Rear-facing car seat for tall 18 month old, isize?

[OhRosalind]

DS is 18 months, slim and light but over 90th percentile for height, so much more likely to outgrow seats on the basis of height not weight. The Cybex Sirona is compatible with our existing base but I’ve read it’s not good for tall kids. Any recommendations?

DH is keen on Isize/isofix; I want whatever is safest but am getting in a muddle with Swedish-plus tested, German test results, what includes side-impact testing etc etc.

the diono radian 5 is meant to be great for tall kids, and it allows rear facing for longer than other car seats
www.uberkids.com/diono-radian-5-rxt-group-0-1-2-car-seat-2007046/?awc=6412_1592315596_e593e9a4f9c30773bc4b4df6ae2b449d&utm_source=Affiliate_Window&utm_medium=Sub+Networks&utm_campaign=78888
you can see a crash test here

If he's tall, a 25kg rear facing seat is a much better choice. You won't get an isofix one as isofix seats generally only go up to 18kg. However the belt fitted seats are not any less safe and plenty of them are Swedish plus tested which is the most stringent safety test for car seats.

I'd recommend the Axkid Minikid. We have two for my 5 and 3 year olds and it's a great seat. Otherwise there are other 25kg options like the Axkid Move, Britax Max way, Be safe Izi plus, Diono radian 5, etc

I second the axxkid minikid. You'll need a 25kg seat if he is tall.

As DC is fall defo get a 25KG seat. This likely won’t include i-size as those are for children up to 105cm and as DC is on 90th centile they therefore will likely outgrow one of the i-size/18kg seats before age 4.

All the i-size ERF seats require isofix and due to load limits will therefore only go up to 18kg. The 25kg car seats are fitted using tethers and seatbelt which can be just as safe as isofix!

As pp have mentioned there is the axkid MiniKid, axkid move, britax hiway, britax maxway, and BeSafe izi plus which are all Swedish plus tested. There are also other options; the britax two way elite (the cheapest ERF 25kg seat, saw it for only £160 on ICSC a few weeks ago!), there is also the britax Multi-tech, which can also forward face (not necessarily recommended—but the option is there), and the diono radian 5. The difference is with the radian you can use the harness up to 25KG while on the multi-tech and TWE the harness only goes up to 18kg in FF then the seatbelt is used afterwards (still up to 25KG in RF).

Finally, there would be one seat that can reach all your needs. Axkid is currently bringing out a new seat called the Axkid One which can rear face to 23kg, is i-size, isofix and Swedish plus tested. I haven’t seen in on the market yet but I imagine it is very expensive

Sorry meant you can use the harness on the radian FORWARD FACING up to 25kg, while on the Multi-tech and TWE the harness only goes up to 18kg forward facing. All three have the harness up to 25KG in rear facing

Another vote for the minikid. DS is 99.9th centile height and weight and can still fit in ours at 5.

If you get an i-size seat up to 105cm then your DC will outgrow it when he is about 3-3.5 years old, maybe earlier if he has an ill timed growth spurt. Most people feel that's too young for a seat without a harness, so they opt to move into a seat which goes up to 25kg instead. As he's already 18 months you'll save money by just getting the 25kg one to start with. These go up to about 125cm which for your DC would be about 5 or 6. So definitely worth it. The Diono Radian as others have mentioned is a little bit shorter so he might outgrow that one at more like 5 than 6. You also need top tether in your car to fit it forward facing if you wanted to do that.

There aren't that many 25kg seats on the market. Do you have a budget? They range from about £160 to about £350 although there is a £700 one just come out which uses isofix right up to that limit! But seems a little overkill for most people's needs.

At the cheaper end you have Britax two way elite, Britax Max Way, Axkid Move

Medium Britax Max Way Plus, Britax Multi Tech, Diono Radian 5

Higher end Axkid Minikid, Besafe izi Plus x1, Klippan Century

The astronomical one is Axkid One.

You generally need to visit a specialist for these types of seats. I'd try searching for Axkid stockists from their website, as anyone who sells Axkid generally sells the others as well, with the exception of the Two Way Elite which is an exclusive import by the in car safety centre.

Thank you so much for all the suggestions and advice.

People who have used the 25kg belted seats, are there any that are fairly idiot proof to install? Or which you don’t need to redo each time you get dc in and out? The seat will stay in the car (Clio). I have poor spatial awareness and worry about strapping it in wrongly which is why I like isofix but I can see that it makes sense to get a longer lasting one.

In terms of budget, I’d rather not spend an absolute fortune if I can get something really safe and suitable for less, I guess.

Just to add, we are not in the U.K. and will have to buy a seat online unfortunately as local stockists have very limited choice, so we can’t test it in person.

You leave the 25kg seats in the car, you don't reinstall them every time you get the child in and out. Just the harness (which you'd have to do on every kind of seat!) If you do go for this kind of seat I'd look for one where you don't need to uninstall it to change the harness height as your child grows. That rules out Axkid Move, Britax Max Way (the Plus is OK), Britax Two Way Elite, Klippan Century.

It might be tricky to sort the installation if you have spatial issues and can't buy from a specialist, because I think there could potentially be a chance of misuse if for example you struggle with diagrams and might put something over when it needs to go under or vice versa. They aren't hugely complicated, so if you think you could team up with someone who is good at this kind of thing it might be fine. You'd never really have to do it again once it's done, unless you get a new car.

If you are really worried about it, you might want to look at the Joie 360 Spin. It's not i-size, so it's not limited to 105cm height, and it has a nice tall shell so it will last about 6 months longer than most seats of that size, but it's still isofix fitted so nice and easy to do. I'd get the German version if you can find it which is Joie 360 spin GT. It has a bit of extra side impact protection.

It might still mean that you end up with a high backed booster at a fairly young age but you might be OK with that? It seems to be personal. I personally wouldn't want to use one any younger than 3, but I know some people consider the minimum age should be higher than this.

Or, you might have a younger child once your older one is ready to move out of the spin seat in which case you could get something different for the older child such as a seat which is forward facing and harnesses up to 25kg (or even just 18kg if he's tall and slim), then turns into a booster seat later. Those tend to be fitted with isofix and top tether, sometimes seatbelt as well but with an easy belt path.

If you're in most of Europe, there will likely be specialist seat sellers in your country even if not well advertised. Eastern/South Europe/Asia/Middle East etc then you're unlikely to find anything like this.

Oh and Diono Radian has the harness you would probably need to uninstall to change, so rule that out too.

Thank you for the clear explanation. DH can install the seat - and doesn’t have my issues! So as long as it doesn’t need adjusting each time that’s ok for me (GPs have an infant seat where you have to unclip and thread the car seatbelt through each time and I hate it) but I’m not worried about the harness. The concern about ease of installation is that will have to install it ourselves rather than a specialist doing it, but I’ve seen that there are videos and FB groups online to assist.

I was just reading up on the Axkidd Minikid 2.0 which is compatible with the Clio and it sounds good for taller children (I’ve also found it on sale ;-) ) Does anyone use this in a smaller car, and is there enough room for an average-height passenger in front?

We are in Italy so can obtain the seats ok.

I had a minikid in a hyundai i10 and can squash 6ft 2 dp in the front seat, and it is a squash but I can comfortably fit someone 5ft 10 in the front. Takes up less room than the every stage did.

That sounds fine then. Yes I see what you mean about infant seats. The minikid is probably the most idiot proof of all of them :) even the harness self adjusts. There are plenty of YouTube videos explaining the different features of it. I haven't fitted it myself, but I've heard it can be very compact in small cars if you want it to be.

You probably already know about the anti abandon device you need in Italy, right? If you can't use whatever you've got for the infant seat, Axkid make one you can order as an add on for their seats.

Thanks BertieBotts, We have a bebe confort anti-abandon seat cushion, not sure if it is compatibile but will try to find out.

Glad to hear it is suitable for smaller cars, I think we are going to take the plunge.

Ah, it's probably fine to use it but you'll find the annoying position of the manufacturers saying that they can't be sure another company's thing will work safely in their seat if they look like similar products and it doesn't interfere with the harness it's probably fine.

We have a Fiesta as a our second car and although we don't do it often, we can fit two Minikids with me 5'7 and DH 6'2. You'd assume that because they hold much bigger children they'd be much more bulky but the Minikid in participial surprisingly compact. Much neater than other isofix seats we've had along the way.

If you can't find a shop near to you, we ordered one of our Minikids from car seat.se to be delivered to Belgium. The bloke who runs it provides really good customer service should you need it.

In participial??

in particular is!!

When we were buying a 25kg seat, we went to the ICSC and tried the Axkid Minikid and the Britax Max Way Plus. Before looking at the seats we thought we wanted the Minikid but after trying them we went for the Max Way Plus. I can't remember the price difference but ICSC does offers on the seats from time to time so it's worth looking out for a deal (they can deliver overseas too for an extra charge).

That’s good to hear @teaandbiscuitsforme, I’ve seen one on offer on that site so thinking of ordering from there.

What made you get the max way plus instead of the Minikid, @namechange30 ?

Thanks @BertieBotts for all your helpful advice. Anti abandon devices were like gold dust when the new law came in so we just got whatever we could find. The box claims it’s universal so hopefully it will fit, if not we’ll look into the Axkid one.

I prefer the max way plus as well. I just like it. The fabrics and the feel of the seat is very much like the britax King and the Dualfix, so it may just be familiarity. I have a couple of friends who have the minikid and they love it, so it's probably just personal preference. The harness is really innovative on the minikid. If you don't do it tight enough it will slowly creep up and tension itself so that it's never too loose. But that can mean it takes some getting used to as there's a knack to tightening.

I think we'll probably want another seat for DS2 before he goes into a booster and it's between the max way plus and Britax advansafix.

Advansafix is forward facing btw so no good to you!

We tried both seats in our car (the ICSC are brilliant for this as if you book an appointment they will help you try different seats) and got DS to sit in them. The Max Way Plus was more roomy and comfortable for him - specifically it seemed to be more spacious in the seat/crotch area.

If you look on the Facebook group Car Seat Advice UK there might be some photos of the seats side by side or with children in them so you can see. Lots of great advice on there too.