Mumsnet Talk

My DS is 7 months old and weighs 10.5 kilos (23.5 pounds) and is in the 98th percentile for height. He is looking squished in his maxicosi cabrio, but is too young for the next one up, according to maxicosi he has to be 9 months. So what do I do?

I don't want to put him in a forward facing seat if he isn't ready, but am now starting to have to take his coat off before putting him in his carseat!

Please help?

You should be doing that anyway as with the coat on it means the straps aren't sitting where they should. He's not classed as outgrown the seat until his head is out of the top of it.

If he is or coming close have you considered going for extended rear facing? Where the child is rearfacing until they are about 4?

Yeah his head is almost at the top...

What is extending rear facing? I have the maxicosi family fix base so think I can only get the pearl next.

Costs shouldn't be worn anyway due to the straps not fitting tighty enough. You should get another 7 months out of that seat IMO. We swapped at around 15 months as he was on 98th centile

Keep the coat off in the car, change seats once his scalp is level with the back of the seat top, and google Britax 2way elite (a fantadtic rear facing til 4yo seat)

or the beSAfe eziCombi

DD was 98th centile for height and weight, she was over a year before she was out of her cabriofix. I also echo the others, you shouldn't put a coat on him when he's going in the car seat.

Ok cool, I just put his coat on cos he always falls asleep in the car and it saves waking him up to put it on. I'm glad he can stay in the cabrio for a while longer as I really didn't feel comfortable putting him in a forward facing one yet! Thanks

check out www.rearfacing.co.uk/ for why he should stay rear facing as long as possible and for ideas for other rear facing car seats.

Am sure I was told that baby's eye level could be in line with top of car seat before he/she had outgrown it. Could be wrong though, it was a while ago.

Thats for the upright ff ones. With the little bucket seats, as they are tilted back. Its the top of the head as in an accident the body will slide up a couple of inches anyways.

I thought that too Smarties but it is wrong. It's definitely when their head is level with the top of the seat.

We got a Britax 1st class plus because DS outgrew his 0+ carrier lengthways (98th centile) but was still light enough to RF (despite being on the 91st centile for weight! Tubbs was 9kg by 6m!) We managed to keep him RF until 18m in that, then he reached the 13kg limit so we turned him.

DS is 99.6% percentile for his height and we managed to keep him in his MaxiCosi until he was 13 months. We took him to a great independent shop near us and the specialist told us he was fine when we questioned his size at 9 months. She also said to keep them in the rear facing seat as long as possible as it is so much safer - not just in a collision (God forbid) but just when braking too.

DS1 was 95th centile for height and weight. I think we put him in the next size seat just after he was 9 months, which was the limit recommended for our next stage car set (Brittax onethat we got from SIL). He's now nearly 3 and we have the same problem again as he's still very tall. We've luckily ow found a sage 1-3 car seat that can do him for a little longer with a 5 point harness, as he'd outgrown his old one....

Its not about the age as such. The most important thing is head control, can the child sit unaided for 15 mins? If yes then you should move him up. The main reason why you shouldn't move a baby too soon is because of the head control in the rear facing carseat they head would just roll whereas forward facing they would jolt forward. That is why the head control is important as is the weight. My dd moved up when she was 8 months as she was the right weight and she could control her head. Sorry to go on its just this is my line of work as I am a car seat fitter for mothercare

Afsana1 My 6 month old can sit for 15 minutes but there is no way she would be safer in a ff carseat. Not sure your advice is that good to be honest.

Sorry Afsana but thats not correct."can the child sit unaided for 15 mins? If yes then you should move him up" My DD could at 6mth old sit up for 15minutes and she is no where near big enough for forward facing at nearly 14mths. Sadly mothercare (and halfords) have been giving out poor advice for years on this and only now starting to stock ERF seats due to public demand (and a forthcoming change in the law)

The reason that the head matters is because of the size of it in relation to the body.

Its all explains on the besafe site here

www.besafe.com/en/5X-Safer/Rear-facing-car-seats-are-safer

Forward facing child car seats - subjecting the neck and head to considerable strain.

Small children are not miniature versions of adults. Their heads are disproportionately heavy, their backs and neck vertebra are under-developed and their reflexes and ability to react are poor. If a child is sitting forward facing in a collision its head will be thrown violently forwards, subjecting the neck and head to considerable strain. The child also risks injuries from impact with the front seats or from fragments flying into the part of car where they are sitting.

Traveling with rear facing car seats will greatly reduce the stress on the neck

If the muscles in a child's neck are subject to too great a force, the consequences may be catastrophic. By being seated in a rear facing position you will greatly reduce the stress inflicted on the neck.

When a collision occurs at 50 km/h (31 mph) the stress inflicted on the neck of a child that weighs 15 kg and is seated in a forward facing position will be the equivalent of 180-220 kg. If the child instead is seated rear facing, the stress would be reduced to 40-60kg. At the same time the car seat will protect the child from debris flying around in the car.



Baby’s head represents a large part of total body weight

A child's body is not a copy of a grown person. It’s important to realize that your child is not a copy of you. The most essential difference is the size of the head. For a baby that is 5 months old, the head represents 25% of its body weight. For a grown person the head represents only 6%.



The statistics speak for themselves

Independent studies of real traffic accidents carried out by Volvo and Folksam show that your child, up to the age of 4 years, has a 5 times greater chance of surviving and/or avoiding serious injury if sitting rear facing rather than forward facing in the car. Traffic accident studies from Volvo show that amongst children sitting rear facing in the age group 0-4 years, only 8% was injured and needed medical assistance. For children sitting forward facing in the same age group, 40% of the children needed medical assistance.

Obviously you wouldn't move a 6 month old that's ridicoules but with a 8 month old who is closer to the guideline you would consider as they are other factors that contribute to the child's safety as in the harness is sitting, how far off the head is from the top etc. you need to see where the child is safer.

And watch this video about the coat issue

http://youtu.be/0mtZpD08BpI

youtu.be/0mtZpD08BpI

What do you mean about the harness Afsana?

Afansa is that what you've been told in training?? That's shocking. Current UK RoSPA advice is to keep them in the bucket seat (or rear facing in a convertible seat) for as long as possible, which means until their head reaches the edge or they reach the weight limit of the seat. Absolutely nothing to do with whether they can sit up or not.

Kids should be rear facing as long as possible. DD is in oy klippan ERF seat at 3, she has no complaints and can see out of the windows fine. I'm not sure why people are so keen to put kids in front facing seats in UK.

It really is old fashioned dangerous advice. I do wonder how often training is updated and redone