Car seat

[lcsj]

Hi I'm looking to get my 5 month old a new car seat one that will last untill he's older and one that I can have rear facing for as long as possible. What is the best one to go for?

Is there a reason you want to get one now? Just that depending on his height and weight, getting one when he's about 12mo could give you more options.

What height and weight centile is he following? If he's predicted to be less than 18kg when he's 4 (track the line in his red book), you could get an 18kg seat like the Joie Stages now. If he's predicted to be more than 18kg by the time he's 4, it would be better to wait until he was nearer 12mo and get a 25kg seat like the Axkid Minikid or Britax Two Way Elite.

@teaandbiscuitsforme thanks for replying!
No reason to getting one now im just trying to find the best one. He's following the 97th line for his weight. I don't have his red book on me to see what he's following for his height.
I'm assuming I'm going to have to go for 1 of the other 2 rather than the joie because of his weight. Would you say they are both the same or is 1
Better than the other?

The 25kg seats are only suitable from 9kg officially but they only really fit once kids are in 12-18mo clothes because of the harness height. Which is why I said it can be better to wait until he's closer to 1 if you can. My DS is 98th centile and we got the Minikid at about 11mo.

The Minikid is often seen as the best 25kg seat. It's Swedish plus tested so one of the safest seats you can get. The Britax one is good, we have it as a spare. It isn't plus tested because it can forward face to 18kg so it's not eligible for testing but there is no reason why it wouldn't pass the test.

If you're looking for a 25kg ERF seat the best thing to do is to look for a local specialist, they will try all the seats they have in your car/with your child to find out what will be the best, longest lasting choice for you. Sometimes they don't have the discounts that online stores have, but when you're looking at 25kg ERF there are not massive discounts online anyway, and it's worth paying the extra few percent for the advice and long term customer service usually. Here is a list:
www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

The reason Tea is saying to wait until closer to 12mo is that these seats which go up to 25kg are usually designed to be used once children have totally outgrown their baby seats and they don't really support younger children. There's definitely no harm in looking now (and as 25kg ERF seats tend to be pricey it gives you chance to save up) but I would go with the expectation that you won't be able to use this for a few months. With a child on high centiles you might be able to use them before the first birthday, but certainly not before 6 months and that would be for a very big baby (usually not before 9 months ish).

The Two Way Elite is a very basic car seat in an older design and I wouldn't recommend it unless you are on an extremely tight budget and it's all you can afford, or you're looking for a second seat/a seat primarily for travelling (as it's lightweight). It's not that it's bad, it's just that there are other seats on the market which are better.

Here is an article about seats up to £250. The Axkid Minikid is not on there because it's more like £350 :) I couldn't find another quick comparison of the most common models.

erfmission.com/budget-friendly-erf-car-seats-to-25kg/

Axkid Minikid from same blogger:

erfmission.com/new-axkid-minikid-review/