Car seat questions

[Worrywart987]

Anyone know what the graco version of the steadi is?

looking for 2 hols car seats for a small 4 year old (14kg) and an average 2 year old. Must be rear facing and belt fit for our taxi transfer. Would like it to last at least a year to get 2 holidays out of it

Graco doesn't have a version of the Steadi, but Graco Extend LX R129 is probably what you are looking for - it looks fairly similar to the Joie Steadi R129.

If your 4yo isn't close to 105cm you'll get a while out of it :)

i thought they were the same company? I know the enhance is the same as stages and the turn to me is the same as the spin 360.

any suggestions for holiday seats? Xx

We have the graco extend as holiday car seat. My tall 3 year old still fits in it

https://www.halfords.com/baby-and-child/car-seats/baby-car-seats/graco-extend-group-0plus%2F1-car-seat--black%2Fgrey-457478.html

although saying that, it only rear faces on tilt mode, which might be too reclined for your 4 year old.

At 4 years I would forward face for travel.

Yes, they are the same parent company, but there's not a direct clone of every Joie seat in Graco branding.

Joie Tilt = Graco Extend (R44 version)
Joie Stages = Graco Enhance
Joie Spin 360 = Graco Turn2Me
Joie i-Trillo LX = Graco Eversure i-size (these are high backed boosters, so no use to you)

Those are the only direct clones that I'm aware of. Graco have a couple of newer seats based on Joie designs though, these are:

Graco Turn2Me i-size - it looks to be an R129 version of the Joie 360 Spin GT, which was never released in the UK but was used in Europe (I have one, bought in Germany)

Graco Ascent, a really fantastic low cost isofix plus tested seat for the Nordic market, similar to the old i-Venture, again not sold in UK (annoyingly, because it's really good for the price!)

Graco Extend LX R129 - an upgraded version of Tilt/Extend for the newer regulation, looks extremely similar to Joie Steadi R129 with a slightly different shaped shell. It has the headrest like Joie Steadi, so you won't have the height issue that you get with the Tilt and Extend R44.

Graco Slimfit R129 - not sure what this is yet, looks a bit like the Every Stage R129? I haven't looked at it very closely.

The problem with the Tilt and original (R44) Extend is that they don't have the inbuilt headrest, which means once the child's head is over the edge of the shell, the protection for them in RF mode is quite minimal to the point that some people say you should not use them once the child's head is over the edge.

With most RF seats for older children, it's allowed to keep using them until the child's eye level is at the edge of the seat, rather than the top of the head. This can be a good 5-7cm difference. Because these seats are more reclined than other ERF seats, it would make sense to be cautious about head protection. In an accident, the child would "ramp up" the backrest before being caught by the harness (and the seat caught by the seatbelt).

With the Steadi, Stages, Enhance and the new R129 Extend this is not such an issue because they have a solid inbuilt headrest which extends up and out of the seat to contain the head.

You could FF for travel of course, but OP is looking at options to RF, and since they exist, why not?

Gah you’re the best! You seem knowledgeable would you put your child in a steadi or the graco extend lx 129?

I was ruling out the tilt due to the short shell.

my eldest is nearly 4 so not quite there but petite on 9th centile so we’ve got a lot of space technically speaking to get to 18kg so might as well travel the safest way. I’d be terrified to ff, she’s never gone ff before so I wouldn’t want her to get used to it when she’d be going back to an axkid 25kg seat

Do you know how tall your 4yo is?

I think out of the two if all else was equal, I'd prefer the Extend R129 because it's tested to the R129 safety standard which means that it also has side impact protection testing. It also just looks like a more robust seat. It's slightly cheaper as well so seems like a no brainer? The only thing would be if your 4yo is close to 105cm that might be a reason to stick with Joie Steadi which is R44, so no height limit.

So she’s like 3 and 9 months now and about 97cm, we’re going on hols again next year and if she tracks the same centile she’d be 102cm. I’d read somewhere that the steadi has a short shell and some kids have outgrown around the height she is now, which is why I was thinking stages originally but it’s a big big seat and quite heavy so was hoping something lighter might work x

She’s nearly 4 not quite, don’t think I’d feel comfy ff her until she can go in a hbb and is past 18kg x

The Steadi is OK and the shell isn't particularly short, you might be thinking of the Tilt or the Extend?

The older extend, that is, not the new R129 one.

The height limit is 105cm, so probably will be fine for this year and next.

Fair enough.
Like I said, we have the old extend/ tilt for travel. Ds is 3.2 years and about 105cm and 13kg but fits fine in it still. But we have had 2 years already as back up travel seat, it would be ideal for your 2 year old, but I’m not sure I would buy it for 4 year old if I wanted 12-18 months out of it still.

However we travelled recently and couldn’t take seat due to combo of car hire and train/ tube so I couldn’t carry, so I hired car seat forward facing ( harnessed 9-18kg type) and I felt he was safe. Back home he’s back rear facing in maxi cosi mica.

@BertieBotts hello just jumping on to ask a few questions as your replies seem really helpful and knowledgeable...

Would you recommend the Graco Eversure (non isofix) or the Graco Affix r129? Very similar price when shopping around/using discounts.

I can see the eversure had a great ADAC score but then saw this test changed in 2025. But the itrillo had a great score in 2025 and I believe that's a clone of Affix so in theory the Affix would get a great ADAC score with the 2025 onwards test? Am I correct there?

Is the Affix the same as Eversure but with the addition of isofix?

It seems when the Eversure had isofix it retailed for around £100 but the Affix r129 is onlu around £70. So is the Eversure better even though it's on the old ADAC testing?
Hope that all makes sense and thank you in advance!

Hi @YellowPink2026

Affix is not the same model as i-Trillo. I don't think Affix has a Joie equivalent or an ADAC test result, so I am not sure how it performs. I have a feeling that the Graco Assure and Affix were a pair of Graco US models which were brought over to the R44 standard, with Assure being non-isofix and Affix being isofix versions of the same model, and this being a premium model in terms of comfort, rather than having extra safety features. However, I'm only about 80% sure of that. It's more of an educated guess.

Eversure and i-Trillo are technically identical models, although I lose track of which versions have isofix or the softlatch connectors. It was tested under ADAC in 2022 which is just one step behind the current test standard, so it's still a comparable result, and was one of the best performing high back boosters at the time. It's £40 with free delivery on the Graco website.

We have the i-Trillo FX or LX (I forget, but rigid isofix), and one issue I have with it is that we mainly use car sharing, and it is too wide in a lot of cars for the seatbelt to fasten comfortably. We often have to undo the isofix or sometimes use the buckle from the middle seatbelt instead. So I would say that the best thing to do is to check the seat actually fits well in your car before purchasing.

The Joie i-Trillo is £50 currently at Argos. I also really like the i-Traver which is £100. The extendable leg rest is a really good feature. If we were not moving to car sharing, I would have got the i-Traver rather than the Trillo because I think it's more comfortable. However my DS is very keen on the cup holders in the Trillo!

I would be interested to see if any of the Graco seats which reuse the old model names (Logico L R129 / Junior Maxi R129) are included in the next ADAC tests which are due at the end of this month. The shape of the booster part is similar to the R44 versions of these seats, which never did very well on ADAC and were very dated in design, but the actual booster part of them was always good for lap belt position. The shape of the headrest and high back is much more like the newer Joie seats, and they don't come apart into backless boosters, so it's possible they might perform better than the older models.

Oh and I forgot to add, but Assure also has the same thing - same base part as the old R44 model but a more modern looking backrest and headrest part. The old Assure looks very similar to the Logico L/Junior Maxi but with more padding.

@BertieBotts ah thank you for your reply and all the info. I have a small car so I'm definitely gonna check about the sizing you mentioned! I didn't even think about that.

One of the car seat groups on Facebook said the Joie itrillo FX and the Graco Affix 129 are the same seat but with more plush fabric on the Joie. So I was just going off that but wasn't sure it was actually correct.

The Graco Eversure doesn't seem to be available anywhere else so I'm wondering if it's discontinued and makes me a bit wary. But like you say it had such a good ADAC score. I wondered if the newer ADAC test is so different that it would do badly now.

Also do you by any chance know whether those add on side impact protection things make a massive difference? The Eversure and iTrillo have them but the Affix doesn't (but it still says side protection). This is what made me doubt the FB group saying the itrillo FX and affix are the same seat.

Thank you

The Eversure i-size is on the Graco website with free delivery.

My idea about the Eversure/i-Trillo being the same seat is based on them having the same stats here and having almost identical shapes:

https://www.oeamtc.at/tests/kindersitztest/kindersitztest-2022-fruehjahr/graco-eversure-i-size-51135908

https://www.oeamtc.at/tests/kindersitztest/kindersitztest-2021-herbst/joie-i-trillo-lx-47456487

I've just confirmed it by checking the approval numbers. Both R129 Joie i-Trillo LX and Graco Eversure i-size have the same ECE approval number - E11 030542. Some of the other Trillo seats, mainly the R44 versions, have different numbers to this.

When a seat has the same approval number it means it's technically the same model (same seat shell) with slightly different covers.

The side wing things fill up space between the seat and the door, which helps reduce movement in a crash in a similar way to how being braced in an aeroplane seat is better for you than being thrown into the seat in front. If your car is small, they might not fit in anyway. They are worth having if it does fit in, but they aren't crucial or anything. These ones are very annoying to get on in a way they don't fall off again because the clip is stiff, but once they are on properly, they do stay on (so it's fine for your own car.)

Saying side protection on a product listing is just a marketing phrase, it doesn't mean anything specific. Any seat approved under R129 does have to pass a side impact test, so it might literally just mean that.

I don't know what the approval number is of the Assure BTW so it is possible it's a third variant of the same seat.

@BertieBotts the LX has isofix connectors tbough but the Eversure doesn't ... maybe the same shell with isofix added to the LX? £40 seems like a really good deal then for a highly rated seat doesn't it. When I said it might be discontinued I was thinking because it doesn't seem to be available anywhere other than Graco directly so was wondering if they are stopping it and seeling off what they have left at a cheap price.

How did you find the approval numbers? That is so clever.

I'm leaning towards the Eversure. The Affix R129 does look good for the extra £10 and has isofix/looks more padded. But it feels like a gamble because it's not been ADAC tested. I was thinking it's the same as the iTrillo FX and therefore highly recommended by ADAC ... but as its not the same seat afterall it could well be tested and score badly. Would you suggest the eversure out of the 2?

@BertieBotts the LX has isofix connectors tbough but the Eversure doesn't ... maybe the same shell with isofix added to the LX? £40 seems like a really good deal then for a highly rated seat doesn't it. When I said it might be discontinued I was thinking because it doesn't seem to be available anywhere other than Graco directly so was wondering if they are stopping it and seeling off what they have left at a cheap price.

How did you find the approval numbers? That is so clever.

I'm leaning towards the Eversure. The Affix R129 does look good for the extra £10 and has isofix/looks more padded. But it feels like a gamble because it's not been ADAC tested. I was thinking it's the same as the iTrillo FX and therefore highly recommended by ADAC ... but as its not the same seat afterall it could well be tested and score badly. Would you suggest the eversure out of the 2?

I actually found them by looking through second hand listings as the safety label is a photo people often take, and those are popular brands of car seat so they are listed fairly frequently. It takes a while because there are a huge amount of mistakes in listings esp with the product names, but the i-Trillo LX listing was almost new and had a picture of the manual as well, and none of the other Graco models have the side blocks. I didn't find the R129 Affix though, only R44 versions.

I could have also double checked the one I have upstairs but I'll be honest I didn't! And I'm not sure it's the exact same model either, I think we have the FX.

Since the isofix/catch things aren't crucial to the functioning of the seat, I wonder if it's that they aren't used in the standardised testing or the seat can be tested and then sold with/without that feature. (I don't know for sure). Although TBH now I've gone back through looking to see whether I can find an Affix after all (no luck) and I do think some earlier versions of the Eversure i-size did have the same isocatch connectors, but the 2023+ version doesn't seem to. Graco are still referring to it as the same model in terms of claiming the ADAC rating associated with it, and even their demo video has the adjuster strap on it but they do not show this feature.

I think personally I would go for Eversure, but I don't think it's risky to get Affix if you like the look of it. Graco are a good brand. Some of their older booster models are not great but the R129 ones don't seem to have that issue.

There is much less difference between different high back booster models than there are between other kinds of seat. If you want a cheaper high back booster, most likely the biggest risk is that the seat won't fit well into your car or the seatbelt might catch and get stuck because the cheaper ones are not designed in such a way to avoid this in every single car whereas the more expensive brands sometimes do have this more in mind when designing functionality. So arguably, the best thing to do is drive to your nearest Halfords and try seats in your car. They have Graco, Joie, Cozy n Safe and their own brands in the cheaper options. I'd be wary of anything R44 (unless it's Joie) but the most important thing about a high back booster is that it gives a good belt position for your child and that it fits well in the car meaning the seatbelt moves smoothly through it without getting stuck. Don't get too stuck in safety ratings because it makes less difference at this stage unless they are rated truly terrible.

@BertieBotts oh that's good detective skills haha. Yes I found the same - it seemed to have isofix in the past and then they took it off but Luke you say must affect safety for them to still be using the ADAC score as a selling point, it must be the same seat other than the isofix aspect.

I did wonder if they've just renamed the Eversure with isofix to Affix and then made a version with no isofix. Because that FB car seat safety group had a poster showing Affix and Trillo FX as 'sister seats' and said they're identical. And showed Eversure and ITrillo as sister seats. So seems they've got it at least partly right based on the approval numbers you found. So confusing isn't it!

@BertieBotts this listing of the Affix r129 shows the orange label. https://ebay.us/m/EvgcrM
030604