For those saying seats only go up to 4, massive believer in keeping your child rear facing as long as possible, helps protect their neck in an accident when it’s at a critical development stage and not as strong.
A lot of rear facing seats will only go up till approx 4. All depends on weight and height of course.
As for seats, newer versions are available now but when she was a baby, we had the Maxi Cosi Pebble with an isofix base.
Then we moved onto a Nuna Rebl for about 2-3 months. Seemed perfect and was told passed all the tests and 360 swivel. Turned out in its rear facing mode it was failing the more stringent German crash test l. So we got a full refund on it.
We moved onto the Cybex Sirona. This was after a LOT of research using Which. We’re still using this seat now but in my parents car, however she’s going to be to heavy for it soon. She turns 4 in May. Due to its size the front passenger seat is quite far forward, fine for my wife, but I wouldn’t like to do a long journey in the front.
There is a newer version out now that my best mate Dan has now got. Still a cracking seat and would highly recommend.
For any one worried about rear facing for so long. My daughter is tall for her age, but is all legs. She’s never once complained about being rear facing, she has had her legs crossed, or bent or straight with them nearly on the headrest. Always been happy. Even for a 2 day journey to south France as well as 2 days back.
Only now have we gone to a forward facing seat on our car.
I wanted a harness seat still when she went forward at first, but still be able to go till she’s older and use the seat belt. Safety is important obviously but child seats are expansive!
I didn’t realise that isofix is limited by the weight. So the lighter the seat, the heavier the child can get before it has to use the seat belt.
I went with the Britax Advansfix IV. Good side protection, isofix and the top tether. Also still uses the isofix (like most these days) even when you move onto the seat belt. It also has an extra tether point for the seat belt to sit in that goes between the child’s legs. Makes sure they don’t slip under the belt in an accident.
Also even though my daughters legs aren’t long but not long enough to dangle over the edge of the seat properly just yet, the front seat can still be moved back for me to sit comfortably in the front.
Now not saying the seats I’ve bought are the best option for everyone. My best Avicenna is stump up the cash for a which subscription for a month and research the crap out of it. When I did it, it was like £1 for the first month trial.