Seat for short, fat toddler

[Strictlycomebaking]

Toddler will potentially hit the 18kg limit on their Britax Dualfix by 3 years old! However, are unlikely to get to 105cm till nearer 5…

Weight varies between 91-98 centile and height can be 9-25 centile.

what are some recommended next seats?

I’m interested in ERF but only if it swivels! My toddler is… strongwilled and difficult to get into a seat at the best of times.

Would also like to know the safest (FF) child seat with a 5 point harness that he will fit for a decent amount of time.

would prefer isofix where possible.

@bertiebotts ?

Hi OP,
So, I think you might struggle with a swivel seat due to the weight limits. I think the Britax Swingfix M goes to 20kg, and then there’s the BeSafe Beyond system which rear faces until 22kg and then turns into a HBB, but it’s very expensive. ISOfix has a maximum user weight of 33kg, so when the seats often weigh around 10kg, the weight limits they offer are low as a result.

As your little one is high centiles for weight, I’d consider a 36kg ERF seat. There’s a few on the market now. The cheapest are Britax Max Safe Pro and Safeway M at less than £200. These are quite bulky and reclined seats, so may not work brilliantly if you have a car with a small cabin. BeSafe Stretch has the bonus of being able to recline in situ, which might be beneficial, especially if you have another child who would be able to use it from a younger age. Then there’s Axkid MiniKid 4 or MoveKid which are more compact, so would work well in smaller cars / tighter cabin spaces. All these seats are fitted with the seat belt and lower tethers. You can purchase spare pairs of tethers to fit in a second car if you need to transfer the seat quickly. They also have low sides making them much easier for little ones to climb into. Maybe a new seat will be exciting for your little one and less of a battle? They also provide
much more leg room making them more comfortable than swivel seats which have to be fitted flush to the back of the seat.

I can’t help with FF seats as I don’t know anything about them, but hopefully @bertiebotts will be around shortly.

Hi @FamilyAreEverything

Thanks for your response and for explaining about the swivel seat weight limits - that may explain why I can’t find one!

we only have a small hatchback and there is no way I’m wrestling him into a fixed seat - I can barely get him into the Dualfix some days!

guess I’ll have to look for the best FF one

Britax Advansafix Pro or Evolvafix is likely the best one for your needs here.

Silver Cross Balance also fits the bill, but I would trust Britax safety more personally.

The limits are 21 or 22kg and 105cm on the harnesses. I can't remember what the top harness height is - it would be similar to the Dualfix, I imagine. I wrote it on here some time so you might be able to find it.

You could also look at a 25kg limit old reg R44 seat - Cozy n Safe have a couple (Hudson or Excalibur) and the Excalibur is around under the names Enfasafe Event FX and Puggle Safe Fit & Grow. They don't have a height limit on the harness - but the safety rating is a bit of a question mark.

The ERF seats do sit much further forward on the seat (further away from backrest) compared with spin seats, so it is worth trying to locate a local ERF specialist to try some out if you wanted to give it a go. Or John Lewis stock some (especially the isofix ones, which are expensive but they do slide back and forth on rails which is helpful).

Or another option to look at is Cybex Anoris - again it's expensive but it goes up to 21kg/115cm and is supposedly a safer type of FF seat because it has a built in airbag.

Thanks @BertieBotts ! Is there any difference between the Advansafix Pro and Evolvafix safety-wise?

happy to shed an extra £30 for safety but not for fabric colours 😂

I think the Advansafix Pro has some side impact protection but not sure if it is a huge difference. You could send a message to Britax and they may advise.

Did you end up buying an ADVANSAFIX? I just bought one today and I’m having issues!

@DD0 i did!! What issues are you having?

Ah amazing! So it seems like the buckle is too close to my daughter’s crotch, so then it digs into her legs? I don’t know if this is normal! I’ve attached a pic so you can kind of see what I mean! She’s well below height requirements so not like she’s too big! Any guidance appreciated 🙌🏼

unfortunately, I have the same issue, so I’m not much help! I’ve actually removed the crotch padding to get a bit more wiggle room but the crotch strap itself seems really short.

@BertieBotts have you come across this before?

It's not an issue I've had, it seems to fit my DC well, but they have a slimmer build so perhaps it's just individual? It's been a while since I was fitting it to other children in the shop. Looking back at photos, I also only moved them into this seat once they were about 3.5 / nearly 4. We did have the issue with DS3 when he was in the Joie Spin that the buckle was hard to reach but his thighs were chubbier then.

The only thing I can think is try to make sure they are sitting back in the seat rather than slouching, but I think it could just be the shape of the seat suiting different children differently. The Silver Cross Balance has similar limits with the weight/height, or Joie i-Irvana Max has now come out which is 125cm height/25kg weight on the harness if you wanted to try some other seats.

There is actually a line in the safety standard about the crotch strap not being allowed to be so long that it can end up on a child's stomach as that is thought to cause issues - so I think unfortunately if you have the lower height/higher weight centile combo it can work out that you'll struggle to find seats where the strap fits well.

Thankyou both for your responses - much appreciated! She is on 50th percentile for height, and just above that on weight so she’s not particularly out of proportion. We got to Britax to replace a Joie seat she will shortly grow out of (due to an accident moving the process earlier than I’d like!), and I’ve tried her in a few different Joie seats that I can get my hands on from friends and family and the straps also seem to come up at a totally different angle compared to the Britax. Looks like my best bet may be to return and go and try some more. So frustrated that I tried it in the shop and I didn’t see this issue!