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?

Thanks teandbiscuitsforme. My son is quite slight so I can't see him being out of the Axiss until he's at least 4.

Britax 123 evolva is harnessed up to 18kg and then belted up to 12 years?

Q He can stay in his existing MC Axiss until he's 18 kilos. I think when the time comes I'll go for a HBB which will last him until he's 11ish rather than paying for a seat up to 25kg.

Remember as well the axiss is good until eyes are in line with the tip of the seat, not like head at top in infant seat. I moved my almost 4yo too early not knowing this. I too have heard hbb safer than 5pt harness, once over height and weight for state 1 (think they should be over both, rather than one?)

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.

Not true! There are 25kg seats that are seatbelt fitted that don’t require a top tether. The Britax 2 way elite & Britax Max Way both harness up to 25kg, fasten with seatbelt and tether to the seat infront so no isofix or top tether required. (There may be others too but I know these two definitely don’t need isofix or top tether).

There is so much misinformation about. A 3 year olds pelvis just isn’t developed properly to be safe in a high back booster no matter how tall they are or how much they weigh.

The longer you can RF and the later you use a HBB the better. If you can invest in a 25kg RF seat and then buy a relatively cheap HBB it doesn’t work out that more expensive than buying an 18kg RF that converts to a HBB. Particularly if you work out the cost per month you’ll have the seat it’s not much at all (although I do appreciate not everyone has the money for the initial outlay).

I've always found independent shops better at giving advice and fitting rather than mothercare etc. Would be with a visit op.

We've recently had to switch from the harness to seatbelt for my just turned 3 year old, so whilst it's not ideal there isn't always another option. He has suprised me how well he's sat tbf which was a major concern for me.

@teaandbiscuitsforme in relation to harness or seatbelt being safer this is quite interesting
carseatblog.com/37513/mythbusters-5-point-harnesses-are-safer-than-boosters-for-older-kids/

For older children, the evidence isn’t actually conclusive either way. The only thing with the harness is it rules out any room for messing about in the seat. I’ve had DC friends in the car who will lean forward in the seat to pick something up, reach round and generally not sit safely. With the seatbelt you rely on the DC to sit correctly AT ALL TIMES.

I can't advise too much as I've not seen the first one before but we've had a couple of the Maxi Cosi Rodi air protects and I'm happy with them. They don't really recline much though. If you wanted it slightly reclined you have to recline it before the child gets in. The covers are machine washable (but I have to watch the YouTube video every time to successfully get it back on!)

@Itsonitsway it’s worth bearing in mind, the pelvis doesn’t develop properly until around age 4/4.5 so no matter how good they are sat in the seat, in the event of a crash the seatbelt may not be able to do its job.

If you know already and are happy with your decision, just ignore me, I just thought it was worth mentioning incase you didn’t realise There is so much poor information given that it can be so hard to know what’s best.

Thanks @kardashianlove, I am aware of that but due to the weight limits of the harnessed seats we didn't have any choice.

I think it would be just as dangerous to use a harness that he's over the weight for, so it was 2 less than perfect options really. I did lose some sleep over it though!

Kardashianlove
The newer twe only ff to 18kg with harness but I-'ll check out the max-way. Thanks!

@Itsonitsway Oh yes, using a seat over the weight limit is not safe. Have you considered a 25kg harnessed seat? I’m sure you have already! It’s a nightmare isn’t it!

kardashianlove
Sorry, I wasn't clear in my previous post, the vehicle wasn't suitable for a rf seat so it was a harnessed to 25kg ff seat I was looking for that required a top tether or isofix!

Apologies to the OP for hijacking the post

@Anotherdayanotherdollar there is a max way plus as well which may be worth considering. The In Car Safety Centre are fantastic too if you are near a branch or can call them for advice they are really helpful. They do special needs car seats too which are harnessed to a high weight (although I’m not sure about the specifics).

We did look at changing our everystage for a 25kg harnessed seat but ds will be hitting 25kg before he's even 3.5 so we wouldn't have had the use out of it.

@Anotherdayanotherdollar oh sorry, I missed the FF bit🙈 apologies. I’m one of those annoying ‘have you considered RF’ when you can’t

@Itsonitsway oh I don’t blame you not buying one if he’s almost 25kg already!

There's definitely a gap for harnessed seats to a higher weight. We did look at a couple of special needs seats but they wouldn't have worked with our cars.

So stressful as I've always erf with his siblings.

Another Just interested - which car wasn't suitable for a 25kg ERF?

teaandbiscuits
It's a 3 seater van with a bench seat. Centre seat can't take a rf car seat.

I have both :)

I shan't enter in on 3 being a bit young, I think others have covered that

Cybex is better as it's narrower so takes up less space. However it doesn't have the same guidance bit for the seatbelt so it's slowly wearing the seatbelt (which has got bobbled/minor damage) while this hasn't happened on the Maxicosi.

The cybex WAS slightly harder to get in and out with the isofix (they are quite different to fit), but I've somehow broken a plastic button on the Maxi so the tides turned and it's now trickier to get that in and out. No idea if it was weak or if I just caught it awkwardly at some point.

On balance I wish I had 2 cybex for the extra space I'd get in between them, but both are good.

I like the look of the Cybex seats bit according to their website it would only sit in the centre rear seat of my 2009 Scenic. Surely that can't be right? That seat is the narrowest of the three!

My two both went into high back boosters at about 3 1/2 with great relief as only on moving them did I appreciate just how completely they'd outgrown the previous seat. This was a few years ago now, but I don't think I'd have fitted them in a harnessed seat at that stage - both 21kg + and height/width in proportion to that weight. (now they are both teens and we will have to replace our car soon I'll be thinking about rear seat headroom rather than carseat fitting :) )