Car seat recommendations

[excitedforbaba]

Dd is currently 7 months old and we are starting to look at the next stage car seat for her (9m-4yrs)

Is there any particular seats you would recommend or indeed completely avoid? We want one that can recline & isnt ridiculously expensive or hard to fit as it will be swapped between cars now and again

Thanks

I would totally avoid any forward facing seats, have a look at the research on extended rear facing. Obviously it is up to you, but there are rear facing car seats that are not as expensive as others so don't be put off if a few are out of your budget. I found the group "car seat advice for mummies and daddies" on Facebook so helpful, so perhaps you could post your query there as I'm not familiar with all prices and ease of moving.

Also keep in mind that you don't have to move your dd at 9 months, my 18 month old still fits in her group 0+ infant seat, her head does not reach the top and she is not too heavy. Its much safer to keep them in the infant seat if they have not outgrown it, especially if you will move to forward facing.

We have the joie I anchor. It complies with I size regulations, goes rearward facing until (I think) 18kg and fwd facing until (I think) 25kg. It was the best value for money I could find a few months back. Worked out £175 for seat and base. I moved my DS into it when he was about 7/8mo as he hated the infant carrier and just screamed. This seat is slightly higher and can be adjusted to be more upright. He is 13mo and still happily goes rearward facing in it!

Please don't consider moving her out of her infant seat at 9 months unless she is massive. Wait until she outgrows it (either by weight - usually 13kg but check the specifications on yours - or when her head reaches the top of the seat).
Infant seats are so much safer than the next stage seat, unless you're considering an extended rear-facing seat suitable from 0 - 4+ years.

We have a Hauck Varioguard. It has a base so easy to install, and if isofix it can rear face til 18kg or forward face.

Your DD should stay in her first seat til at least 12 months or so though.

I agree to keep her rear facing as long as possible and keep her in her baby seat until she grows out of it. My 91st centile DD used hers in DH's car until 15 months.

We moved into a Britax Dualfix for my car which is suitable from birth so you could move her now. It's ERF until 18kg.

Oh you'll have ages yet :)

For moving between cars I really liked the Kiddy seat that we had, it was much quicker to fit than a normal 5 point harness seat.

Are you worried she might outgrow the seat soon or were you just thinking 9 months because of what the shops say? It's more of a minimum rather than an aim - the baby seats usually go to 12/15 months easily. DS fit in his until 18 months and he wasn't especially small. As others have said, it's safest to keep them rear facing, so you want to keep using that first seat for as long as you can unless you plan to get an extended rear facing seat.

Oh and to avoid - any of the super cheap ones, be suspicious, they are all made by a French company called Nania, and they are the absolute lowest quality allowed to be legally sold. A couple of seats have been recalled and they often get "don't buy" ratings from Which. Names they are sold under include Nania, Team Tex, Kiddicare own brand, Fisher Price, Argos own brand (I think it's called Babystart) and some character branded seats. There are other names, too, but they are all clones of the same seat. You can also tell if they are this manufacturer if they have rucksack-style pull adjusters for each shoulder strap rather than a one-pull adjuster at the bottom of the seat.

Don't change up till you really need to but when you do consider a Kiddy. Great once you get the hang of using the safety cushion. If forward facing these seem way safer than 5 point harness.

I agree. You move when the seat is outgrown, not on age. DS is 14 months and still comfortably in his carrier. Is your baby very long waist to head (leg length doesn't matter).

I would avoid impact cushions.

www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/why-five-point-harness-britax/five-point-harness-facts-figures

We bought the Cybex Sirona and are delighted with it but it is expensive. We use it harnessed and rf withDD1 who is2.10 years and 12.5kg.

I have a Britax Two Way Elite. I love it. It rear faces and forward faces from 9kg to 25kg (most harnessed seats are only to 18kg), I keep it rear facing.

It is easy to install (id buy two sets of tethers, one for each car, if I were frequently swapping it). It is wide and comfy and relatively cheap in comparison with other ERF seats.

My 3.6 yo is tall (110cms) and has massesof room left in it.

Echoing others though:- keep kids in the seats the fit in til they outgrown them. Nothong wrong with doing the research in advance though

Hi all thanks for all the advice & opinion

Yes just doing research now so we have plenty of time to shop around I just get confused between the group 1 etc seats which is why I called it the 9m-4yrs seat!

We had Initially thought of a Maxi-cosi axsis but so far locally none of these seem to be dual facing.

Bertiebotts thank you so much for all that info that's really interesting to know and I'm actually thrown by Fisher Price being of the lower standard, I think a lot of parents who wouldn't know (or indeed ask) may be falsely reassured by the name!

I'm off to Google the kiddy seat..so far the most consistent brands seem to be the maxi-cosi, britax and cosatto?

Definitely wouldn't want a "cheap" seat but I have seen some rather nice looking ones online at £350 or there about!

Yes - I believe it's because FP don't make their own seats, they just have their branding on it.

You can get a decent seat for around £150 if you shop around, perhaps down to £100 if you are very good at watching for sales. If you can stretch to £200 you're almost guaranteed to end up with something very good.

There is a Cybex (impact shield) seat on amazon at the moment for £130 which is a good deal. I like impact shield seats but I know others aren't keen on them. It seems like the main issue is rolling, which is unlikely for most modern cars, although some cars are more prone to rolling than others. But look at all options.