Car seat advice please

[Mildred01]

I Have some questions regarding car seats and could really do with some help please!

1. when should I be moving on to the next car seat? Still in the maxi cosi pebble (my baby is 62cm 9kg)
2. Which car seat is better or are they as good as each other? I’ve narrowed it down to and Cannot choose between the axkid minikid 2 or the besafe stretch.

When I was pregnant I definitely panicked and didn’t have time to research or even think about longevity, so I bought the maxi cosi pebble and pearl pro because they both fit in the base and I just assumed they went hand in hand and I wouldn’t have to think about it later.

Now I’ve been able to research and learnt about the Swedish plus testing and how extended rear facing is so much safer I think I should purchase the axkid or besafe. I will take all advice on other car seats too but I really like how these 2 last until age 6/7 which is what I’m looking for ideally.

is there anything else I need to know or should be thinking about or looking for in a car seat?

Thanks all!

You can keep your baby in the Maxi Cosi Pebble (do you have the Pebble Pro, Plus, or 360?) until they are 75cm long, weigh over 13kg or their head gets to the end of the seat, whichever comes first :)

It doesn't matter if their legs stick out the end.

How old is your little one currently?

62cm and 9kg is quite an unusual combination being much higher on the weight than height scale. If this is correct - little babies can be tricky to measure, so it's common for the "height" to be wrong - but if it's right then I'd definitely go for the Besafe Stretch. This goes up to a much higher equivalent weight than height.

The Minikid 2 is not likely to be a good transition seat from the Maxi Cosi Pebble because the Pebble is outgrown at 75cm, but the Minikid 2 often doesn't get a good fit until the child is more like 80cm tall, somewhere between 9-12 months. However, if you have the Pearl Pro already then you could use this for the in between stage.

Some other good options which are more like the Besafe Stretch are the new Britax Max Safe Pro or Safe Way M, and the Axkid Minikid 4.

By the way, the Maxi Cosi Pearl Pro is also a really good seat and very safe as long as you use it rear facing :) So there is really no need to buy another seat yet. What you could always do if you want to, is keep baby in the Pebble until outgrown, then move to the Pearl, then when you start to find there is not enough leg room, or if you have another baby, or when she outgrows this seat, you could then look at upgrading to a seat like the Axkid or Besafe ones which last longer. Or you could move the Maxi Cosi to a second car, a grandparent's car etc.

There are some good Black Friday deals currently, but if you are planning to use the Pearl for a little bit then you probably wouldn't need another seat for at least 2 years (depending on your baby's age) so the deals will probably come around again at some point between now and then.

Hi @BertieBotts thank you so much for the advice- you know so much! I’ve just checked and you are correct I got the measurements wrong, he is 72cm and has just turned 12 months.

We have the pebble pro. So am I right in understanding that when he gets to 75cm, or 13kg we should move to the next seat, even if say he is 75cm but weighs 11kg?
So really, I have a 5cm gap where I could use the pearl in between ( assuming he grows in height faster than he gains weight).

I’m pleased to hear the pearl is a good seat too, I’d only read how good the axkid, besafe and also britax are but maxi cosi definitely did not appear on the list! I’m only deterring from the pearl as ideally I’d like him to be rear facing until 6 now when initially I would have had him forward facing at four or even sooner before I’d read about rear facing. I also don’t want to buy another seat later down the line, so thought the transition seat could stay until 6 rather than have the pearl for a bit then another one.

Would the besafe stretch be good for the next transition seat when he outgrows the pebble at 75cm?

also what would be the difference between the minikid2 and 4? I looked at the four but just thought it was newer model and didn’t see the difference between them so apologies if I’ve missed something obvious there! I will also look at the britax and safe way you mentioned too, thank you.

The max safe pro looks very good too. Are the sict and asip important, essential features to have on the car seat too?

So am I right in understanding that when he gets to 75cm, or 13kg we should move to the next seat, even if say he is 75cm but weighs 11kg?

Yes, that's right.

Maxi Cosi don't usually get into the lists of Axkid, Britax, Besafe because they only do seats up to 105cm (approx age 4) and as you know the ERF pages prefer to recommend RF as long as possible, so they just go straight to the longer lasting seats. It's not that Maxi Cosi are bad, it's just that if you want to RF as long as possible they don't do seats that do that, and if you need a cheaper seat and don't mind about it not lasting so long, Joie do that better.

Besafe Stretch would be fine for using any time - you could even use it now if you wanted to. It's a good seat, one of the few of the up to 6 years that you can recline while it's installed. The others, you set the recline according to the age of the child and leave it.

Minikid 2 is the older regulation which is why it's more for use from 80cm (ish) - these seats tended to be designed to be either from birth or from 9 months, and Minikid was a from-9-monther, even though it's approved from 0kg - it's a long story.

With the newer regulation that came out in 2018 or so, you can have seats that are approved from birth or from 61cm (approx 6 months) and so the Minikid 4 is the newer version of Minikid 2, but it's quite a significant redesign being suitable from 6 months right up to 125cm (which is around 6/7 years) and 36kg, instead of the 25kg limit of the Minikid 2.

Minikid 4 also has easier installation.

You might see generally stated that the older regulation R44 is "less safe" than the newer regulation R129. This is sort of true, but not really applicable to the Minikid 2 which was already one of the safest seats you could buy. So the main benefit of the newer regulation for Minikid 4 is the fact that the weight and age span is different, which wasn't possible under the older regulation.

Minikid 4, Britax Max Space, Britax Safe Way and Besafe Stretch are all what I'd think of as the "newest generation" of ERF car seats with the Minikid 2 being from the previous generation. All of this newer generation have clearer/easier fitting, more automation in the tethers, fitting from approx 6 months and use up to 125cm/36kg.

The ASIP and SICT are just different trademarks for the different brands' side impact protection systems. Side impact protection is important in car seats as if you were hit from the side (T-bone) you want the child to be well protected. Many older car seats did not have good protection in this area, as they had focused mainly on frontal impact, and it has been a focus in the car seat industry, especially among safety focused brands, for probably the last 20 years or so. So among a lot of the top brands (Britax, Maxi Cosi, Axkid, Besafe, Cybex etc etc) they have each developed their own terminology and trademarked terms for the different systems that they have. All the seats you're looking at have these features, except I think the Britax Safe Way M is a more stripped down version and doesn't have the extra block on the side - it's not essential, but it is nice to have.

We have an Axkid Minikid 2 and a BeSafe Stretch (installed in different cars). The BeSafe Stretch is much easier to install and my 3.5 year old says it's much comfier as it can be reclined after it's installed, so he's able to have it tilted further back. The Minikid 2 only has 3 recline options which has to be set at the point of install, so then can't be changed without reinstalling it. The Minikid goes up to 25kg, whilst the Stretch goes up to 36kg. We want to get another 36kg seat for our second child, I was considering the Max-Safe Pro, which looks fairly similar to the Minikid except that it goes up to 36kg and requires the use of a spacer when installing with extra leg room, but as our eldest says the Stretch is so comfy I think we'll get another one of these.
If you think your child will outgrow their current seat within the next year, it's definitely worth getting a new seat during the Black Friday sales as this tends to be the cheapest they are during the year, even if you don't need to use it straight away.

Thank you @BertieBotts such informative advice and as I understand the newer generation models you’ve mentioned Minikid 4, Britax Max Space, Britax Safe Way and Besafe Stretch would all be suitable from now.

I think I’ll hang on to the pearl for now as a just in case until I can decide which one to get. But you’ve really helped me narrow down my search and given me more to think about and what to look for rather than just the minikid 2 and besafe stretch. Thank you for explaining the side impact protection systems to me.

Thank you for all of your amazing knowledgable advice! :) x

Hi @egb007 thank you for your advice between the two seats and I’m so pleased to hear feedback from an actual child! I personally thought the axkid looks more comfortable as the bestretch looks small and cramped in my opinion but am pleased to hear your son is happy with the bestretch. I think I might go for that if your child is more comfortable in it.
Yes I have been poking around the Black Friday sales so will have a think and hopefully we will have a new seat soon!

I did the same and got a pebble and a 2 way Pearl before my first was born. I then discovered ERF and ended up buying a britax max way. I would say the Pearl is better suited for younger toddlers as more padded and reclines so better for naps. The britax he went into about 2.5 and outgrew at 5.5. Now have just 2 year old in the Pearl but she is smaller so will switch later.

Hi,

I’m looking for some advice regarding car seats.

my daughter is 20 months old but very small she’s been following the 0.4th centile since about 6 months for both height and weight.

she’s still using her infant carrier but I’d like to move her to the next stage seat. I’d like to keep her rear facing until at least 5 from what I understand even if she went into an 18kg/105cm RF seat it’s unlikely she’d outgrow this before she’s 5.

I like the look of the spin seats but I’d like some advice on which one is best, ideally I’d prefer one that’s Swedish plus tested

I’ve also looked at the ERF seats but I’m unsure if they’re worth it because of how old she’d be before outgrowing at 36kg weight limit.

Hello @PosiePrim

Don't worry about the weight limit on the 36kg seats - as you say, your LO is on lower growth centiles, so it's likely either a 105cm or 125cm limit seat would be fine for her. Remember that you don't HAVE to use it right up to the top limit, and there are reasons to choose these seats other than the limits

Basically with the spin seats, you get the spin feature and the easy isofix fitting and the easier recline, some of them are cheaper, and you can buy them from high street stores.

The downsides of them are that they take up more space in the car, there aren't as many Plus tested ones, they are pretty heavy and bulky to move between cars, and they tend not to have as much leg room, so children may sometimes be less comfortable rearfacing in these seats as they get older.

If you get one which is 360 degrees ie can go forward facing as well, that could be a good thing or a bad thing - some people don't like it because the temptation to FF is there, and if it does have the option to FF then it won't be plus tested. OTOH some people like this because they do want the flexibility to FF later if wished, e.g. after the child is 4 years old. And it means you can be flexible e.g. FF for short, local journeys and RF for longer/high speed journeys. However be aware that doing this your child might start to express a preference.

In comparison the 125cm limit seats typically take up less space in the car, can be fitted with more leg room for the child and/or more leg room for the person in front, they are fairly easy to move between cars (if you get a spare set of tethers), they are almost all Plus tested, the tether fitting is very secure.

The downsides are that the tethers can be tricky (though you only have to fit them once and leave them in) - a retailer might also do this for you. You might have to seek out a local ERF specialist. These can be more expensive.

The plus tested spin seats are:

Joie Spin Safe
Britax Swingfix (identical to Dualfix used rear facing only)
Besafe izi Twist (identical to izi Turn used rear facing only)
Axkid Spinkid

Out of these, the Joie has the worst legroom. The Besafe has a fantastic recline and is designed to fit well even in cars which have quite sloped seats.

If you look on Axkid's website you'll probably find your nearest ERF specialist retailer on there.

Hi @PosiePrim

Great advice from @BertieBotts . The only other thing I’d add about spin seats is that they sit high on the isofix base so you have to lift your child up into them. This can be a struggle as they get older and taller and I’m aware a lot of parents talk about accidentally bumping their child’s head on the door frame of the car as they lift them in. A dedicated ERF seat sides are much lower so it’s easier for them to climb in themselves.

I’d definitely try to find your local independent retailer so you can try them out in your car.

Have a look at thr newest besafe beyond! They swivel, 125cm.22kg