Travel car seat for four year old

[LeftTheWashingOut]

We have two cars, two children (11 months and almost 4 years) and a holiday with a hire car coming up. We are thinking of taking car seats on holiday as I don’t trust that where we are going they will be safe and we are doing a lot of driving. But we also could use whatever seat in the future as existing seats will be grown out of

we have a joie juva infant carrier which our 11 month old can still fit in so we will be taking that. At the moment that switches between our two cars, and we have a joie bold and a cybex sirona s fixed in each car. However soon the cybex will be too small for our four year old (actually just weighed him hes 17kg so already too big…), so whichever seat we buy for holiday can be his seat in our second car. Then we can switch the cybex between the two for our youngest. 

Does anyone have any recommendations for a seat that we could get that is lightweight enough to carry across the world, but safe enough to be an everyday seat for our 17kg 4 year old? He’s currently harnessed in the Joie bold - but is he old enough now to be in a HBB? 

I’ve been considering the joie stages as it’s not too expensive, not too heavy and would last us a few years but I’ve read mixed reviews

[Caspianberg]

We are just buying a maxi cosi rodi pro 2 for our almost 4 year old. You can’t use a harness after 18kg anyway. The base come off the back for travel so ours will go in car seat rucksack travelling. And used for at home soon also.

[Butterdishy]

When was he 4? Do you need the travel seat to be compact? I'd be tempted to just get a hbb like the joie trillo or britax kidfix if he's sensible enough to sit nicely.

[Onionsmadeofglass]

Hey OP. I asked the same question (travel friendly carseat for a 4year old) a while back on a thread started by someone with a younger toddler. The wonderful BertieBots gave me some great advice. My child was definitely big enough for a high back booster and so I bought the Recarro Monza CFX. 6kg, folds up and has a handle for carrying, and good safety scores for a HBB.

[Onionsmadeofglass]

I think they have to be 100cm and 15kg minimum for a HBB but waiting till 105cm and 18kg is better.

[Onionsmadeofglass]

BertieBots also told me you can separate most HBB into two pieces (seat and back) for travel. You don’t want to be doing it all the time because they’re not built for that, but for a once-a-year holiday it’s an option.

[Caspianberg]

I looks into this as my 4 year old isn’t 18kg yet. It says the R129 tested car seat are only based on height not weight minimum.

So the maxi cosi rodifix pro2 is from 100cm, but no minimum weight. (My Ds will be 15 ish kg when we use), he’s outgrowing max cosi mica by height as he already over 100cm.

Op if your son is 17kg already then any high back booster will be fine. Our local baby store also said virtually all high back boosters come apart (most are delivered in two parts) so you can take back apart for travel.

[Caspianberg]

https://incarsafetycentre.co.uk/blog/post/when-does-your-child-need-a-high-back-booster#:~:text=High%20Back%20Boosters%20(HBB)%20are,be%20very%20small%20at%2015kg

Here was the information regarding newer R129 seats and 100cm, but no weight min or max.

[Merrow]

There's a new one folding just out that I've seen recommended in some of the car seat advice Facebook pages - Be cool foldy. I don't think it has independent reviews yet though.

[BertieBotts]

The Sirona is up to 18kg - so your 17kg 4yo can still go in it :) But it's really heavy so likely to be a pain for travelling.

I agree one of the foldable HBBs would probably be a good option for him.

[FoxtrotSkarloey]

We went for a Joie Traver when we needed to move DC up from the Joie Bold. It's sooooo much lighter and easier to install than the Bold (only isofix clips because it uses the seat belt so no top tether). It's not officially foldable, but it arrives in two parts which you clip together, so I assume you could unclip and put in a travel bag rather than risk the joint getting broken in transit.

[LeftTheWashingOut]

Thanks for all the advice and so fast everyone - with the two of them home with me today I've only just been able to check back.

The four year old is not actually four yet- he will then four on our trip. Good news that he hasn't yet outgrown the cybex thanks @BertieBotts I thought it was 15kg and clearly haven't weighed him in a while!

Perhaps I should look into HBBs then, the Bold that we have is harnessed until 25kg but he's really good in the car, never really squirmed about, or tries to unclip. I'd just always thought in my mind that the harness was safer (plus he's still my baby so the idea of a normal seatbelt seems odd!)

[BertieBotts]

Keep him in the harness for everyday if he's still happy in it. Ideally they say it's best if they are over 18kg before moving them to HBB full time. But for travel and the second car, I think that's fine. No need to rush him out of his current seat if he's happy in it.