Car seat for a tall but light child

[voxnihili]

My DD is almost 2.5 and somewhere between 95 and 100 cm (she doesn’t stand still for long enough to be accurate!) but she’s only just hit 12kg. She is currently in a cybex sirona (rear facing) but barely has any head room left. I’ve started looking into new seats but the ones I’ve looked at that harness past still have the same height limit before you have to switch to the belt. They seem designed for an average height but heavy child. I’m really struggling to find something suitable for my DD. Does anyone have any suggestions - I want her harnessed as long as possible (I’m not keen on impact shields) but no other real requirements. Thanks

Axkid minikid or any of the 25kg seats will have extra harness height.

I have the Axkid one for my tall LO.

It costs quite a lot but is rear facing until 7. With my LO it’s more likely to be until 4 or 5.

I spent so long researching and the Axkid brand seems to be the best for tall children.

AXKID MINIKID is the best and one of the safest rear facing seats you can buy, the axkid move is the same seat just without all the bells and whistles and is the same safety rating as the minikid. They are the longest lasting for tall children so i would go for one of these. we have the minikid and it was worth every penny.

btw, they can be installed to give your child extra leg room so they wont be uncomfortable.

Do you want rear or front facing?

My 3.5 year old is ff in a Joie Stages and has loads of head room left.

My DD still fits in Joie Stages as a HBB and shes nearly 8. That does seem to be an advantage of a multistage seat.

The stages harness height is still 105cm I believe. As the op mentioned the harness height in her message I assumed she wanted to continue using a harness. If this is the case the stages is not what she is looking for because she may as well get a standard hhb which actually perform better than something that adapts to several age ranges.

Op do you want a harness?
If you do, do you want to ff or rf?

Sorry I've just read your message again and see that you want to harness as long as possible.

Do you want to rear face or forward face?

@Boringnamechanging

The stages harness height is still 105cm I believe. As the op mentioned the harness height in her message I assumed she wanted to continue using a harness. If this is the case the stages is not what she is looking for because she may as well get a standard hhb which actually perform better than something that adapts to several age ranges.

Op do you want a harness?
If you do, do you want to ff or rf?

Where do you find the information about the harness height for the Stages? My 3 year old still fits the harness fine and isn't near the weight limit.

uk.joiebaby.com/faq/carseats/

Thanks for all the responses.

I had been looking at FF seats, mostly 1,2,3 combination seats as she’s nowhere near the weight for a stage 2 seat. Was hoping to get something to last a while. I’m not opposed to a rear facing one so will get one if there’s no other options.

I want to keep her harnessed for now because of her weight and age and had wrongly assumed that harnesses on 25kg seats could be used until the child was past 105cm but from what I’ve read about a couple that’s not the case so they seem more suited to an average height but heavier child.

We actually have a Britax Advansafix M I size seat as a spare - I liked it because it said you could harness to 22kg but didn’t realise the height was unchanged.

Can I refer you to this thread which covers forward facing 25kg harnessed seats.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/car_seats_chat/4083879-Forward-facing-harness-to-25kg-seats

I want to keep her harnessed for now because of her weight and age and had wrongly assumed that harnesses on 25kg seats could be used until the child was past 105cm but from what I’ve read about a couple that’s not the case so they seem more suited to an average height but heavier child.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this but as long as your dd hits the minimum height/weight for the seat it's fine to use. Ds is too tall for a 18kg seat now but isn't 18kg yet.

[quote Boringnamechanging]uk.joiebaby.com/faq/carseats/[/quote]
That mentions 105cm for rear facing not forward facing?

The harness length for Joie Stages looks to be the same as many 25kg harnesses (about 40cm) - is that right?

@Boringnamechanging - on the instructions we have for the advansafix it says we must stop using the harness at 105cm but the minimum weight for the seat belt fitting is 15kg. There’s going to be a period of time where she’s between 105cm and 15kg. She is still under the weight threshold for her original infant carrier but far too tall for it, hence why I got the Sirona but she’s fast outgrowing it yet not at the weight for the next stage.

@Boringnamechanging - I looked up the Beryl from that list and I’m sure that mentioned that you have to take the harness out after 105cm - I’m guessing the headrest can go up further once the harness is removed. I’ve been trying to find out whether the Bold is the same but not found anything yet. I don’t necessarily want her harnessed to 25kg, but want to keep her harnessed until 15kg which she’s likely to hit past 105cm.

i think the height in the minikid and move is 125cm or whenever their ears are above the seat shell, i would five either of these seats a go, they really are good.

@Princessbanana - I think that’s what I’m going to have to do. I would have preferred something that will last to a HBB but not if it’s not going to be safe for her. There don’t seem to be many options for tall, slim children (DD is over the 90th centile for height, but about 40th for weight). A friend who had a similar issue went for an impact shield but my DD hates being restricted around her middle so not sure if she’d like it. She is also a bit of a Houdini and I’m sure she’d be able to get out of it. She probably wouldn’t as she took her car seat straps off once and never did it again after the telling off she got

With the bold the harness can be used as tall as the shell can go. Managed to fit a small 14 year old in it once!

*That mentions 105cm for rear facing not forward facing?

The harness length for Joie Stages looks to be the same as many 25kg harnesses (about 40cm) - is that right?*

I thought that it was harnessed as it says then swap to booster mode, ie with adult seat belt. It says

Convertible seats can then be used with the 5-point harness restraint until your child is 18kg or 105cm, at which point they should move to booster mode.

I'm no expert though and I've have seen it said if you have a i-size then you have to stop at 105 but if it's r44 then as long as they fit and under the weight then it's ok. But that would seem to contradict the above off joie website.

Klippan Century is the rear facing one with the tallest harness. It can accommodate up to approx 135cm. In fact the i-size version, Klippan Opti, which is approved to 32kg (but only 125cm!) has been crash tested with the Q10 dummy which is based on a 10yo and is about 133cm tall. You can see the video on the web, I'll link it if you want.

Joie Bold is the forward facing one with the tallest harness. You need top tether for it. The crash test results are only average, although this is typical for 25kg forward facing seats.

Unfortunately you can't get 25kg ERF seats which convert to HBB, but I don't usually like HBB seats bundled into harnessed seats anyway. In general, get a harnessed seat and then get a booster seat, and let each excel at its own job rather than having to compensate for being able to do the other, if that makes sense. The only time it makes sense to buy a harness/booster combo is when you have a child who only needs to use the harness for a short time and it doesn't make economic sense to purchase a purely harnessed seat for them, but they are still too young to be safe/responsible in a booster seat.

Joie Stages does have a slightly taller harness height than most 18kg seats, and Cybex Sirona is a particularly short one (hardly any children get much past 3 in it, let alone 4!) but you might find the Stages annoying to use after using the Sirona. It also isn't quite as roomy as a 25kg seat simply because it's a very different type of seat, it's more reclined. It's also not quite as tall as most 25kg seats, even though it's approved up to 25kg as a booster seat. I don't have experience of comparing the two side by side, but I have been assured from people who have, that it's not really comparable - you do get more space in e.g. Axkid Move, than Joie Stages.

The annoying things about it are the one recline position, the way the belt is always in the way, the amount of room it takes up in the car.

The Joie Every Stage has an even taller harness, in theory you can extend it right up to the top height when the seat is used as a booster - this differs from most 123 seats, where you usually have to detach or stow the harness at a certain point before the headrest can be raised any further in booster mode. However the crash test results for the Joie Every Stage are not great, even in rear facing mode. (It also has the same downsides as the Stages). Personally unless you're really stuck for cash or looking for a travel seat, I wouldn't usually recommend the Joie belted range for rear facing. You're almost always better off with a 25kg rear facing seat, even if you don't need the weight capacity, just the height.

I wouldn't go for the impact shield - they aren't tested for taller kids and although you don't have the physical restraint of the harness not being able to go up, it probably wouldn't work in the way it's tested, meaning you'd probably get higher loads on the neck anyway which is the reason you choose the impact shield seat (usually), to get lower ones. I think there would also be more scope for a taller child to be ejected from the seat as it wouldn't anchor them quite so much, when they're tiny the shield sort of covers their entire torso, and we do tend to see in real life use that they protect 1yos better than 3yos (for example) - but in most cases there is no reason not to have a 1yo rear facing, so I find them quite redundant now.

The other fairly major issue with impact shield seats is they tend to cause damage to internal organs in a crash and this is not detected by crash test dummies, as they have other sensors where the soft abdomen would be.

It's a shame as I had one for my eldest (now 12) and loved the versatility, ease of use and lightweight nature of it. But I would never use one now.

Thanks for the replies. @BertieBotts - thanks for your thoughts as a lot of them confirm my initial thoughts. I’ve always been wary of Joie seats but sometimes wonder if it is just me as they seem popular. I also really don’t want an impact shield as I’m terrified she’d be thrown from it (it may be an irrational fear but I remember being thrown from under the bar of a theme park ride once).

At the moment, I’m looking at the Britax Multitech 3 - it rear faces to 25kg but can also turn forwards with the harness until 18kg (and presumably height is less of an issue because it can harness until 25kg rear facing) and also converts to a HBB until 25kg. I’m quite undecided about keeping her rear facing until 25kg so a seat that offers flexibility might be the best option.

She's 2.5, she's way too young for a HBB and she's too tall for an 18kg seat, so you need a 25kg seat, even if she doesn't use it until she gets to 25kg - the extra height will just allow her to use it until she's mature enough for a HBB (at least age 4).

You could get a harnessed forward-facing 25kg seat, but if they don't have good safety ratings / crash test results, why not just get a rear-facing seat? What's wrong with them?

There are plenty of 25kg seats with tall shells, look at the Britax Max Way Plus, Axkid Move and Axkid Minikid. You just need something that will last height-wise, don't worry too much about the fact that it's a 25kg seat and she won't be anywhere near that.

Actually it occurs to me that the Britax Two Way Elite could be a good option for you. It has a tall shell and it can be used forward-facing up to 18kg. After that it has to be rear-facing up to 25kg. But she's unlikely to outgrow it by weight before she turns 4, and when she does you can just switch to a HBB if you want.

Sorry, I mean she's unlikely to hit 18kg before she turns 4.