gb Vaya i-Size Car Seat

We bought this car seat for our toddler as it was getting difficult to put him in and out of the seat. The spin design makes this a doddle as he faces us, and we just spin him rear facing once he’s strapped in.
He appears comfortable and settles well in the seat. Plenty of head support and no visible head flop. This car seat is plus tested to a good safety level! It can be difficult to spin on occasion but does not affect its use. The crotch pad can be annoying also as it gets trapped between his legs when we take him out and it comes off the seat then and can be easily lost if not noticed!

I purchased this car seat after having to replace my first seat after being in a car accident and I wish I had had this one from the start. It is very robust and padded so I know my baby is safe. She is very small for her size and is snug and kept secure. The padding on the straps ensure she is comfortable across both her chest and legs. The swivel mechanism is so easy to use and means I can put her in the car easier and now she is bigger she can climb in herself before I turn her rear facing. She has plenty of foot space at aged 2 now rear facing. Lovely design and modern fabric. It is also completely washable and goes back together easy! I will be buying another for when my son is born!

This product retails at a very high price, but with a bit of research and online browsing, I found it for about £200 cheaper. Happy days! When it arrived, I realised just how big the seat was, don't expect something compact and light, this is a sturdy, solid chair and base. They do not separate from each other, and so carrying it out to the car is a bit of a struggle when you are only 8 1/2 stone! The chair came with 'guiders' for the connection, which are essentially two plastic tunnels opening up the space between the fabric so the isofix bars can attach easily without damaging your car upholstery. Easy peasy. The supporting leg then folds down and clicks into place (adjustable, which was handy as my Vectra has awkward angles seats) and the red window panel changes to green to let you know it is in place. There is a second panel to show when the seat is in place properly, and not still in 'twist mode'.
The instructions were hidden away inside a little cubby hole within the seat itself, which is handy as you always have them with you. The seat was already set up in newborn mode, and it won't let you twist it to be front facing until you adjust the straps etc to the correct height for a child who can legally face forward. Brilliant safety precaution. As a previous poster said, the little magnets on the side of the seat allow the straps to be held up out of the way while you are taking the child out or placing them in - not essential, but a nice extra. My daughter falls into a deep sleep within minutes of setting off, so it must be comfortable and steady for the child. However, this is the one downside, as already mentioned, once I get to the other end of my journey, I have to lift her out again, rather than being able to lift the seat out and allow her to finish her nap.
Overall, I am glad I spent a bit extra on this bit of kit, as car safety is so important, and when I see my precious little bundle strapped in to this seat, I know it will take the full impact of any bump or scrape, and she is protected as much as possible.

Amazing car seat that rotates 360 degrees, which makes life so much easier when putting the little one in the car seat. It was also very easy to install and after a few clicks we were ready to go. The little one is only 7 weeks old and seems to already enjoy being in the car seat and doesn’t really make a fuss when place in the seat. Twisting it into position is easy, even with baby in the seat. I would totally recommend this car seat.

This is an expensive purchase, but one I do not regret for a second. I will be able to use this with my daughter until she is around 4 years old so I figure it actually works out pretty good value for money.
It makes life so much easier. The swivel action makes getting your child in and out of the seat much more effortless (they also seem to enjoy being spun around!), making the whole process much quicker and because you are facing them directly when you fasten them in, I certainly find that my daughter sits in a more comfortable position. There are several levels of incline depending on how upright you want your child to sit and the height adjustable headrest assures that the car seat grows with your child. From a certain age/size you can rotate the seat round so it is forward facing but a handy safety feature with this is that it will not allow you to turn it forward facing new until the headrest is set at a certain height - ie when your child is legally big enough to sit forward.
We went for the premium fabric finish and it feels very hardy and looks really nice.
A small feature that I actually find so helpful is the magnetic feature of the straps. So on each side of the car seat there is a magnetic patch which the metal on the belt buckle attaches to - meaning the straps can be pushed out of the way whilst you are fastening your child in and then are right to hand when you need them. Like I said, a small feature but an absolute godsend when it’s raining and you don’t want to be faffing around with the straps getting in the way!
Installation is easy and although clearly it is a rather heavy piece of kit, uninstalling is equally as easy if you needed to switch between cars.
It really is a great car seat, and my initial reasons for looking at it as option for us was the rotation action (very helpful with c-section recovery!) and that it was I-size but my expectations have been exceeded.