Car Seat Question!

[TLaBee21]

Hey, my little boy is 10 month old and very tall and very heavy - he weighs just under 15kg and has outgrown his car seat. I’m looking for a larger car seat and all of the affordable ones I have seen are forward facing - even though they are for 9m+. Does anyone have any recommendations for a rear facing car seat that would fit a chunky 10 month old - hopefully one that doesn’t cost a fortune as the grandparents are also wanting one for their car.

BertieBotts is a bit of a car seat expert so hopefully she will post and advise!

But I would say that as your DC is on the big side, your best bet is to buy a 25kg car seat because it will last you longer so while it will be an expense it will be a good investment in the long run.

The Britax Two-Way Elite is good value, a 25kg seat and currently £160 from Tony Kealys.

If you're willing to spend a bit more, the Britax Max Way Plus is on offer atm for £215 from ICSC.

Having said that, if you can get to a specialist car seat retailer, it is definitely worth trying the seats in your car (rather than just buying online) to make sure there is enough recline for a 10 month old.

www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

Alternatively, if you can't get a 25kg seat in your car with enough recline for a 10 month old, you could get something like the Joie Tilt or Joie Steadi, both good value rear-facing 18kg seats. Note that they will be advertised as suitable until age 4 but your baby is likely to reach 18kg before the age of 4.

Are you sure he's 15kg? My fairly solid 3yo isn't quite that much

Several Joie seats rearface til 18kg though.

I'd weigh him again 12.5kg is off the charts for a 10 month old so don't think it can be possible for him to be 15kg!

Is he very tall aswell? Id check his weight again. Agree with the suggestions above. My DC are both tall, and both stayed rear facing in the two way elite until they were 4. It's is so much safer than forward facing.

If he really is nearly 15kg, I'd definitely advise on one of the seats that rear faces to 25kg. As a matter of interest, both my sons weigh gain slowed a lot as they got older, they grew taller and slimmer. My very large second son is still only 19kg at almost 4.

Thank you everyone! I will look into the suggestions.

He is 2st 3lb so I was rounding up slightly generously - still a big boy though. He is long as well - 85cm.

Honestly there isn’t a lot of chub to him, I’m convinced it’s because his head is huge!

Axkid minikid or move, or the britax maxway plus would be my recommendations. Both rear facing to 25kg and plus tested.

Thank you, our plan is to keep him rear facing as long as possible so I will have a look at that.

Yes, his weight has pretty much stayed the same for the last 2-3 months, it is definitely slowing down!

He is tall and both myself and his dad are very tall

I would recommend the Max Way Plus over the Axkid Minikid, we tried them both and preferred the Max Way Plus, plus it's significantly cheaper and OP doesn't want to spend a fortune.

You’ll definitely need a 25 KG seat! Axkid MiniKid and Britax MaxWay are the most popular as PP have said. Or, alternatively here’s an idea of what you could do.

Klippan are bringing out an ERF seat with a higher weight limit—32kg (in Autumn I believe, Bertie do you know when it comes out?). Joie Tilt is around ~£70-80 normally, the Steadi is actually on sale in Argos (red only) for £70 (very similar to tilt). Then maybe when the 32kg seat comes out you could move into that one? IMO that would definitely be the longest lasting, and you’d definitely be able to RF till at least 5+ probably!

Haha, thanks for the plug :o I can't really better anyone else's suggestions, but I would say you want to order something ASAP, because at 14kg he will be overweight for his infant carrier so you can't really safely use it any more, particularly if his head is near the top which it sounds like it probably will be.

The cheapest RF to 25kg ones tend to be Britax Two Way Elite, Britax Max Way (original) or Diono Radian 5, all £180ish. Be aware you might end up paying extra for things like baby inserts or angle adjusting wedges to adapt the car seat for a baby.

All of the 25kg RF seats can be fitted with various reclines and all of them go reclined enough for a 10mo, but they do this by sacrificing space in the front seat so if you have any tall drivers/passengers and/or small cars it would definitely be worth having a fit check. If you check Axkid's stockists, any stockist of Axkid generally carries several 25kg ERF seats so this is generally the best way to find one near you. It would be a good idea to phone and check if they are doing fittings in respect of virus protection.

If the Britax Max Way Plus is really £215, that's a fantastic price as it's usually more like £270. The in car safety centre offer telephone or email advice so you could send a message to them before purchasing for advice about the car, any extras for the baby's age etc.

Or, if you're in a bind financially now (or for grandparents' car perhaps), get one of the cheaper Joie belt fitted seats - Steadi / Tilt / Stages. At his rate it will probably only last him until 2.5 or so, but it would buy you some time. Klippan are bringing out the Opti 129 in October which is approved rear facing to 32kg, the highest weight limit of any rear facing seat in the world. It isn't the most fashionable or sleek seat but it would do the job. I would guess it will be about £360, like the Minikid. (Going by pricing in Spain). Here are the details:
www.klippan.fi/content/en/52/113/208/KLIPPAN%20OPTI129.html

If you decide to go for the Joie seat for now and then later decide you are comfortable with forward facing, be aware that most forward facing seats the harness only goes up to 18kg - you would need one where the harness definitely supports up to 25kg (or more, if seats with a higher limit exist by then). There are a few on the market up to 25kg now but they aren't always easy to find.

Hopefully, his growth will slow down and he won't bust through the seat categories quite so fast anyway! :)