Recommendation for tall toddler

[BoobOrBust]

DD is 2 (28mths), 1m tall and approx 30lbs.

We currently have the maxi Cosi axissfix which she is very close to growing out of, height-wise, so looking for the next car seat.

Most of the seats that I have looked at for her size (admittedly not many as I'm not sure what I'm looking for and when I asked for advice in Mothercare they were useless) seem to be high backed booster and using the seatbelt but I'm sure I read that you should use a 5 point harness, rather than lap belt, until around 4yrs old.

Can anyone recommend a carseat for a tall toddler that has a five point harness (preferably one that will "grow with her"). Or, as she is so tall, would it be ok to use a HBB with lap belt?

I have a similar problem with a large toddler albeit he is outgrowing his seat weight-wise more quickly than height-wise. He is 17.6kg so nearly at the 18kg limit.

There are 3 or 4 seats that have a five point harness beyond 18kg and 104cm, can't remember them all, but they tend to get pretty poor reviews. My choice is the cozy n safe Excalibur. It hasn't been Which reviewed but the user reviews are good. It needs a top tether to use isofix so check it's compatible with your car if that what you want to use.

The Joie Bold is one and the other is an Axkid I think.... My memory is failing me

Every single thread like this points towards the Axkid MiniKid which seems to be THE best car seat for

• rear facing
• long children
• longevity (think it’s up to 23kg)

And apparently it’s passed all Swedish car accident tests which are the hardest on planet a earth by all accounts.

We are away to get one when DD is out of her Britax Romer as we only just realised it’s max weight is 18kg and DD is heading for that fast.

I discounted the Axkid because of a poor review. Possibly on Which? I has been set on it prior to that. I'll try to find it again.

Which is terrible for car seat reviews, particularly of rear facing seats. If you want a forward facing seat there are two, the cosy and safe and the joie bold. Both need top tethers (not all cars have these). Otherwise you’re looking at a rear facing seat that harnesses to 25kg - the axkid minikid, Britax two way elite, diono radian 5 are some examples that work well for tall kids.

4/4.5 is the earliest it’s safe to move to a HBB

In what way is Which terrible for car seat reviews? I thought it was the gold standard?

We've got the Joie bold, harness until 25kg. It's great, I adore it, and not a bad price either!

Which are notorious for marking seats down for things like how easy they are to fit, when they should be concentrating on safety. Take the axkid minikid - one of the safest seats on the market - passed the Swedish plus test, which most experts would consider the gold standard in terms of car seat safety, but scored poorly by which. The joie every stage is a which do not buy, but it’s a brilliant seat for extended rear facing where you need to swap seats between cars frequently or want to use it to travel etc. Used rear facing it will be far safer than any of the forward facing seats that which score highly!

Which is absolutely to be ignored as far as car seats are concerned. Completely useless. They have absolutely no understanding of the safety testing they do and then score some of the safest car seats in Europe (ie those which have passed the Swedish plus test) down for things like fabric choice.

Op, rear facing is still far safer so the rear facing 25kg seats are your safest choice. The axkid Minikid is a brilliant seat but the Britax Two Way Elite and others are a good choice.

If you want to forward face, your DC is far too young for a HBB, despite with mothercare etc will try to sell you. You'd need a 25kg FF seat such as the Joie Bold. However, you do need isofix and top tether for all of those options.

I've got a giant 2 year old too. We've just moved from a maxi cosi pearl to an infrababy safe-plus iso fix 1,2,3 car seat, it uses a top tether too and is 5 point harness.

I just wanted an isofix with a 5 point harness that in future can be used with the seat belt, once he can be trusted with it. I'd read under 3 their pelvis is not suitable for normal seat belt anyway.

How do people fit in their children's legs if they remain rear facing ? My child is very tall and that's why we swapped seats as it was hard to get him in and his legs suck straight forward on old seat. Now with the new infrababy loads more headheighy and he needs less leg room as his legs bend.

I'd not heard of Infrababy before googling for a isofix seat, but I'm happy with it and been using it about a month. It did take ages to come after order though, prob about 3 weeks which made me edgy, but all is good.

My tall 3.5 yr old has plenty of room rear facing. The Pearl is quite a big seat whereas lots of the 25kg seats are much more compact so they have more leg room. She puts her feet up in the back seat or crosses them over, as young children do. I definitely won't be forward facing her for a few years yet, the step down in safety just isn't worth it for me.

Another vote for the Axkid Minikid, it's a 25kg seat and it has one of the tallest shells in the market.

It's passed the Swedish Plus Test which is one of the toughest car seat safety tests in the EU. Which reviews are nonsense in comparison.

@sunshineonrainyhay the infababy only harnesses to 18kg so completely useless for a high centile child as you need to keep them harnessed until age 4 at the very earliest. The only forward facing seats suitable for higher centile children are the joie bold and the cosy and safe Excalibur. The infababy is no better than the pearl!

Same situation as you, bought an axkid minikid and are very happy with it. Rear facing is more comfy cause their legs are supported rather than dangling

@welshweasel so 18kg that's till approx 40 llbs .. my child is 28 months and weighs 15.9 kg, that's 91st percentile I think. Really even tall toddlers are unlikely to make it past 18kg before 4, but I'll wait and see.

I am happy with my infrababy car seat and it was under £80. I don't have access to car in the week it's only used at the weekends/ family trips. I walk everywhere or get the bus .. probably even more dangerous !

If they follow their centile they will hit 18kg at just turned 3, so a full year before they can safely use a non harnessed seat. This affects a huge number of children and very few high street retailers will tell you about it.

@welshweasel the thing is it's about the testing weight.

Again like car seats many pushchairs say up to 15 kg, because that is what they test them up to. I assume it's the same with seats?

I can see that strap position for the 5 point harness could be an issue if they are tall, I will keep him in the harness for as long as possible he loves undoing the main seat belt clips

I thought the general consensus is main seat belt from 3 onwards?

Age 4 is the absolute minimum that a child can safely use a seatbelt, due to the skeletal maturity of their pelvic bones - any younger and they are at risk of submarining under the belt in a crash. You obviously can’t keep using a harness once the child passes the weight limit for it, there’s a risk the harness would fail in a crash. It’s absolutely not the same as a pushchair where the worst thing that would happen is that the pushchair would collapse.

My 98th centile DS will reach 18kg at 2.5 years - so important to track their weight before buying car seats! x

You can install the Axkid Mini kid a slight distance away from the rear passenger seat, so they can sit in it exactly the same way they would in a forwards facing seat. I'm rubbish at describing it but there's a picture here www.axkid.com/new-features-new-axkid-minikid-2018/ . We have one and my tall almost 4 year old has loads of space.

However, he's never complained about being uncomfortable in his seat in our 2nd car where that isn't possible - he sits quite happily with his legs crossed or straight up the back seat - so I think it's an issue adults worry about that just doesn't matter to kids.