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HBB for small 6 year old

5 replies

Pinkywoo · 19/01/2026 13:21

Hi, I'm looking for a high back booster seat for my six year old, but it needs to not have isofix. He's currently rear facing in a Britax max plus, but his little brother will need to go into that soon (and he's been asking to forward face like his friends!). He's about 125 cm and 20 kg.

I like the look of the Britax kidfix but is it worth the extra money?

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Pinkywoo · 19/01/2026 13:40

Just realised the Britax is isofix, are Graco Eldura any good? Thanks!

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Arrow03 · 19/01/2026 14:05

I think isofix is optional for most high back boosters; you can use the seat with or without it so the Britax should be fine. If you aren't using isofix, technically you should belt the seat in when it's not in use so it isn't a projectile when your child isn't in the car.
The features on the Kidfix e.g. crotch strap are probably less important now your son is 6 than they would have been if you'd switched seats when he was younger. It might be worth trying out a few seats and seeing what gives a good fit for your son/your car.
I'd check the booster has a suggested maximum height of 150cm (rather than 135cm). The legal minimum height to move out of a booster is 135cm in the UK but ideally you'd wait until nearer 150cm.
We've had Britax, Joie, Cybex and Axkid boosters in our cars and they've worked well for us. The Cybex and Axkid ones go wider than the Britax and Joie ones but that's probably less of a consideration for you if your son isn't particularly tall/wide!

Pinkywoo · 19/01/2026 14:15

That's helpful thank you, I hadn't realised that the isofix was optional. My car has isofix (and the seat will spend most of its time in that) but my husband's doesn't, and occasionally we'll need to switch. Yes he's definitely not wide, but I agree with getting one that goes up to 150cm. I've been looking at the Graco Eldura and Joie Fortifi, which are both up to 150, but there's just too much choice!

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BertieBotts · 19/01/2026 20:25

Graco Eldura and Joie Fortifi are combination harness and booster seats, but you don't need the 5 point harness, do you? As he is 125cm, he is also over the limit to use the harness in these seats, so there is no point buying a seat with that capability as it just means it is designed less with the booster stage in mind. Get a dedicated high back booster.

If you did want a harnessed seat for him (IMO this is unnecessary, assuming no developmental delay that would make it hard for him to understand the need to stay in a seatbelt) the only ones which would work are the old Joie Bold R44 or Cozy n Safe Hudson R44 because they don't have a height limit. Both of them need isofix and top tether for the harnessed mode, and it's recommended to isofix combination seats anyway in booster mode because they tend to be heavy.

In "pure" HBBs isofix is optional to use. The Britax Kidfix is a good seat, Boots have the slightly older version on offer at the moment for £150, which is a good price. Some parents do like the 4th point of contact in the Britax Kidfix seats (the "crotch strap") - arguably this is unnecessary if the lap belt position is good. This is the cheapest seat with this feature on the market at the moment.

The best thing to do is usually to take the child and either most used or most awkward car to a shop and try out different models (anything Britax/Maxi Cosi/Cybex/Joie/Avionaut/Axkid/Britax/Recaro) to see which get a good fit - you want the seatbelt nice and low on your son's hips or tops of thighs is also OK, and for it to be easy to buckle in - sometimes with isofix boosters, the base of it is so far across it's hard to reach the buckle easily, which is a pain. If he wants to be independent he might like to do the seatbelt himself, you want to ensure that the belt moves smoothly through all the belt guides when it's plugged in, so it allows the seatbelt to retain its self-tightening function as he moves around. Sometimes a booster with less prominent belt guards at the hips is easier to fit the belt around correctly (usually, both parts of the belt under the guard but check the manual) especially for a child, but the more prominent guards may position the belt better especially for a more slim build.

Almost all HBBs on the market are up to 150cm so I wouldn't worry overly about this. Again, it's combo seats which tend to have a lower limit. In some cars, you can't extend the headrest up to the max height anyway without hitting the ceiling which is another thing you might want to check if you want to use the seat to its max capacity long term.

If you did want a cheaper seat, I'd look at Joie i-Traver, as I think the extendable leg rest is a great comfort feature, and Cybex tend to have a few older models at cheaper prices which are still very good seats. Or Joie also have i-Trillo, which is extremely reasonable, where the isofix is on a flexible strap rather than a rigid metal fixing, so it is lighter for use in the other car. I don't think it's as comfortable for long term use as the i-Traver, but it's a decent option and what we ended up with as my husband pointed out the cup holders on the i-Trillo, and my son would then accept nothing else Grin

Pinkywoo · 20/01/2026 14:34

Thanks for all the information, funny you should say about the cup holders as DS saw some of the pictures and was very excited to have arm rests! I've just ordered a Cybex solutions M fix ,which was reduced to £70 (and has arm rests 🤣).

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