Second car seat, occasional use

[Kcoffecakebubs]

Hi, my parents want to get a second car seat to use in their car occasionally with my DS, and they have asked me for some options. I thought I was done with car seat research when we bought our seat, but no!

It will only be used a couple of times a month max, and only for local journeys 15 mins at the longest. They have asked for isofix, as they will have to remove it in and out for other passengers, and the don't want the stress of having to install with seat belts - so only isofix suggestions please.

Max cost £100, can be FF only as will hardly be used.

Thanks in advance

Isofix is a pain in the arse to take out and put in again. Much less faff to get a seat belt one and just learn to install it correctly. The trick is to pull the seat belt tight at every point. My parents just got a cheap mother are one

Joie Elevate looks good.

Personally I'd go for one of those Stages seats for the rear facing but they're double the price.

Joie are good because they grow until seats aren't needed anymore which means only one investment.

Why compromise on safety 'because it will only be used occasionally' . The time your DC is with your parents could be the time that they are involved in a serious accident (hopefully not). Buy the same model as you have for your main car seat - you chose it for a reason.

Urban Kanga.

It's bloody brilliant.

Light, easy to install, easy to travel with. Never go any where without it.

And if the cost is an issue then swap over your own seat when you drop the DC off (as I did because I couldn't afford another expensive seat & didn't see it worth the expense for occasional use and no way would I consider a less safe seat).

@Theyweretheworstoftimes

Urban Kanga.

It's bloody brilliant.

Light, easy to install, easy to travel with. Never go any where without it.

This seat has poor safety standards (it's got the absolute bare minimum safety features needed to pass the test only). It would be ok where the alternative would be no seat at all (holidays abroad / taxi journeys etc.) but not as a regular seat.

Well, I understand your points, but... We have the joie spin360- too expensive (not everyone has the same expendable income to just buy the same again).

I'm not confident using the seat belt harness, that's why we went for isofix, so I can't push it on them.

I can't swap it over, we won't be dropping DS off, it's if I need to go somewhere not in Walking distance with them while my husband is at work- we live in a second floor flat with no lift and can't be bringing it in and up and down at all hours with his shifts.

I understand that rear facing is safer, but we have to put DS forward facing sometimes on short journeys ourselves as he is sick EVERYTIME he rear faces, so only do this on longer journeys/main road journeys etc ( If anyone has a solution to the vomit then I'd love a solution).

Please can people be less judgy, everyone isn't in the same boat. Thank you

As you want forward facing Joie stages wouldn’t be the best as it doesn’t get the best results in forward facing. Same with the elevate, as due to having to cover several different car seat groups.

This is a bit over budget but I would recommend the Britax Duo Plus. We had one for DD then passed on to DS and no complaints at all. The isofix was much easier to use than in our Joie seat and it can be used with seatbelt. DS didn’t outgrow it height wise until he was almost seven! (We didn’t use it with him in the car at that age, just tried it in the house). Can highly recommend

Thank you, Im not saying I wouldn't get a rear facing seat, I was just under the impression an isofix rear facing etc would be out of budget, they seemed to be more expensive when I liked before. I know RF is safer, it's just become a problem with his sickness. We had him RF all the time, but then he started to be sick. FF it stopped, we've tried a few times to swap back and 9/10 times he's sick that way 😔.

Are there as any non isofix seats that can be installed really quick and easy? My parents are just worried about the human error factor-which I was too, hence we hit isofix.

Just make sure to stick to well known brands eg Britax, maxi Cosi, Joie etc

Britax eclipse is good as you can take it into the plane when travelling so it doesn’t have to go in the hold and DC can sit in it for the flight.

We have an Evolva as our spare, it is easy to install and lasts until 12 (150cm for sure as I tried DD in it and she fitted a few months ago). It is really easy to install but you do have to get your knee in to get the belt tight. FWIW DD had to install it once due to an emergency and she managed to install it properly!

Joie tilt is RF, and only around £70 normal. How old is your DS?

Joie tilt is REALLY easy to install & it’s £70 it’s seatbelt fitting but not tricky

Also how strong are your parents, I find isofix in our car is much harder than belt fitting, and although I think it’s great for reduced margin of error I wouldn’t want to be getting it in and out regularly xx

My son is 15 months, on 99.6th centiles for height and weight. So he's an effort to lift in himself! 🤣 My dad is pretty strong as an ex weight lifter! But they both have bad knees, so the one where you need your knees would be out!

I'll have a look at those just mentioned, thank you all for your suggestions.

It's quite difficult to find a trustworthy isofix seat for under £100, even forward facing. I do think that forward facing isofix seats are really easy to install, though. It's the rear facing ones which are a bugger as they are massive and bulky, and you tend to have to kneel in the footwell to get to the clips to push them in unless your front seat can totally collapse forwards.

For the "kneel in the seat to get it tight" you can also just push with the heel of your hand. It doesn't have to be a knee, it's just easier for most (women) to get the strength required by putting your bodyweight into it.

I agree with the Britax DuoPlus suggestion as one of the best rated/low cost ones, although it's about £150. Anything by Britax or Maxi Cosi is good. If they have top tether (they will if their car is 2013+), I'd recommend a seat with top tether over support leg as this makes it lighter and less annoying to install/store. Although again these are newer seats and more expensive.

Other seats I'd look at would be:

Britax King 2 (seatbelt install, but no kneeling required) - about £150.
Britax Safefix Plus - isofix using a base system, similar to an infant seat. - about £150.
Maxi Cosi Priori SPS - seatbelt with belt tensioner - about £120.
Maxi Cosi Milofix - isofix and top tether, about £150.
Maxi Cosi Axiss (original, not Axissfix ) - seatbelt install but fairly simple, turns to the side - £160 at Kiddie's Kingdom (otherwise £200)

Britax First Class Plus, or Eclipse might work. Both seatbelt fit but under £100. Require some strength to press into the seat to tighten fit, but fairly simple to fit. I wouldn't recommend the Evolva as the recline isn't good for a 1yo.

Maybe:
Infasafe Event FX? But I don't know much about its safety.
Migo Myla - it's been tested by ADAC and does OK. If you're considering this type of seat, I'm happier to say go for the isofix version of this than the seatbelt fitted one. But I am still not a fan of these seats and I don't really hugely trust them. I'm not sure what the recline is like for a 1yo - possibly not great.

I don't recommend impact shield seats at all.

Second hand car seats can be risky, but if they/you can get a Britax or Maxi Cosi from a trusted friend who you believe about it not being in an accident and it seems to have all the parts with it and the polystyrene is intact, that can be worth doing - ask around as children do outgrow these seats of course. You're looking for someone whose youngest child is 3/4/5 years old.

For forward facing seats it's imperative that the harness is always done up to the correct tension (the manual will explain) and that there is at least 55cm between the backrest of the seat the child restraint is installed on, and the back of the seat in front. If you can move it forward far enough that the child can't kick the seat, this is usually far enough.

@BertieBotts thank you. I've since spoken to my Mum and she is happy for it to be left installed more or less all the time now, so would be OK with a seat belt fit as can get it installed correctly once and leave it.

I'll have a look at the options mentioned, but £100 is really max budget. Unfortunately we don't know anyone to get a second hand one off.

Britax Eclipse is a nice one to have, as a back up as well as a spare, because it's plane approved which means you can take it abroad with you and use it on the plane for a child aged approx 2-4 years who has to be in their own seat.

Thank you @BertieBotts, the Britax Eclipse seems like a good option for £75. Really appreciate the help. I've found car seats the biggest headache in baby purchases!