Who's got one of these car seats?

[lookingatsomemarrows]

Wondering whether to go Cybex or MaxiCosi for a high back booster for my dc - which one would you recommend?

How old is dc?

3 and weighs over the recommendation

I got the MC Rodi Air for Dc. Good and comfortable with removable machine washable cover. I have no experience of the other one. I would take your dc with you to test them out in the shop. Have a look on price spy to see where to get it the cheapest.

Neither for a 3 year old. Their pelvis is not formed enough until at least 4-4.5 to stop them submarining under the lap belt in an accident.
They need to be in a 5 point harness until then.

@Whitelisbon so why do they state from 3-12 and the weight limits then? I wish the rules were clearer.

Because, by law, you can use them.
They're just not safe for 3 year olds.
How much do they weigh? They're best off staying in the lowest group suitable for their weight.

I agree with whitelisbon, whilst by law its allowed it isn't recommende. keep him in the 5 point harness until he has outgrown it - my daughter stayed rearfacing until 6. however I thought id add in that this is the carseat weve moved too and are very happy with it, she always falls asleep and this keeps her head in place. it has really good seatbelt placement and daughter said it was most comfortable, but really the only way to decide is to go and try, you should test it in your car, and test with your child, and know what a good fitlooks like. this was not the car seat that was top of my list but it was once it was in the car and sat in

Definitely keep in 5 point harness until at least 4 as their pelvis isn’t developed properly before then.

They also need to be able to sit correctly (so not sloughing, no pulling the seatbelt, leaning over, pushing their bum forward, falling asleep at a funny angle, etc) at ALL TIMES. (Often lots of just turned 4 year olds aren’t reliable to do this).

What’s his weight and what seat is he in now?

I can't comment on the suitability or not of.either seat for your child but I can say that we chose the Cybex over the Maxi Cosi for my 7yo when replacing after an accident because they got a.generally better rating everywhere and it grows much higher and wider with the child than the Rodi so it fits them for longer.

They are both reasonable seats but as others have said, neither are suitable for a 3 year old I’m afraid. Do they need to move out of their current seat?

Also, ideally as well as 5 pt harness, rear facing is a lot safer for as LONG as possible

Yes, rear facing is safer and definitely worth considering if he isn’t RF already. You can buy RF seats up to 25kg so have a look in his red book and work out what age he’s likeky to reach this and it will give you an idea how long the seat is likeky to last.

I agree with lots of PP. Rear facing in a 25kg seat is still by far the safest seat for him.

Unfortunately until we're told differently, people assume that the law indicates what is safe, but legal and safe most definitely aren't the same thing when it comes to car seats.

As a guide, you should use a car seat until it is outgrown. So a group 1 seat lasts until 18kg, just because a high back booster starts at 15kg doesn't mean that is safe. As PP have said, a high back booster is also different to a harnassed seat in that a child not only needs to be above the weight limit, they also need to be physically ready for the seat and mature enough to sit in it properly- this isn't likely to be the case until at least 4-4.5yrs.

And more people need to know about 25kg seats!! The best option for most people is an infant car seat to 12-18mo, a 25kg rear facing seat until about 5/6 and then a high back booster. But people just don't know about this unless they research. (Don't count on high street stores for advice, they only do selling!!)

The Facebook group 'car seat advice uk' is about the best place to find car seat advice

However, if your 3 yr old is more than 18kg and your car doesn't have a top tether or isofix then there's bugger all you can do except for putting them into a high backed booster, or change your car.
That fb group, although good, only opens periodically for questions, the answer to which I can almost guarantee will be "have you considered rear facing". Even if you expressly state that you're looking for a forward facing seat and the reasons why...

We bought a similar Cybex for dd1. She was 3 years, 4 months-ish when we got it and over the minimum weight. She is very tall so had out grown the Maxi-cosi 2 way pearl we had. Highest setting on the harness was not high enough and her head was over the headrest. Short dd2 has only just outgrown the infant seat at 16 months! The Cybexes get good ratings on Which? but they are very wide, we have a big car and its over the middle seat - we did want one that was going to fit dd1 for as long as possible. The headrest on ours tilts back if she does fall asleep and the seatbelt is positioned really well.

Another Posting only opens for periods of time on 'Car seat advice uk' because every post is answered by a car seat expert, all of whom are giving up their own time to answer questions. If you want a group where you can get car seat advice from anybody, there are loads of other groups to choose from.

Also the group states that they will only give what they consider to be the safest advice so if your 3 year old is 18kg+ and you don't have isofix or top tether, the safest thing is a 25kg rear facing seat. Again there are other groups that will advise you on using a HBB with 15kg+ if that's what you want.

No need to bash the group and the people who run it just because it doesn't fit with what you're looking for. I still think that they offer the best car seat advice in the U.K. for anybody to access.

teaandbiscuits
I appreciate that they are volunteers and experts at that! I really had a lot of hopes pinned on an answer to the question I had asked though, having already said that I needed a forward facing seat and explained the reasons why!
So to be honest, it was irrelevant that they were experts as they didn't answer my question! It was a seat for another persons car. My own are rear facing to 25kgs!

teaandbiscuits
I certainly didn't want to put my child in a hbb at 3yrs /18kg, thats why I was asking if there was another option! I wasn't looking for a group to just provide answers I wanted to hear, I wanted expert advice, hence joining the group and waiting weeks to post!

So are there any forward facing seats in this group that have a 5 point harness? I haven't seen any but maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. For info my DS is 3.5 and weigh 14.3 kilos and will be staying in his MC Axis until I cant squish him in there any more.

Cute Yes there are a couple of forward facing 25kg seats but your car has to have isofix and top tether points. Search for the Joie Bold or the Cosy and Safe Excalibur.

Another The thing is they need somebody to invent a 25kg seat that doesn't need top tether and isofix - that would solve the problem for most people! But the FB group would still advise RF first and foremost.

There are a few ff to 25kg seat available. Joie Bold is one, cosy and safe have one, posssibly called the Excalibur. Can't remember others but I think there are a few more out there. Your car will need to have isofix or a top tether (or sometimes both).

Hi unable to comment on safety but both my DC have had these seats from about 41/2 to 10 years. They were for us the best option at the time. Youngest still uses his. They have been very user friendly and both found them comfortable.

Cute Forgot to say that there's a school of thought that once a child is old enough and mature enough they're actually safer in a high back booster than a forward facing harnessed. I think it's because of the force that's put on the neck in a forward facing seat, the seat belt allows the body to move to lessen the impact of the force but a harness won't allow for any movement. So you could be better to use your group 1 until it's outgrown and then move to a HBB if you don't want to go RF.

teaandbiscuits
That would have been ideal! I knew I didn't have isofix but was unsure about the top tether so I was hoping that the Excalibur would work out but it didn't. I would have chosen a rf seat had it been an option. But only one of my seats is suitable for rf (as per vehicle manufacturer) so I decided to put the newborn in that spot!