What’s the best car seat to move between cars?

[Bearcubmum]

What’s the best car seat to move between cars? My little girl is 11kg and starting to look into getting the next size car seat, but which car seat is easier to move between cars? We don’t have much space in our house so having a spare isn’t really that easy. But as I don’t drive because of medical issues the car seat will be in her dads car the majority of the time, however if I need to go somewhere with someone else then I will have to transfer the seat before he goes off. Is there any that is better to transfer routinely?

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MNHQ

I love our Axkid One (isofix, extended rear-facing, up to 23kg) and regularly move between mine and DH car with ease. My DC1 is a thoroughly average 50th percentile for height and weight so we should get use out of the seat to around age 6 or a longer which is good because it's quite pricey.

Otherwise if you go for a belted seat that requires top tethers, you could always consider installing a set of tethers in each car so it's easier/quicker to swap the seat?

There is a Facebook page for Car Seat Advice UK which is great for this kind of question, have you looked on there or asked there?

How old is she at 11kg? Are you planning on extended rear facing, do you have a budget?

It would have to be rear facing as she’s only 10 months old next week and following the 97th percentile. I’ve been looking at up to around £300.

We love our Joie 360. Spins, and will be good to approx age 4. Also within your budget 🙂 It's isofix so easy to switch cars.

https://www.johnlewis.com/joie-baby-i-spin-360-i-size-car-seat/coal/p4071189?sppc=2dx927000709854430244mixedfashionnBAU&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gbraid=0AAAAAD2el1zHaXi4E6JtFzSPfVD7eC3v7&gbraid=0AAAAAD2el1zHaXi4E6JtFzSPfVD7eC3v7&gclid=CjwKCAiAl9efBhAkEiwA4TorisTFAznhHZnJgXndmwDcs2led2e80M2To9t70efUIuVvbnuiAZA1hoCDlgQAvDD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

OK I think on 97th percentile, I'd go for a Britax Max Way for your DH's car, and then get a Joie Steadi or Stages to use in other people's cars. Together that would be around your £300 budget, especially if you can wait for a sale on the Stages.

The Joie 360 (and other seats up to 105cm) won't last until age 4 on the 97th centile unfortunately - more like just turned 3. So you'll need a 25kg seat for the main car at the very least, but these aren't easy to move around especially if it's multiple cars you'll be using them in. They have extra tethers which wrap around the rails of the front seat. If you always get a lift with the same person e.g. a family member, you could just get a second set of tethers and leave them in place (they just tuck harmlessly under the seat) but you wouldn't want to be putting them into loads of different cars (well - I assume it would be annoying - maybe somebody will contradict me!)

The other seat (both Steadi and Stages) is belt fitted only, rear facing up to 18kg and they have quite a tall headrest so will probably last you a little bit longer than 105cm. It does mean you'll have an awkward period when she outgrows this seat and isn't quite old enough for a booster seat, but perhaps you can work around it by avoiding lifts or getting lifts with people who already have a seat or even using a booster seat occasionally even though you may want to keep her harnessed in the main car.

If you don't usually use the other back seat in DH's car, you could always store the second seat installed in there just to save space in the house? It's a bit annoying as a solution I know. Or it might fit in a wardrobe?