Joie Bold vs Stages?

[babycorn]

Had an accident last week and have been given £100 worth of Halfords vouchers (and Halfords only, I double checked ) to replace dd's car seat (she was in a joie 360, that would have done her for a good more six months or so).

There's not a great selection, and I am going to have to pay over the £100 anyway, but I just wondered if there were any advantages of the Bold vs the Stages. Dd is just 3, no idea what she weighs or how tall, but she is pretty much average, solid 50th centile for her age.

I am aware that the Bold does not rear face, and sadly, dd will not rear face. And when I say will not, I mean she will undo buckles, wriggle out of straps and climb out of the seat and all over the car, tried bribes, threats, different seats, Velcro on the straps etc, all to no avail.

I struggle with fixing car seats in with seat belts, and I see that the Bold is isofix, so that's an advantage. I also think it would last longer?

Please can anyone advise? Thank you!

[teaandlotusbiscoff]

We have a bold for my 9yo, and while isn’t exactly the easiest to fit it is very secure. Will definitely last long, tried another DC that is 150cm and they could fit in it so will last. I know the stages has a shorter shell, so after 25KG/approx 120cm you’d probably have to invest in a new booster

[babycorn]

@teaandlotusbiscoff thanks for the reply. It is isofix isn't it? Can I ask why it's difficult to install?

Thank you!

[teaandlotusbiscoff]

Yes it is isofix. I find it difficult to install as I find myself getting winded when installing it but then that might just be me and it is rather heavy so personally wouldn’t want to move it around too often!

[babycorn]

So I've got the Bold. I hate it already! So used to the spin one, it's so difficult to get her in and out, and the straps don't seem very long, the buckle seems very short, if that makes sense?

It's so hard to actually do it up, and buckle looks like it's literally digging into her bits? Is there a way of making it longer?? Also, I've left the padding in, maybe I should take that out?

I should have asked these questions at the time, but the Halfords guy didn't seem to know what he was doing, he put the isofix in and said 'all done'. I asked why there was a massive gap between the seat and the back of the car seat and he was like 'oh yeah, whoops, there's a top tether' 🤬🤦‍♀️😱 plus I had no-one to look after her and had to sit her on the front seat to keep her contained. So stressful!!!!

[teaandlotusbiscoff]

Sorry been working so didn’t have time to reply!

Yes, as she’s three I’d take the padding out, it does make the crotch strap longer. We found that the padding on the crotch strap kept falling out and lost it.

Are you pushing the button in and then pulling the straps out from the bottom, if that makes sense? We find it easier to do it that way, although within time it was been easier to use the straps, they are rather stiff at first.

Also another thing that Halfords forgot to mention, you need to put the seatbelt through the middle too. I’ve found this rather hard to do in some cars sports car I’m looking at you but easy enough to do in most cars. Silly question, but is the gap still there or did it go when they used the tether? There shouldn’t be a gap at the back, if there is try pulling on the isofix extender and then pushing it back until it’s flushed against the back seat. Would also recommend putting the loose strap from the tether in the bag as apparently it’s supposed to be safer but IME stopped it from getting tripped on in the boot!

[BertieBotts]

If you do the seatbelt step first it isn't as tricky. Hang the top tether over the front, move the child seat away from the car seat. Fully extend isofix arms, plug seatbelt in (doesn't matter if loose at this stage.)

Then connect isofix and push seat back as far as poss. Now tighten seatbelt. Finally affix the top tether. Depending on the shape of the car seats, try it in different recline positions and see which helps the top tether go taut.

At 3 you can remove the extra padding. But the crotch strap is quite far back.

As you have top tether, you may have been better off with Britax Advansafix if she would have had a while in the Joie 360? You may be able to swap it (potentially not depending on store policy). Joie Bold is good if you need/want to harness over 18kg or have a very tall child, but other than this I don't think it's the best of the 123 seats.