car seat recommendations

[evie2468]

I am looking to purchase a car seat that can be used from stage one. It will be for various grandchildren when they are in my car. I intend to use it once the youngest is out of the first stage and for a 2 year old and 3 year old. I am happier with extended rear facing.

The seat will not be left in the car so needs to be removed easily. I have had a Joie IAnchor, which was fine, but the isofix were a nightmare to get engaged in my car, hidden and squashed into the seat. I am looking at a Graco Extend Group 0+/1. This seems to not take up much room and is fixed with a seatbelt. SO not sure whether to go isofix (nightmare to fit) or seat belt which looks ok on the Graca, BUT how easy is it to get a small child into a rear facing seat which is in place with the seatbelt. Does the seatbelt make it awkward to manoeuvre the child into the seat and then strap in?

Thanks for any opinions.

Hello, I think if you're happy to use it after the infant seat has been outgrown and you like extended rear facing, then the best option would be to get a seat which goes up to 25kg instead of up to 18kg.

You might not have come across these before, as they tend to be sold in specialist shops but they will last you much longer as they tend to fit children until they are around 6-7 years old. Suggestions would be Britax Multi-Tech 3, Britax Max Way or Axkid Minikid (the Minikid adjusts automatically for each child in the seat, but it's a lot more expensive.)

The problem with belt fitted ones up to 18kg are as you have seen the belt path is in the way. If you're going to use the seat a lot, I think it's annoying enough to want to spend a bit more to avoid it. It's not too bad for an occasional use or travel seat for example.

The Graco Extend is also a particularly short-lived seat. It's outgrown when the child is around 100cm tall, which is the size of an average 3.5 year old or a tall 3 year old. You would be better off with Joie Stages if you wanted to go for a cheaper model, as this is a much taller seat. It does however still have the seatbelt routing problem. The other issue with the Graco Extend is that when you use it for children of different heights, you will have to completely unthread the safety harness from the back of the seat and re-route it through the correct height slots for the child, whereas the Joie Stages adjusts by moving the headrest up and down, the Britax seats adjust by moving a lever on the back of the seat (which is of course accessible as they are rear facing) and the Axkid adjusts automatically when you do the child's straps up.

25kg rear facing seats like the Britax and Axkid that I mentioned use a different seatbelt path which goes under the seat, they also attach using tethers which route around the seat in front or the seat rails of the front seat. The tethers can simply be left in place when you take the car seat in and out - they harmlessly tuck under the front seat and don't get in the way. You then just click them into the seat and tighten each time you install, just like a seatbelt. The more expensive Axkid is easier to tighten the tethers on as well, which is the other feature that makes the price higher.

Just another note about isofix seats - you can make the isofix points in your car more accessible by using plastic isofix guides - these usually come with any isofix seat, but they are interchangable between car seat brands. They don't affect the adult passenger's comfort when a car seat isn't installed. They just hook into the bars and hold the seat fabric open so it's easy to access them. I've attached a picture of what they look like.

Thanks for the info.

Very difficult decision as it is only occasional use but for several different grandchildren. I don't really need it to go beyond 100cm height as I already have 2 seats suitable for this size group 2/3.

Thank you for pointing out the consideration of height adjusting and re-routing the straps for different sizes. Maybe the Graco is not such a good idea.

What I really want is the seat suitable for stage one and extended rear facing for 2-3 year old. I want one that is easy to store as every time I use it it will be removed from the car hence why I was thinking of a seat belt rather than isofix. I do have the caps for Isofix, bit still an absolute nightmare to get in place in my car, I gave up and actually used my hubby's car. Also the isofix I had previously was base and seat, so easy removed but quite big to store. But I don't like the idea of struggling with baby or toddler to get into seat with seat belt in the way. Neither do I want to reroute straps every use. Also some seats with seatbelt look like an absolute faff to fix in place, just not straightforward.

Thanks again for the help, I have been looking for a few months now, as we're in lockdown I haven't been seeing the grandchildren, but need to get one as I am needed to babysit later this month.

Axkid minikid would be the best long term solution as it can fit children till over 5 or 6 years old. It will fit most babies once out of the infant carrier. Leave the tethers under the seat when not in use. Any child can jump into it under 25kg as the headrest moves with the straps so no problem with straps being in the wrong place.
Isofix you have the Axkid One but really expensive for a seat that isn't used much.

Thanks for the reply, appreciated. I have looked at your recommendation and at almost £300, it is more than i want to pay. I also do not need it for older children as I already own 2 suitable seats. I can't leave anything in the car (tether) as we have 2 cars and need the seat to be available to go in both. Sorry to be really awkward/fussy. But I am after a reasonably priced extended rear facing seat that is easy to install, easy to get small child in and out of. I appreciate I am going to have to compromise somewhere and it may be on fitting the seat with a seatbelt, I may be able to live with this as long as it is easy to install. I previously had the Joie I Anchor advance, but gave it to my daughter as at the time I was not using it. This was ok apart form the fight with the isofix and being separate seat and base was bulky to store.

Axkid Move is a cheaper one. You can buy spare tethers for each car for most extended rear facing seat to make fitting easier.
It's a tricky problem as many have the seat belt coming across the door which must be a nightmare to get the child in.
The isofix seats are easier but they are near £300 and heavy to move around.

You can get a set of tethers for each car so you don't need to be moving them, just the seat itself. It costs about £20 to get an extra set.

Axkid Move is not ideal for differently aged children because to change the strap height is not straightforward and you have to change the headrest height manually as well. But Britax have a couple of extended rear facing ones up to 25kg and to change the height on those is as simple as adjusting a lever on the back of the seat. The Multi-Tech 3 is the cheapest one at the moment, £190 on amazon, although it's not the lightest. The other two that they have are Max Way and Max Way Plus - these go up and down in price but are both over £250 at the moment I believe, so too high for you unless they go down again at Easter/May Day which are common sale dates.

All seats for this age group will unfortunately be fairly bulky to store just because the children themselves are bigger and the seat itself needs to be quite protective unlike the booster seats you can use for older children.

Isofix ones you could look at are Joie 360 Spin or Britax Dualfix 2R. Not separate base and seat - but bulky/heavy just the same. More so than the two part systems IME. They weigh about 12kg. Seatbelt fitted ones (Joie Steadi/Britax Max Way) weigh more like 7kg. I hate moving ours from the car.

You can't get a base and seat combo for under £200 currently. You're looking at nearly £200 for the seat part and £150+ for the bases.

Or you have the Joie seatbelt fitted ones up to 18kg with headrest/harness direct adjust (rather than re-threading the harness). Joie Steadi, Joie Stages. Graco Enhance is similar to Joie Stages. The plus of these is that they are lightweight and cheaper. But these all have the seatbelt in the way.

So it's choose your demon I'm afraid!

Tethers (25kg ERF seat)
Isofix / heavy seat (Spin seats)
Seatbelt in way (18kg belt fitted seat)

Thanks for all the help and useful advice on what to look out for. I think I am going to go for a seatbelt seat predominantly because there will only be a seat to take out and store each use and not a seat and base. Also these are significantly cheaper probably saving £200. I have just watched a video from Joie Steadi and it shows clearly how to install the seat and shows how the seat belt can be pulled down and temporarily moved out of the way whilst lifting the child in and out. Then easy to put seat belt back. Also no rethreading of straps for different size children. Think like this is my best option, also only £99.

Ah brill, sounds good :)

Hi, I am looking for the next stage up car seat, preferably looking at the 1,2,3 stages. Any recommendations for a good padded car seat??