Car seat for tall 3 year old!

[Skylark88]

My little one is 3.5 years old but around 104-105cm and weighing around 18kg, many people
mistake him for a 4 year old. Looking for the next stage of car seat for him with the best safety recommendations, so any help would be appreciated! Not sure about rear facing now for various reasons but I am open to all suggestions!

Also if there are any with harnesses that would be ideal.

Hi OP. At 3.5 years, he’d be safer rear facing for a little longer. Have a look at the Swedish Plus tested Axkid Minikid 4 or Movekid. Both have the tallest shell in the market and considered to be true 125cm seats, which could comfortably get your son to 6 years RF.

Your options to keep him in a harness (which is definitely recommended at 3):

Rear facing (safest)
Axkid Minikid / Movekid / Move
Besafe Stretch
Britax Max Safe Pro or Safe Way M

Forward facing, converting to high back booster later on (cheapest)
Joie Bold >> note, not i-size
Cozy n Safe Hudson >> note, not i-size
Cozy n Safe Excalibur
Puggle Safe Fit & Gro

The i-size versions of the seats mentioned in this list have a harness limit of 105cm so will not be suitable. You need the R44 versions (Group 1/2/3). They all NEED top tether to fit in the 5-point harness mode. It is not optional.

You could also look at Cybex Anoris T which uses an airbag so may be a safer FF option, however the limits on it are lower - 115cm and 21kg.

Besafe Beyond can also do FF or RF up to 25kg and spin but is very expensive as the base is required as well and it does not convert to booster, like the other forward facing seats do.

@BertieBotts every time I do car seat research I end up coming back to your posts, so helpful!

I am looking for similar. My 3yo (aug birthday so only just 3) is 99cm and coming up 18kg so will grow out of Maxi Cosi pearl isize (18.5kg weight limit)

She needs to FF due to travel sickness but I want to keep her harnessed at least until 4 (even if she hits the HBB height earlier) so I've narrowed my options to Joie bold, I-bold (22kg harness limit should see us through to next aug...). Looks like Maxi cosi titan pro/plus would also fit the bill, and wondered if any views on this and how it compares to Joie bold/ibold?

18kg is the maximum weight for most harness belts. So you’ll need to do your research as harnesses are only safer than high backed boosters for children under 18kg. You will need to get either an extended rear facing seat or a high backed booster or decide whether you want to spend £££ on a toddler seat with a harness that goes up to 21kg. It’s so frustrating.

DS is 4, almost 5, and 113cm and has only just reached 18kg. I can’t even find a spinning car seat for him. There is literally zero choice at this size.

Cybex’s Solution G and Britax Romer Kidiflex are definitely the best rated seats (according to ADC guidelines) available in the UK. The Kidiflex might be good for your LO as it comes with a seat and hip pads that might feel a bit more secure.

The Titan has an 18kg limit as well unfortunately.

I am not hugely keen on the i-Bold - the two I like with an over 18kg limit are the Britax Evolvafix, or the Silver Cross Balance.

Also Britax Advansafix Pro but as far as I can tell it's just slightly more comfortable which doesn't really justify the higher price.

Amazing thank you so much, these weren't on my radar at all. There are some good deals around on the advansafix at the moment, just spotted some for £150ish !

Ah yes the Z-Line are their amazon exclusives, they tend to be well priced.

I am happy with the advansafix, my 6yo is in one at the moment. I would like to swap my 3yo and get rid of the Joie spin but can't justify the cost on another high back booster for the 6yo so they will stay where they are for now!

https://www.kiddies-kingdom.com/9m-11yrs/54780-britax-romer-advansafix-pro-group-1-2-3-isofix-car-seat-space-black-exclusive-offer.html?svtax1=googleads&utmmcampaign=PMax+%7C+Britax+%7C+Hero+Products+%7C+IK+%7C+8%&svtax3=IK&utmmterm=&svcost=17672168305&gaddsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD38DkbFCFVcCmU5jFl4K4h7rBkV&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsc24BhDPARIsAFXqAB1nOj39uWuu9EJOHgxrcW0PifgOAIRomq3oxHMvS1oebWXnaV4FQf4aAv5QEALw_wcB

It looks identical to the ones in John Lewis etc for £260!

Dd was in a Recaro stage 1-3 until she was four and a half. Unfortunately she is long of body and by that age we could no longer wedge her shoulders in it.
She was carseatless before 5.
Recaro advertised their seat as being suitable up to the age of twelve. And it would probably be OK for an average height child.
Tall children come with many issues!

Oh yeah, fair enough. Kiddies' Kingdom tend to buy bulk stock and then discount it. That is a really good price for that seat, and yes it is the same model.

@Rowgtfc72 that seat confuses a lot of people because in order to release the headrest to go up further once the harness part is taken out, you have to actually unscrew a bolt and remove a part. Britax and some other companies also have a limiter on the headrest when the seat is in harness mode, but it's just a clip so it's much more intuitive and doesn't feel like you're disassembling the seat! Which obviously feels like a no-go for most people since taking a bolt out of a car seat feels like a mad thing to do.

It should definitely have gone up higher than the height of a 5yo, even a really tall one.

@BertieBotts just asked dh and he assures me he did that.
Dd has always been on the 99th centile for height with average legs, long body. She was 5ft 8 at 13. 6ft at 17 now.
We did buy a booster cushion originally but found the seat belt fitted properly just as well with her bum on the seat.

We just bought the advansafix for the same reason as you OP. Very happy with it. It has a recline feature which makes her very comfortable on longer trips.
I like having her forward facing.

Sorry to jump on such an old thread, but I purchased an Advansafix today and I’m having issues. The leg straps really dig into my little girl? She is 95cm, and 16kg so well within tolerance but it looks so uncomfortable and she’s complaining. It’s like the buckle is fixed too far into her crotch? Has anyone else had this issue?