What’s best car seat for small car?

[Tara1494]

I’m really stuck on what car seat to buy. What do you reckon is the best? I have a Citroen c1 so quite small car but it has five doors

Meant to say I’m due a baby in august so will have to be from newborn size

We used to have a Joie Steadi which my parents could easily fit in their Ford Fiesta, although my mum is quite short so doesn't need much leg room in the passenger seat. We used it from 12 weeks as DD HATED the infant carrier and would scream and scream in it. We had a 10 hour drive to Scotland and I just couldn't face that

It's good if the car has short seatbelts (like our Focus does) and lasts until the child is 18kg. It is tricky to tighten the straps though so we upgraded to an Axkid Move when daughter was 2.5 years.

Generally infant carriers are recommended first as they are a bit safer for small babies.

The In Car Safety Centre is really helpful, as is the Car Seat Advice UK Facebook group

If you're on Facebook, check out the group Car Seat Advice UK, it's excellent.

Most infant seats will fit fine in a small car. It's when baby outgrows the seat and you need a Group 1/2 seat (up to 18kg or 25kg) that you'll need to choose more carefully.

Any infant carrier from a reputable brand (Britax, Maxi Cosi, BeSafe, Joie, Cybex etc) should be able to fit with a seatbelt. If you want an isofix base it might be trickier as isofix does tend to have a problem with being too rigid thus not necessarily having the best fit.

For second stage, best to wait until after baby is born. If baby is above 50th centile, therefore likely to outgrow an 18kg seat before four then it would be better to invest in a 25kg seat (depending on how long you want to harness/rear face for).

Maxi Cosi tend to be popular as they can fit on most pushchairs with adaptors, but BeSafe, Joie and Cybex are also compatible with the same adaptors as Maxi Cosi.

Britax car seats can also be used, but not with Maxi Cosi adaptors. I’ve attached a link to the pushchairs the britax car seats are compatible with.

www.britax-romer.co.uk/support/pushchair-compatibility

Hope I helped, and good luck!

Another thing I forgot to add is that infant carriers on isofix bases tend to take up MUCH more room then group one seats do

I have exactly the same car and the Joie I-level fits really well.

The in car safety centre Milton Keynes has a database on its website and it will tell You which ones fit Etc