360 car seats recommendations

[imtheonlyupsieone]

Hi, we are looking to buy a new car seat for our 2yo and trying to decide what to get.

I think I want a 360 rotating one to save my back when lifting in and out of the car, and they also give the option of facing backwards for longer which is apparently safer.

The Cybex Sirona seems good, also the new maxi Cosi airfixx with airbags. However the latter seems to have the seatbelt across it when you turn it which looks annoying. The Britax romer also has good reviews but looks quite bulky.

Any experience of these?

Also do you think I will need a rotating one, or should I just get forward facing?

Make sure you get the latest model of the Cybex Sirona. I had the one before, the S, and it broke within a month of only using it approx three times. Apparently it was a common fault, the spin broke so that it wouldn’t lock into position. Customer service was shocking! They wouldn’t replace it, they insisted on fixing it telling me it would be 7 days maximum. Ten days later and they hadn’t even looked at it. Luckily I bought it from John Lewis and after talking to a manager she understood how much I had been inconvenienced and eventually refunded me (but only because I stressed that I needed a car seat as I was going away). I wasn’t confident having the seat repaired as it’s my child’s safety, I didn’t want a defective product but Cybex insisted on repairing and not replacing.
My advice, purchase through a reputable company in case anything goes wrong.

Thank you @PinkDaydreams, that is good advice.

Any further experiences of these car seats, or whether in general it is worth buying a rotating one??

Hi,

Sorry to quickly jump in, but we recently picked the five best car seats on the market in 2019 - including two that are 360.

You can see the video here

Hope it helps!

I’m onto car seat number four already and little one is only 18 months old! Had faulty problems with two (the first one broke whilst in hospital waiting to bring home newborn 😳). I’ve ended up buying a recaro which will last till he’s 12 and I’m so happy with it. It’s forward facing though which I think you wanted rear facing? The 360 car seats are good for ease of fastening though so I do see the appeal in those.

We recently bought the GB Vaya for one year old DS. Been using it almost daily for 6 weeks and no issues so far, he seems really happy in it.

The Cybex Sirona was on my shortlist and I hadn't heard of GB but apparently they're the sister company to Cybex and the models are slightly higher spec. The Vaya has slightly more premium fabric, and the buckles attach to the outer shell of the seat with magnets rather than threading them through those little slots.

Worth considering IMO if you're looking at the Sirona. I decided I'd rather spend the extra £30 for the convenience of the magnets than spend the next 3 years regretting buying the cheaper version! There are good deals to be found online if you shop around.

I wouldn't buy a spinning seat for a 2yo, they won't get that much use out of it for the price. Absolutely rear face, and if you get a bigger rear facing seat then they just climb in themselves so no lifting required.

Saying that, i use the Joie 360 and an old britax dualfix for my 2yo and both are good.

Rear facing isn't slightly safer than forward facing, the difference is huge so you absolutely should keep her rear facing until at least 4.

What weight centile is she following? You need to use her red book to track when she is predicted to be 18kg as all the spin seats have a harnessed weight limit of 18kg and therefore if you want it to last until she's ready for a high back booster, you need to make sure she won't be 18kg before she's 4.

Personally I wouldn't bother with a spin seat, I'd focus on safety. My DS is 2.5 and has been climbing up to his car seat for a few months now so you shouldn't have to lift her in for much longer. I'd recommend the 25kg seats as they're much longer lasting than the 18kg seats and they're much less bulky than the spin seats. The Axkid Minikid and Britax Two Way Elite are worth looking at.

Join 'Car Seat Advice uk' on Facebook for more information about car seats and also the difference in safety standards between RF and FF.

Have a look at A-Z of rear facing on facebook. I have never managed to find commenting turned on for the car seat advice uk one, but have found it useful to search.

Thanks everyone. Definitely considering the rear facing mode for longer now having look at all the safety aspects. I still think the rotating seats offer a bit of flexibility though rather than the ones that only face backwards. Will look into the GB models too 👍🏼