Car seat for almost 4 year old

Greentoytractor · 2026-05-17T14:56:08+00:00

My daughter is about to outgrow her Joie 360 as there's a height limit of 105cm. She seems too young for a high back booster? I have an extended rear facing car seat in our main car, this will just be for local journeys and is only a two door car so rear facing not really possible. Is it better for forward facing harness or high back booster?

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BertieBotts · 17/05/2026 16:08

Do you have the original Joie 360, or is it the i-Spin 360? The original one doesn't have the pop out wings on the side, and the button to spin it is by the child's feet and the recline button, whereas with the i-Spin it has pop out things for side impact protection and the button to spin it is on the side of the seat.

If you have the original, then there is no 105cm limit and she can use it up to 18kg. It actually has a very generous headrest height and many children fit until they are quite a bit taller, so you could have longer than you think left in the seat.

If you have the i-Spin then yes it is outgrown at 105cm.

Second question is how close is she to 105cm - because it could take longer than you think for her to get there. It's OK to wait until you actually notice she's 106cm+ if she's under the weight limit (19kg for Joie i-Spin 360), as the height limits are more about ensuring the seat is big enough for the child, whereas overloading the seat by weight limit could cause it to fail.

If you do end up needing to change to a new seat, 5 point harness is better for under 4s and under 18kg. After 4 and after 18kg there is no clear evidence either way so it's whichever you prefer. The main problem is that most seats that convert from 5 point harness to high back booster have the same 105cm limit for using the harness, so you may have the same issue.

Joie i-Irvana Max is one which does have a higher limit (125cm) and some MNers have reported being happy with it. We don't know how it performs yet on the ADAC test, as it hasn't been tested. The better perfoming seats on this test in this category are Britax Evolvafix/Advansafix, Silver Cross Balance i-size or Maxi Cosi Titan i-size. However, all of these have the 105cm limit on the 5 point harness. So it depends on whether you'd prefer to prioritise good ADAC result or longer harness use.

Original poster

Greentoytractor · 17/05/2026 16:34

Thanks, this is really helpful! It's the i-spin and she's right at the height limit but only 15kg. My younger child will need the seat soon too so definitely need a new one.

Do most people switch to a high back booster at this point then? As it sounds like there aren't many harness options? Or do we need to wait until she's 18kg? She's 4 in July.

OP posts:

modgepodge · 17/05/2026 16:39

My daughter needed a new seat (due to buying a new second car which was actually old and had no isofix) at 4.2 years, just over 1m and about 15kg and to be honest at that point we bought a belted HBB. Like you it was for occasional short journeys and I couldn’t face spending £300 on an extended RF one at that age. We stuck with our RF spin seat in the main car til she was about 4 and a half, when she outgrew it on height, and moved to belted HBB in both cars then.

Original poster

Greentoytractor · 17/05/2026 16:54

What about the Joie Bold R? That is harnessed until 125cm and then turns into a high back booster?

OP posts:

UniversityofWarwick · 17/05/2026 17:04

Greentoytractor · 17/05/2026 16:54

What about the Joie Bold R? That is harnessed until 125cm and then turns into a high back booster?

That’s what I’ve got for my 6 year old and she’s still in thr5 point harness. Annoyingly, DP kept bothering me to get her into a booster seat, especially when o was needing to get a second seat for his van, until a (male) friend told him the 5 point was safer, and then he was all for it.

as long as she’s happy using the harness (and under 25kg) that’s how I’m using it.

Original poster

Greentoytractor · 17/05/2026 18:21

BertieBotts · 17/05/2026 16:08

Do you have the original Joie 360, or is it the i-Spin 360? The original one doesn't have the pop out wings on the side, and the button to spin it is by the child's feet and the recline button, whereas with the i-Spin it has pop out things for side impact protection and the button to spin it is on the side of the seat.

If you have the original, then there is no 105cm limit and she can use it up to 18kg. It actually has a very generous headrest height and many children fit until they are quite a bit taller, so you could have longer than you think left in the seat.

If you have the i-Spin then yes it is outgrown at 105cm.

Second question is how close is she to 105cm - because it could take longer than you think for her to get there. It's OK to wait until you actually notice she's 106cm+ if she's under the weight limit (19kg for Joie i-Spin 360), as the height limits are more about ensuring the seat is big enough for the child, whereas overloading the seat by weight limit could cause it to fail.

If you do end up needing to change to a new seat, 5 point harness is better for under 4s and under 18kg. After 4 and after 18kg there is no clear evidence either way so it's whichever you prefer. The main problem is that most seats that convert from 5 point harness to high back booster have the same 105cm limit for using the harness, so you may have the same issue.

Joie i-Irvana Max is one which does have a higher limit (125cm) and some MNers have reported being happy with it. We don't know how it performs yet on the ADAC test, as it hasn't been tested. The better perfoming seats on this test in this category are Britax Evolvafix/Advansafix, Silver Cross Balance i-size or Maxi Cosi Titan i-size. However, all of these have the 105cm limit on the 5 point harness. So it depends on whether you'd prefer to prioritise good ADAC result or longer harness use.

I've just been looking at the Joie i-Irvana Max. How much of an issue is it that it hasn't been ADAC tested? I don't know a lot about the various safety tests.

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 17/05/2026 21:08

It's totally fine. It has passed the R129 safety standard, which is the requirement to be sold and means that it will perform in a crash to protect a child as long as it is used correctly. The R129 safety standard is stricter than the older R44 standard (which for example Joie Bold conforms to, which was their older extended harness seat).

If you are interested in the differences between the different car seat models, ADAC testing is helpful to look at but it's not necessary at all, it's just extra information to have. There is a new batch of testing due out at the end of this month if you wanted to hang on but I don't know whether the i-Irvana Max is in it.