any recommendations for car seat for 1 year old

xyz123

hi

our little one will 1 year old veyr soon. we have so far bin using a cabirofix . now need a new car seat.

can anyone recommend a car seat?. we dont use car much except for few long trips from london to manchester probably once every 4 months or so. we have only one car so not to fussed with isofix. probably looking for group1/2/3 but not too fussed if there are decent ones which last for longer albeit cost more!

ideally looking for something thats slim enough to allow 2 other passengers in backseat occassionally and something that can be reclined with baby in seat.

appreciate your help.

thanks
x

floralaura

I highly reccomend looking into extended rear facing As its much safer than forwarding a baby. The joie stages rear faces until 18kg (4 years), is £130-£150 in haldords/tours r us/mother are and can forward face and then turn into a booster from 4-7 years..I can get 2 and a passenger in the back of my car so you would get 2 passengers

turtlemoose

Another vote for extended rear facing. Much safer. Good seat advice given above. Depends on your budget really, I have a britax two way elite which was approx £240, in a ford focus. Found it easy to install and can fit two passengers in the back beside it.

MamaMoo_2

Another vote here for the Joie stages.
It's passed some pretty hefty crash tests with incredible results.

Do you have a Kiddicare near you? As they're fab, show you how to fit the car seat, and have every model available for you to pop your little one in to test fit etc.

Lixi_2

I wouldn't bother with extended rear facing - I've had my boy in the Maxi Cosi Pearl since he moved out of the Pebble. It is am excellent seat easy to operate and comfortable for him (now 22 months and he will be in it until 4). No hesitation in recommending that. I dread to think how you occupy children in a car when all they have to look at is a headrest. Backward facing is safer in flight too, but common sense and practicality prevails there too.

notanewuser

Lixi wrote: »

I wouldn't bother with extended rear facing - I've had my boy in the Maxi Cosi Pearl since he moved out of the Pebble. It is am excellent seat easy to operate and comfortable for him (now 22 months and he will be in it until 4). No hesitation in recommending that. I dread to think how you occupy children in a car when all they have to look at is a headrest. Backward facing is safer in flight too, but common sense and practicality prevails there too.

Goodness me, they cope in Sweden (where its the law for children to be rearfacing until age 4). :rotfl:

Being rear facing doesn't prevent them from looking out of windows! DD had a mirror on the headrest too, so could see more than a forward facing child.

On longer journeys she could do colouring (without crayons falling on the floor all the time) or watch something on the ipad. Or nap.

Car insurance now costs more for parents, provably because some are trying to entertain their children constantly while driving isn't was of concentrating on the road!

GobbledyGook

It doesn't take any more effort to entertain a rear-facing child than a forward-facing one. They play with the clip on toys or books just the same and they look out the windows (albeit it the rear and side rather than front and side) just the same. You can talk to them and sing/listen/tell stories just the same. All you have to do is be organised enough to give them the books/toys at the start of the journey - which should be done even if forward facing anyway so what's the difference?

the best car seat entirely depends on your car so the best thing is to go to somewhere like the Incar safety centre or Kiddiecare and get their help with what they recommend for your specific car.

Lixi_2

We were in the car for a long time in one day last week - a 3 hour trip was a 5 hour trip with traffic problems . The pearl reclines easily for sleeping and you can pass back sandwiches or snacks and drinks with forward facing seats. Also "spot the digger/tractor" etc games are easy to play if everyone is facing the same way. Ipad parenting isn't my thing anyway. Nonetheless boy coped surprisingly well. That would not have happened with rear facing. Each to their own - research the options and get the right balance of safety, comfort and practicality for you.

GobbledyGook

Lixi wrote: »

We were in the car for a long time in one day last week - a 3 hour trip was a 5 hour trip with traffic problems . The pearl reclines easily for sleeping and you can pass back sandwiches or snacks and drinks with forward facing seats. Also "spot the digger/tractor" etc games are easy to play if everyone is facing the same way. Ipad parenting isn't my thing anyway. Nonetheless boy coped surprisingly well. That would not have happened with rear facing. Each to their own - research the options and get the right balance of safety, comfort and practicality for you.

Ipad parenting? No-one was rude about your decision to forward face, perhaps you could give those who rear face the same consideration by not assuming that the fact our child is rear facing means they are handed a gadget and left to it.

You obviously have no experience with a rear-facing older child because all of the things you mention can happen just as easily (and things are less likely to need picked up because they don't fall onto the floor so easy). Passing snacks and drinks is easy enough because they can put their hand out (unlike a baby in a capsule). "spot the" games are easy enough because when you glance in the mirror you can see what the child can see and some rear-facing seats also recline for easy sleeping.

notanewuser

Lixi wrote: »

We were in the car for a long time in one day last week - a 3 hour trip was a 5 hour trip with traffic problems . The pearl reclines easily for sleeping and you can pass back sandwiches or snacks and drinks with forward facing seats. Also "spot the digger/tractor" etc games are easy to play if everyone is facing the same way. Ipad parenting isn't my thing anyway. Nonetheless boy coped surprisingly well. That would not have happened with rear facing. Each to their own - research the options and get the right balance of safety, comfort and practicality for you.

We regularly travel for upwards of 6 hours. If DH is with us he's in the back with DD. if its just me and her then yes, the ipad might go on for an hour or so to break the journey up. At 3.5 there are plenty of educational games she enjoys as well as the odd movie. Keeping her safe is my biggest priority, hence she stayed rearfacing until at least. 3. Now she's in a kiddy seat that can go in the front next to me, which she prefers for long journeys.

tiny_courageous

For me, safety absolutely comes first, and all the current research I've seen is clear that rear facing is far, far safer.

If price is an issue, the joie stages is a good one and the joie tilt has now also been tested and passed for rear facing up to 18kg (previously was passed for rear facing up to 13kg so not all retailers have updated their websites)- can be picked up for less than £100 at argos/kiddicare.