Which car seat would you recommend for toddlers?

[TinaMumsnet]

We're making plans to test and review car seats for toddlers and we'd love to know which ones you recommend.

Tell us the make and model of the car seat you rate, and why you'd recommend it to others. Your comments will help us to create a shortlist of toddler car seats to test and recommend to new parents.

As well as listening to your recommendations, we'll be speaking to independent experts and studying a variety of crash safety test results before putting together a shortlist of 15 car seats to test with a real family.

This shortlist of car seats will represent the highest performing and best value products on the market. All the car seats we test will meet (or exceed) government safety guidelines, by having one family test all the seats we’ll get a clearer idea of with the differences between each car seat and how they fit into family life.

Help us find the best products to test by sharing your car seat recommendations below

Thanks!

[randomsabreuse]

The spin feature is great for inserting a recalcitrant child into a seat. I don't intend to use either of my car seats front facing but would if my child were distressed (travel sick) rear facing. I'm not mad on the biomechanics of harnessed forward facing so instinctively prefer an impact shield to a harness if ff were necessary- because the safest thing is to avoid crashing in the first place and a vomiting/screaming child is pretty distracting!

The big issue with a lot of the ERF seats is space behind a tall driver in anything but the biggest cars. We got the Britax rather than the Axkid because we were struggling for space behind DH in an oldish legacy

[INeedNewShoes]

We've got the GB Vaya (RF to 18 kg)

As a spare seat to use in grandparents/others cars I've recently bought the Joie Stages thanks to advice I received from posters on a thread I started asking for advice. This seat seems great so far and is also rear facing until 18kg.

DD is tiny so I'm hoping she'll be in both these seats RF until beyond 4.

[TulipsInbloom1]

Britax 2 way Elite.

Id like to see official rules for car seat marketing. Car seat manufacturers should be forced to put on their products and adverts the speeds they have tested the product up to. Car seats should be tested way past the 30mph they need to.

Just as with advertising formula milk, stores and adverts should promote rear facing for longest possible. So "Rear facing to 4yo is safest for your little one, however if you need to forward face earlier this seat is suitable from 2yo" etc.

[junemami]

Axkid minikid, 6.5 year old still comfortable in it, had used it since 1 so low cost over the years. Automatically adjusts to height every time you strap them in. Solid fix.
Would also recommend the car seat advice UK Facebook page.

[Thesearmsofmine]

We use a Joie tilt for the two year old, it can be used rearfscing until 18kg. It is a really affordable seat for those looking to rearface on a smaller budget.

I would love to see Mumsnet promote resurfacing, I see so many babies turned when they are still under one.

[MadeForThis]

Britax romer dualfix is amazing. Spin makes it so easy to get toddler in.especially when pregnant.

[AssumethePerpendicular]

Agree with teaandbiscuits, I’ve just got a 25kg rear facing for my 75yh centile boy. Most of my friends are planning to forward face as soon as they can and aren’t aware o the differences and haven’t been told when buying car seats.

[impatientmammy]

Joie stages can rear face up to age 4 for a reasonable price ☺️ x

[Merename]

I also love axkid mini kid for same reasons as everyone else. Just about to buy second one.

[QueenofmyPrinces]

I’ve recently bought the Joie Stages for my 16 month old and it’s lovely.

It’s easy to fit, it is very secure, my son looks very snug and protected in it and it looks incredibly comfy for him too.

The plan is to RF him until 4 but my husband is aghast at the idea

I have friends who turned their child round at the earliest stage possible and says it because their child prefers it as they get bored unless they can see out the front.

I can’t jusge too much though as I turned my first son FF at 9 months old and he was in a car seat that I now know to be unsafe. When I think about the danger I could have put him in it upsets me. However, I wasn’t educated at the time and so I knew no better which I think is why a lot of people FF so early.

There definitely needs to be some kind of campaign, adverts, documentaries about the differences between FF/RF car seats because the message REALLY needs to get out there.

My cousins 13 month old son was recently killed in a car crash and he was FF in a generic type car seat. My cousin had told me I must never, ever scrimp on car seats because everybody thinks bad car crashes “will never happen to me” - but they do, every day and none of us are immune. My cousin goes over and over in her mind about how different the outcome may have been if he was in a branded, safe car seat and RF and I fear she will always bear that weight on her shoulders.

[littledinaco]

Agree with teaandbiscuitsforme
Would love to see the UK move towards Sweden when rear facing is standard and forward facing harnessed seats just aren’t a thing.

It’s not just about getting the ‘best’ seat, it’s about the correct seat for your child, car, if you change seats often between other cars, what other seats you have, etc.

It would be good to see parents guided towards seeing a car seat specialist (not Mothercare or Halfords) and teaching them how to choose a suitable seat for them rather than just looking at car seat reviews. So many parents spend lots of time reading reviews, choose a seat and then discover it isn’t actually all that suitable for their child and circumstances.

There are quite a few really unsafe seats too (usually character ones etc) that pass the legal minimum but perform badly in other crash testing. A ‘what to avoid’ list would be good too.

Pictures of older DC rear facing would also be great. Lots of 5/6/7 year olds (older if small DC) rearface so awareness that this is possible would be good.

[TrashPanda]

When I was looking at seats when I was pregnant with my now 3 year old I had so many people tell me I was crazy for looking at £400+ car seats that were erf. The very same people who then went on to spend £700+ on a buggy. I have no issue with people buying a buggy they like but in a car you will be travelling at up to 70mph whereas a buggy goes walking speed which for me is slow I've never understood the mentality of that.

[IThinkIJustShatMyself]

I love my Joie 360, got a three year old and he’s still RF :)

[whatsnewchoochoo]

Maxi Cosi pearl

Extended rear facing
Looks comfy
Very easy to fit
Easy to wash vomit out of

I love it

[Spam88]

We have a joie spin 360. ERF to 18kg, which for our dainty little one is a long way off. The spin makes it really easy to get her in, the straps tighten really easily (unlike our previous mothercare seat) and the shoulder straps just adjust with a button on the back of the head rest, so no threading and unthreading required.

Very much agree with the sentiment on this thread that Mumsnet shouldn't be promoting any seats which don't offer rear facing until age 4.

[welshweasel]

Agree with the above comments. This is a brilliant opportunity to educate large numbers of parents about extended rear facing and also that children shouldn’t be in a HBB until at least aged 4, so it’s important to know what centile your child is on before forking out for an expensive seat that won’t last them. No one tells you this and so many people waste hundreds of pounds.

We have a maxi cosi 2 way pearl and joie stages - the maxi cosi is super comfy and v easy to use, the stages is great for moving between cars and taking on holiday.

[trilbydoll]

I agree with the pp about seat covers, you need an engineering degree to figure out some of the seats we've had. DD2 has just grown out of her BeSafe Izi which is my absolute favourite seat - height wise she's fine but it only goes to 18kg a skinnier child would get longer out of it. Probably going to put her on a Joie Bold next, she can either use the seatbelt or it can be harness up to 25kg if you top tether it.

[Treacletoots]

Anyone even considering buying a car seat should read the results of the ADAC crash safety tests here;

www.adac.de/infotestrat/tests/kindersicherung/kindersitz-test/default.aspx

[randomsabreuse]

Machine washable quick dry covers are a crucial feature in my experience. Cybex is great to wash!

[NameChange30]

What teaandbiscuits said.

Also, what I'd really like to see, as a refreshing change from all the unhelpful car seat reviews (no I don't give a sh*t about the colours), are reviews of car seat retailers. I'd love to see a list of retailers across the country with scores for range of seats and quality of advice given. Obviously only retailers selling ERF seats should be listed.

[mintchick]

We have the new version of the Nuna Rebl Plus iSize for my twins and we are very happy with them. Very sturdy and reinforced and kids are very comfy in them. They spin 360 and ones recline plus they also have spare seat cover which is handy, it's a summer one spare in a bag and it's vented to help keep little ones cool in summer. They're also quite big and heavy and a bit pricey but we are 100% happy with them.

[MoMoandJoJo]

We now have a cybex pallas m fix sl car seat - impact shield rather than 5 point harness for our 2 year old. We tried (and bought) several car seats and she could (and would) slip her arms out of all of them - so an impact shield was the only option for us to keep her safe. A concise review of this type of seat would have been really beneficial.

[littledinaco]

@MoMoandJoJo not to scare you but you may want to watch this video of a crash test with an impact shield. (I know a lot of car seat experts don’t recommend them for this reason as there are concerns of them not being able to restrain the child in a collision where the car rolls).

If you join the Facebook group car seat advice U.K. there is some good advice regarding children who escape harnessed seats and a couple of safe products you can buy to prevent this.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=f7zFgzHHNg0

[adoptDad]

We use the Graco Nautilus. Our LO is two and a half and really happy with it.

[QueenofmyPrinces]

My friend used FF HBB on her son (and mine, unbeknownst to me) when they were just under 2 years old. I’m not even exaggerating. I was HORRIFIED when I realised and I’ve never let her drive my child around again. This was only 2.5 years ago too.