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Car seat for 3 year old

6 replies

Hewlettthedogsout12 · 29/06/2023 20:03

Please can anyone recommend a car seat for 3 year old dc that they will be able to use for a few years. They have outgrown their previous one and I want to pass it on to their younger sibling. Many thanks

OP posts:
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BertieBotts · 29/06/2023 20:30

Hiya, what's their weight and height? And just turned 3, nearly 4, somewhere in the middle?

Are you looking for a rear facing seat or forward facing? With 5 point harness or seatbelt?

Do you have top tether points in your car?

Hewlettthedogsout12 · 29/06/2023 20:33

Thanks @BertieBotts. They've just turned 3, but I'd quite like something they can use for a few years to get our moneys worth 🤣. Weight is currently 14.5kg. We currently have an isofix base incase that helps. I'm not too bothered re how it fastens as long as it's safe obviously. Forward facing would be great. Thanks

OP posts:
ComeAlongNow23 · 29/06/2023 20:37

We have a Joie Bold 👍🏻

BertieBotts · 29/06/2023 21:26

OK at just turned 3 and 14kg they are definitely too little to go into a seatbelt booster, so you'd need a harnessed seat. Most likely a 123 type seat will be best, as these have the 5 point harness up to 18kg or 25kg then turn into a booster seat for later.

Your isofix base won't take one of these types of seat, they only work for baby seats and sometimes the toddler one that goes with the set.

I really like the Britax Advansafix i-size, but you'll probably want to check LO's height as it has a height limit of 102cm for the harness, if they are already over about 97cm then this won't last long enough. If this is the case then you could look at the older Advansafix IV which has an 18kg harness limit but no stated height limit on the harness and fits until about 109cm.

You need to keep LO in a 5 point harness until they are at least 15kg and 100cm, though preferably closer to 18kg and 105cm, and also until they're mature/sensible enough to be trusted with the seatbelt which probably won't be until about 4 or sometimes older.

If you want to keep the 5 point harness for longer, or your LO is already close to 105cm tall, then the Joie Bold is worth looking at as PP said as this has a harness up to 25kg and equivalent height, which is about 125cm or a bit taller.

All of these need to use both isofix and top tether to fit. You MUST use the top tether so you need to check if you have the right anchor points in your car. If it's less than 10 years old, then it will have them, but if it's older you'll need to look in the boot (and maybe in the manual) and check.

If you don't have top tether the Recaro Tian Elite is the best rated one, but if that's too expensive look at the older, seatbelt fit Britax Evolva.

Hewlettthedogsout12 · 30/06/2023 12:06

Thanks so much everyone, that's really helpful. Does anyone know if the maxi cosi Titan is good? My friend recommended it. It looks like it can be used to 36kg/12 years.thanks

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 01/07/2023 08:28

That's one of the ones which is harness up to 105cm/18kg and then you take the harness out and use it as a booster seat up to 12 years.

The older model had quite a short harness IME so depending on DC's size may not last them until age 4 which is usually the minimum recommended age to use seatbelt. I would try it out in a shop (or try him in your friend's model?) and see how many stages you have left to adjust the headrest before it gets to the maximum.

There is a newer model called Titan Plus i-size or Titan Pro i-size. This has a good safety rating from Which? and a bigger shell, which I believe (not 100% sure) comes with a bigger harness than the original one.

The original Titan Plus, Titan Pro, Titan, or Titan i-size have the smaller harness (I think) as they all have the smaller shell. They don't have as good of a safety rating from Which? (Titan Pro was the model tested).

You need top tether attachments again for all of these.

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