Car seat help for 4 yr old please?

[BreatheAndFocus]

I’ve spent days looking at car seats for DD - and I’ve ended up completely confused ☹️ Not sure what’s right and confused by all the similar names for different models.

She’s 4yrs old, approx 108cm tall and quite slim build (16.5kg). I have an old Ford Fiesta which doesn’t have isofix, so I’m looking for a Stage 2/3 car seat that’s fitted with a seat belt. Ideally under £100 if that’s sensible (ie if all the cheaper ones have below average protection I’d pay more).

Also, is it good to have a harness in the actual seat so that DD would be strapped in the seat with the seat harness and then have the car seat belt round her and the seat?

Any suggestions very much appreciated.

Yes you can get a decent booster seat for under £100 :)

The normal 123 seats with a harness will be too small for her now. Although she's not quite 18kg, the harness height in them tends to go about to her height and no further. So if you want a seat with a harness you would need to get one with a larger harness capability. These exist but they are over £100 plus you usually need top tether which not all cars have. If your car is newer than 2013 you'll definitely have it but if it's older it's less clear cut.

I'll come back with a proper list of boosters when DS2 isn't on me but as a starting point to look, off the top of my head there is Maxi cosi rodi, one of the Cybex solution boosters, Joie trillo and diono cambria 2. These all score well for safety.

Brilliant - thank you! 😊

I’m pretty sure my car doesn’t have top tether. It’s pre-2013 definitely. I’ll look at the ones you suggested for now.

Oh yes, sorry - if you don't have isofix you definitely won't have top tether :)

If you've got a Halfords or smyth toys nearby they do free car seat fitting advice, I went at the weekend to get a new seat and had excellent service/advice from Halfords x

Hi Gorbie

There is a Halfords a bit of a drive away but from what I’ve heard, it only has a small choice of seats. We’re in the back of beyond here 😕

So all my research has been online and I’ve found it hard to narrow down to non-isofix. All I found was a Britax Romer Kid ii without isofix. I might end up having to travel to get something but even then knowing what seats to consider and ask to look at would help a lot. I’m currently exploring the options Bertie kindly gave me and the relief of having actual seats to google rather than trying to pick out possibilities from a load of mainly unsuitable ones is huge 😀

Thank you for your suggestion though 😊

Just an update @BertieBotts and @Gorbie After much online reading, I’ve decided on the Joie Trillo 😊

Really grateful to you @BertieBotts as that company wasn’t even on my radar.

Oh great :) yes Joie are a newcomer but they make really great seats!

By the way, I didn't say this before because I forgot, sorry, but with booster seats even if they have isofix it's always optional and only to make the seat a bit more stable in the car. You can fold it away into the seat and not use it if you don't have the points, as it's the seatbelt which secures the child.

Ideally when child is not using the seat you should strap it in anyway so it doesn't become a projectile if you had a crash, but I imagine most people don't do this. That's another reason to use isofix on a booster but again, optional.

Thank you @BertieBotts 😊 You’ve been very helpful 😊