Avionaut Stardust 360 car seat review

Getting the right car seat is a decision that combines trust, practicality and a little peace of mind — and the Avionaut Stardust 360 aims to tick all three boxes. This long‑term ISOFIX seat adapts from birth (with optional newborn insert) all the way up to around 12 years old, delivering extended rear‑facing safety up to 125 cm (approximately 21 kg) and then easily transitioning into a high‑back booster mode. Scroll down to find out how our mum tester got on when taking it for a spin.

Testing the Avionaut Stardust 360 car seat

Avionaut has recently launched the Stardust car seat. It is suitable from 40cm to 150cm, equivalent to birth up to 12 years old. Whilst it isn’t cheap at £350, you only need to buy one product to meet your child’s changing needs versus buying up to 3 car seats.

I hadn’t heard of Avionaut before, but they’re a Polish brand that has been around since 2010 and is passionate about children's safety, taking inspiration from the aviation industry. They claim to combine the highest safety standards and rigorous testing with special attention given to ergonomics and comfort. They also involve the medical community in the development of their car seats, so I was excited to see how the Stardust compared to its competitors.

One of the main features of the Avionaut Stardust is its rotating design; forward-facing mode allows a full 360-degree rotation. The seat allows your child to rear face up to 125cm (approximately 5 years old) and is designed so that they have more leg room than they would in similar seats. The “one-hand operation” design allows you to recline and rotate the seat with just one button. The seat has four recline positions in rear-facing mode and three in forward.

The other key features focus on comfort and health. Avionaut say it provides better ergonomic support for your child’s back, improves breathing comfort and minimises the risk of reflux. As a mum of a baby with reflux, this sounded like an appealing option! The headrest is made of memory foam for added comfort and safety.

Like many other mums, I was familiar with some of the big players in the market like Maxi-Cosi, Cybex and Joie. I’m a mum of two, currently on maternity leave from my job working in Customer Experience. Our eldest child is two and a half, and we also have a four-month-old baby.

My two children use Nuna car seats. We started with the Nuna Pipa Lite as part of our pram’s travel system, and then our toddler graduated onto the Nuna Toddler Next, which uses the same rotating base. Both seats score well on safety tests, and having a 360 car seat was really important to me as I have an old back injury. Most people I know switched to a rotating base when their baby grew out of their first car seat, and I don’t know anyone who has regretted it!

Build

On first impression, the Avionaut Stardust is impressive. It’s an all-in-one car seat, where the stability leg tucks away under the seat's base when not in use. It’s a sleek design (available in 6 colours), which looks really comfortable. There’s plenty of cushioning, but it’s made from a breathable material, which was essential given we tested it during a heatwave. It feels like a high-quality product and is very sturdy. The top of the seat seems to be broader than our current toddler car seat, presumably to accommodate children 5+.

The only initial downside was the instruction manual, which I found very confusing as it only contained pictures. As the car seat can be set up for a baby (with infant insert), for young children (61-125cm) and as a booster seat for older children (105-150cm), there are a lot of variations. The manufacturer highlights relevant parts of the image in yellow, but it wasn’t always clear what it should denote, especially in the setup for bigger children. The seat itself also has some confusing images on it.

We live in London, so we don’t use our car daily, but I regularly drive the kids to classes and play dates during the week and on trips further afield at weekends. During the three weeks we tested the car seat, we also did a couple of long trips of 3+ hours, as we went away for a long weekend and test drove some new cars.

We started testing the seat in our old car (a SEAT Ibiza) but also got to use it for a week in our new car (a Volkswagen Tiguan). Our toddler was the main user of the car seat, although with the infant insert (available to purchase separately), it is also suitable from birth.

Usability

My partner installed the car seat. His first observation was how heavy it was, given the combined seat and base – he would normally carry the two pieces of our current car seat separately. However, it was very easy to install. The seat comes with everything you’d expect in terms of Isofix installation, a side bumper impact, an adjustable headrest and secure straps. Our two-year-old prefers to face forward in his current car seat due to leg space, so we tested it like this, but there is the option to rear face up to 125cm.

I struggled with the idea of putting a small baby in such a big seat and not being able to take the car seat out with the baby in it, for example, when they were sleeping and we were unloading the car after the weekend away, it was a real faff.

Despite my baby being on the cusp of the recommended height for using the car seat without an insert, he looked lost without it. With the extra cushioning, he looked really snug and well protected. The insert came in several pieces and was quick to install. The fact that it’s made from recycled materials from the factory is a nice touch.

Performance

Given our current car seat rotates, I was happy that the Stardust rotated effectively without issues. Finding the right button to press was a little bit tricky as it’s tucked away under the front of the seat, but once you know it’s there, it worked well.

I would only ever buy a rotating seat to save your back, but I didn’t think it did anything different to what I’ve seen from other similar seats. The fact that it was all-in-one versus a separate rotating base didn’t seem to make a difference. Avionaut’s product description also mentions its “anti rotation frame” which “increases legroom for your children and ensures easy compatibility with any car”. Despite testing this car seat for a few weeks, I am still none the wiser about what that means!

The straps have padding over the shoulders and around the waist - something the Nuna doesn’t have, which improved comfort. However, I had to remove the waist padding when using the newborn insert, as it was too bulky on my baby.

My toddler objected less to being strapped in than normal, but even when he did wriggle, I found it very easy to fasten the mechanism. However, there is a lot of excess material in the straps, presumably to fit larger children, so it can take a bit longer to pull it all through.

Another slight design flaw is that the strap release instructions are written “Press” on the seat, but the actual button is located below this, which can be a bit confusing.

The car seat has multiple recline positions, although I didn’t feel it reclined as far as either of our Nuna seats. Our toddler managed a few naps in it on our longer journeys, and his head looked better supported. As the recline and rotate buttons are the same, I found it a bit tricky to recline the seat at first, but I quickly got the hang of it.

Final verdict

Whilst we didn’t use the seat as a booster seat for older children, I got my sister’s thoughts on it for her 10-year-old daughter. Her main concern was that the stability leg would be quite uncomfortable for an older child, who’d have to have their legs on either side. While the seat felt roomy for my 2-year-old, it did feel a little cosy for my niece, so I’d like to see it tested with children at the upper end of the size range.

Overall, this is a really good car seat. It scores well for safety but doesn’t compromise on comfort and style. The breathable material was a game changer in the heatwave and meant we didn’t have a sweaty toddler after a long journey. There are some nice features which make life a little easier once you get the hang of them but the real appeal is that it’s one seat which can last potentially 12 years and therefore offers great value for money, especially as you don’t need to buy a separate base.

I don’t see any other major benefits in it being one piece versus two, but it does make it easy to swap it over into a second car. I think it’s a great option for a toddler upwards, but I think I would miss the flexibility of having a more traditional first-size style car seat, which can be easily carried into the house.

Emily Gilbert is the Features & Reviews Editor for Mother&Baby. With a background in both print and digital journalism, she has written extensively on pregnancy, fertility, perinatal mental health, and the best in baby and parenting products. A first-time mum to Theodore, Emily combines her professional expertise with personal experience, offering readers trusted advice and relatable insight. Specialising in product and travel reviews, she stays ahead of the curve on the latest parenting trends and is passionate about showing that life with a little one can still be full of adventure.