Car seat help

[strawberrysummer19]

Baby is 9m and 9k and outgrown her car seat which came with the pram

Are the 360 worth it or not? As they so much more money - honest opinions on the 360?

Only reason I ask we are going on holiday in the summer where our minibus may not have isofox so the car seat needs to be adaptable so we can use it with the seatbelt

Or we just get what car seat we want now then get the grandparents a spare seat ( which we need to do at some point anyway by July when I return to work ) that can be used as non isofix?

But we do need to get one for us now asap

Thanks - so much choice 😮

I love my Joie 360. It really is much easier to get a toddler in and out of, especially if you want them rear facing. It was expensive but my eldest used it for 2 years and then I moved my youngest into it and I imagine we will use it until she reaches the upper limit. So over time the cost was definitely worth it.
We bought cheaper seats for the grandparents cars and also use these for holidays as they are lighter, easier to move and don't need isofix.

I also have a joie 360. Can't fault it, definitely makes it easier to get a toddler in and out the car. I think there are some cheaper 360 models though if you look around

We have a cybex Sirona I-size 360 and a joie
360. Definitely worth the money in my opinion as they are so much easier to get DC in and out of the car. Prefer them over any other car seat we've tried.

What are baby's centiles for height and weight?

Spin seats are Isofix only and generally only go up to 18kg, 20kg with the new Britax spin seat. For a higher centile child they will outgrow this around 3, which is generally too young to sit sensibly with a high back booster. They are also bulky and have very high sides which make it difficult for a child to climb in themselves when they get a bit older, so you have to keep lifting them.

For a longer-lasting seat, you could get a 25kg ERF seat for the same price or cheaper, which will last far longer.

The alternative if your child is lower centiles and you want a seat for travel is to get something like a Joie Steadi, which is fitted with seatbelt and is fairly universal. It rearfaces to 18kg.

Also it's unlikely your child has outgrown their infant seat so early. It's most likely a fit issue. It's fine for their legs/feet to extend from the bottom of the seat.

We have 2x cybex sirona's too, also had one for older DD....Great seats and wouldn't go back now from the spin function, it's so handy!!

As other posters have said 360’s are good for a lower centile child. If your baby is 9kg already it’s not necessarily something that would work long term and you may want to look at the 25kg rear facing seats. Of course this is all dependent on how long you would like to rear face for.

I've just checked because I definitely think she has outgrown it but my car seat says up to 13k! Don't know where I got 9 from ?! But anyway thank you that makes sense

I can take the padding out but then I have a very sparse car seat - the pram unit was cheap in itself and she looks so squashed so we are definitely replacing one

Happy it may only last 2 years - that's a long time to have something a bit easier and saves on the back ! X

Would like to rear face as long as possible ideally

She's on 75th centile and has been steady on that centile since birth - little chunk though 🤣

Another vote for the Joie 360. Went to that from the compatible travel system and it changed my life

Thanks all - what's difference between the maxi cosy 360 ? Anyone have reviews on that?

If you’re on Facebook I recommend the group Car Seat Safety UK. There’s loads of really useful advice on there from ladies who are trained experts in car seat safety. It helped me lots when looking for our daughters new seat!

You say you can take the padding out? That’s what you’re meant to do.

9 months is very small to grow out of their seat.

You want your car seat to be snug, not roomy. It's not uncomfortable for them, think how little babies like to be cocooned e.g. swaddled etc. You should keep the padding in until they don't fit with it in any more and then remove it. Think about the car seat as being a helmet for your child's whole body.

When you say the 360 ones are more expensive, can you give an example of two different models you're looking at? There are car seats at a whole range of prices and sometimes it's worth paying more and sometimes it isn't. I wouldn't personally recommend car seats in this stage that are any less than £100-150 minimum. You can go "too cheap" IYSWIM. However infant carrier types like the one you have with your pram system tend to get good safety ratings even if they are from cheaper brands or very basic. The only thing I'd be cautious about with pram car seats that I've seen recently is that some of them have very low sides so the baby's head would have no protection if the car was hit from the side. For example, the orange seat in the picture I've added has good, deep side protection but the black seat has very shallow side protection which is not as good.

If you're hiring a minibus that is like a people carrier type car, it will probably have isofix as all modern cars have isofix. Trouble if you're flying is that isofix seats are heavy to lug around. And if you're hiring an actual bus then it might be a different situation (I'm not sure what the isofix requirement is there). You could consider a different seat for travel, people often find the Joie and Graco seats to be good options. Graco has just released Extend 129 which is a good budget option as it meets the newer safety standard but it's extended rear facing (up to 105cm). The thing about the cheaper purely seatbelt fitted rear facing seats is that the seatbelt is in the way of getting the child in and out, which is OK for an occasional use seat but gets annoying for your everyday seat.

The Maxi Cosi Mica 360 seat is nice but it doesn't offer that much more than the Joie 360 Spin or Graco Turn2Me. The Maxi Cosi has more premium feel fabrics and it has an anti-rebound bar. If you want to save money you could look at the Joie/Graco spin seats which are cheaper without compromising on safety. The main downside of the Joie/Graco is that there isn't very much leg room for older rear facing children and people can find the harness and inserts a bit tricky. The Maxi Cosi has an easier harness, you won't need the insert and there is slightly more leg room (but still not a huge amount).

As others have said you may want to look at a fixed 25kg+ rear facing seat as well, these last longer and they have much better leg room for children as they grow, so you have more comfort for longer rear facing if that's something that is important for you.