Seats for arthritic fingers

[GymboScaresMe]

My MiL really wants a car seat for my 2yo (11kg). We bought a Joie 360 spin, but she has bad arthritis in her fingers and thumbs, and she can’t work it! She isn’t able to get her fingers in to loosen off the straps, and she also finds the buckle mechanism tricky. She can work our Nuna Rebl, but I’d rather not fork out for another one of those.

Can anyone recommend a seat which has an easy-access loosening mechanism and buckle?

Ideally I would like something that can rear and forward face, but I’m more concerned that she doesn’t leave the straps too loose in transit to avoid having to loosen them when she stops, so I’d take a FF seat if she would easily work it!

thanks ☺️

I think the only truly foolproof one for arthritis is probably the impact shield types like Cybex Pallas. But those are a bit marmite - people often feel conflicted about them. There is a French blog about them if you want to read about the pros and cons (Google Chrome should auto translate it): https://www.securange-leblog.fr/2013/10/harnais-ou-bouclier-faut-il-choisir.html

Would it be an option to go to a shop and try some out? I tend to find that Britax, Maxi Cosi and Cybex are all nice to use (but I think she might struggle to spin the Cybex one as it involves lifting the whole weight of the child + seat). Britax and Maxi Cosi both have forward facing only options whcih convert to booster as well as their spin seats.

The Nania/Team Tex ones with the tighten/loosen on the strap itself (like rucksack straps) are supposed to be great for tightening, unfortunately they seem a lot less great when it comes to safety rating.

Axkid Minikid would be the bees knees as it self loosens when you open it and will self tighten if left too loose (plus excellent safety) or Besafe izi Modular A X1 which self tightens.

https://www.besafe.com/en/product/izi-modular-a-x1-i-size/

But I'm not sure either of these would be any cheaper than the Nuna that you have especially as the Besafe needs a separate base.

Thanks very much for these suggestions - I hadn’t realised that the impact shield ones fastened like that - that would be ideal for her. I think we will have to take a group outing to try some out as you suggest, not sure whether my very opinionated toddler will tolerate the impact shield but you never know what you might convince them of with the right messaging!

I have arthritis and yes, like Po said we had ones with an impact shield that fastened with a seatbelt as soon as they were big enough.

Thanks! I never realised this so this is really useful, that will be so much easier for her.

@GymboScaresMe the make we used was Kiddy car seats. They were great for us and seemed comfy for the kids too. Safety wise they are possibly not as good as some others - for eg rear facing, but I needed to be able to manage the buckles and I couldn’t on the five- point ones.

Well exactly - better to be able to strap them in properly to something than not being able to use it properly I'm sure! Thanks, I’ll check them out.

Mamas & Papas always used to have the Cybex ones in stock if you want to try some impact shield ones out. I think the Kiddy ones are no longer made.