Rear facing car seat for bigger baby

[Littlefattykittycatty]

We have the kiddy evoluna I size car seat for our baby but due to him being so large he is almost at the maximum weight limit (13kg) at 7 months old!
We are looking for another rear facing seat that will last a little longer. I want him to be rear facing until at least 15 months, as recommended, but worried at the rate he is growing ( he is long as well) that he will reach the weight limit for extended rear facing seats before he is 15 months.
What I am asking is does anyone know of or can recommend an extended rear facing car seats with a high weight limit? Has anyone been in the same position?
We are fully prepared to pay more for the right seat and are aware we may need to purchase another after this for forward facing.

Are you really sure he's that heavy? That's over 2 stone. My 2yo weighs that much!

Look at a multi stage seat, the Joie every stage rear faces until 4.

Have a look for a seat which read faces until 25kg. DD is 90+ percentile so we're hoping ours will last her until she's 5 or 6. We have the Britax Max Way but there are a few to chose from depending on what will fit in your car and if you want to be able to forward face it.

@TeacherMaths one of my neighbours 10 month old is taller and bigger than the average 2.5 year old boy. My DD 2 months younger then him is taller and bigger than the average 1 year old boy. Two babies in my NCT group are also taller and bigger than average but unlike myself and neighbour both their parents are very tall. Anyway I believe the OP that her child is that tall and big.

BTW I have a Joie Every Stage.

The Joie Steadi rear faces until about four. The every stage is ok but performs poorly when used forward facing as a group one seat. If you get it, keep rear facing until you want to use it as a stage 2/3 booster. The Joie Stages also rear faces until about four, and has isofix. The steadi is belted only.

I was told that the biggest cause of death in infants and small children in crashes is the neck snapping due to forward momentum from their head being too much for their fragile necks to support. Rear facing drastically reduces the likelihood of this. I'd keep him rear facing for as long as possible.

If your son is that heavy at 7 months you will almost certainly need a seat which rear faces to 25kg. Looking at growth charts that should take you to 3-4 ish presuming he doesn’t drop centiles as they often do once more mobile etc. We have the Axkid Minikid which we love, but there are many other options out there- Britax Maxway, Axkid Move, Klippan Century, Diono Radian 5, Britax Two Way Elite... BeSafe also do a couple too. If you have a look on A-Z of Rear Facing on Facebook they have an infographic which lists all the 25kg seats.

Maxi cosi 2 way pearl goes up to 18kg, my two both very comfy in this.

Just to add that seats like the Joie ones only rear face to 18kg which is likely to only be around 2yo if your son stays on the same centile. A 25kg seat would be a much better investment. Don’t be put off by them not being isofix- they’re super easy to fit with a seatbelt once you’ve been shown how and it makes them more universal and often more compact as a seat too.

Try to go somewhere to try it in your car before you buy, these are big seats and don't fit all cars. Also some cars simply are poorly designed, my parents 7 seater could fit my kids car seats because of the seat molding

My understanding is you can only rear face until 18kg if using Isofix and until 25kg with a belt. We have a BeSafe seat which I felt was one of the best when I researched but it only goes to 18kg. DD is an average 3 year old and under 14kg so not an issue for us.

Don't get an 18kg seat. It will be a waste of money and outgrown very quickly.

You need a 25kg ERF - the Britax Two Way Elite and the Axkid Minikid are the best ones to look at.

We were in a similar position a few years ago, DS was out of the old size baby seat (9kg) by 5 months. We got a joie stages, which RF until 18kg but I wish we'd gone for a 25kg one as at 2.5 years he's already 17kg.

Contact the In Car Safety Centre and they can advise you on getting a seat that rear faces until 25kg. They are in Milton Keynes but can advise by phone and email.

Did the same here due to big babies! We now have the britax max way( brought through pram world. Great customer service when needed help with the seats) It's a great seat if you aren't moving it in and out of the car too much as the tethers are back breaking to keep pulling tightly if in and out of the car! Or buy another set for the other car if you are use another Car occasionally. Makes life much easier! Very much agree with rear facing as long as possible. I get funny looks about it from moms with older children though... "My children survived" blah blah!

Also I would suggest a swivel to help getting him in and out. Worth the extra especially if he's heavy. We have Joei 360

Axkid minikid here for eldest (4 and a half) it’s brilliant

Thank you all for your responses and yes he is that heavy and he wears 18-24 month clothes!
I didn’t really think about looking for one that was not isofix but will look more into this, as it seems the weight limit is higher, because I really do want to keep him rear facing as long as possible.
Thank you for all your ideas!

Don't let the isofix/belt fitted thing worry you at all. A properly fitted seatbelted car seat is equally as safe as an isofix seat. Isofix just lessens the risk of human error installing the seats. IME my belt fitted seats are far more secure than any isofix seats we've had.

Join the Facebook group 'car seat advice uk' for more information about 25kg ERF seats. As your DS is young, the Diono Radian 5 would also be a good suggestion as that goes from birth to 25kg. However, if you can push your infant car seat another couple of months, the Axkid Minikid and the Britax Two Way Elite are much easier to install.

I'm a big fan of swivel seats (I have 2!) but given that baby is on the bigger side I'd advise against getting one as the weight limits on all swivel seats is 18kg so he would be out of it quite quickly.

A rear facing 25kg seat is the safest bet.

Maxi cosi 2 way pearl is brilliant and was a best buy on Which when we bought it (July '19)

You will definitely want a 25kg limit seat. If you buy an 18kg limit seat now, you may well be OK with him forward facing by the time he outgrows it but as he's likely to outgrow it before he's 3 it's unlikely you'll be happy with him in a booster seat. Which means you'll need to shell out for a seat which harnesses to 25kg at that point anyway. Seems silly to do that then - I'd just bite the bullet and go for it now.

Obviously as he's 7 months now you'll need a seat which can rear face for the moment. Which rules out the Joie Bold and Cosy n Safe Excalibur, but otherwise all the seats in this link would be suitable. The only one which can forward face with harness later (if you want that option, it's not neccessary - you can go straight from ERF to HBB) is the Diono Radian 5.

Here's a list of all the 25kg limit seats in the UK:
csftl.org/european-car-seats-25-kg-weight-limit-seats/

You'll find more info if you join the Facebook group Rear Facing Toddlers or Car Seat Advice UK, I really recommend these for a good source of info about various seats and how to install, fit queries, comparison, use queries etc. You can also find ERF specialist retailers on these pages which would be helpful as they will look at your car and child and find the best seat for you.

One thing to bear in mind is that a lot of these seats are designed for children over a year old who have outgrown their infant carriers. While your son will probably fit into them physically, you might have a problem that his head will flop forwards when he falls asleep because the angle of the seat is too steep for him. So it would be very useful if you could look at how the seats install in your car (as the angle of your back seats is a factor) and might be worth looking for one which has a better recline. Or the other thing some people do is buy something like the Joie Tilt which is a very inexpensive ERF seat but small, in order to bridge the gap from a baby seat to a 25kg ERF seat. The Tilt won't last you very long because the seat shell is short, but it might be enough to get you to a year or a bit past then.

Thank you all for your help. It really did give us some clarity and we have decided we will be getting a rear facing seat that goes to 25kg. We are looking at the Axkid mini kid but are going to the in car safety centre this week hopefully for some further advice

We've got a britax two way elite which has been brilliant. My son was rear facing until he was probably about 4 and we've had a good few years out of it forward facing as well.