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Travel car seat for almost 4 year old (harness/belt)

7 replies

LiviR · 14/04/2024 07:44

Hello,

We are going to Florida end of this month with our daughter who turns 4 in June, currently she is 98cm and 15kg.

At home we have the Cybex Sirona, which is too heavy to take with us. I have a Joie iTraver, but realise she's still too small to use it as it's seat belt not harness. So I need a seat for this trip, I could hire but don't really like the idea of it from a safety/hygiene factor.

Any recommendations for a car seat that's suitable for now with a harness, safe, easy to travel with and she can use once she turns 4 too (so seatbelt)? Ideally with isofix as an option for easy installation and I will give to the grandparents to use after the trip.

Thank you!

OP posts:
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BertieBotts · 14/04/2024 09:13

In Florida she actually legally needs to be in a 5 point harness until age 4 anyway.

How often will it be used going forward? You're looking at 123 style seats, but these are so hugely variable in their crash performance that you want to be careful with them. I also think they are potentially more prone to damage in the hold of a plane - I'd recommend keeping the original cardboard box, fold it flat in the car, bring a roll of parcel tape and then either children's craft scissors (chuck into another hold suitcase) or cut it with your teeth and split with a key at other end. Or you can wrap very securely in a roll of bubble wrap. The car seat bags you can buy don't really offer any protective padding.

It sounds like you'll use it more as a booster seat than a harnessed seat, long term?

Luckily she's well under the weight guidelines for a standard one (up to 18kg) and you don't need the extended harness (25kg).

I'd probably look at Recaro Tian - it is seatbelt fitted for the harness stage, isofix for the booster stage, lighter than some other 123 type seats and very good safety in both harness and booster mode.

If you don't want to spend this much, then you could look at Joie Elevate - probably the newer R129 version is best. This is harnessed up to 105cm and then can be used as a high backed booster. No ADAC crash test rating on it, but Joie have well rated boosters in general. Their forward facing harness seats haven't historically done as well in the ADAC test, but the R129 approval is a good thing. This is more basic, and is essentially a high back booster seat with a harness attached (whereas the Recaro is more designed as a harnessed seat which converts, making it bulkier as a booster seat, but more protective as a harnessed seat). It's belt fitted and lighter than the Recaro.

For isofix installation for the actual seat itself, I think Maxi Cosi Titan Pro or Britax Evolvafix are best, but both are heavier and bulkier than the other options mentioned. Maxi Cosi do also have another option called BebeConfort Everfix, which is their budget line, for about £150 - if you're going to use a cheaper brand, then this is a good one to use though it's not realistically that cheap.

There are very cheap isofix 123 type seats e.g. Kinderkraft Safety Fix 2 i-size, but I don't know how well these are made and how well they would perform in an accident. They have isofix and top tether, which is a plus, but Kinderkraft have previously got quite bad results on the ADAC test, so that's a negative. I'd be wary (though it will certainly be better than nothing!)

LiviR · 14/04/2024 09:31

Thank you so much!

Yes, I looked up the law and saw she needed a harness (which I prefer anyway).
Realistically after this trip, it'll go to one set of grandparents and be used for her once a week.

We have a car seat bag, but I'll look to keep the box for it, thanks for the tip!

I'll have a look at the options, I'm happy to spend £150-200 with the aim that it goes to the grandparents and can be used long-term there too.
Are Recaro good seats as I haven't seen them around much, but happy to get if recommended?

Really appreciate this as there so many options!

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 14/04/2024 21:51

Yes RECARO are good. That seat was tested by ADAC and got a good safety result. Usually belt fitted 123 seats perform poorly but that one did as well as the Isofix ones tend to do. They tested the elite version but it's the same except that the elite has headphones built into it which is a bit gimmicky IMO.

BertieBotts · 14/04/2024 21:52

Sorry my phone auto capitalised it, must be a brand thing.

They aren't as popular in the UK, not sure why, but RECARO make racing car seats - so they definitely know their stuff there.

LiviR · 15/04/2024 11:13

Fantastic, sounds like they do! Really appreciate this.

OP posts:
PlantsAndSpaniels · 16/04/2024 07:39

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you weren't allowed to use UK seats in America? You definitely can't use their seats here.

BertieBotts · 16/04/2024 18:24

It's true the seats are technically not legal to use, because the US has its own regulation and the EU one is different so EU seats aren't certified for the US and vice versa. But the reason they have this law is to stop people using some sketchy seat that's legal in a country with very lax car seat laws. For a seat of comparable quality you're not taking the same risk.

In terms of being pulled up on the seat legality, for someone visiting, the likelihood that it's going to be noticed or matter is extremely low. And OP intends to use this seat mostly in the UK. If you were moving there, then it does make sense to get one that is approved to the local law.

There's an argument that taking your own seat that you have practiced fitting and already adjusted to your child's size is less prone to error than trying to fit a totally new, different seat you've never seen before, which might have different methods to fit than you're used to and different ways to adjust for your child, when you've just got off a very long flight with a small child and you're exhausted. This is actually what CPSTs (American car seat safety experts) advise.

Car seat mistakes are very common, and one of the biggest factors in death/serious injury cases in car accidents involving children. So it makes sense to prioritise avoiding mistakes over meeting the letter of the law. I wouldn't take something like Cybex Pallas that is a totally different style to the seats which are used in the US. But I do think that taking an ordinary harnessed type or booster type seat is a fair decision and seems to be what a lot of people do when they are travelling. Apart from anything else, it's very hard to buy a US regulation seat when you're based in the UK.

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