Car seat dilemma - help needed!

[Hothead]

Ok, so here is the situation:

I have a 2.5 yr old daughter of average weight and height, currently using a Britax car seat - I forget the name of it (first class si?), but the one that can be used forward or rear facing (obviously she is forward facing). I have a 4.5 month old son who is already over 9kg and is very long too. He is in a rear facing M&P car seat, although I would reckon that given his height and weight we should not have him in that one for much longer - he can then use the Britax rear facing, that's fine.
My dilemma is what to do about another car seat for my daughter. I thought I had found the solution in the carseats that can be used from 9 months to 11 years......however I have heard some dodgy things about these (although not having access to the Which? reports on carseats I have not read this for myself)but it seems ludicrous to buy another £100 carseat for her to use for all of a year and a half at the most and then have to buy the next stage car seat for her when she gets to 4......do I just need to bite the bullet and absorb the cost or is there another car seat that serves from 9 months to 11 years that does perform well in the consumer tests?

I've got this one for my dd, used in her Gran's car
I liked that it has a 5 point harness.
The back comes off to make it a booster seat when she's older.

I couldn't afford to spend a fortune on something that she wouldn't get full use out of

safest and only one reccomended by which iirc that will do until she's 11 is the britax evolva- can be got for about £90 but is well worth the cash!

the infant carrier type car seats are suitable until around 12 months (28lbs) and are much safer than forward facing ones. why don't you leave it for a bit - how heavy is you dd? think they need to be 33lbs to go into a booster seat.

The Evolva 123 seems ok - but you cant take the back bit off to use it as a booster seat when they get to about 6 or 7 years old - but you can buy the booster base for a fiver or so!

It would be worth looking at the stage 1 and 2 seats to see if there is one with the five point harness that has some form or recline (not sure if they exist), as 2.5 years is still young and they still tend to nap in the car - the booster seats are very upright so they tend to fall forwards when alseep - which looks really uncomfortable (my 5 year old still does this)

But surely taking the back off when aged 6 or 7 doesn't apply if the back adjusts to fit up to height of average 11 yr old?

I would rather my DCs had side impact protection (ie back and headrest part)in the event of a collision.

Also most of the cheap booster seats do not have a belt adjuster strap, which means that the adult seat belt is not in the correct position on the shoulder.

dd has the Evolva 123 and is still using it with the harness at 6 (soon to change over)! tbh ds has the Maxi Cosi Rodi and at 9, over 1m30 tall, still uses it with the back rest as he finds it more comfortable and it is safer for his head so can't see not being able to remove the back on the Evolva becoming an issue. More and more highback booster seats are heading this way. There are currently no Britax models which split for example.

The Which? rating for the Evolva came out at just under 60/100 which I felt was good enough since it suited dd. The recline is a pita(can't change in transit only when fitting the seat) and slight so would n't recommend it for lo' s or if that is an issue, also not the most straightforward to fit in Stage 1 mode. We have the Ultra version which has more padding , ventilated material and adjustable side wings.

Which? press release

Try these Which? Best Buys:

Maxi Cosi Priorifix
BEST BUY
This Best Buy from Maxi Cosi is the safest Group 1 seat for children from one year up to about 4 years (9 to 18 kg).

Britax Duo Plus ISOFIX
BEST BUY
The Duo Plus can be used in Isofix mode, with 2- or 3-point (using top tether) mounting, or can be secured with a 3-point adult seat belt. As an Isofix seat, its all round performance is good enough for it to earn the Best Buy recommendation.

This seat is designed for children from around a year old to about 4 (9 to 18kg). It's well made and easy to use, with clear instructions. Padding is excellent, and it offers good leg and head support.

DON"T BUY:

We recommend you avoid the the Chicco Max-3S, the Recaro Start and the Little Shield Combi 123 as they all use the adult seat belt for a 9kg child (around nine months).
The adult belt comes into contact with the child's neck instead of the shoulder, and can pass over the soft stomach area of a 9kg child instead of the correct pelvic bone area.
This doesn't provide adequate protection in a crash, as our 2007 testing showed ? watch our crash test footage (see 'Crash test video') to see just how badly some of these seats performed.

We've also found three Don't Buys from 2006, which are the Jané Matrix Pro, and the Mamas and Papas Alto and Revo models.

HTH

Your little one can stay in the rear facer longer than you probably think. Just because they reach the minimum height or weight for the next stage seats doesn't mean the first stagers are wrong for them - in fact rear facing is much safer as even big for their age babies won't have the physical e.g. spine development to deal with a collision in a forward facing seat. Many other European countries recommend rear facing seats up til 12 months.

You really only need to move him if his head is higher than the seat top - don't worry if his legs are up against the car back seat.

Thanks for your help. I think that has helped clear things up a bit for me!