Car seats

This Facebook group is really helpful. https://www.facebook.com/groups/carseatsafetyuk/?ref=share

We have chosen to stay rear facing with a seat that passes the Swedish plus test. We chose the axkid minikid 2. Depending on the height and weight of your child and the point at which they would outgrow a seat. There are lots of independent car seat retailers with a lot of knowledge about car seat safety, which I would recommend over any big chain stores and their car seat safety knowledge and most sell online xx

We have an axkid mini kid 2 and compared to the joie 360 spin it’s so much better- more compact, longer lasting and my kids fight over who gets to sit in it

Axkid - always an axkid

We also have Axkids - We have the Movekid and the One2 but prefer the Movekid. One2 is good if you’re planning on moving it between cars often because it’s i-sofix and lighter x

We have a BeSafe iZi Turn in both cars for 2yo, and a BeSafe Beyond and BeSafe Stretch for our oldest who is 5. Definitely safest to keep RF for as long as possible. Best option for you is really dependent on your situation and preferences. I love spin seats but they're not the longest lasting option so generally you'd need a longer lasting harnessed seat to bridge the gap until LO gets to safe HBB age (at least 5½-6yo). Only exception atm is BeSafe Beyond up to 125cm/22kg (about £600) or Avionaut are releasing a new spin called the Stardust which is up to 125cm/21kg and due out in June, I think about £350. A fixed ERF seat up to 125cm/36kg is better value long term (unless you plan on passing the seat down to a younger sibling). BeSafe Stretch is amazing, Britax Safe-Way M or Max-Safe Pro are excellent value for money, and Axkid Movekid/Minikid 4 are worth looking at too, although I'm personally not a fan of Axkid seats

I have the britax max safe just upgraded to because my son outgrown his joie stages rear facing! The britax max safe is up to 36KG and extra leg room for rear facing! It’s also Isofix and been Swedish tested! Xx

Anything Swedish Plus Tested is where to start. We love an Axkid seat.

@Alex the Britax Max-Safe Pro isn't isofix, it's installed with seatbelt and lower tethers

@Katie I thought it was Isofix my bad but it’s installed in my car.

Thank you all!! So helpful. @Rebecca @Sofia @Francesca @Rachael @Ani which how did you choose which Axkid to go for? There’s so many options. And are you able to front face in them too? For the future. @Katie thank you for your insightful comment! I’ve never heard of these seats before, but I’ve just checked them out and they’ve got great reviews. A spin seat is such a game changer isn’t it, I’ll need a seat for my car and then my husbands. So great options x

@Alex thank you! A car seat that passes the Swedish test was top of my priority list xx

You can’t use them for forward facing but the idea is that they will last you until little one is ready for a high back booster, ideally when they’re 6 or 7. The best seat will depend on little ones height and weight but also the car you have and how much room you need in the front seat etc so I would definitely recommend you find a retailer close to you so that you can view the seats and they will be able to give you advice. We ordered our first seat from Simply Safe and although lots of people recommended her, I definitely don’t and had a much nicer experience when I got the second seat from our local retailer x

If your child is high percentiles then it would be a good idea to get a 36kg seat, if they aren’t then a 25kg seat should be ok. That’s what I based it on as the axkid minikid 4 goes up to 36kg and the minikid 2 is 25kg xx

I went for a mini kid 2 because it was the cheapest good option. My daughter is 4 and still only weighs 16kg so she has ages left in it. When her brother outgrows his joie 360 spin I’ll move her to a high backed booster- britax kidfix is what I’ve had my eye on, but that’ll be a while yet as he’s only 14kg