universal belted toddler car seat

[Overthinker89]

Hi all, can anyone recommend a genuinely universal belted rear facing car seat for a toddler? Most car seats say they are "universal" and belted with seat belts but then when you check it turns out they only fit certain car types. Apparently according to cosatto customer services "universal"doesn't necessarily mean - fits in all cars. I am a non driver so needs to be secured with a seatbelt. Ideally up to 7 or 12 years (son is currently 17 months but already 12kg) The only one I can find that states it "fits in any car" is the maxi-cosi nomad and that's front facing. I'd prefer a rear-facing! Thanks lovelies.

I think that it will be easier to search for car seats that fit your car. I’m past this stage so can’t recommend a car seat but someone online will probably know some car seats that fit your car well.

Do you mean seatbelt alone? I think all the extended rear facing ones have tethers as well. When we didn't have a car we went for the Axkid One, which is an isofix one. I can get it in and out of cars in less than a minute, but it's too heavy and cumbersome to, say, take on a train and get picked up by car at the other end.

Try getting this thread moved to the Car Seats topic as there are some really good posters in there. We dont have a car but we bought a Joie Stages for using in taxis and hire cars. It goes up to 18kg rearfacing and then a bit older when turned forward facing. But we've very rarely used it so it might not be truly universal for you as i cant say that we've tested it on lots of different models.

Joie tilt is rear facing with seatbelt only (no tethers). But it doesn't last that long. We had it as a holiday car seat last year and my 21 month old was nearly too tall for it then. He is tall though.

We have an Axkid mini kid which uses a seat belt and tethers around the front seat rails. I don't know if it's universal but it fits all the cars I've put it in so far. It's quite a faff with the tethers though.

What do you mean by "I'm a non driver so needs to be secured with a seat belt?".

I don't get why who is driving would affect how you fix the car seat?

Joie Stages R129 longest lasting belted rear facing car seat (22kg rear facing limit) I fit our stages in loads of different cars, taxis, minibuses etc.

Universal is an old term which is still part of the legislation and basically means that it fits with a seatbelt as opposed to having to be bolted into the car.

The Maxi Cosi Nomad is actually less compatible than a lot of other seats - it's just marketing that they say that.

MOST seatbelt fitted car seats fit into the vast majority of cars. Could you say a bit more about what problems you've had so far?

Do you know your son's height? 12kg at 17 months is on the bigger side, so you will need to be a bit more careful choosing seats compared to average. For example, "Up to age 4" will likely fit him until about 3.5 years and "up to age 7" will likely fit him until about 6. If he is tall for his age, these ages might be younger. It's close to a border so you might be a good contender for some of the "wiggle room" seats where the weight OR height allowance is very slightly bigger than the usual while the other is standard.

Useful to know: You're looking at a rear/forward facing harnessed stage currently. Most seats "Up to age 12" are actually an "up to age 4" harnessed stage, with a booster mode added on, and some "Up to age 7" are as well (just with a shorter-lasting booster). Booster seats are the most compact and much easier to move around than the harnessed stage, so I would forget about buying a seat with booster mode built in - this won't save you hassle in the long run. In reality, as a non driver, you will want to ditch this heavy, awkward, bulky stage ASAP and swap to a lightweight, possibly folding high backed booster. You don't want a booster (later) with all the annoying bulk and weight of the harnessed stage.

Do you have a budget in mind?

Do you often travel in cars without isofix? These days the vast majority of cars on the road in the UK do have isofix, in 2006 about 75% of new cars had it, and it's been required in all new vehicles since 2013. So unless someone you regularly travel with has a very old car, or you often travel to countries where it's common to drive older vehicles, or in black cabs (which I think don't have isofix?) then you might be fine with an isofix seat, which may help as these can be a bit more universal.

What is your normal scenario for car use - do you tend to get lifts with the same person, or are there a small number of cars you regularly travel in, or is it much more varied? Do you commonly travel with people who might already have a car seat, or do you usually need to provide your own?

When you do get a lift, do you get picked up from home, so you can take your time to install the seat and it doesn't matter if it's heavy or bulky, or do you need to transport the seat to the car, or carry it around with you when you reach your destination?

It is a tricky stage for car seats and lifts. So working out what your actual needs are helps a lot.

The Joie Stages and Axkid One mentioned above have 22kg and 23kg weight limits. The OP has said her child is 12kg at 7 months which is similar to my two - mine would have been out of those seats around age 4. Certainly not the 7 the Axkid claims. At 91st and 75th centiles they ended up out of the rear facing seats sooner than I'd have preferred any way. Try to find a 25kg limit one to give you that extra time.

We had a diono radian for our second child (after the first grew out of his Joie worryingly early). Not so popular in the UK as European standard ones are. It folded up quite well to store out of the car, but was bloody heavy. Not one to move too often.