point harness. We have that and a BeSafe Izi ERF - they do to 25kg but it is too big for one of our cars.

Nuna rebel!! Love mine!

We've just got the Besafe Izi fix hbb for our 3yr 10 month old 17 kgs. I decided that given you can recline it, it would be fine. He loves his big boy seat and doesn't have any issues not unplugging the 3 point belt.

We really didn't get on with the Axkid Minikid (bought to keep him rearfacing as long as possible), but with baby 3 about to arrive, it was not going to fit.

The britax 2 way elite is a 5 point harnessed seat, weight limit 25kg, can be forward or rearward facing.

We get an IziBesafe Combi in a Mazda 2. They're tiny cars. I'd check the Izi website as they list all compatible cars, though - and also I am assuming you have isofix?

I would not get a Britax 2 way elite. I speak as someone who had one for my elder child, and it was a monstrous bugger to fit and weighed a ton, so having to get it out and sort the tethers out... I am tensing just remembering the rare occasions we did this, and he's almost 8 now. We got an Izi for dd and it's a lot easier to manage. Heavy, and poor recline, but fitting it is easier.

I'm getting a second seat for my mother's car at the moment and it will be front facing, even though dd is only 2.6, because frankly rearfacing are nightmares. We have one and always will in the main car, and will transfer for motorway trips, but for city occasional use I can't justify the hassle to my mum and friends having my child, at her age, even for the safety boost. I think all are at the moment a bit of a nightmare. Worth it, but be prepared for the frustration, grazed knuckles and cricked neck of fitting the things.