Which reasonably priced car seat? (9 months +) Is the "Britax Prince Benno" any good?

[lowrib]

I need to get another car seat, but I am overwhelmed by the choice! I'd be grateful for any advice.

My 7mo has already grown out of his newborn one (he's rather large - nearly 12k). It looks like I'll need to get a 9 month + one - and it looks like forward facing is what's generally available. BUT I simply don't have the money to spend the earth on one right now.

Can you recommend anything?

Halfords have got the "Britax Prince Benno" on special offer.

But does anyone know if it's any good?

TIA

at 7m you really need to keep him rearfacing for a bit longer,so you would need to look at the birth-4y ones,

The Prince is a good seat if your budget is tight but you may find the recline very difficult to keep adjusting as it is not as easy as say the eclipse. You should be ok in your infant carrier upto 13kg providing his head does not come above the top of the seat.

Thsnks for your replies.

sazm "you really need to keep him rearfacing" that's what I thought at first, but I had a look in the shops and I couldn't find any rear facing ones that went over 13kg.

Are there any?

kellyatbabyguds "ou should be ok in your infant carrier upto 13kg" he's outgrown the one we have - the straps are too tight.

The britax first class is to 18kgs but after 13 needs to be forward facing.I emailed them to clarify if it MUST be turned and they said yes.
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The rear facing till 4 ones are more expensive (around £200)
here sells them.

have you had him weighed recently?
can he sit up yet?how long for?

Unless the top of his infant carrier is level with the middle of his ears then he hasn't out grown it yet. If this is the case I would go for a rear facing car seat which will least him until he is 5/6 years old. They are about £200 so seem an expensive outlay but this car seat is going to last you quite a while.

we have the britax two way elite and it will last ds until he's 6 or 25kgs. it is brilliant and he went into it at 9 months. would have kept him in his baby seat for a lot longer if i hadn't got the rf seat for him.

My friend has that too nicm, it's good for the price isn't it. She has 1 for her 2 year old who is 12kg and 1 for her 7 year old who is about 20kg I think she said.

Thanks again everyone for your responses

Right then, OK after doing some research I see that sazm you're spot on, he does need to be rear-facing.

pigleychez that's exactly the one we were looking at just now, it's really useful to know that, thanks.

Loopymumsy it's surprising you can't get rear facing in more shops, isn't it? I tried John Lewis first, and for once they seemed spectacularly unhelpful. Halfords was my next call.

nappyaddict and kellyatbabyguds the weight and ear level guidance are irrelevant here I'm afraid - he has outgrown it because I can't physically get him in it! The straps won't do up anymore as he's just too big, and they're on the longest setting.

nicm I'll have a look at that, thanks.

Ideally children should stay rear facing until they are at least 2.6, but really the longer the better. In the UK most 5 point harnesses only go up to 18kg and booster seats only go up to 36kg. In other countries 5 point harnesses go up to 36kg and booster seats go up to 45kg which is obviously much safer and I don't know why we don't stock more of these in the UK. I think in the UK the best weight limit you'll get for a rear facing seat with a 5 point harness is 25kg which will last until approximately 7 years. Here are some to look at and see if they will fit your car

Brio Zento

Britax Nordic Freeway

Nordic Secura

Nordic Multitech

Britax Two Way Elite

Britax Hiway

Maxi Cosi Mobi

There's a non-isofix one called the Be Safe Izi Kid X1 that goes up to 25kg aswell but I can only find the isofix version which seems to only go up to 18kg.

There's also the Akta Graco Cosmic Comfort S but I heard this one is only up to 25kg if used in the passenger seat. If you use it on the back seats it is only up to 18kg. I don't know if that's true for definite though so would be worth checking out just incase.

lowrib, which car seat are you using at the moment? Some of them have removable wedges to make the seats fit newborns that you are supposed to take out once your LO is over a certain size. The maxi cosi is one of them, but people don't always find the instrucions in the hatch and realise and move their LO of a perfectly safe car seat too early.

lowrib - I sympathise. By 7 months DD's shoulders were just too broad to fit in her car seat anymore, and car journeys became very unpleasant until we bought her a new seat. 2nd everything nappyaddict says about keeping RF as long as possible.

Re. the BeSafe seats, the IziKid is/was available with/without Isofix and is a RF only seat (when we bought ours last November the Isofix version wasn't available, but if you look at the manufacturer's website they now only list the Isofix one). It is only approved to 18kg under ECE-R44 (the regulations that apply in GB and most of Europe), although it has been approved to 25kg in Sweden, where they have their own tests. It has scored extremely highly in Swedish consumer safety tests. BeSafe also make the IziCombi (which is RF/FF) and is also available with/without IsoFix.

It's well worth calling these ladies (or visiting if you can) to get advice on what seats will fit in your car - they have a lot of experience and no vested interest so do give very good, impartial advice. If you can get to them you can try the seats and see which ones your DS is most comfortable in.

I've weighed him properly, and he is actually 13kg That'll be why he won't fit in the seat then!

Thanks for the suggestions nappyaddict and tangle