Rearfacing car seat with leg room

[Sundayrain]

Looking for any recommendations for a car seat for 2 year-old which can be both rear and forward-facing but actually has some decent leg room! DS was rearfacing until he was 4 in a Maxi Cosi Pearl and seemed to have plenty of room, but now we no longer have that seat and hoping to find something a bit less expensive.

We've currently got a Joie 360 and lack of legroom is ridiculous. The seat fits right up against the car seat so can't even use the spin function without extending the isofox connectors and they don't stay extended so that's not a solution.

Wondering whether the newer Isize seats offer more leg room as the base has a panel between the seat and carseat? Would really appreciate any recommendations!

You need the ones that they make for the Swedish market where more people rear face up to age 4.

So Axkid Move, Axkid Minikid, Britax Max Way, Besafe izi Plus etc.

These tend not to be the isofix spin up to age 4 ones but there are a couple (though they are a bit expensive)

Besafe izi Turn/Twist, Axkid Spinkid

Or Besafe izi Modular + base is a bit less expensive for an isofix option.

Or Axkid One2, or the cheaper version Joie i-Prodigi.

Oh, all of those except for Besafe izi Turn are rear facing only.

You don't tend to get the extra leg room in the ones which can also forward face, as the manufacturers don't expect people to rear face for very long in those seats. I would just keep the Pearl or the Joie 360 for if you want to forward face later. With the extra leg room, you'll probably find that you don't need to.

Sorry, I have come back after being with kids and on re-reading, see that you don't have the Pearl any more, and you aren't necessarily looking for Swedish 4yo amounts of leg room, just the amoutn of leg room that you get with an anti rebound bar.

In that case, you could look at the Britax Dualfix i-size (the Plus is good because it has a slightly higher weight limit) or Maxi Cosi Mica or Cybex Sirona. The Joie ones are known for having very small leg room, because they don't have the rebound bar. This is not to do with being i-size, it's just individual differences between seats - the Joie ones are cheaper, the rebound bar is probably where they have shaved off some of the cost.

But the Swedish market seats are worth looking at anyway, because they last longer (up to 25kg/125cm as opposed to 18kg/105cm), take up less space in the car and are a bit more upright, which can feel more "grown up".

@BertieBotts thank you so much this is super helpful as I do want to keep her rear facing until 4 if possible, I'm now looking at the Axkid Modukid which looks great!

@BertieBotts thank you so much this is super helpful as I do want to keep her rear facing until 4 if possible, I'm now looking at the Axkid Modukid which looks great!

What is it that you like about the Modukid? For the same price (bear in mind you need the base as well) you could get the Axkid Minikid which will last longer.

From what I can see the Minikid is attached by seatbelt whereas the Modukid is isofix, which I prefer.

We have the joie 360 isize, and our tall son fitted into it until he was 4, rear facing.

Now at 5 he’s in the Axkid mini kid (which I really rate as a seat) and 2.5 year old DC2 is in the joie.

It is seatbelt fitted. But it is also sold mainly by specialists who will generally do the fitting for you and/or show you how and get you really confident in doing it yourself. These ones are both Swedish Plus tested so just as safe as each other.

The main downside of isofix is that it limits you to the 105cm/18kg limit, plus it's space hungry. There are a couple of isofix seats with higher limits than this but they are very expensive.

So if you want isofix and around the £350 mark or less price wise, I would compare Axkid Modukid, Britax Dualfix i-size (maybe Dualfix Plus) and Besafe izi Modular X1. The Dualfix doesn't need a base as the base is attached - the other two are modular, so you have to buy the base which is about £150 and then the seat which is about £200.

John Lewis have an offer on the Dualfix M Plus at the moment.

Pramworld have a good offer on the Besafe izi Twist as well: https://www.pramworld.co.uk/brand/besafe/besafe-izi-twist/

And Concord Reverso Plus also worth a look.

If you look for video/photo reviews you might get to see the leg room in all these seats.

https://www.samueljohnston.com/en/Concord-ReversoPlus-i-Size-40-105cm-0-4-years-car-seat/m-3603.aspx

Just ordered the Axkid Modukid and base, looks good! Thanks for the comments, it's been really helpful.