When it comes to great value for money, Joie has it covered with their Every Stage FX car seat – lasting from birth to 36kg. Light enough to transfer easily between cars and quick to adjust, making this clever car seat a great option if you want to easily alter one car seat for two children.
How did this product make your life easier?
Jane: I really like this car seat. As a forward-facing car seat, it ticks all the boxes and is easy to use which helps when you have a toddler and a pre-schooler to accommodate. It's easy to install using the Isofix system and it can flip between using the harness for the younger child and using the car's seat-belt for the older child. It's very easy to store the harness as there are special channels built into the seat to allow for storage - this reduces any lump and bumps and makes for an altogether more comfortable ride for your child. The headrest is very easy to adjust even when the child is in the seat too.
Michelle: This product makes life easier as a mum as it is an easy fit when using the seat belt function. It is a great fit around the child and feels very safe and secure. It is rather big and bulky and not so great when you have a small car as getting your child in and out it a little difficult. I am not sure it made my life any easier and other car seats can do the same job.
Susannah: I love this cat seat. It's great that it can either be rear or forward-facing giving me as a mum the option of how to seat my child. It is also very comfortable and my little boy loved sitting in it either facing forward or backward. The fact that he was comfortable and did not make a fuss made life much easier for me!
Would you recommend this to other mums?
Beth: I would recommend this product as an 18kg seat or as a high back booster, as it is a very well designed and luxuriously comfortable seat that is easy to install and use. Unfortunately, I would not use it in forward-facing toddler mode, partly due to the fact that it scores poorly in crash tests in this mode and partly because it is much safer to keep your child rear-facing until 25kg and then move directly into a high back booster and unfortunately this seat only rear faces to 18kg.
Bridie: I would definitely recommend this product as it grows and adapt as your child grows its easy to fit and easy to adapt as and when you need to easy adjustable straps easy to install rear and forward-facing and design is practical, great product if you looking for one car seat to last you through, lovely seat all around.
Lucy: I would definitely recommend this product due to the quality and overall design of the chair. I love the fact you can use it rearward facing and you can use it through all the stages. Good value for money! The quality of the padding made it extremely comfortable for my little one and she enjoyed travelling in the car for once. We had no problems fitting it in several different cars.
Would you choose this product to win?
Anna: I think it’s a real contender. The padding could do with being a bit thicker, and the fabric a bit softer, but this car seat definitely deserves to be counted as a shortlisted product. The fact that it can be used from birth makes it more appealing to other seats in its category, as others can only be used once the baby has outgrown the newborn seat.
Charlotte: If I wanted to buy a forward-facing seat I would almost certainly choose this seat. The most important part for me was that all my children could use it. It has a really nice design and is apparently quite comfortable. The only reason I wouldn't buy it would be because it's so heavy and this is due to the Isofix but it seems silly to make the seat so heavy when the Isofix can only be used 9kg-18kg.
Jessica: I wouldn’t choose this product above all others because personally I like to use the rotating car seats as it is better for your back. I thought this seat would be better for older children as the main headrest is quite wide. When my toddler leaned back their neck was cricked back when sleeping. It had a very stiff seatbelt retention and took a good few tugs to get it to be tight compared to the single tug on mine.
What changes would you make to this product?
Hannah: The one thing I would change about this product would be to make it spin to make it easier to get a toddler in or out (Joie do already make a car seat like this!) Once you have owned a spin car seat it is hard to go back to a conventional style as the spin function is so handy, it means you can pull the straps tighter and stops you hurting your back!
Anna: The rear-facing setup utilises the seatbelt rather than Isofix. This is quite cumbersome for getting the child in and out of the seat. Also, many parents want the safety guarantees that come with Isofix, so this may be something that puts potential customers off buying this car seat. If the design could be adjusted so it can spin on the Isofix base, this car seat would tick all of the boxes.
Carys: It would need to pass the most stringent safety tests in all positions. If it did, I think this would be an excellent seat, at a very decent price. However, until it passes that test, there’s just no way that I would put my son in this seat. I’m just not prepared to put my son in a seat that only passes the basic tests. Whilst it looks great and my son was comfortable, the point of a car seat is to save his life if ever the worst happens, and I don’t trust that this seat would do so.