Help me think through my car seat options!

[Sunshinegirl82]

Hello!

I have two DC. DS1 turns 4 this month and is around the 25th percentile (14.5kg and 95cm approx). He is currently rear facing in a cybex sirona and a Joie 360.

DS2 is 13 months and on the 50th percentile (10.5kg not sure on height but still comfortably in 12-18 month clothes). He had been in a maxi cosi pebble plus infant carrier.

During lockdown I didn’t drive them anywhere but now we are starting to venture out in the car again it is pretty clear that DS2 needs to move out of his infant carrier. He is squashed looking and doesn’t like being reclined.

So I am looking at seats and I’m confused! I know a reasonable amount on the topic but I just can’t decide which way to go.

My original plan was to move DS1 to a HBB and DS2 could take his seats but DS1 is just short of the weight limit for a HBB although only 0.5kg. I imagine he’ll be there soon.

I considered a RF 25kg seat (axkid mini kid or similar) but I’m reasonably comfortable with DS1 forward facing now and I’m not sure it would therefore be worth it at this stage? If DS1 was younger I would definitely do this but at 4 I’m not sure it’s the right way to go.

I’ve also considered something like Joie stages or Joie Bold or Britax Advansafix which could harness him for a while and then switch to a booster. I also like the cybex option but I’m not sure about the safety of the impact cushion or these types of seat in general. As DS1 is fairly small I might be able to keep him rear facing in an 18kg seat for another 6 months or so but then I wonder if a good forward facing seat would be better than an average RF at this point.

Budget is reasonably flexible as I want to make sure we get the best seat we can. We do need two though so if I can avoid spending £350 a pop that would be great!

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great!

In your shoes I reckon I would go for the Advansafix. 95cm and 14.5kg is too small for a HBB but he will get there and the Advansafix gets good ratings as both :)

No to shield seat, they are good for dummies but not so good for people, and the Bold etc don't get great ratings either. I think they're good in the event you want to FF but still really want a harness, but that's not your situaion.

Rear facing is still safer, even the cheapest/worst rear facer is safer than the best forward facer - that's how it goes. It would probably fit him for another ~3 years and then DS2 could go into it, so if you think in those terms it might be worth it.

Maybe think ahead to when DS2 is outgrowing the Cybex Sirona or a 25kg seat, how old DS1 would be and whether you'd need a second HBB seat?

@bertiebotts

This is the dilemma I have in my own mind! There is a 2 year 10 month gap so assuming DS2 makes it to 4 in the cybex sirona/Joie 360, DS2 will be about 7. As he is smallish he will definitely need a HBB at that point so we will then need 2 for each car.

If I go for the advansafix DS1 can have it until DS2 needs it and then we can buy a HBB to go alongside it. If I go for a 25kg seat I would still need to buy them both HBB eventually (which would mean another 4 car seats!)

That said I know it’s safer to RF as long as possible so I wonder if I’m doing DS1 a disservice not getting him a 25kg seat! The minikid has £50 off at in car safety centre this weekend so if I’m going to go for that now would be the time!

I’ve been going backwards and forwards on it for a couple of weeks!

We loooooooove our axkid minikid, so much so bought a second one. DD1 who is 4.5 and 21kg is still comfortably in it, so DD2 Who is 20mo will be in hers for a long while yet, and hopefully a DC3 next year or two will be able to inherit the first one when DD1 reaches 25kg.

They are so easy to install and feel so sturdy. Our second one is a hideous pink colour as there was £100 off in the sale! But could live with that.

I was thinking, if you get the minikid or something cheaper e.g. Britax Max Way - there's a Max Way Plus on offer somewhere for £180 at the moment which is very good (usually £215) - then:

DS1 goes into minikid now, DS2 into Sirona.
In ~3 years, you'll have DS1 (age 7ish) ready to go into a HBB and DS2 (age 4) ready to move into the minikid.
In ~6 years, you'll have DS2 age 7, DS1 nearly 10 years old and potentially ready to come out of car seats altogether or move to a backless booster or a very cheap booster such as Diono Cambria or Britax Adventure (or whatever is available cheaply for tall kids in 6 years' time). Therefore DS2 could go into whichever HBB you bought in 2023, and you'd only need 2, not 4.

If you do go for the Advansafix, the newest one (i-size version) comes with the XP pad as well, which seems to make quite a difference in safety if you look at the test results between the two Kidfix models that have it vs don't have it. But then that takes it up to £225ish which is actually more expensive than the Britax Max Way Plus.

But I just do really like the Advansafix as a seat - I don't know what it is about it - and so I would probably love the excuse to get one! I am eyeing them up for DS2 if he needs to vacate the Joie 360 for a younger sibling.

@Marename

Thank you! Everyone seems to love the mini kid, I’ve never seen anyone have a criticism!

I think if I could go into the shop and try it out it would be easier as I could get DS1 to sit in a few. It’s a big investment to make blind.

DS1 has never been forward facing and has never asked to turn around so there is no pressure from him. He’s getting a bit pushed for leg room in the 360 now as it sits very close to the seat back but he’s fine in the cybex!

@BertieBotts

Thank you, yes you’re right it might work out on timings and DS2 is the bigger of the two. My other thought is if DS2 hit 18kg at 3 or 3.5 I might not want to move him to FF that early and the minikid or similar would give me options.

I’ve been looking at the Maxway plus online and thought it seemed very good value. Perhaps that might be the way to go.

I agree about the Advansafix though, I kept coming back to it! If I could sit him in both. I think that would make the decision for me!

Some of the specialists are open on an appointment basis, if that's of any use. There's a good list here: www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

I would try emailing or FB messaging them even if they say they are closed.

It's a good point that if DS2 is bigger, you might want something that goes up to 25kg eventually. Hard to judge that in advance.

There is loads more legroom in both the Max Way Plus and Minikid compared to the 18kg seats.

These videos have been great recently and she's really open to questions, definitely has an Advansafix (she looks at it in the multi stage seats video) and a few 25kg seats, so you might be able to ask about some kind of comparison? Maybe at one of the virtual library sessions.

www.facebook.com/carseatlibrary/

In fact there's a virtual library on Sunday, so you could potentially watch that, ask your question(s) and then still order the reduced minikid by the end of the day if you're quick!

Great, thank you! I’ll have a look!

Actually I do have one criticism of the 2.0 version, the clasp is much more lightweight and flimsy feeling than the previous version - is safe once clipped, but the strap often twists in it somehow coming in and out so it can be a faff. I like the earlier model better on this front, so if they still sell them they may be cheaper and avoid this feature.

On legroom - DD is really tall, haven’t measured exactly for a while but in 5-6 clothes, and still plenty room with bent legs.

Apparently they have changed the buckle again on those and they are less likely to twist again now. It was a problem in the first runs of the 2.0.

You can write to Axkid and arrange for the straps to be swapped on yours if it bothers you.

I had the Joie 360 for DD and when she was 3 1/4 and DS was 14 months I was weighing up the same thing. I went for the Axkid move and she’s still very comfortably in it one year later and I reckon I’ll have her in it until she is probably 5 1/2 when I will give it to DS and put her in a decent hbb. Very happy with the Move and the fact that we’ve managed with just three “big” car seats between them and inevitably some high backed boosters ahead in the future.

Oh that is so good to know, Bertie!! I will do that right now as it pisses me off!

Correct me if I’m wrong Bertie—but AFAIK the i-size advansafix (m I-size) doesn’t have the XP-Pad but alternatively the harness goes up to 21kg. There is an XP-Pad but that’s on the advansafix z-line

We have a similar dilemma. Decided on the joie stages. Baby is in it currently because the rear facing mode is rather reclined. 3yo in Joie 360.
When she outgrown it we will put her in the stages FF and baby in the 360 spin

Sorry—just seen that in UK there is only the advansfix m i-size (Which doesn’t have the XP-pad) and on the german website there’s actually two—advansafix i-size (does include XP-pad) and the advansafix m i-size (one in UK, no XP-pad)

Ah I was probably looking at the German site, my mistake.

If the Z-line one has it that's amazon exclusive IIRC. I wouldn't usually suggest to buy a car seat off amazon but it might be worth it in that case.

I am really intrigued by Britax's decision to add the higher weight classification to harness mode (and market it as being able to harness longer as a result) but also limit that harnessed mode to 102cm - 3cm less than most seats of that type! Seems bizarre to me. I actually wondered with that 102cm height limit whether they were intending to encourage parents to move to the booster mode as soon as their child is tall enough. I do know they changed from the Advansafix 2 being approved up to 25kg (but nobody could fit their 25kg child into the harness) to the Advansafix 3 being approved only to 18kg, and their statement was that they found with the Secure Guard (crotch strap) the HBB mode was no less protective than the harnessed mode.

It's interesting because a lot of car seat advocates/experts seem to keep increasing the age which they recommend as a minimum for HBB use and I can't figure out where this is coming from unless it's filtering over from the US, but Britax almost seem to be advocating for the opposite - HBB as soon as they're ready for it as long as they are over 3. I highly respect Britax as a company so I'm really intrigued by the difference there.

Hello again!

So after thinking about it for a bit longer I think we are set on the advansafix! So question is, which one?!

I can get the r, m or z as far as I can tell. Z is the most expensive and seems to be the newest (although price isn’t always a good indicator). Any thoughts? Thanks!

I always read the which reports. I know they also include things like how easy the seat is to clean but you just read everything about the seat not just the headline. The one thing I have found is expensive does not always equal safer.

The advansafix R has the securagaurd and also a pop out side impact protection (SICT)
The advansafix M is the same as the advansafix R, only it doesn’t have the pop out SICT.
The advansafix Z has no SICT, like the advansafix R, but has the XP pad which spreads the crash forces across the chest lessening injuries

The side impact protection seems to make a lot of difference so I think personally I'd go for one with SICT if you have the choice. However if your car seat is very close to the car door you won't be able to use it so it would be a waste.

The XP pad can cause issues with seatbelt retraction in some cars, and some children apparently find it annoying, so you might prefer to avoid if you can't try before you buy. On the other hand, it's meant to improve neck load a lot which might be a relief if you're nervous about forward facing.

The secure guard is on all of them, I think.

I am not really clear whether the isize one is out in the UK, I think its only on the M model though? The isize has a low height limit for the harness but a higher weight limit.

Apparently the top harness height slot is 41.5cm if you want to compare with the seat you're using now. I had a look at one in a shop yesterday, not sure which variant though and it did seem roomier than the Joie 360 in the seat area. I couldn't get the harness up to full height because it was in a display and I didn't actually want to buy it so didn't want to bother the staff!

In terms of after care it might be worth buying one you can locate from a trustworthy stockist, more so than amazon anyway.

We used to have the KidFix ii xp and found we had problems with the XP pad—e.g when DC leant forward the whole booster would also lean forward and had retraction problems. The car we used it in was involved in an accident and was written off so we had to replace the seat. We chose the KidFix ii xp as we were reluctant to go without a harness and the securagaurd and xp pad reassured me.

More recently after DC had reached 25KG we bought the britax Kidfix III S which is the successor of the KidFix ii xp and has both the securagaurd and xp pad. The XP pad on the newer seat is MUCH better, seat doesn’t lean forward when DC does and the seatbelt does retract into it well—from what I can tell in photos the XP pad is the same on both the KidFix and advansafix. But that’s just been my experience.

The isize one in the UK is the isize M—generally britax M seats DONT have the XP pad only the securaguard. From what I’ve seen the i size M advansafix doesn’t have the side impact (although the i size law is supposed to supposedly include more vigorous side impact testing )