Car seat recommendations?

[SqidgeBum]

Hi.

We are looking to buy the next stage of carseat for our LG, moving on from the baby car seat. I have been thinking of the simple Joie every stage or something similar that goes up to 12 years, but I dont know the downsides to this type verses the ones that go up to 4 years. Surely the one going up to 12 is much better value? Or is there something I am missing? Anyone have any advice or recommendations?

What height is your child predicted to be by 4? Extended rear facing is recommend until 4 but 50% of children will have out grown the Joie every stage by then.

We got the joie every stage, but my 98th percentile DS was 18kg before he turned 3yo so he could no longer use the harness and it's not safe to use it with the adult seatbelt before the age of 4yo (because the pelvis and ribcage aren't strong enough to withstand the forces from an adult seatbelt in a crash without injury), so we've had to buy an axkid minikid so he can rear face harnessed until he's 25kg, then go back in the every stage forward facing.
There's a really useful Facebook group called Car Seat Advice UK, they have a ton of info including crash test performance for various seats -definitely worth joining and reading up before you make a decision.
www.facebook.com/groups/CSAUK/

My DD was 5 before she was 18kg. For us the Joie Stages has been great.
Her sister grew out of her Britax Eclipse heightwise before she was 15kg. Multistage seats in my experience are good for tall skinny kids as the back shell is taller.

It partly depends if you are likely to have another child, and partly your car, the best seat is one that properly fits! My parents Renault was a particular problem, the high backed booster seats didn't fit at all. Go to a retailer who can let you try it in your car

The two way pearl has been great for us. It's ERF but can be forward facing too.

Thanks all! My LG is on the small side for her age, and we do plan on having another kid in the 18 months or so. Also, we plan on changing the car around the time the second baby comes so I am worried about the car seat fitting my car now (slanted seats in a skoda) and not fitting in two years time. We can't really afford to keep buying expensive car seats every few years. Thanks for the advice about the Facebook group! It's just boggling trying to figure it all out! It's just so complicated trying to predict 4 years down the line.