Second budget car seat

[Spittingmydummyout]

Hi all I'm looking for reccomendations on a car seat but I've tried all sorts of places and I just can't get any personal reccomendations! We have the joie ispin in our main car which is great but we're looking for a second seat that can be moved into the grand parents car etc.

Aspects we'd like:
Easy to move and install
Lightweight
Under £160
Spin would be a bonus!
Can go up to 4 years old, older would be nice
Has to be r129 or isize as I hear this is the best standard

I've been looking at I-GROW R129 I-Size Car Seat but there are no reviews anywhere so abit skeptical

Thanks for your time!

[InTheRainOnATrain]

How old is your child now, what percentile-ish are they on growth wise and do you want forward or rear facing or the option of both?

[Spittingmydummyout]

Hi thanks for replying. She's 25th/9th percentile and 8 months old. Option of both :)

[BertieBotts]

For a second seat, I'd probably look at Graco Extend R129 which can be rear facing up to 105cm or forward facing from 15 months minimum (also minimum 76cm tall, which might be closer to 18m for a smaller child) again up to 105cm. It's affordable, lightweight, easy to fit - but is a seatbelt fitted one, so a little bit more margin for error than an isofix seat.

The Kinderkraft i-Grow is quite new and Kinderkraft haven't had a brilliant safety reputation in the past. It's also an all-stages seat which in general is not a good option as tends to mean you get all the downsides of all the different types of seat which is a pain. It's usually better just to get a seat for the current stage (baby / harnessed / high back booster) or combine max two. In general the fewer jobs your seat has to perform, the better it will do them.

Some other things to notice about it are it uses top tether, which means it's not a true spin seat as you won't be able to spin it with the tether attached (possibly when rear facing, but not forward facing). I also personally find top tether a pain when switching car seats frequently because it means you have to go back and forth between the boot and the back seat, whereas most seats you just go into the back seat to fit them.

That said, it looks better made compared with some of the options in this price range. It does weigh 11kg so it's not going to be the easiest thing ever to move.

Graco Turn2Me i-size ticks most of the boxes. This is R129, isofix, uses a support leg so retains the spin both ways, good safety rating, rear facing up to 105cm or forward facing from 15 months / minimum 76cm. Easy to install but again bulky/heavy - even heavier than the Kinderkraft.

As your LO is on lower centiles, a 105cm limit seat is likely to last her until around 5-6 years old; she might not even reach the minimum height for a high back booster until she is 4.5 years. So I would not worry too much about getting a seat which includes the booster stage; a 105cm limit seat will last her nicely and combine the rear facing and forward facing options for you. For a portable seat anyway, the booster stage is so much less bulky than the earlier stages, you'll want to ditch a multi stage seat and just get a lightweight booster - much easier.

It is worth mentioning you requested R129 as it has better safety, but actually the biggest difference in safety comes from rear facing - so it is beneficial to keep her rear facing for as long as possible. A rear facing seat that is approved to the older standard (R44) is actually safer than a forward facing seat approved to the newer standard (R129). But TBH most seats on the market today are R129, so it's not too difficult to find one.

Another option might be to continue to use the infant carrier as your spare seat until this is outgrown, depending on the model this might actually last you over 2 years. Then you could look at a forward facing seat for the second car which tend to be a bit lighter and easier to move around compared with the ones that have rear facing as well.

[Matobe]

It’s worth reading statistics on keeping them rear facing for as long as possible!