Please tell me the truth about car seats…

I read something which said whilst 135cm is the law in this country, European countries and science suggest a booster seat is sensible to 150cm.
My 9 year old, almost 10 is 135cm and will do without a booster for a short 2-3 minute drive as an emergency. However, standard in this house is 150cm

I don't care what her friends do.

Yet you post his photo on random message boards with no concern for his digital privacy

there was literally no need for a photo of your child

the mind boggles

Things to remember lots of cars seem to be badly designed for seat belts, esp in the back seats, where you can't lift the seat up.

I can only guess its because they are designed for adult males, broader shoulders and no boobs. Boobs get in the way of seat belts.

Lots of females in the UK don't ever reach 150cm (4ft 11), which I'm sure is part of the reason UK law is 135cm (4ft 5).
I have a couple of friends who are barely 4ft 10.

Might be a Scottish thing and I did see a comment on MN about someone going to a Scottish wedding and none of the females were over 5ft 2.
But a lot of the Asian ladies also seem to be on the shorter side too.

Neither dc will be in the front for a while, the back seats are just safer. We are very lax with some parenting things but not cars. Dh was in a horrible car crash some years ago and we both agree that as we can make being in cars safer for dc, we will.

I also have a booster seat for when we take one of dds friends out. He doesn't use any kind of seat in his car and goes in the front. He is too large for a high back booster but it's my car so I want him safe.

Dd1 is 9, 140cm and she still uses a high back one. She has just got too large for it (I said it was her thick winter coat but in fairness she looks a bit squashed without it too!). I think the backs remove from ours to make it an isofix booster. She has questioned it a few times but I have told her that is is safer. And she can see out the window better which she agreed with!

My 7 year old girl is 132cm and no way will she be out of a car seat soon. I will stick to the European 150cm till I let her in the car without a car seat. Only once has she ever been in a car without a car seat which was this year when she became really ill while our car was in the garage and I needed to get a taxi to the drs. I felt on edge the whole 6 minute drive. I did not feel comfortable at all. If she hadn't have been too ill we would have walked in the rain.

I think to depends on height rather than age.

I don't understand this. Accidents can happen anywhere!

We were the family that made our DCs use booster seats until the law said they didn't need to. Loads of their friends didn't. We even had one of their friend's mums letting FOUR of them squeeze into the back seat together on one journey. They never got into that car again!
Car seats are a funny one as they law is there for a reason but many parents seem to think they know better about how the impact in a car crash will affect their child. You do you, OP. Just keep with the mantra of "I don't care what other parents do, they aren't my kid, you are"

People saying about young children in the front check your car manual as some don't allow it. It's generally not recommended to have children under 12 in the front due to the airbags.

Most accidents happen within something like 5km from home so I never understand the logic of using a car seat for a long trip but not everyday local driving. You could be hit by a truck 1km from home or drive the length of the country with no problem.

My 9 year old is over 135cm so occasionally sits in the front for short journeys. But still has a car seat in the back.

🫣

I'm glad you've started this. My just turned 9yr old (130cm) keeps asking why she still has a hbb when none of her friends at school or dance have anything. I have also witnessed this. I've done the whole it's the law and if we ever crash I want to know that I did everything possible to keep you safe, plus we do a lot of motorway driving. Even her dad has tried to question whether she really needs it, despite giving him the same explanation. So a few weeks ago I told him to take out the tape measure and I read them both what the .gov website says while they were stood there. I've compromised and she hops in the back when there are children around, then I pull over up the road and she climbs back in her seat 🙈.

@Scottishwildcat @Lavender2021 Hope you don’t mind me jumping in! I had this pic saved on my phone which I found really helpful 😊 Obviously the 36kg seats will be your longest lasting options 😊 We personally have the Britax MaxSafe Pro and our high centile 4yo is very comfy in it. I still have a spacer that comes with it that can installed infront of the seat to give extra legroom that he is nowhere near needing yet so I know we’ll get a long while out of it 😊

Inverse snobbery adds nothing to these threads.

I have an Axkid One limit of 125cm or 23kg which ever comes first and an Axkid minikid old type so will fit until headrest doesn't fit or 25kg.

Most of the new seat go to 125cm or 36kg. Besafe, axkid and Britax are good brands to look at.

My daughter is about 1 metre tall and 15kg at 4 years old, so not the biggest. So she has a while left going by her red book. Going by her red book the Axkid One might expire before outgrown as its got an 8 year lifespan.

I know I keot my son in a seat much longer than his friends. However, his friends were all about 6 inch bigger than him (and still are at 13). I think he was y5, when we stopped. It was hard, as we frequently took friends for days out.

I was about to contribute til the "don't give a shit" comment.

We had to switch DS to an HBB earlier than I would have liked as he’s over the 100th centile for height and over the limit for 5 point harness. At just turned 7, he’s already over the height for requiring a car seat but will be staying in the HBB for as long as I can feasibly cram him into it!

I had short girls, they reached 135cm at age 11. Most girls were taller than them so by 9/10 they will have reached the height.

Honestly I'd say it's a personal choice. If your daughter meets all the requirements to not be in the car seat anymore but you feel safer with her in it, she's not outgrown it, and she's happy to stay in it, then continue using it. No harm done.

My almost 9 year old is 148cm and we've just started trialing short journeys without the car seat. He seems much happier and comfier without it. He has ASD and getting him in a car seat or even the booster cushion has always been like a form of torture! I'm hoping car journeys will be smoother for us now.

My 7 year old is 136cm, the idea of her not using her seat also seems weird to me, I want her to stay in it till she grows out of it but I can see this topic coming up over the next few years. It makes me really uncomfortable seeing younger/shorter kids sitting in the front seat with just a seatbelt on (have seen a few times on school run).

It depends on their height. My eldest is 8 and only uses a booster for longer car journeys. We don't bother around town. Same as all her friends.
I don't know who all these 8 year olds are with high backed car seats...I've never met one.

Can I ask which rear facing seat you have, please? I’m a big fan of erf but couldn’t find anything that long-lasting.

I agree loads of people take their kids out of them early. I used to see much younger (definitely less than 130cm tall) kids being picked up without them all the time at primary school. Some were not even wearing a seatbelt. But that didn't really seem relevant to my decision. My two are small for their age and had them 2 years longer than friends.