CAR SEAT HELP!!!

[helpamumout]

We currently have a 360 Cuggl spin but she absolutely HATES it. DD is 2.5 years old - talk

Am looking at the below seats:

1. www.online4baby.com/p/joie-bold-r-group-123-car-seat-ember-9-months-12-years

2. www.argos.co.uk/product/3289471

3. www.online4baby.com/p/puggle-linton-comfort-plus-luxe-group-123-car-seat-blush-pink-9-months-12-years

Has anyone used these and can give your option please

Tall*
Opinions*

Sorry half asleep!

@helpamumout I’m by no means an expert but I don’t believe that the “multi stage” seats are as rigorously tested as some others. Personally I would avoid the options you’ve shown. Statistically, the safest way for a child to travel is rear-facing for as long as possible. Our rules and regulations in the UK are the very basic level of safety unfortunately. Forward facing in a 5 point harness is not advised in most other countries.

I would look at extended rear facing seats which have passed the Swedish plus testing.

Speak to the in car safety centre. They have a couple of shops around the country but believe they give advice over the phone.
We have the Joie bold, purchased because it uses a harness to 25kg. Personally I wouldn’t put a 2.5 year old in a seat with a seatbelt.

If you're set on forward facing then I would go with either of the joies as I know the brand do more testing than most. I would completely avoid the Puggle. The carseats with the white/grey clip on the harness I've seen fail in crash tests. They often are mass produced and companies just put their own covers on.

At 2.5 I would look at something like the Axkid Minikid, Besafe Stretch, Tinyseats 2, Britax Max safe Pro. Plenty of good rearfacing options. I would look at taking him to an independent car seat shop and trying some out, or sometimes they can bring seats to you to try out.

Rear facing is recommended until at least age 4 (ish) obviously weight and height are the overriding factors but at 2.5 your dc's skeleton is not fully formed and needs more support than a high back booster. Rear facing is also 5 times safer than forward facing.

A really good Rear facing seat is the Axkid minikid. It can also give more legroom than some of the others. Those that are Swedish plus tested have been through more vigorous tests.

My 2.older dd's were the minikids until age 6. My 4 yo is still in it. They last forever

Two older dds are now in joie i-trillo

I'd go with either of the Joies, they have a good reputation. We've had a couple of their seats (neither of those) and been happy with them. If you can see them in person I would - one of ours had a harness that was much easier to use than the other!

Out of those three, Joie Bold, but worth looking at some others too - Joie aren't a top brand for forward facing - they are good for rear facing seats. The straps can be tricky as a PP said which is also not great for forward facing as you need to be confident that both the straps and the seat install are right.

The Joie Bold is useful if you need to harness longer than 105cm/18kg e.g. a child who is tall/heavy for their age or e.g. if they have special needs and need the harness for longer. But, the safety rating is not as good as forward facing seats with lower limits, so I would go for something else if you don't need that capacity.

Best budget FF pick for me right now would be Maxi Cosi Priori SPS - decent safety rating and it's only £99. Will last up to 18kg which is approx 4 years old. However, it is a bit dated.

There are a few 123 type seats with top tether and isofix in the £100-150 range - you could look at Bebeconfort Everfix, for example - but these are pretty much an unknown in terms of safety rating. Online4Baby now have Puggle Fix & Gro which seems to be the Enfasafe Event FX so gives you the 25kg harness for £99. Again, safety rating unknown, but it would be a better choice than the other Puggle seat.

If you can wait for sales, both the Britax Evolvafix and Maxi Cosi Titan i-size sometimes go down to about £160. These both need top tether, but they are currently the best rated FF seats except for Cybex Anoris (which is over £400).

If you can stretch your budget, Amazon currently have Silver Cross Balance i-size which does similarly well to the Maxi Cosi/Britax, for £187 in one of the colours. It converts into a high back booster seat so you don't need to buy another seat later.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CB167GVQ?m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Can you say what the problem is with your current seat? Maybe we can help you troubleshoot it. The Cuggl ones aren't the best made/easiest to use, and the instructions are extra useless, but if it's the one they have on the argos website now, at least it has a support leg which is a positive safety feature.