6 of the most exciting new car seats for 2015
Lie flat, all-stage and hi-tech, we highlight the most innovative car seats to hit the market this year
Diono Radian V
We first saw this car seat at the 2014 Kind & Jugend baby and toddler trade fair. Back then it was so hush-hush we didn’t even have a picture to show you. It was also (at the time) the first time we'd seen an all-group car seat, spanning the full 12 years.
However, when we saw the Diono Radian V at this year’s show in September, its release date has been pushed back to the beginning of 2016 and it had been updated.
Now instead of being an all-stage chair, the Radian V is a Group 0+/1/2 car seat. Your child can sit rearward facing in this seat from birth until 25kg (approx 5-6 years old). There's also the option of your little one sitting in the forward position once they reach 9kg, if you choose.
It also comes with a 5-point harness that can be used up until 25kg as well. But you would need to buy a final group 3 car seat (which tend to come as group 2/3) once your child passes the 25kg limit.
Available: Now
We've got the full review of the Diono Radian 5 here.
Cybex Cloud Q
Lie-flat car seats are becoming more popular, and this is the first one from celeb favourite Cybex. The Cloud Q is a Group 0+ seat, which is suitable from birth and supposedly all the way up to the age of 18 months.
Usefully, it can be attached to the new Cybex Priam pushchair, to create a travel system. It's also ISOFIX compatible with the Cybex Q-Fix base.
It has an 11-position height adjustable headrest and Cybex’s Linear Side Impact Protection system as featured on its award-winning Sirona chair.
Cloud Q RRP: Not confirmed but probably around £185
Available: Out now
Britax King II ATS
The Britax King II ATS seat (a Group 1 seat, suitable from 9 months to 4 years) offers a light and sound indicator to help you know that you've strapped in your child correctly with the right strap tension.
And even when you're busy driving and your child is wiggling around for England, the harness automatically adjusts to find the perfect tension (much like the automatic seat belts in some cars), so no amount of moving will make a difference. Clever.
Britax King II ATS RRP: £180
Available: Out now
Mountain Buggy Protect
Mountain Buggy has been making strollers for the past 20 years and has built a significant reputation as an all-terrain pushchair manufacturers..
Now the New Zealand-based company is releasing its first ever car seat, the Protect. An infant Group 0+ chair compatible with all of the brand's prams, the Protect means Mountain Buggy now offers a complete travel system.
It's an ISOFIX compatible seat, with a 5-point harness, sunhood and a side protection system.
RRP: £149
Available: Out now
Maxi-Cosi Pebble Plus
This year see Maxi-Cosi's highly popular Pebble car seat gets an upgrade to the Pebble Plus. Designed to be fully iSize compliant (the latest car seat guidelines), this means your toddler can stay rear-facing for longer. It is also ISOFIX compatible, has impact absorbing side wings and can be used with Maxi-Cosi's 2wayFix and 2wayPearl base.
RRP: £190
Available: Out now
Britax ADVANSAFIX
Like many multi-stage car seats, the Britax ADVANSAFIX grows with your child from 9 months to 12 years. But what makes this seat different is that it has a 5-point harness that can be worn until your child is 25kg, or approximately 5 years old. To put that in perspective, that’s a year longer than most seats on the market, which switch to using an adult seat belt on car seats from around the age of 4.
Britax says that the 5-point harness is safer, as it distributes the forces across your child’s stronger bones (the shoulders, hips and pelvis) if you're involved in a crash.
RRP: £220
Available: Out now
Authors
Having been a journalist for 15 years – and Reviews Editor at MadeForMums for five of those – Hazelann has accrued a lot of experience testing and reviewing every baby product imaginable.
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