Best 36kg Erf car seat for 3.3 year old

[Rowen32]

I'm totally out of my depth here and have no clue what to get. I can see Britax, BeSafe and Axkid options.. all I know is we want to get 36kg so we have the option of extended rear facing for as long as possible. Would be grateful for any advice. Thank you 😊

36 kg is around 11/12 years old!

I would go into a car seat shop and see what your child feels and looks most comfortable in. The instore seat that suited my 2 year old was different than the one I had preferred online.

Also, good luck but I don’t think your child will tolerate rear facing at such an age

35kg for a 50th centile girl is 11 years old - good luck trying to fold a 4'9" child into a rear facing seat to take to secondary school....

36kg is to take them to 6/7 years according to the manufacturers, it's the newest in the erf range as previously 25kg was the max. Obviously it depends on child's height and weight, you predict it via percentiles..
There's no price difference so it makes sense to cover all bases
I have friends who have kids of that age sitting rear facing with no issues so I'm not worried about that, they know it's for their own safety.

Unfortunately, there's no shops close to me that sell them!

To clarify it's more if your child is in higher percentiles at age 6 and has grown out of 25kg seat rather than seating a child who's 36kg in it

@Rowen32

I got the Axkid mini kid for son who's now nearly 3. Forget now whether it's the 2 or 3 model. But it should do him up to age 6 or 7. I'm not determined to keep him rear facing until that age. 5 would be nice if we can manage it.

Grandparents went for a Britax seat and I always think it looks comfier and wish we'd got it. Son doesn't complain or say anything one way or the other though.

@Yourethebeerthief thanks so much. I'm the same, would be nice to get to 5/6 so we'll try! I've never had any complaints either re our previous seats so maybe they just sit in what they're put in. Thank you

Our daughter is 5.5 and rear facing in AxKid mini kid. No issues - she’s never known different and doesn’t ask to change to forward facing - has never mentioned it! She will stay that way until she outgrows the seat

Mine is the same- very happy and never asks, doesn't know any different - thank you

Those three options are the ones which have the 36kg weight limit.

Where roughly are you in the country? There are a few areas with no ERF provision but most places you can find a retailer within an hour or so.

We were happy with Britax/Römer. Easy to handle and comfy. Great in tests.

We have the britax safeway M.

Very happy with it. Little one is very comfy.

We have the Britax max safe pro. I struggle to get the tethers tight since I got a new car but had no problems prior to that. My daughter is 3 and seems to like it and find it comfortable.

We had the same issue until i figured out that the best way to do it is tip the front seat forward and go at it from that angle. Added bonus you can press on the top more easily

@itsjustGin ah, fab! I'll give that a try! Thank you ☺️

What centile is she for height? As the 36kg seats are outgrown by height at the same point as the 25kg seats.

We have the BeSafe Stretch for our 2.5yo.
its great and has adjustable leg room (as long as your car has the space!)

Also adjustable recline, which we used more when she moved into it from the infant carrier.

I've seen some axkid models have an issue with head flop but no idea if it's the 36kg one that has the problem.

I have the britax max safe pro. It is a great seat, my twins look cosy in them.

One thing I would say is go somewhere you can try them in your car first, even if you have to travel a little bit. ERF seats are BIG and you need to check you can put the seat back far enough to fit your legs in the front seats.

@BertieBotts thanks so much for replying. There is only one retailer close to me and they only do Axkid. Have been reading reviews/blogs which recommended Minikid over Movekid to avoid headflop but then got in touch with a retailer about two hours away who recommended Be Safe Stretch over the Axkid so now I'm confused again!

@Springadorable

Omg, I didn't know this, thank you for that. Two children - 75th and 99th on height percentiles..

I doubt there is much in it TBH - if you can see the Axkid lady near you then you could try those out and see if you like them? If they aren't what you want then look further afield but honestly the biggest difference is between ERF seats up to this size vs the smaller isofix/spinning options. The differences between the ERF models themselves are fairly small. There are some but they tend to be personal preference and I think you can get hung up on tiny differences online. Focus first on what you can physically see if you can see any at all. You may also want to join one of the ERF/UK car seat groups on FB and put a post out with your area and ask if anyone is willing to let you come and see their seat. Or if you have a local mums group/network you could ask in to see if anyone has an ERF seat you could look at.

In terms of height differences, the old 25kg seats with no height limit last up to approx 125cm. The 36kg ones have a 125cm height limit but most of them have quite a long backrest. I've seen both Minikid 4 and Klippan Opti 129 with the Q10 dummy sat in them which is 138cm tall. Technically they are out of regulation once the child goes over the 125cm, so not recommended but the physical possibility is there e.g. in case your child has a long body.

The only one of notable difference is the Avionaut Sky (which is not 36kg, anyway) which has a shorter backrest despite being a 125cm limit and lasts about as long physically for height as a Joie seat which is about 110-115cm. And the isofix 125cm seats have the 23kg weight limit, so watch those because that could be hit before age 4 in a 99.8th centile boy.

Margaret from Rear Facing Toddlers has a good video on Youtube comparing the backrest heights of all the 36kg seats plus an older 25kg seat and the Avionaut. And she has some photo albums on her FB showing older seats compared to the "up to age 4" seats.

But for the vast majority of children, which includes 99th centile boys, any ERF (125cm/25kg+) seat is fine, and will get you past age 5, likely close to 6. If you have a child well over the 99.8th centile or a child with low muscle tone, then these small differences do start to matter more. But for most people it doesn't matter.

In that case I'd probably go for a Axkidd minikid or britax maxway plus. We've got both (as well as an Avionaut Sky and a Axkidd move). All of the seats are fine, but we do get headflop in the Move so it's in the grandparents car. And the Avionaut was brilliant for my newborn but will be outgrown first. You'll outgrow on height first, but as the previous poster said, it won't matter as they'll already be 5-6.

Are you on the ERF Facebook group? The admin are mobile retailers, I met up with one in a Tesco car park and she bought a couple of different ones for us to try out, thought I wanted a Britax but the Axkid was more suitable