Ickle Bubba Radius 360 Spin Car Seat review

A rotating baby car seat lets you buy one seat that will stay in your family for longer, adapting and growing as your baby becomes a child.

The Ickle Bubba Radius 360 Spin seat is designed to take your child all the way from newborn to seven years old, starting them off facing rearwards and then spinning around so they can see out the front of the car from around 15 months onwards.

The benefit of having this seat is that you can keep your children rear-facing for longer – this being safer when babies are younger, due to the development of their muscles. So when they are old enough, there’s no need to shell out for a new unit.

Here's how testers Tom, dad of two, and Gemma, mum of two, got on when he spent some time with the Ickle Bubba Radius 360 Spin.

Related: Best car seats

Ickle Bubba Radius overview

Key features

360-degree rotating

The Ickle Bubba Radius 360 can be spun through a complete circle and in either direction. This means that it can be fitted on either side of your car and it is easy to turn it forwards or backwards, depending on which way you need it.

Extended rear-facing

The rear-facing position on the Ickle Bubba Radius can be used for longer than many standard car seats, up to 13kg (around 15 months). That said, many car seats now offer extended rear-facing for longer than this.

Testing the Ickle Bubba Radius 360 Spin Car Seat

Tom's review:

The Ickle Bubba Radius 360 was tested in a Dacia Jogger and sited in the seat behind the passenger seat. Our junior tester was 20 months old, so she was seated facing forward in the car right from the start.

The seat spent the majority of its time in the Dacia, but was also moved around to a selection of other new vehicles including a Mazda CX-60 and a Suzuki Across, which meant that we needed it to be easily portable and easily clipped in and out when we’re running late for the school run.

Because of the location of our daughters’ respective school and nursery, they have to go into the car most days, so ease and speed of use is paramount for us when it comes to a seat – fiddly straps and stiff mechanisms can be a real pain when stress levels are high.

Because our youngest daughter is at an age when she is seemingly continually demanding snacks, we also value durability and simplicity when it comes to cleaning it out, either when crumbs or dropped or if there is a more catastrophic incident that requires a deeper scrub.

As well as the main benefit of a rotating seat growing with your child, the other huge bonus comes when you are getting your little one in and out of the car. By spinning the seat around so your child is facing you through the car door it makes the angles notably easier for all concerned. Rather than having to twist around to get a wriggling baby, or toddler, into the seat you can approach the car straight on.

The Ickle Bubba Radius 360 locks into position with a defined click, and you release it to spin it by pulling on a lever at the front, situated just above the supporting leg. It releases relatively easily, so you can give the seat a slight nudge to get it out of its locked position. It is possible while holding a small child, but it is a little fiddly. Strangely, it also locks into place when facing sideways, too, which doesn’t really serve a great purpose as there was never any chance of it moving while we got Bea in or out.

We found that the stuck out a little too far when it was locked in position facing outwards, which meant it was close to the side of the car and the door nudged into it when it was closed. It never felt as though it was going to get damaged, as a result of this and we were able to solve the problem by leaving the seat at a slight angle.

The straps are released by pushing on a little button just in front of the buckle – push it down and then pull on the strap. The padding remains in place, though, which we liked as it made it easier to get Bea settled in the correct position. The underside is slightly grippy, too – without feeling too tacky – which meant that the straps always stayed in place, even with some strong wiggling at times.

You pull on a single strap that sticks out of the bottom of the seat to tighten it, and it is simple in theory but it does take a bit of jiggling to get it tight enough to be up against Bea’s chest.

We also liked the adjustable nature of the seat, and how it can be tilted to different angles. Bea loves to look forward and engage with everyone around her the majority of the time, but at others, we have tried to encourage her to sleep in the car so being able to lie her back a little was handy. It’s an easy one-handed process to adjust the angle, too.

Moving the seat from car to car was fairly simple, as it isn’t as heavy as some rotating seats – we have used a Britax rotating seat in the past and that was much bulkier and harder to move around. I could carry the Ickle Bubba Radius one-handed, and the leg doesn’t flap around while you carry it.

The ISOFIX bars made fitting it to a car slightly fiddly. They are independent of one another and are not joined together with a bar like other seats. This means that you have to guide each connector into the ISOFIX point by hand. If both were joined together then you can normally slot one in and then give the seat a nudge and the second one clicks into place. Instead, I found myself leaning over the seat or walking around to the other side of the car.

The leg height can be adjusted thanks to a small button and it is relatively easily done, but it doesn’t have any kind of indicator to show whether it is seated properly.

Given the ease of use, the features and how adaptable the Radius 360 is it represents fantastic value for money. The downside is that it doesn’t meet the most stringent and most recent safety requirements – it is an R44/04 seat rather than an iSize one.

Gemma's review:

We were looking for a comfortable car seat that would last us a few years, with a high level of safety.

We have used the Joie 360 Spin car seat, which our second child is now using. In comparison, the Ickle Bubba offers the same level of safety, comfort and usability, however it is a better price than the Joie.

The Joie Elevate Group 1/2/3 car seat, which we tried before the Ickle Bubba Radius, bore no comparison to this one. Whilst a much cheaper seat, it felt less secure, didn't provide the same level of safety features, and offered much less comfort and minimal padding.

We tested the Ickle Bubba with our just turned 4 year old. Testing for its safety, comfortability, and ease of use on both short trips as well as longer journeys.

We have been extremely impressed with this model and our son has been happy and comfortable on all journeys.

My husband installed the car seat, as its quite big and heavy to lift. It's all in one piece ready to fit in the car so he found it really easy to fit; taking only a couple of minutes. He also removed the seat later to swap into our other car and this was similarly straightforward.

The seat feels very robust and secure, and the build and quality of the safety features offered are undeniable. We love that the seat allows you to keep your child rear-facing for longer, and that the 38-degree recline is a safer position for newborns - as well as being helpful for car naps - so intend to use this for our next baby. It's worth noting that there is no canopy/sun shade on this model, so I would look to purchase a suitable sun shade for the window.

Comfort is excellent, with quality padding, removable newborn insert, and head and body attachments. Our son commented on how comfortable the seat belt buckle padding and straps were. His arms rested easily on the sides and he looked snug and secure.

We've found the Ickle Bubba Radius perfect for our 4 year old, as it feels a great deal more safe and secure than other models we've tried, and much more comfortable for him. Plus we know it will last our family a few more years.

It might be a consideration, for those looking to use with a newborn, that it is fixed in place so you cannot carry it out of the car, place it on a buggy or use it with a travel system. But the ease of the 360 spin, recline option and high level of safety with the ISOFIX, I feel, are a worthy trade.

Final verdict

The Ickle Bubba Radius 360 is comparatively affordable for a spinning seat but doesn’t feel like a cheap alternative. There are some drawbacks – the ISOFIX connections are a bit fiddly, as are the straps, and it doesn’t come with the reassurance of being an iSize conforming seat. However, it kept our daughter well strapped in, was easily moved around and was simple to adjust.