Best new baby and toddler car seats to buy in 2018

Ticking all the boxes you’d expect for an i-size seat, like side impact protection, no-rethread adjustable headrest/harness, extendable sun canopy and well-padded seat, the Mesa can also be used with many pushchairs.

What could well be a game changer for an infant car set is the i-size base; it has 5 indicator lights, which should ensure correct installation. Lights go green when:

the ISOFIX connectors are plugged in properly
the leg is connected to car floor
the back of the base fits to the seat
the bottom of base is secured to car seat
the show seat is connected to base

Available spring 2018

Read: Everything you need to know about the new i-Size laws

2. Tutti Bambini ByGo, £135

Age suitability: Birth until 13kg (around 15 months)
i-Size: No
Rear-facing until: 12 months
Cost of base: £100
Travel system compatible: Yes – with adaptors it fits all Tutti Bambini strollers and can also use Maxi-Cosi car seat adaptors to attach to other buggies

A Group 0+ from British buggy brand, the By Go is suitable from birth up to 13kg. Universal fit, it can be used with the car’s own seat belt and with an ISOFIX base (sold separately), meaning it should fit most cars.

It's also relatively slimline, so if you don't have much space on your backseat, this could be a good choice for you.

Available Spring 2018

3. Baby Jogger City Go i-size, £350

Age suitability: Birth until 13kg (around 15 months)
i-Size: Yes
Rear-facing until: 15 months
Cost of base: Included in price
Travel system compatible: Yes – with Baby Jogger strollers but you’ll need to buy the adaptors separately (£30)

Last year Baby Jogger unveiled the City Go car seat as an affordable and lightweight (3.6kg) Group 0+ car seat.

For 2018 the seat has been updated and made i-size compatible. Still universal, meaning it can be fitted with the seat belt as well, it has added side impact protection, been tested to the new legal standard and is travel system compatible.

The major difference is that it can only be i-size compliant when fitted with the i-size base, making it more expensive than the older version, by around £200. But you can’t put a price on safety.

Available March 2018

4. Cybex Cloud Z, £255 (tbc)

Age suitability: Birth until 13kg (around 15 months)
i-Size: Yes
Rear-facing until: 15 months
Cost of base: £110
Travel system compatible: Yes – compatible with Cybex Priam, Cybex Onyx and Cybex Callisto, Mothercare Orb, Bugaboo Cameleon, iCandy and Baby Jogger buggies (adaptors sold separately £34.95)

The next generation of Cybex car seats, the Cloud Z will replace the much-loved Cloud Q car seat. I-Size compatible, the Cloud Z will be a lie-flat car seat (outside of the car), however, what makes it different to the Cloud Q, is that it has a rotating base. The Cloud Z has also been reduced in weight by 15%, making it lighter, but just as sturdy.

Cybex will also release the Cloud S car seat, which is a step down from the Cloud Z, as in it has a semi lie-flat seat, fitted to a base or with a seat belt and will be cheaper than the Cloud Z.

Available: June 2018

5. Graco Turn2Reach, £299

Age suitability: Birth until 18kg (around 4 years)
i-Size: No
Rear-facing until: 13 months
Cost of base: included in the price
Travel system compatible: No

This new Group 0+/1 car seat from Graco can not only rotate 360 degrees, but also allows babies to lie-flat.

Fitted in the car with ISOFIX connectors, the Turn2Reach can be in the lie-flat position while travelling in the car up until your baby weighs 10kg.

It’s not travel system compatible, but this seat is rear-facing until 13kg and the swivel function makes it easy to get baby in and out of the car.

Available January 2018

6. Britax Dualfix i-Size, £370

Age suitability: Birth until 18kg (around 4 years)
i-Size: Yes
Rear-facing until: 4 year
Cost of base: Included in price
Travel system compatible: No

Another best-selling car seat that’s been given an i-Size face-lift. The original, multi award-winning Britax Dualfix was one of the first to introduce a 360-degree rotating base, and one of the first rear-facing for longer seats.

This new i-Size version has all the much-loved Dualfix features, but is now i-Size and so has additional side impact protection and ISOFIX connectors among other things.

Available: December 2017

7. Cybex Sirona Q i-size, £350

Age suitability: Birth until 18kg (around 4 years)
i-Size: Yes
Rear-facing until: 4 year
Cost of base: Included in price
Travel system compatible: No

Cybex are overhauling its collection of car seats, as we saw with the Cloud Z. Part of the change comes with the Sirona, the new Sirona Q is now not only i-size compatible, but also has a rotating base.

A unique change that Cybex has incorporated into the new Group 0+/1 seat is that you use a 5-point harness from birth to 15 months and then you can use an impact shield up to 4 years.

Available June 2018

8. Be Safe IZI Flex Fix, £300

Age suitability: 15kg until 36kg (around 4 years)
i-Size: Yes
Rear-facing until: Forward-facing only
Cost of base: Included in price
Travel system compatible: No

Winner of the Innovation award at the 2017 Kind & Jugend trade fair, this Group 2/3 seat is one of the first to comply with the second stage of the new i-Size law. Previously the i-size legislation only applied to infant or Group 0+ and Group 1 seats.

However, the law is developing to cover seats for older children (from about 100 to 150cm in height), so they are tested at higher speeds and with a more developed test dummy which are used in ADAC testing.

The new Be Safe IZI Flex Fix has a lockable ISOFIX base, height adjustable headrest and new side impact protection and specially designed side guards for improved lateral impact safety.

What’s more it has additional guides for the hip belt so it sits in the optimal position against your child’s hips. It’s also quite narrow as a seat, so can fit into the back of a car that has 3 ISOFIX points.

Available March 2018

9. Diono Radian Max, £295

Age suitability: Birth until 36kg (around 12 years)
i-Size: No
Rear-facing until: 25kg (around 5-6 years)
Cost of base: included in price
Travel system compatible: No

Hot on the heels of the ground-breaking Diono Radian 5, the new Radian Max has been designed to last from birth to around 12 years.

The Radian Max (like the Radian 5) has a longer-lasting rear-facing position and harness that means it can be used rear-facing to 25kg – around 5-6 years. However, the Max is a Group0+/1/2/3 seat, and has a harness that can be used in forward-facing mode to 36kg, which is around 12 years.

Available: Summer 2018

10. MiFold HiFold,£150

Age suitability: 125cm (around 7 years) until 36kg (around 12 years)
i-Size: No
Rear-facing until: Forward-facing only
Cost of base: None
Travel system compatible: No

From the makers of the foldable booster cushion the MiFold, comes the MiFold HiFold, a Grab and Go High Back Booster seat.

Made of ‘Space-age’ dense memory foam, it is a high-backed booster that has side impact protection plus head support and can be folded into atravel bag, which can be carried like a rucksack.

Available September 2018

We've got more brilliant baby products for 2018...

Hazelann WilliamsFormer Reviews Editor

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.

1. UPPAbaby Mesa car seat, £200