Cybex Sirona Gi vs Joie iSpin 360?

[Abbie2222]

Hi mummies. Would anyone have any recommendations on the above car seats? We liked the look and feel of the Cybex Sirona Gi but we have a very tall (91st centile) but light (9kg) 16 month old girl. I’ve read that the Joie iSpin is great but that the fabrics are less premium, therefore could be sweaty etc? Is that anyone else’s experience? I was looking at the Joie iSpin XL to ensure it lasts us longer, but the ADAC rating isn’t as good sadly. We definitely want a rotating seat and we’re nervous about choosing wrong because our first seat (Nuna Pipa) felt like it wasn’t great for our baby. Any advice would be so helpful! I’ve seen that the Car Seat Safety UK Facebook page really recommends the BeSafe brand but there’s nowhere to try them in person around London and I worry they won’t fit in the car. We also want one with a good recline so want to ensure they do that. Any tips would be so appreciated! Thank you :)

Don't know about the GI as I'm guessing that's a new version, but both our girls have had older model cybex sironas and they have been fantastic seats, so would recommend!

If she's very tall she'll outgrow the Joie at around 2.5-3 years old, so you won't get much use. I've got the Joie, and I've also got several extended rear facing seats which don't spin but the sides on the minikid seats especially are very low so it's super easy to get them in. The Joie sits much higher so you have to hoik them in more, even with the spin function.

Hi OP,
As the PP mentioned above, if she remains on the 91st centile for height, your daughter will outgrow the harness on both the Cybex and the Joie iSpin before she’s 3 1/2. This would mean you’d need to purchase another harnessed seat as she really wouldn’t be old enough to be considering a HBB at that age. The XL model wouldn’t give you any longer, as once the harness is outgrown by height (105cm) she’ll need to use it in HBB mode with the 3 point car seat belt. Assuming you would like to keep her rear facing, none of these seats give great leg room, which might be uncomfortable is she carries her height in her legs.
I’d certainly have a look at a fixed rear facing seat. The Axkid Minikid 4 range has the longest seat shell which would give you longevity, and also excellent leg room.

Cybex sirona, we tried the Joie and it was very space hungry

The Joie XL doesn't offer you any extra benefit as it only adds a high back booster mode and it's a heavy, awkward booster anyway.

IMO having worked in a baby store, Cybex's design of the features like the inserts and straps are a lot nicer to use than Joie. It feels more premium. You need the "Plus" fabrics to get one which is cotton/denim like though so less sweaty - and bear in mind, all car seats are sweaty to an extent.

Build quality wise both have excellent safety results, Cybex tended to get returned more because the sliding shape of the base means dirt from the toddler's shoes gets trapped in the mechanism and then the seat stops spinning. But this doesn't happen for every user. Joie tend not to have issues like this, but one of the ways they reduce costs is to increase the gaps between the different isofix fittings, which means that you can get a slightly less snug fit with the Joie seat in some cars so it will move around in use and rattle. That is not a safety problem but it can be annoying.

The reason the car seat groups are recommending Besafe Beyond is because at the moment it's the only rotating seat which lets you harness up to 125cm rather than 105cm. I think Avionaut are meant to be releasing one soon as well. I'm surprised you can't try the Besafe one in person - I thought John Lewis stocked it? However, it's an expensive set so you might not be keen on that outlay anyway.

At 16m it's possible she will go down a centile band or two but basically, is it more important that this seat rotates or lasts you to the high back booster stage? Do you think you'll be likely to have another child in the next couple of years? If so it doesn't matter so much if it doesn't last her for the full stage, as you can hand it down and get something which bridges the gap and can be handed on again in turn.