Choosing a car seat as a new parent can feel like a chore. When there’s so much on the market, it’s difficult to narrow down the one.
Then you have to keep up with the driving rules, am I allowed to have my child front-facing? From what age? Do they have to be a certain weight? Do I need a car seat base? Can I just strap the car seat in?
These were a few of the 1000 questions running through my mind as a first-time-mum when I had my daughter. I ended up going down a rabbit hole of information only to be overwhelmed further and shutting my laptop after getting no where.
Fast-forward to 1.5 years on, I am now what I would call a seasoned mother who is on the hunt for a car seat for my 17-month-old toddler, who seems to have outgrown her current Cybex Cloud Z i-size.
But this time, I’m armed and I know what I’m looking for.
Ideally I would like a car seat that can be used for future babies as well. So, over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be sharing my very honest reviews of a selection of car seats on the market. This week it’s the Cybex Anoris T i-size. How does it compare to the rest? Read on to find out.
Cybex Anoris T i-size
Price: £439.95 on Cybex website (price correct at time of writing).
The review
Well, well, well, where do I even start. The Cybex Anoris T has actually surprised me as I never thought I would let my child forward face until she was at least three-years-old.
But, this car seat is the only one I would use if I wanted to transition my toddler from rear-facing. Let’s start with its safety feature first, as that’s the most important part of this review.
As far as forward-facing car seats go, the Cybex is the world’s first that features an integrated full-body airbag. The airbag is part of the strap which sits on top of the child’s torso.
Though it means a bulkier strap, it also means my chatty and social toddler can face me while I drive, without me having to worry on her safety being compromised. In terms of comfort, my toddler seemed pretty relaxed during our one hour drive across London.
Usually she would start fussing after 20 minutes but as she was able to see us, it definitely helped eased the journey.
The car seat comes with an attached base, which easily fits onto the seat. It looks and feels luxurious and it also has a very easy recline feature with three settings, which you can access even if you’re sitting in the front seat.
This is great if your kid falls asleep, without disturbing them you can place them in a more comfortable position.
Though it’s easy to install and recline, the only issue I found was that it does not rotate 360 degrees like the Ickle Bubba Radial 360. This means getting your child in and out of the car might be trickier — especially if they fall asleep.
Alongside this, the car seat has no option to rear-face, though that’s most likely due to the full body airbag which marks the question, why would anyone even want to rear-face if the safety feature is in place?
Price wise I would say it’s quite expensive. However, I believe you’re paying for the safety technology because the Anoris T i-Size gives approximately 50% more protection than comparable seats, according to Cybex.
All in all, personally I think it’s worth the investment especially if you have a fussy toddler who hates rear-facing. I would knock off a point as it doesn’t rotate, but for comfort, safety and ease, it’s probably one of the best on the market making the price justified.
