Which car seats?

[Anothernewmum1]

We need a new car seat as our baby (10 months) is outgrowing the one we have. We want one that will last ideally and he is a larger baby on the higher end of the centiles. Is a rotating one much easier? We like the look of the minikid but it’s not rotating so is it a pain to get them in and out?

There are loads of reviews and recommendations online but I keep getting confused and ending up back at square one.

We also need a second car seat but probably one that’s not as expensive and can be taken in and out very easily as it’s for my sisters car when she looks after him.

We want to keep him rear facing for safety.

thanks for any recommendations.

I’d definitely consider an Axkid Minikid 4. It’s an extended rear facing seat up to 36kg and 125cm. It’s got the longest shell on the market so it’s considered a true 125cm seat and should enable a tall child to continue to rear face until age 5/6 which is aim
before turning them front facing in a high back booster.
I’d avoid a spin seat in a high centile child. They won’t get you to a safe front facing age, they don’t give good leg room when rear facing like dedicated ERF seats do. They also sit high on the base, so you have to lift the child higher to put them in as they often can’t climb in themselves as easy as they can with an ERF seat (which sit lower and have lower sides).
You could purchase a second set of tethers and transfer the seat to your sisters car when she is looking after him. It’s really easy to transfer these seats quickly if the tether straps are already in place.

If he's higher centiles then a rotating one likely won't last him long enough especially if he is outgrowing an infant carrier at 10mo. (Is his head at the end or has he reached the height limit?)

The Swedish type ones up to 125cm, like Minikid, also have much better leg room for taller kids, whereas the rotating ones you have to fold them up a bit more as they get older so a lot of people end up turning them forward facing. The low sides on the 125cm seats do make them easy to use. Probably the rotation is slightly easier to begin with but it gets outweighed quite quickly by the leg issue. I do find the Minikid harness a bit fiddly to tighten because I don't like having to pull it all in one go but I think you do get used to this if you have one (and there are other similar seats without that feature).

I would look on Axkid's retailer search on their website and find a local stockist - they will likely have more than one brand and a selection of both 125cm limit and rotating seats for you to try out so you can see which you prefer. They can also then offer support with fitting as the 125cm seats can be trickier to fit than the isofix ones. It does tend to be worth paying the £10-20 more compared to the massive online discounters to get this in person advice and support.

For your second/cheaper seat I would look at Graco Slimfit R129 or Joie Stages/Graco Enhance (or the second set of tethers is not a bad idea). However the Graco/Joie will only be a short term solution if your child is on higher centiles.

Thank you! This is really helpful. I think we will invest in the Minikid.

For what it’s worth I have one rf in a non rotating seat and one ff (7yo) in the back of the mini and it’s fine to get them in and out of the seat. Even easier in my DHs car which is bigger so don’t let that out you off.