It's possible to buy seats that combine one or more groups, for example group 0+/1, 0-18kg, 40-105cm, or from birth to around four-and-a-half-years old. These are known as multi-group or combination seats. Once your child no longer needs their car seat, you may struggle to know what to do with it. Some choose to hold onto it for a second child, others may give to a family member and some might throw it away. In performing a mifold safety review, the million dollar question for CPSTs is how well the lap belt fits. It’s generally easy enough to adjust shoulder belt fit with a clip, but the lap belt positioning is primarily based on the design of the booster seat and the child’s build; sometimes the specific car’s seatbelt geometry can come into play as well. There’s really no way to change the lap belt fit.

We have been using the Hifold for a few months now for my 6-year-old. We were looking for something comfortable but we also needed something that we could easily fold down and travel with. So far we are quite satisfied with the Hifold car seat because we can adjust the seat belt using the lap and shoulder guides so our child is more secure. We also feel more comfortable taking this on our travels because it still has the side impact protection and headrest side protection which many travel booster seats don’t have. Would we recommend the Mifold and Hifold Booster Car Seats? This diagram from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is extremely helpful in understanding how to judge lap belt fit. If it’s too high, the seatbelt can cause severe abdominal injury (also called “seatbelt syndrome”) in a crash. If it’s too low, the child’s pelvis can be rotated forward and cause them to slide down in a crash – again resulting in abdominal injury. Image credit of IIHS My kids found the mifold a bit uncomfortable for sitting for long periods of time because it doesn’t have much padding. We also struggled to get the right belt fit a bit more than compared to the BubbleBum. But I know many families prefer it because it’s even more compact. The mifold can be a smart choice for shorter rides when space is really at a premium. UK law states that a child must use a car seat until they're 12 years old or 135cm tall - whichever comes first. However, safety experts recommend using a car seat until they're 150cm.As I mentioned above, the new mifold comfort is approved for visitors to use in almost every country. If it fits a child well, that’ll be a huge relief for parents worried about the legality of using an American car seat on vacation. mifold comfort vs mifold original When it’s unfolded it can shrink and expand every which way to fit a huge size range of kids – hence, the “hifold fit-and-fold” name.

Child car seats are bought in two ways: either according to your child's car seat weight group or according to the child's height. So Group 0+ is from 0-13kg and an i-Size baby car seat is from 40-85cm – that's from birth to about 12-15 months old. But when it comes to fit and safety, I feel much more comfortable with my kids in the hifold than I would in the mifold. One big issue many car seat safety advocates and CPSTs have with mifold is that the lap belt guides sit really far forward, sometimes mid-thigh rather than at the top of the thighs – see my 7 year old daughter below. Some owners have also reported that the width-adjustable belt guides can sometimes adjust themselves unexpectedly.On a previous Morocco road trip we had brought our car seats from home as we hired a car at Marrakech airport and had the car for the entire trip. So there was no lugging around from place to place. We just had to get the car seats from home to the UK airport, and then from Marrakech airport to the hire car. This really wasn’t too much of a faff at all. But for longer term travels where we wouldn’t always have our own car, lugging our main car seats around is just not feasible. Our advice would be to look out for a modular system – one that uses a base which is also compatible with a rear-facing baby car seat and then a rear-facing toddler seat. Fitting advice for carrycot car seats If you’re shopping for a 3-5 year old, you’re probably also considering the Ride Safer Travel Vest ( full review here). The Ride Safer has the advantage that the top tether keeps even wiggly/sleepy kids from bending or slouching out of place. The vest is also a fraction of the size.

Like the mifold comfort, the hiccapop Uberboost ( full review here) wasn’t ideal for our petite kids but could work well for bigger carpool buddies who sometimes ride with us. It’s another inflatable booster seat but gives a little more space for broader kiddos than the Bubblebum. It’s hollow inside so you can probably roll it small than this, and at 1lb 3oz it’s 6oz lighter than the mifold comfort. However, my kid hated the optional shoulder belt clip and won’t use the seat until he’s tall enough to avoid it. hiccapop Uberboost vs mifold: folded size mifold vs Graco RightGuide If possible, try to buy your car seat from a retailer with a fitting service and trained fitters. You may be able to phone up and make an appointment. The store should also be able to take the seat out to your car after you've bought it and fit it properly there. Our guide on how to fit a baby or child car seat has more details. Before you can get to installing the hifold booster seat in your car, there is some preliminary set up. The manufacturer advertises 243 unique combinations thanks to the wide variety of adjustments, so it’s helpful to do a preliminary try with your kid before you’re in a high-pressure travel situation. What about at the top of the size range? The hifold is designed to fit kids up to 100 pounds and 59” tall! Wowza. I don’t have a kid that big to test it with, but it gets mighty tall as you’ll see below. You’ll have noticed that hifold has both height and weight limits. This is a result of the category under which it is certified under the European and US standards; hifold is classified as a group 2-3 child restraint and therefore its corresponding weight limit ranges from 15 to 36 kg.i-Size is part of R129, a regulation for child car seats introduced in 2013. The idea behind i-Size is that all car seats with the i-Size logo will fit in all i-Size approved cars.