Car seat dilemma!

[MrsMcJnr]

Looking for some car seat advice please I have a DS of 2.2yrs and he has a Maxicosi Toby stage 2 car seat. DD is 10m and she has a maxicosi stage 1. She is rapidly growing out of it and we are trying to work out the best strategy for the next seat bearing in mind that we have a ford Focus and we hope to have another baby. Both our kids are tall. Should we buy another stage 2 or one that does stage 2 and 3? Any advice gratefully received!

We had a toby carseat and are dd grew out of it but she was dot really old enough to go into a stage three so I got a tape measure and measured all the seat by then we had isofix so I got the britax duo which she was in until she was too heavy the other one was the elvolva23 but it is wide and didn't fit in all the places I needed it to fit. having a child on issofix can make it harder to fit three in the back but it can be tricky at the best of times . My friend has just had fun buying three bosters with back to fit her peugeot most of them didn't fit. I would buy what works now and what best for you children when they go into bosters with backs you can get so really narrow ones. Hope this helps

we've gone for a maxi cosi rodi for our very small dd3 and will be putting ds2 into the tobi she is currently in when she gets just a tiny bit bigger. I think the lower weight is 15kg for the rodi so it depends how big he is. The alternative for us would have been something in the style of the britax evovlva 123 for dd3 with the removable straps but they didn't fit our car.

The maxicosi Toby states it can be used till 4yrs - my ds's are all tall and ds1 didn't make it till 3 in then seat as he was tall, its ok until their head starts to come out over the top then you have no side protection.

For a stage 3 seat it is weight not delevopmentally based. Most seats say from 3 or 4 yrs but they only need to be at least 15kg and the right height (so the seat belt is 10mm about their shoulder) ds1 was 2.5yrs when he fitted into the seat (Maxicosi Rodi high backed booster) - he was tall enough but not heavy enough.

Bear in mind that any seat that combines the stages is a comprimise so it is best to get the seat rated to their age/weight/development. It is worth looking at the Britax seats as well because they tend to last longer, my friends rear facing britax lasted her (average weight tall) ds till 15months.
It also depends when you want to have next dc, we only just fit 2 maxicosi Toby's (or 1 maxicosi toby and 1 rear facing maxicosi when ds3 was smaller) and the Rodi in the middle of a Peugout 307 SW (and I have to straddle the front 2 seats and clip ds1 in through the gap in the middle) I think the focus was on the list of cars I liked but we couldn't fit the seats in. If you can't fit 3 in with 2 in isofix then you shouldn't do it, pushing the seats outward means they aren't in the best position and could be comprimised by any pelvic thorasic or side curtain air bags.

I'm not sure if that helps at all! Are you still abroad? otherwise I'd recommend taking car to Mothercare and get them to try them all like we did (they were lovely though!)

ps its insywinsyspider btw - I just realised I've name changed and been awol from the june thread!

We had a similar problem, and i can recommend the Britax Prince or King plus. They have a smallish base, and are very tall in the back so fab for tall and light children. I wouldn't go for any stage combination seats, purely because they tend to be HUGE and wouldn't fit in a Focus!

But yes, go to mothercare and try loads of seats. Best bet really!

Thank you all so much, lots of food for thought. Sadly, I am abroad and the Mothercares we have access to (Malaga & Gibralter) are not well stocked up but I shall have a look anyway. Your help has given me lots to look up on the internet

Hey Insy come back to us on the June thread! hope all going well with the DCs.

yes insy, if you get a chance, come say hi

just did

although forgot to mention it was after a kick from you guys!