Car Seat Mega Thread! Please post all your car seat questions here!

Milly33 wrote: »

A questions for ye all.. Looks like no. 2 is on the way and thinking about car seats already. Just ponder we have the Joie stages, and was thinking maybe we could use this as the little ones (the new ones) seat and get an older one for the little Miss who will be close on 2 when the time comes.

Does anyone have any recommendations, would prefer to stay away from the isofix ones.. Was looking for something that would suit older that maybe turns into a booster seat, but with some comfort to it..

I think the infant carriers 0-13kg are best for newborns. I have a 0-18kg seat which was marketed from birth but really you should only use from 6 months even though there is a newborn insert. They are not reclined enough.

Anne_cordelia

Millem wrote: »

I think the infant carriers 0-13kg are best for newborns. I have a 0-18kg seat which was marketed from birth but really you should only use from 6 months even though there is a newborn insert. They are not reclined enough.

Agree with this. Plus when you have two kids, it’s a lifesaver being able to click the car seat in and out of the base without taking baby out for very short trips. One of mine hated the baby seat so I moved him to the bigger seat at 6 months and really missed being able to move baba in the car seat without waking them.

Is your first child average enough in terms of height and weight, or is she on the higher end of the scale?

Then im the opposite im not mad on the smaller seats the cozis just see them as a waste of money really, and the thing with clicking them in and out makes no odds as we wont use it with the buggy..

The little one would be i suppose average on all scales JLM, defo not tall anywho...

Milly33 wrote: »

Then im the opposite im not mad on the smaller seats the cozis just see them as a waste of money really, and the thing with clicking them in and out makes no odds as we wont use it with the buggy..

The little one would be i suppose average on all scales JLM, defo not tall anywho...

Ah right, I was just going to say that if your older child was bigger, she would probably outgrow the stages earlier than she was ready for a booster, so a 25kg seat would be the way to go- something like the britax two way elite, if you plan on keeping her rear facing. If she’s average, maybe another stages would be grand?

Milly33 wrote: »

Then im the opposite im not mad on the smaller seats the cozis just see them as a waste of money really, and the thing with clicking them in and out makes no odds as we wont use it with the buggy..

The little one would be i suppose average on all scales JLM, defo not tall anywho...

Milly I sold my infant carrier when my son was 6 months...he had outgrown it (huge child!) plus the clicking on and off had me demented. So I bought the 0-18kg seat. Roll on for second child I thought I was all sorted but ended up buying a brand new infant carrier 0-13kg and base as it is recommended that the 0-18kg really are not reclined enough!!!
Honestly I have seen the “head flop” with my own eyes.
This child is over 18 months and still fits into maxi cosi cabriofix believe it or not! Now he literally only has a couple of week left before he outgrows it

Do you have an infant carrier from your first child?

The Britax one looks good JLm will take note of this one...Why do you say tisnt good for smaller size? She is sturdy enough like

haha. I suppose maybe bringing her in with us to test them would be best..

Millem, no we had no maxi cozi for the first, we had another seat and insert which a friend has now (not sure well be getting it back). We have a bassinet for the buggy and that was it.. We didnt travel anywhere for the first couple of months so had her in the Joie once she hit the weight for it and she was grand. I understand the floppy neck and always make sure to watch out for it..

Milly33 wrote: »

The Britax one looks good JLm will take note of this one...Why do you say tisnt good for smaller size? She is sturdy enough like haha. I suppose maybe bringing her in with us to test them would be best..

Millem, no we had no maxi cozi for the first, we had another seat and insert which a friend has now (not sure well be getting it back). We have a bassinet for the buggy and that was it.. We didnt travel anywhere for the first couple of months so had her in the Joie once she hit the weight for it and she was grand. I understand the floppy neck and always make sure to watch out for it..

It’s more that it’s a good seat for bigger toddlers, who would outgrow the harness on an 18kg seat early. My three year old is 18kg, I wouldn’t be happy to put him on a booster even though it’s legal, so I bought 25kg seats for my kids!

ah i get yas now!! Great stuff thanks for the advice, i shall keep it in mind..

shesty

Milly bear in mind that it is easy to stay at home for the first couple of months with your first.With your second, especially close in age...not easy.Your first will not sit at home all day with you quietly, and you will be doing your head in stuck in with a small toddler and baby for days on end.Honestly, work on the basis that you will need something suitable for getting out from early.Also bear in mind that juggling a toddler and a newborn while getting out and about .. you want to keep it as easy as possible.I know you have said elsewhere a sling and a buggy probably but what do you do when the toddler needs a nappy change in a shopping centre or something, and you have a sling on??Where do you put the baby?As much as you hate the clicking in and out of those car seats, you may find it a godsend to be able to transfer a sleeping baby from the car to the buggy so you can do something quickly with just the toddler to think about.I am just speaking from experience here, my first pair were 21 months apart and it is literally about self-preservation and survival with that small age gap. (Your survival-not theirs!!) It is a very different thing second time round, especially if you have two under two.My first never ever slept or sat in a car seat in a buggy but my second two did and there were times when it was badly needed.

Our second went into a Maxi Cosi axis after the small maxi cosi.There are loads of options out there now, but I found it great because being heavily pregnant and lifting an (often reluctant) toddler into it was great, since it rotated, so much easier on your back.She is five soon and in a Brittax Romer with the five point harness still.I don't think she is quite heavy or tall enough to be using the normal car belt yet.There are definitely more options on the market now though than there were even just four years ago.

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

Hi all,

We just found out we are expecting our 3rd. Immediately the car seat issue is stressing me out LOL. We have a near 5 year old and a 1.5 year old. I think our 5 year old is ready for a booster seat and our 1.5 year old can move into his forward facing seat (sorry forget the make but its a swivel axis chair so a bit bulky, similar to this https://tonykealys.com/car-seats/birth-4yrs/maxi-cosi-axissfix-plus-sparkling-blue.html).

This raises the question of how we fit 3 car seats into the back, we drive a Hyundai Santa Fe. What's peoples experience of this in terms of fitting a booster, and two car seats into the back of their cars?

I don’t know about your specific make of car, but from what I’ve seen, it’s very manageable in most cars, but you might need to forget the isofix swivel seat! Belted seats give a bit more wiggle room, and many are narrower! Maybe someone else will have advice specific to your car though!
Congratulations and good luck!

Dr.Winston O'Boogie wrote: »

Hi all,

We just found out we are expecting our 3rd. Immediately the car seat issue is stressing me out LOL. We have a near 5 year old and a 1.5 year old. I think our 5 year old is ready for a booster seat and our 1.5 year old can move into his forward facing seat (sorry forget the make but its a swivel axis chair so a bit bulky, similar to this https://tonykealys.com/car-seats/birth-4yrs/maxi-cosi-axissfix-plus-sparkling-blue.html).

This raises the question of how we fit 3 car seats into the back, we drive a Hyundai Santa Fe. What's peoples experience of this in terms of fitting a booster, and two car seats into the back of their cars?

No experience but do contact incarsafety they have a gadget that moves your isofix points. Apparently it is only approved for hbb but will be getting approved for all groups.
It might be of some use to you.

sillysocks

We have a Tucson and were in a similar situation last year. We were lucky in that our eldest was 8 so she uses a Bubblebum booster which was the only seat that could fit in the middle. It probably wouldn’t be great for a 4/5 year old though. We couldn’t find any solid booster that fit in the middle but saying that a Santa Fe is bigger so maybe you will!
One of the biggest issues is trying to get at the seat belt holders. We’d for three seats side by side fine but couldn’t get at the seatbelt holders.
I’d imagine the swivel seat might have to be replaced with a narrow next stage one and it’s cheaper to replace a seat than the car!

PhoenixParker

Any recommendations for a travel car seat for group 1 and possibly higher groups too?

The 2.5 year old has finally hit 13kgs so we won't get any more out of his bucket seat and his rotating joie is too big to be dragging on a plane.

Looking for something light and fairly cheap, no need for isofix. It'll be for very occasional use. He's on the lighter and shorter side.

Clashmore

Do you mean to use on a plane, or to use while on holidays?

PhoenixParker

Clashmore wrote: »

Do you mean to use on a plane, or to use while on holidays?

Both if possible but mostly on holidays.

Clashmore

Joie Tilt would be suitable for holidays depending on what car you would be using as it is susceptible to buckle crunch. It cost less than €100. Think there are very few tuv approved car seats I only know of 2. Britax Eclipse and Diono Radian

I have a britax TWE, which is very light and portable. It’s FF to 18kg, and RF to 25kg. I think it can also be used as a booster, but you could check that out. I’m pretty sure it’s a very universal seat. It’s really easy to install FF, and reasonably easy to install RF

Digs

Dr.Winston O'Boogie wrote: »

Hi all,

We just found out we are expecting our 3rd. Immediately the car seat issue is stressing me out LOL. We have a near 5 year old and a 1.5 year old. I think our 5 year old is ready for a booster seat and our 1.5 year old can move into his forward facing seat (sorry forget the make but its a swivel axis chair so a bit bulky, similar to this https://tonykealys.com/car-seats/birth-4yrs/maxi-cosi-axissfix-plus-sparkling-blue.html).

This raises the question of how we fit 3 car seats into the back, we drive a Hyundai Santa Fe. What's peoples experience of this in terms of fitting a booster, and two car seats into the back of their cars?

Not sure if you’re still figuring this out but my husband drives a Sante Fe 7 seater. We have a 5, 2 and 5 month old. We prefer not to put the 5yr old in the back back seat (and often need the boot for travel anyway!) but we can fit 3 across the second row. Baby is in the besafe izi go isofix, 2 yr old is on the Britax two way elite (rear facing) and the 5 yr old is in the britax romer hbb (this seems to be one of the slimmest hbb!). Hbb is in the middle spot. The rear facing group on Facebook has files on all cars that they’ve managed to fit 3 across in and there are a few combos there. My husbands is a 151 but they have Sante Fe’s of differing years!

I had a Tucson which I loved but couldn’t get a combo in so switched to an S-Max

Best of luck!

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

Digs wrote: »

Not sure if you’re still figuring this out but my husband drives a Sante Fe 7 seater. We have a 5, 2 and 5 month old. We prefer not to put the 5yr old in the back back seat (and often need the boot for travel anyway!) but we can fit 3 across the second row. Baby is in the besafe izi go isofix, 2 yr old is on the Britax two way elite (rear facing) and the 5 yr old is in the britax romer hbb (this seems to be one of the slimmest hbb!). Hbb is in the middle spot. The rear facing group on Facebook has files on all cars that they’ve managed to fit 3 across in and there are a few combos there. My husbands is a 151 but they have Sante Fe’s of differing years!

I had a Tucson which I loved but couldn’t get a combo in so switched to an S-Max

Best of luck!

Great thanks for that, sounds promising! What model Santa Fe is it?

Digs

Dr.Winston O'Boogie wrote: »

Great thanks for that, sounds promising! What model Santa Fe is it?

No prob! It’s the 2WD comfort model. They all fit neatly into the second row.

What do people think of the Joie Bold? We have the stages for the little one at the moment but thinking with the new baby on the way we might get her a new seat so looking at the Bold

Milly33 wrote: »

What do people think of the Joie Bold? We have the stages for the little one at the moment but thinking with the new baby on the way we might get her a new seat so looking at the Bold

I don’t have one, but i looked at it before- it’s a stage 1-2-3 isn’t it? I think often they don’t have a great recline for smaller kiddies. Does your car have a top tether? I think you need one for all the 25kg seats.

I had to look up what a top tether was, is it a strap at the top of the seat? dont think the car has one of them... i never tested the recline on it actually just popped her into one today in smyths to see how it was.. there was questions going on about why we needed one so just forgot to test that

Milly33 wrote: »

I had to look up what a top tether was, is it a strap at the top of the seat? dont think the car has one of them... i never tested the recline on it actually just popped her into one today in smyths to see how it was.. there was questions going on about why we needed one so just forgot to test that

It’s an anchor point at the back of the back seat, to attach a tether from the top of the car seat. I’m not 100%, but I think the bold needs one. From what I’ve seen, most of the seats that convert to a booster have a fairly rubbish recline; just something to bear in mind if your little one sleeps in the car

Shefwedfan

Ok, I need about 5 new seats :-) have a combination of Axiss and some high back boosters from Smyths but they are useless

I was going to go with Britax Aventure or SL Discovery? 3 of them will be going into Galaxy and the others in Golf

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Ok, I need about 5 new seats :-) have a combination of Axiss and some high back boosters from Smyths but they are useless

I was going to go with Britax Aventure or SL Discovery? 3 of them will be going into Galaxy and the others in Golf

I have 2 maxi cosi rodifix air protect and I really like them. Bought them from amazon.it. I have two and a britax TWE rearfacing in a vw touran at the mo....loads of space. Your galaxy would be even bigger!
Did loads of research on HBB at the time.
I have one (the non isofix version) maxi cosi rodi in a vw golf sv/plus with a maxfix and not much space left in middle....doubt you would fit any sort of seat but maybe that is because of maxfix!!

rainbow kirby

Milly33 wrote: »

What do people think of the Joie Bold? We have the stages for the little one at the moment but thinking with the new baby on the way we might get her a new seat so looking at the Bold

We have one for the 3 year old - he's very tall so the fact that the harness height goes quite high really suits us. Takes a lot of space for a forward facing seat though, it has to go behind me rather than my tall husband in the car (2015 Vauxhall Astra).