Car Seat for Tall Toddler

[AV13]

Hiya,

I am looking for a car seat for my little boy who was 3 in June. He is currently in a Joie I-Spin but is quite close to outgrowing it at 103cm tall and almost 17kg.

I turned him forward-facing before I knew about ERF. Have bought an ERF seat (Britax Max Safe Pro) to trial but am really worried about how he will take to it.

Do I have any forward facing options that go beyond 105cm with a 5 point harness? Most I’ve seen seem to turn into a high-backed booster at 105cm and he definitely is not ready for that.

I know now about all the benefits of ERF just want all my options.

Thanks!

Unfortunately, the options for a forward-facing seat past 105 cm and 18/19 kg are extremely limited. I believe the old Joie Bold R went to 25 kg and roughly 125 cm, but you need to have a top tether point as well as using the isofix points and the seatbelt. It's also been discontinued, so you'd need to hunt down someone who still has stock. The new Joie i-Bold is no good to you, as it's got a 105 cm height limit (22kg weight, I think).

Hopefully he'll adjust well to the rear-facing one. I'd sell it as a big boy seat if you can – they generally have much lower sides than the spin ones, so if he can more easily get in and out himself, that would help the argument that it's a step up in independence. He should also have a good view out the rear window, rather than looking at the back of the seat, so you can emphasise that – if you fit a mirror, he can see out the front as well.

@skkyelark Thank you! We’ve let him pick the colour too so hopefully that will help. I was wondering if I was missing something but don’t really want to go for an old one. Thanks for the help 😊

Ah, I missed one option – the Cybex Anoris is forward facing and goes to 115 cm and 21 kg. I'd still try every trick in the book with the ERF one, though, as the anoris is eye-wateringly expensive and would still probably only get you to about 4.5 if he follows his centiles.

Fingers crossed he decides he loves the max safe pro!

Tbh we use a HBB booster, my dd is a similar height and weight to your dc. It's partly a cost thing because as a pp mentioned, if you buy something with a 5pt harness new now it might only last your ds another year. We switched her into the HBB when my dc2 was born (he got her 5pt harness seat).

I know many people feel strongly about it but I figure the vast majority of roads we drive on have a 20mph limit (london) so, touch wood, even in an accident the speeds wouldn't be high.

If I often drove on, say, 60mph country roads or motorways then I'd be more nervous about it.