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 😊

@BertieBotts
Thank you, you are so knowledgeable, I really appreciate it! Is there any advantage at all then to getting a 36kg seat, am I wrong in not looking at the 25kg.. I was just trying to make sure all bases were covered especially if we add to our family..
I will look at Axkids in person and hopefully we'll like them..
Are all the seats mostly the same in terms of depth? (thinking of front passenger legroom..)

@Springadorable thank you for that. I've read about head flop in the Move.. do you find the seats take up a lot of depth and restrict front passengers leg room?

Yes, they do, but I wouldn't say more so than an 18kg spinning seat. A lot depends on your car's seat belt buckle attachments - if the buckle is fixed deep in the passenger seat you can set the ERF seat up closer to the back of the passenger seat. If it is on a longer bit of material you have to set the child seat up further forward to make sure the buckle isn't in contact with the clips on the ERF seat which will eat into passenger leg room. It does give more leg room for your child though if you have to do this. But my partner is 6'2 and my dad is 6'4 and they can both drive the car/sit in the front with seats behind them (even if they can't stretch out as much as they would like!).

If you can still get hold of 25kg seats and they are cheaper or have some other feature you want, then they are worth looking at yes.

In terms of centiles if your DC are on the same centiles for weight, there is an advantage in the 36kg limit in that 25kg will be reached by 4.5 - 5yo for a 99th centile+ boy whereas 125cm is more like 5.5 years on the chart.

But again, 4.5 years can also be a perfectly fine goal for ERF and also weight gain can slow down later on so - it could be worth knowing if you have a child who is far ahead of the curve, but for most people it's just not really an issue.

Also if your child is over 3 then head flop is long past being an issue. I wouldn't worry about this.

Safety wise, very true. Comfort wise, worth considering.

My 75th centile 6.5yo boy is still happily in his Axkid mini! I will forward face him in a few months when my dc2 turns 4/outgrows her rear-facing joie.

I thought after a certain age they physically don't get head flop any more because their heads aren't as large in comparison to their body, their necks are stronger, they tend to rest their head to left/right onto the headrest, plus they are simply much less likely to fall asleep in the car in the first place.

Thank you all :-)