Nursery product reviews
£295.00
Axkid Minikid Review
Axkid work to design and provide car seats in line with the philosophy that rear facing car travel is safest. Here at Mumii, we have been taking a look at the Minikid car seat to see just what it offers!
Nursery Product Review
The Axkid Minikid is a rear facing car seat to fit children from 9kg right up to 25kg, and has passed a series of rigorous safety tests to ensure your child is kept safe when travelling. With lots of extra little features, could this be the car seat for you? Let’s take a closer look!
What’s in the box?
• Minikid car seat
• Instruction manual
• Tether straps
Price
The RRP of the Axkid Minikid is £295
Colours
Black or red
Specifications
• Car seat Group: Group 1 and 2
• Child weight: 9-25kg
• Childs Age: 9 months – 7 years approx.
Minikid Axkid - Installation in the vehicle
When you unpack the Minikid car seat there is a slight tendency to panic – there are a set of tether straps, and many of us will never have used such a thing before. But don’t panic – it’s not complicated and it takes minutes to install.
The tether straps go in first – you can either thread them around the runners of the front seat, or you can feed through the front seat itself, between the seat and the back rest. Once you have looped them through, you simply feed the buckle through the loop in the tether strap and pull tight. That’s the tether strap installed. These can then be left in your car all the time, even if you remove the seat – so it is not something that needs to be installed every time you use the seat.
Pop the seat into the car, facing backwards, and open the seatbelt clasps on the sides of the seat. Then feed the seatbelt through the holes in the seat and click the seatbelt in before securing the seat belt clasps to keep it tight against the seat. Then you just pull down the tether strap on the rear of the seat and attach to the tether anchor points that you installed earlier before popping the support leg down onto the floor of the car. If you then rock the seat from side to side you will hear a series of clicks – when these click stop you know the seat is secured tightly – total peace of mind.
Axkid Minikid Safety and Security
The Axkid Minikid has been crash tested in accordance with ECE 4404 and has passed the rigorous Swedish Plus Test – currently the strictest car seat standard so you can really rest assured that your child is travelling in the upmost safety.
Having installed the car seat you will appreciate just how secure it really is – the tether straps and support leg make for a truly sturdy car seat that doesn’t move. There are very deep side wings, that not only support your child in the seat but also offer great side impact protection.
The harness on the Axkid Minikid offers superb security for smaller travellers. Once you have popped the child in the car seat, you simply pull the tail strap to tighten the straps as usual – and the Minikid automatically adjusts the height position of the shoulder straps – meaning that no matter what weight or height your child is, the harness will always be in the right position. No more fiddling around with strap adjustment, and removing the element of doubt.
Axkid Minikid day to day use
So we have established that the Minikid is safe and secure, but how comfortable is it, and how practical as an everyday car seat? I was pleasantly surprised. There is a thick layer of padding all over the car seat to make a comfortable place for little heads and bottoms. The headrest adjusts automatically with the harness, so you know that your child will always have a correctly positioned head rest cushion.
I especially like the recline on this seat. You often find that with car seats that are designed to accommodate older children, you sometimes lose the recline feature, which is a real shame – even my 8 year old will occasionally fall asleep in the car and a recline is so useful. The Minikid recline is simple to use – there is a lever at the front of the seat. Just push in the button and adjust the height of the lever – this then changes the angle of the car seat accordingly.
People tend to worry that there will not be enough leg room with rear facing car seats, but this isn’t the case. The way the seat is installed leaves plenty of leg room, even for older children. If more space is needed, you can slide the car seat towards the front seat and install with the heel of the seat over the front of the car seat to provide more leg room.
Axkid Minikid Conclusion
I really like the Axkid Minikid – it offers a lot in one reasonably small package. Installation is a tad fiddly, but nowhere near as complicated as you first think and once the tether straps are installed it is ever so straightforward. It may be a tight fit if you have a very small car – but let’s be honest, how many parents of young children actually have very small cars? Not many.
I love the clever automatic adjusting harness – there is no more worrying about whether the harness is adjusted correctly or whether the harness is sitting in the right place on your little ones shoulders. I also love the ‘click to fit’ installation guide – you just rock the seat until the clicks stop and you just know that seat is not going anywhere – it makes installing the car seat much easier, even if you are alone.
Designed to last from 9 months – 7 years approx. it is good value for money, and has a whole host of features that make it worth spending your hard earned cash on – the recline, the deep side wings and the extended rear facing option make for a versatile and worthwhile investment, and you can be sure that you are offering your child the ultimate way to travel safely.
We give the Axkid Minikid 4.5 out of 5 stars
