Moving to a bigger car seat

[Dove88]

Hi,
my daughter is nearing the weight restriction of her car seat so we’re looking for a new one. The thing is I’m so confused about Isofix bases.

At the moment she had a joie I-level (goes up to 13kg) and the isofix base that came with that. I’m now looking at the joie I-spin 360 (up to 19kg) but the base looks completely different. I thought all isofix bases were the same?

In not set on an I-spin so if anyone has any recommendations I’d appreciate any help!

Just want to add that I want to keep her rear facing and from what I can see most seats that go up to 36kg are forward facing from quite a low weight

Hi, I don't know about joie as we use maxi cosi. But, when we had our baby carrier car seat it didn't even cross my mind to think about the next seat up. When it came to it, maxi-cosi only had one other seat compatible with the isofix we had.
So, isofix's are not 'one size fits all'. You should check their website to see what is compatible with your particular iso! Wish I'd paid more attention to it all when buying the first seat!

I think you mean she's growing out of her newborn car seat which you can detach and carry leaving the isofix in the car? And you are trying to find another car seat to fit that isofix?
The next up car seats are one unit..the isofix and seat do not separate..
We have a Joie 360 spin for our grandson.. it's great

Have a look at the Facebook car seat safety advice groups (Car Seat Advice UK). They have some excellent options for extended rear facing.

I second this advice! Depending on what centile your little one is on, buying a seat that only goes to 18kg might not be a good investment as you might end up needing to buy another before they get to booster age. The ladies on the FB car seat groups are really knowledgeable and helpful.

How old is your daughter and what does she weigh?

If she's a higher centile, an 18kg car seat might not be a good investment and it may be better going for a 25kg seat now rather than buying an 18kg seat and her growing out of it.

Thanks for the responses!

@wherehastheyeargone I wish we’d paid more attention too, but it’s so daunting when you’re trying to get sorted for baby.

@Marylou62 I didn’t realise that they don’t detach after the newborn ones. My friends with kids always say stuff like ‘I’ve got a base in my car so just bring her seat” etc. didn’t cross my mind that they stay attached!

I will look at the Facebook group, thank you so much

Look at extended rear facing, axkid mini kid with tethers or axkid one is isofix but has a lower weight limit (23kg for the one and 25kg for the mini). Our nearly 5 year old is 91st centile for height and weight and is still comfortably in the one, I expect it'll be another year at least until he's out of it by weight only.

Hey :) we had the Joie I-Level for our sons. I believe you can attach the Joie Quest seat on to the same base for the next stage (it should say this on a sticker on the base). We didn't choose to do this however and instead chose the Joie iSize iSpin for them both. My 2.5 year old is still very comfortable rear facing in this. This comes with the base attached and is not detachable. We felt the spinning mechanism was much more beneficial at this stage than being able to remove it off the base because it really is much easier to get them in and out. Plus the removable seat is only really handy when you're taking it in the house / on to a pram and they become too heavy to do this anyway. We found Boots really good value both times as they do the extra points for baby club members plus a lot of offers / discounts.

Some do still separate.

I have the Cybex Cloud Z (newborn) and swapped it for the Cybex Sirona Z (next size up). I left the isofix base in the car and just swapped the seat units - the Sirona Z didn't come with an isofix base attached.

I was super confused when I bought a Joie 360 for my mums car and realised it was all one unit!!

OP, isofix relates to how the base attaches to the car - so all isofix bases attach the same way to car isofix points.

All the bases are not all compatible with all car seats though, unfortunately! Likely to be done by brand.

Oh..every car seat I've ever used/bought after the newborn one has been one unit! And I've been a nanny/childminder for 35 years + .. when my DD and I went shopping for my grandsons next seat they were all one unit..the whole shop!
You live and learn...

The Facebook groups are great, and @BertieBotts is MN's resident car seat expert and often very generous with time and advice.

Thanks for the tag :)

OP how old is your LO, are you sure they are nearing the 13kg weight limit? This is very unusual in the infant carrier seats as they are usually too tall and seem "too old" for the seat long before they have hit the weight limit. For reference, 13kg is the size of an average 2.5 year old.

It is possible if your LO is on higher centiles. In this case, you definitely do not want the next seat for your base, as the 18kg/19kg limit will be much too low. The i-Spin has the same problem (this is an all in one seat which doesn't have a separate base).

There are rear facing seats for the next stage going up to 25kg:

Axkid Minikid 2
Axkid Move
(Avionaut Sky, but I wouldn't recommend for a high centile baby)

or up to 36kg:

Axkid Minikid 4
Besafe Stretch
Britax Max Safe Pro

All of these rear face for all of that weight limit, unlike many of the "36kg" seats which convert to a booster part way through the lifespan.

They are on the pricier end unfortunately, but if you have a higher centile child then it is worth investing in one of these rather than buy the 18kg limit seat, and then need to get one of these later anyway.

The other option is to get an 18kg seat that can do rear facing for now - but many of the 18kg rear facing seats have poor leg room, which is not ideal for larger-proportioned children - and then change to a 25kg harness forward facing seat (like Joie Bold) when this is outgrown. For children on the very highest centiles they will outgrow an 18kg limit seat at around 2.5 to 3 years old.

Whatever age your child is I wouldn't suggest going straight to a forward facing seat out of the baby seat. Keep them rear facing :)

Isofix bases are brand and often model specific. You shouldn't put your car seat on your friend's base unless you have the same model of seat, as it might be incompatible and get stuck, or it might not fit in securely. There are a number of models now where the infant carrier has a base, and the same base promises to take a toddler seat as well, although the toddler seat won't have a carry handle, and is still designed to stay in the car. Maxi Cosi started this back when isofix was new as it was an inexpensive way to get the isofix fixing for the toddler portion, which used to be very expensive. These days it's more of a marketing hook where the company wants you to feel like you're committed to their brand/next stage model. It's almost always a false economy to get the seat for your baby seat's base. (There are some exceptions. But certainly not in the scenario where you have a high centile baby.)

There are still lots of seats for sale where it's all in one unit, and if you're going into a shop without saying "I have X base, what can I fit on it?" then the sales staff won't bother showing you the base-and-seat models as they work out horrifically expensive bought that way. Which may explain @Marylou62 's experience :)

@BertieBotts that’s really helpful thank you.

my daughter is 20 months and weighs 12.5kg, height is 82cm. I’m not sure what centile this is but according to the car seat manual the seat should last until approximately 15 months. The weight height restriction is 13kgs/85cm

I will look at the seats you have suggested, thank you

edited because I’m going mad but it should make sense now hopefully!

Yes those ages given on car seats are always just a guide.

OK it looks like she's following the 91st centile for weight and the 50th for height. 20 months is good going in an infant carrier. Many people want to switch around 12 months. There's no reason to stop using it if you're happy in it, it may also be that she's recently had a growth spurt and put on some weight and so she will then slow down a little and not put on that extra 500g for ages and ages - it's not uncommon for it to happen this way, especially if she hasn't been doing much walking/running yet. But since you're close to that limit and she's well able to sit up etc, it does make sense to look into the next stage now.

The ones I mentioned, if she stays on the same exact line she's on now, should last her until approx 6 years for the 25kg ones (which are a bit cheaper) vs 7.5 years for the 36kg ones (because she'll hit the height limit first).

For the seats which go up to 18/19kg and 105cm, (which include all of the spin seats, the second stage seat for your base, the harnessed/RF stage in the "all stages" type seats and the harnessed stage in the forward facing "123 type" seats) if she stays on this current line, she is likely to outgrow these at roughly 3.5 up to just before 4 years old - which most people these days would find a bit too young to move to a booster seat with seatbelt, although it would be perfectly reasonable to get one of the spin type seats for now, and move her to a 25kg harness forward facing seat at that age if you preferred to.

Going for one of the larger RF seats gives you the most "insurance" for the future and ensures that you can rear face as long as you want to; you wouldn't have to max out the 6/7 years, you could just relax in the knowledge that whether she's ready for a booster seat at nearly 4, 4.5, 5, or older, you don't have to worry about her growing out of the rear facing seat before you're ready to change.

Basically echo everything @BertieBotts has said, but I'll add that my 20 month old (taller but lighter than your DD) is in an Axkid MiniKid 2 and I'm very happy with the fit and position for her (with the toddler insert). She's also not far off being able to climb in by herself, so you won't necessarily have to lift your little one in for long, although I think it will take DD2 a bit longer to safely climb out.

We also have a MiniKid 2 for our four year old, and we've found them to be great seats (and yes, the four year old will go straight from her MiniKid to a high back booster in a year or two). One of my favourite features the way the headrest automatically adjusts as you tighten the straps so it's always the perfect height to best protect their head. If you're not too picky about colour, you do get some decent sales on Axkid seats – if there aren't any now, there may well be around Black Friday.

I really appreciate all the comments. Just another question though, if I got one that goes up to 36kg, would the car seat not expire before she out grows it?

Im now also really stressing that she’s 91st centile when she was always 25th as a baby, but that’s another stress for another time! 🤣

OK if she's been consistently on the 25th and suddenly jumped to the 91st, it's almost certainly a growth spurt or possibly even a mistaken weight. (You could try on another set of scales). Shoes and winter clothes add a fair bit of weight too and are not usually worn for the official measurements.

EU car seats don't have expiry dates but most manufacturers recommend a max use period of approx 7-10 years, and this is honestly conservative. Expert panels recommend "around ten years" as a rule of thumb. So if she is using it from age 1.5 to age 7.5 that's only 6 years and would be well within the recommendation and be fine.

For the 1-12 years ("123") or 0-12 years ("all stages") type seats the manufacturers generally say that if you use it for one child all the way through then it's fine to exceed the 10 years, but in reality, it's one reason why the all stages type seats are a bit of a compromise all around, since they are no less prone to wear and tear than other types of seat, and secondly they tend to make short boosters and really bulky annoying boosters, so parents often ditch them before age 12 for a more basic or backless booster anyway.

I would not recommend to buy a seat with a booster mode at 20 months anyway. You want a solid shell, not the transforming type that booster seats have.

In general I'd say you are best off getting either a rear facing 25kg/36kg seat (The Britax one has just gone on sale for £280, which while pricey, is a good price for what it is.) or a spin seat up to 18/19kg (like the Joie i-Spin) or the seat that goes on your base, which is the Joie i-Quest if you have the standard base that doesn't spin, or the i-Harbour if you have got the new spinning Encore base.

In terms of spin seats Britax Dualfix Plus is good as it has a slightly higher weight limit of 20kg rather than the usual 18kg.

Other than that, no current deals that I can see. There might be some for Black Friday (end of Nov).

https://incarsafetycentre.co.uk/minikid have the Minikid on sale and https://www.babybirds.co.uk/product/axkid-move-car-seat/ have the cheaper Axkid Move on sale. I've no idea if there might be better deals for Black Friday, though. Some of the websites have an extra 5% or 10% off if you create an account or sign up for the newsletter, so you might be able to save a bit more that way, whatever seat you go for.

Aah see I thought I saw news of an Axkid sale but then couldn't find any info on it when I looked earlier!

Typically Axkid ask all retailers to do the same discounts at the same time in order not to favour bigger chains and let small independents get some business too. So if you look on their website and find your nearest stockist, in theory they should all have the same prices.

That's about as cheap as they go, if they are that cheap now they won't be on offer for Black Friday.