Car seat please help !

[Jenny2020]

So looking for advice. My LG is almost 7 months and she's quite chunky.
I'm not sure how to work out her percentile or anything and she hasn't had anything in her red book since she was 4 months cause of this virus !!
Any way I'm looking for for advice on car seats, I would rather now get her one that would do the 1.2,3 groups and last.
Please any advice is welcome as it's my first baby ! X

Generally group 123 seats tend to be less safe as there is a compromise somewhere in order to fit all the groups. Is your DD still fitting into her infant carrier? As typically they can last longer than expected as long as the head is below the top of the seat, and can be used longer when pulling dc “nappy to buckle”.

You could try to work out her weight by carrying her while you weigh yourself then put baby down and weigh yourself again. This will be a rough measurement but can help somewhat.

Options would be a 25kg RF seat, lasting until 7 ish, followed by a booster. Or alternatively a 18kg seat which may not last as long typically till around 4 in a child on the 50th centile.

As she is only 7 months old it would definitely be best to keep her rear facing. Which infant seat is she currently in?

Agree with @teaandlotusbiscoff.
We've got an axkid minikid and a britax Max way - currently reduced on their website so great value.

Yeah she still fits alright in her Venicci car seat but just looking for advice for the next month or so .. my oh weighed her to be roughly over a stone but I think he's wrong as she's a chunky monkey lol !! So would a group 1&2 be safer then ?
And then the booster for after ? It's so hard isn't it x

It depends on how long you want to rear face for . Just over a stone at 7 months sounds about average so I suppose any seat could work. You have the option of a group 0+/1 car seat, which typically rear face and harness until about four, or whenever DC reaches 18kg. These tend to be isofix and you can get ones that spin so make it easier to get DC in and out. Do you have a budget?

Good seatbelt ones are:
Joie Tilt
Joie Steadi
Britax first class—however this only RF until 13kg so the same as an infant carrier then is FF to 18kg
Maxi Cosi opal—again the same as the Britax first class
Joie stages—rear faces to 18kg and booster till 25KG. However doesn’t get the best safety results in forward facing so you would have to rear face then go straight to booster.

With seatbelt fitted ones, in rear facing the seatbelt can “block” entry, which some find problematic.

Isofix seats are:
Joie 360 spin
Joie 360 i-spin
Joie spin safe (doesn’t forward face, Swedish plus tested)
Joie i-spin sage (again, doesn’t forward face. Swedish plus tested and i-size
Britax dualfix
Cybex Sirona
Nuna norr (i-size and swedish plus test so doesn’t FF)
Nuna rebel
Maxi Cosi axissfix (however only RF to age 2)
GB vaya
Britax max-fix
Joie stages ISOFIX
BeSafe izi-twist
BeSafe izi-turn (RF only)

Maxi Cosi, Joie and BeSafe all do also sell seats which require an isofix base, and you can actually move these easier between cars, as you leave the base installed in each car and then the seat clicks onto the base (much like an isofix infant carrier), which some people can find useful for moving between cars. Although isofix can be easier to install I didn’t find it that easier to move the whole seat into different cars so used a spare when possible

25KG seats are fitted with a seatbelt, however these do not block entry due to a different belt path.
Britax Two Way elite
Axkid move
Britax High way
Britax MaxWay
Britax multi-tech
Axkid MiniKid

These are all rear facing, although two way elite and the multi tech have the option to forward face with a harness to 18kg and as a booster from 18kg-25KG.

There are also forward facing options until 25KG however if you were to go with one of these, rear face as long as possible in the infant carrier. Ones are:
Joie bold. Requires isofix, top tether and seatbelt. Very secure. Difficult to move between cars. Will definitely be able to use until 12.
Cosy n safe Excalibur. Slightly shorter shell so may not last as long. Harness to 25KG again. Requires top tether
Maxi Cosi Beryl. Rear facing till 13kg, forward facing until 25KG.
Diono radian 5. Rear and forward facing until 25KG. Requires top tether in forward facing, and quite a few children outgrow height wise at around 6 as it’s shorter.

After an 18kg seat you can continue to harness in a 25KG seat or move to a booster if you feel comfortable doing so. Boosters are less of a minefield, and can be as little as £30.

Highly recommend the Facebook group Car Seat Advice UK. They have trained moderators. If you plot your LOs weight and height into the red book graph you should be able to find out her percentile - follow that up to around 4yrs.

It is far safer to read face for as long as possible, and at least until age 4. There are plenty of rear facing car seats in a reasonable budget that go up to 18kg rear facing.

My son was on the 91st centile so was expected to reach 18kg before 4yrs, so I bought the Axkid Minikid car seat as this rear faces to 25kg. After that he will forward face in a high back booster. It was more expensive than I was expecting but saves me buying one that fits up to 18kg and then another seat down the track.

Loads of advice on that Facebook group!

Good luck

Thank you so much for all of the advice !! I'll have a look I would of course like her rear facing there all So expensive I completely understand that a child safety it doesn't matter the cost being a single mum and Ovb not working at the moment is just a nightmare timing so was looking to see what I had to put by ect thanks I'll have a look at all the options given xx

Joie tilt is rather good and only around £70 normally, rear facing up to 18kg. IME Joie is definitely the best brand for reasonably priced seats. They’re good quality too!

Yes, I would either get a Group 0+/1 seat or a Group 1/2 seat, but only a rear facing Group 1/2 seat. There aren't many of those and you won't generally find them in standard shops. They are usually sold as "ERF up to 25kg" seats rather than by the group name.

You can get a decent booster for as little as £30 later, so the Group 2/3 added on is pointless if it's only in booster mode.

The Group 0+/1 seats are often spinning ones but Joie have several low cost seatbelt fitted ones in this category. If you think you are likely to forward face at some point before your child outgrows the seat, I probably wouldn't recommend a Joie seatbelt fitted one. Britax First Class Plus might be better in that case (only RF to 13kg, but that's generally 2 years or so).

Do you have a budget? The nice thing about the ERF to 25kg ones is that they will last ages so you don't need to think about another seat for a long time.

Avoid the cheap supermarket seats as these are very poorly made unfortunately.

Joie seatbelt fitted 0+/1 and Britax First Class are all under £100.

Isofix/spinning 0+/1 seats start at about £200-250.

ERF up to 25kg seats have a few options in the region of £160-200.

I had my car seat as a present for my son's birthday, but it is for toddlers. We didn't use it since my son got a year old. Now I am didn't have any problems with it and can fully recommend it. It names Britax Pioneer.

We've just purchased the Joie Stages 0+1/2 for my 8 month old. We've not put her in it yet as it only arrived yesterday but it looks great. Rear facing to 18kg (approx. 4yo) and front racing to approx 7yo.