Car seat help!! Group 0+/1 18kg/25kg or Group 1,2,3

[TDAO]

Car seats are driving me crazy!

I need to buy 3 new car in the next 6ish months 😳

LOs will be going to their grandparents when I'm work from the end of the month and they need car seats. Ideally I would like isofix so there's no risk of it being fitted wrong and rear facing for safety but I know this means it will only be up to 18kg. I don't think this will be too much of an issue for DD as she a little 2 year old but DS is not far off her weight at 8 months old! I'm worried that he might outgrow the seat too early or that they both outgrow them at the same time in a couple of years and then we need to buy new seat for my car, partners car and his parents car all at the same time.

I've looked online at reviews saying the rear facing 25kg seats are a much better option but I'm worried about fitting them without isofix and do the seat belts go across the seat/door so u have to maneuver LO through the seat belt into the seat (2 year old would be a nightmare trying to do this!)

Also really like the 360 rotation seats in the up to 18kg seats not sure if this exists in 25kg seats?

After 18kg are most children ready for a hbb seat?

I have seen a few cheaper seats that say they are isofix rear facing to 18kg and then isofix front facing after this and 2 rotate, are these safe or best avoided? Autobaby everystage isofix, osann one 360 (on smyths toy store), chicco seat4fix (Halfords).

Sorry about all the questions, I'm getting myself in a right muddle. Obviously if money wasn't an object and we didn't need to buy 3 this would be a lot easier!

Hmm good question. They are fitted differently, the Max Way has a support leg whereas the Two Way Elite doesn't, it has to brace against the seat in front. I prefer a support leg because it means you can still adjust the seat in front, but some cars have storage boxes which means you can't use the support leg. The Two Way Elite is also more compact than the Max Way. So if you were going to use the car seat as a spare one for travel (if going by plane and hiring a car at the other end) the Two Way Elite would be better because it's compact and compatible with most cars. In terms of price, the Two Way Elite is £159 whereas the Max Way is about £180 I think.

Thanks 😊

I've just been looking if anyone else reads this and is looking at the 3 seats and I can't actually find the max way on offer anywhere so it seems to be £265 everywhere so it's actually quite a bit cheaper to buy the max way plus (while the offers on it last!). We might go for an TWE for the grandparents car though will decide when we get to that stage 😊

This review says that the TWE has more space for an older child to cross their legs (since the Max Way has higher sides) and I would agree with it actually.
sorry-about-the-mess.co.uk/britax-max-way-ford-focus/

Not an issue for either of your DCs atm but I do wonder if my nearly 4 year old might be more comfy in the TWE! He has definitely been happy in it whenever we've used it.

incarsafetycentre.co.uk/max-way

Hi @TDAO how are you and DC getting on with the Max Way Plus?
Not that I'm over invested or anything

Hi @NameChange30 I like the seat and my partner said its easy to get LO in and out :) it wasn't too difficult to fit but would have preferred a professional to do it first time (we're only about an hour from MK so would have gone and got it fitted if we weren't in lockdown). My partner has a Ford focus so not a tiny car so I thought it would fit with plenty of room but the seats are quite slanted (never really thought about this until we put it in) so the seat is basically upright with the recline bar fully out (not too much of an issue with a 2 year old and we'd just use the spin seat reclined a bit if we were driving further and she might sleep. Also there's not much room in the passenger seat in front of the max way but I've been getting a new car since before the first lockdown and not got round to it yet.. So I'll have a bigger car soon hopefully and may move the max way into this car sooner rather than later and try a TWE in the Ford focus?

I know what you mean about fitting it, we are a similar distance from ICSC and would ideally have liked them to fit it but didn't have the time to make the journey.

Funnily enough, we used to have an old Ford Focus and we got a new car when DC1 was 2, because we wanted more cabin and boot space. He was in a Cybex Sirona behind the passenger seat and there wasn't much space for the passenger to stretch out legs or recline the seat. We got a Skoda Octavia which has the most ginormous boot, I am so grateful for it especially since we've had DC2! There is more cabin space for car seats plus leg room. We have the Max Way Plus behind the driver with enough recline that when DC1 (nearly 4 now) falls asleep, his head doesn't flop forward. DC2 is behind the passenger and is currently in the infant seat but will go into the Sirona when she outgrows it. Eventually DC1 will go into a HBB and DC2 will go into the Max Way, at which point I think we'll keep the Max Way behind the driver and have the HBB behind the passenger, so passenger will have space to recline or move seat back if needed.

I think a TWE could be a better fit in the Ford Focus, remember it has to brace against the seat in front but if you put it behind the driver seat you're unlikely to want to move the seat anyway. If you call ICSC or ask in the FB group "car seat advice UK" the experts there will be able to advise you about Max Way (Plus) v TWE in a Ford Focus.

Also this has made me think that we should have asked you what cars you all had before we advised on what seats to get Oh well! The Max Way Plus is a great seat for most cars, just might not be the best for the focus, but as you said, you can use it in your (new) car