Rgee - How much is your budget? What car do you have and do you have isofix?
Basically you get what you pay for.
The video footage of the car seats is truly terrifying. Obviously any car seat is better than none, but its facinating to see the difference.
Basically all car seats in Europe have to conform to a standard (known as RD44) BUT this standard is very very low. Most car seats exceed this standard by lots as it is a very low bar they have set.
We have this one as it was all that the Halfords man could get to fit in our car at the time of swapping over from the incorrectly MaxiCosi Priori XP. I love it. Its great, as it will last until he is 12 years old. But it has to be fitted in either the upright or reclined position. It can't be altered when you are driving around like most stage 2 car seats. But if thats not a big problem for you Rgee then its a great seat as it will see you through P until she is all grown up.
I was shocked at the difference between how much more sturdy an isofix car seat is to that of a normal one too. Plus, something to think about EAH & Wilkie. With high back boosters, if you are driving around without the children in them, do you strap the (empty) seats in still?
If not, if you were in an accident, then the basic weight e.g. 5kg of empty car seat would add to the impact of the driver and passenger in the front quite considerably. So its worth keeping them belted in when driving around without the children in them.
Also, transferring babies from their infant carrier car seats to the next stage seats early is bad too. I have advised customers for ages that if their baby is big say at 6 months, its better to have them in a forward facing bigger one, in the recline position, with a head support. But thats not the case either. Babies should be in the rear facing for as long as possible. Unless their head is poking out the top they are fine. In a forward facing car seat their little bodies can't take an impact and basically their head gets 'removed' internally from their spine as the car seat straps will pull down on their shoulders and their bones are not strong enough to take it.
I was very surprised when the trainer pointed out I had isofix though, as the Halfords manager or my Mothercare manager didn't notice it, and the car sales man didn't realise we had it either! if we ever have another child then I will definately get one.