Comfy HBB for long journeys?

[Wingingit07]

Hi!

Please can I have your recommendations for well padded comfy high back boosters please? I've read alot are uncomfy and some say with boys the seat shape on some can be a bit uncomfortable so looking to get it right!

We sometimes do long journeys as family live in Scotland hence wanting a comfy seat.

Do any recline?!

Thankyou

Bizarre that safety profile doesn't seem to come into your inquiry

I think that goes without saying TBH? Besides there is not as much difference between HBBs as there are between different models at other stages.

OP my best suggestion is to go into the shop and get your DC to try some out. I would probably suggest Cybex or Maxi Cosi as being more comfortable in general. You might also want to look for some which have better leg support like Joie i-Traver which adjusts in the leg area, and some kind of footrest. You can buy an inflatable footrest, or one which attaches to the car's isofix points, or put something in the footwell to rest feet on e.g. an empty cardboard box or suitcase.

All of these brands have good safety ratings on their HBBs as well as comfort.

You will want to avoid budget models like Joie i-Trillo or Britax Discovery Plus - they are more suited to shorter journeys with not as much padding. (I'm not sure offhand what the Cybex Solution B is like for comfort).

Ideally you don't want a recline on a HBB because this pushes the hips more forward which can give you a worse fit with the lap belt which is important for safety. But a lot of HBBs will have some kind of design to support sleep for longer journeys for example the Britax headrests are V-shaped which helps and some of the Cybex seats have a section in the headrest itself which tips back slightly to help the child's head stay in the headrest area when sleeping.

If your DC is quite little still and may nap in the car day to day, it might be worth considering keeping them in a 5 point harness if possible.

@angrybird11 Gosh, you are an angry bird as per your username.

I think it is a given that I want my child to be in a safe car seat. I have done the research on the safety and I don't need the answers for this, but my question is specifically asking for the extra benefits that a car seat has such as padding, recline etc for long distances.
Why has there got to be so many people in this word willing to bring others down and critique.

@BertieBotts Ah, Im glad to see your advice, thank you.

Thats good to know regarding Cybex and Maxi Cosi. Regarding the footrest is that because pins and needles can be an issue?

I was looking at the Rodifix Pro and the Cybex Solution T, both look brilliant in safety, but I was drawn to them because of the recline option too however I note your comments about the hips being more forward and hadn't actually considered this so thats good to know. I think the Solution T may have a headrest that stops the head falling forward too if they fall to sleep.

Interesting about the Britax Discovery and I am glad you mentioned that one, as I have seen that car seat name floating around on online as a recommendation, so I can cross that one off.

I have managed to keep him rear facing until over 4 but hes just hit 18kg and 105cm. He doesnt really nap anymore, its these longer drives that we do (a few a year so not loads, but when we do go I really want him to be comfortable on these drives)

@BertieBotts we went to see the seats today and feel a bit more confused.

We are looking at rodifix pro and the cybex solution G and T. The cybex felt alot more padded but the help in store wasn't great. I am stuck between them all. Do you have any advice? Thankyou

What do you feel confused about? Overall, those three are all good seats and any of them would be a good choice.

To be honest, I'm a bit out of date on the exact differences between the newer Cybex models, and I haven't seen the new Rodifix Pro in person. For Cybex - I know that the T is the super-duper best top of the line one that they do - it expands outwards as they grow (which can be good for boys especially if they are broad across the shoulders) but the G is also a really great seat and can be significantly cheaper. It doesn't seem to be at the moment, though. (For the T, the "Plus" version is literally just different fabric, more denim-y, maybe a bit less sweaty compared with the cheaper fabric).

You might be able to get the slightly older versions Solution Z i-fix (equivalent to the T) and Solution S2 i-fix (equivalent to G) a bit cheaper.

Did you get your DC to sit in the different seats? Which one did they find comfortable? Did you have a good sense of where the belt sat on them, particularly at the hips, and did you try any in your car? (Seatbelt/headrest position can be a helpful deciding factor too).

Maxi Cosi used to be shorter than Cybex if extended to full height - this is worth checking if you want to keep using the seat all the way through, OTOH if your car has sloping ceilings at the edges, you might not actually be able to extend any HBB all the way up anyway. I don't know if the newer Rodifix models have this issue (the Kore ones did).

The expansion of the Solution Z/T can cause an issue if you ever need to sit someone next to the car seat as it takes up more space. If you need slimline seats for the space, Maxi Cosi tend to be good for this.

The Discovery is a good seat, but it's not one I'd suggest for comfort specifically. We had the older version of this (well, the non-isofix version Adventure) and my older DS used to find it uncomfortable for longer journeys, but it was a great budget model for day to day. And yes he used to get pins and needles and we discovered a suitcase works well, but there are proper footrests you can buy.

@BertieBotts thankyou that's helpful. I was confused as the lady in the store when I asked for the benefits of each seat said rodifix and solution T were pretty much the same and it's just personal choice. She said in terms of safety, heights etc all the same. Although I read that the T solution has slightly more safety features...
Thankyou for your advice I appreciate it

We have a cybex solution s fix for both kids. Both are tall and my son is 96th centile for height. They both say the seats are comfortable and the way they sleep in the car now I absolutely believe them.

@Wonderballs thankyou for taking the time to message :) that's helpful! It's so much money, the last thing I want is my LO to be upset with how uncomfortable and the returns policy on car seats can often be strict

Ah ok, what she would have meant by that is that each company have their different level of products. Solution T is Cybex's top line/luxury model and Rodifix Pro is Maxi Cosi's top line/luxury model. So those are both equivalent products from different brands.

Generally the top line ones tend to have all the comfort, all the safety features your money can buy and these are both fairly recent models, but there will be little differences between them. Most of these you'll be able to see or feel like the physical shape of them.

Cybex are very good at getting their car seats to perform well in the ADAC tests and they always get good scores there, among the highest. Take this with a pinch of salt because they do optimise for that test specifically. However that doesn't mean the seats are unsafe - you have to have a pretty decent product to do well on those tests. I would just say it's probably unlikely that they are that much safer than other top brands.

Maxi Cosi historically haven't got as high scores at least for their HBB seats though some of their older models were at the time some of the highest performing. One safety feature they do have which I really like is the "air protect" which is like an airbag inside the headrest. And the G-cell they have in the side panels is supposed to deflect any impact like a football hitting a net. They tend to design their products around the possibility of an accident from any angle rather than simply optimising for the one scenario in the ADAC test. That might be one reason why they don't get as high results as Cybex tend to.

If comfort is the deciding factor I'd try and get DC to try the seats 🙂 and it may well be worth seeing if you can find a Solution Z or S for a discount if budget is a concern.

We have the Maxi cosi Rodifix pro2 for our 4 year old. He was in the maxi cosi mica rear facing until recently.

I really like it. It has a recline which really helps, but you do need to recline the seat before they sit in and belt up, as it won’t lift otherwise. But it works well on long journeys if you know they are likely to fall asleep.

It’s also nice it has no lower arm parts as it makes it easier for Ds to start learning to strap himself in and for an adult to squeeze into the middle with more space.

We have also taken it back apart so it’s in two parts, strap together and have taken on a plane a few times this last summer.

Ds still has it on pretty much the lowest setting, but it looks to go pretty high and the side supports extend outwards for sideways growth also.

I did look at the cybex, but it was so wide it made three seats at the back impossible to use. Although there’s only three of us day to day, we often have friend or family in car so I wanted to be able to fit car seat and two adults. We have a large suv also but the cybex looked ridiculously large in it still