Moving 3yr old from rear-facing to forward facing?

[Zimbah]

I'm at the point of needing to get a group 1 car seat for 3 year old DD2, but am not sure whether to give her DD1's Britax 2 way elite and put DD1 in a forward facing, or to have them both in a 2we. Our car will fit two 2we's although it might be a bit irritating not being able to easily move the drivers seat. I just wonder whether, although DD1 will technically fit the 2we for a long time, she might be more comfortable in a forward facer in a year or so - in which case, should I just swap her now rather than paying out for two different car seats. She's currently around 14kg and fairly short. The other thing is, if she was forward facing she'd be able to see/play with her sister much more easily, which I think would be an advantage on long car journeys

[lorrikeet]

have a look at the britax evolva 1-2-3:
suitable for 9 months to 12 years.

I thought it was brilliant: five point harness for young ones, and then it converts to a comfy child seat for when they get older. My son is 8 but the size of an average 12 yo and he's just grown out of his. Its forward facing, but at 3 years, surely your child wants to see what's going on?
two rear facing seats won't last you long now imo.

[Kangarobber]

I'd go for the 2we. It's safer, and they're as big as the F group 1 seats, so will last just as long.

[brachy]

My DD used her FF TWE with rhe 5 point harness until she was 6.5 years old, it is a great, long lasting seat...and you can keep it rear facing if you so wish!

[Biscuitsandtea]

I might be wrong on this, but I thought you had to be 15kg to go in a in the Forward facing booster seat? I though most of the group 1's go up to 18kg but the group 2's don't start until 15kg?

I might be wrong, and I might also have misunderstood all the different car seats as I know nothing about all the group 1 rear facing ones.

Hope I've not confused matters!!

[justforinfo]

A group 1 lasts until 18kg or the child's eyes are level with the top of the seat.

The Evolva 1,2,3 will last with a harness to 18kg and then converts to a high backed booster

The TWE can go front or rear facing to 25kg with the harness. Which even front facing will be better than the Evolva as she'd be harnessed longer

So I think Two-Way Elite

[Biscuitsandtea]

That ties in with what I was told I think. We have the evolva 1-2-3 as one of our ar seats and have just converted it to take the harnesses out.

In addition I think the car seats that start at group 2 mostly you need to be 15kg to use those, ie the forward facing booster seats that use the adult belt rather than a harness. I think......

That was my worry, although as I say I might be confused, that if the OP just went for a group 2 then 14kg might not be heavy enough.

[Biscuitsandtea]

But from what you say something like that TWE would avoid that issue anyway, as they'd still be harnessed.

[justforinfo]

ahhhhh I see! oops yes it's 15kg minimum for a high back booster, but it is a minimum not a target, so if a child is in the evolva they should keep the harness until they reach 18kg or the straps cannot go any higher, then as a high back :)

[Biscuitsandtea]

Agreed, so you presumably wouldn't want to be out of a harness before 15kg.

I think that's what I meant - once again my ability to muddy the waters raises its head!!!

[justforinfo]

teehee! It's normally me confusing the life out of people! :D

[Zimbah]

Thanks for all the responses, very helpful. Just noticed I made a mistake in my OP saying that DD2 was 3yrs old, actually it's DD1 that's 3yrs and 14kg, and 9mo DD2 that needs to move out of her baby seat. But you all seemed to know what I meant anyway . I hadn't really twigged that we could turn the 2we round to forward facing later on, although the clue's in the name! And it sounds like the fact that she'll be harnessed for a long time means that the 2we would be safer than a normal forward facing seat which she'd use the adult seatbelt with.

My only quibble with that is DD really dislikes that harness and complains nearly every journey that it's too tight, so we would have all that for a lot longer if she stays harnessed. Although, I'm sure if she didn't fidget so much it wouldn't rub against her and feel too tight.

And if we did decide to get her a new seat then we'd look at the Britax Evolva, which presumably is a taller seat than the 2we so height-wise would last for longer.