Safest car seat without ISOFIX

[Coachvikki]

I've just bought an old campervan and I want to take my niece (3) and nephew (5) with me on trips. The car seats I have in my car are ISOFIX and so won't fit in the camper. Does anyone have any recomendations?

Most of the ERF seats going up to about age 7 don't have ISOFIX. E.g. Axkid Minikid, Avionaut Sky. But they're pricy for taking a niece and nephew. Do they have non-ISOFIX seats in their parent's car you could borrow?

Or for the 5 year old, they might already be in a high back booster in which case even for the ones with ISOFIX, it's usually optional because the seatbelt holds the seat and child in place regardless.

No, they have the same seat as I have in my car in their parents car so we all know how to use them 😂

Will they be on the bench seats up front with you? If you are planning to put them in seats within the camper itself, it is worth checking with someone who is actually trained in car seat fitting whether those seats have the right approval to put car seats on. Sometimes they have a seatbelt but it's not actually up to the right safety code. (I don't know any more specifics than this so can't help unfortunately!)

In terms of what actual seats to get, I would get a high back booster for the 5yo - any is fine. These are some suggestions:

Britax Kidfix M i-size is on a good offer right now, or Graco Eversure i-size is on amazon at the moment for £55 if you want something cheaper.

There are not a lot of 123 seats on the market any more fitting with seatbelt and the ones which were known to be decent are no longer available. You could look at Joie Elevate or Cybex Pallas but TBH I don't love either model.

It's true that the ERF seats are the safest, but I am guessing both are probably already forward facing, so you might not want rear facing seats. If you're open to rear facing, Graco Slimfit R129/Joie Every Stage R129 is a good budget option.

The only issue would be if the 3yo is big for their age (and are they just three, 3.5, nearly 4?)

One will be in the front, one in the back. They are official full seats with seat belts so the seat will be fine in them, but I am planning on having my mechanic check them over before we go anywhere.

Yes, the 3 year old is nearly four. They have both been forward facing for a while so I can't see them accepting rear facing now. It's annoying because the 3 year old is probably one big growth spurt away from needing a high backed booster, but I would rather waste the money than have her in something not safe.

Thanks for the suggestions.

You can usually sign up for a free trial of the “Which” website, which thoroughly reviews and tests car seats. Get some recommendations then unsubscribe. The Britax Romer Adventure was highly rated last time I checked on there. Some are an absolute avoid - I found as a general rule if it’s less than £30 it seemed to fail most of the which tests.