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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be considering putting a 7kg child in a 9kg+ car seat

72 replies

strawberrycake · 20/02/2011 12:10

(Please note the 'considering', I haven't done it nor am I saying I will!)

Ds is 9.5 months and on the 98th centile for height. It's become pretty desperate with the car seat situation and we need a new one .Even though it claims to go up to 9kg he's sticking out the ends and it's not safe. Group 1 is 9kg+ and I'm wondering why. He's clearly tall enough/ big enough for them yet he's way off the weight limit as he's skinny.

So is 9kg a guide for the size of the child like they do with clothing, e.g. 3-6months 8kg, or is it something technical that requires a certain weight?

DH says group 1, I'm not sure.

OP posts:
mamatomany · 20/02/2011 12:55

Developmentally his head weighs to much for him to keep control of it in an accident, you want him rear facing for as long as possible.
I'd get a Britax Firtst class if i were you and then turn it forwards when he's 15 months at the earliest.
The thing is once you've turned the seat forwards you can never really go back so put it off as long as possible.

bubbleymummy · 20/02/2011 13:09

Januaryjojo is right - in the group 0 seat if their head is above the back of the seat then they have outgrown it. Feet sticking out the bottom is fine. The ear/eye level being above the back of the seat is for the group 1 seats. ( this is from maxi cosi).

Agree with most of the people saying that the minimum weight for the group 1 is 9kg. It is just not safe to move him into that yet. He should be rearward facing for as long as possible. There are rearward facing car seats that are suitable right up to age 4 or, as some others have suggested, seats that can be turned around once the child reaches a certain weight. Either of those options will mean you won't have to buy another car seat until age 4 or so.

Original poster
strawberrycake · 20/02/2011 13:14

this is what I've decided on. £60 and rear facing for the same amount of time.

OP posts:
ArthurPewty · 20/02/2011 13:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

duchesse · 20/02/2011 14:55

Nutella- what a ridiculous thing to say to lara. My older children are old enough (13, 15, 17) to have been in the era of forward-facing from 9 months. The issue is head control and neck muscles, not weight. If lara's daughter was 9kg at 2 then barring special needs she would have had more than enough head control to withstand a crash in the same way as any other person in the car. (with you there on the diddy daughters lara).

I'm assuming that Nutella you have not tried sharing a car with a small but very determined and assertive person. My DD3 was not 9kg at 15 months. I'm not even sure she is now at nearly 18 months. Her sisters were 10 kg at 24 months. If I tried making them travel rear-facing at those ages we'd not be going anywhere- they'd scream the car down at every trip.

mummytopebs · 20/02/2011 15:04

We were told by the car seat fitting woman in Halfords that is was age as well as weight. My dd was premature and was still in her carry seat car seat at 15 month. She did not weigh the minimum weight for the next stage but the woman who fits the seats advised us the weight was just a guide and as she was 15 months and could support her head etc the next stage was fine.

mamatomany · 20/02/2011 15:04

If I tried making them travel rear-facing at those ages we'd not be going anywhere- they'd scream the car down at every trip.

How would they know any different if they'd always been rear facing ?
If you read the link, up until 4 years old children are at risk from decapitation due to the weight of their heads relative to their bodies.

mamatomany · 20/02/2011 15:05

It's nothing to do with age at all, the woman at Halfords is wrong and it's her job to get you to buy a car seat, noting else.

mummytopebs · 20/02/2011 15:09

Well she has had the training I assume and we were going to buy another carry one which was more expensive so in essence she sold us something worth less. I also asked my health visitor who said it was more on head and neck control rather than weight.

She is 5 now and still only weighs 9.5 kg and now she just has a booster as she is tall and skinny, I couldnt really still fit in her a carry seat

SecretNutellaFix · 20/02/2011 15:15

agree- halfords woman was wrong.

I have very recently (2 weeks ago) had car seat training from one of the leading car seat manufacturers, and the one thing he pointed out to us was that it was a minimum weight, not optional and the child should always be in a weight appropriate carseat.

Duchesse- in a frontal impact car crash, the weight of everything in the car increases by about 25 times it's original, so a box of tissues on the back ledge becomes the equivilent of a house brick.

A child's neck muscles are not going to be sufficient to hold it's head far enough back if the child is very light in weight. Added to which, the straps are set at a level to hold back children of a certain size and if a child's shoulders are too narrow, the child is going to come flying out of the seat.

I think what I said was not unwarranted. It is my truthful opinion.

duchesse · 20/02/2011 15:21

And your box of tissues on the rear parcel shelf (which shouldn't be incidentally) is going to hit your rear-facing baby square in the face rather than the back of the seat. Swings and roundabouts.

duchesse · 20/02/2011 15:27

ps: we know of someone who was killed by his keyboard in an accident. An adult. Another who was killed by his mates sitting behind him without belts. If you crash a car at some speed, damage is likely to occur. Most people will get whiplash from their head keeping travelling during a crash.

Most people also work on the basis that they will not put themselves in the of danger when they get behind the wheel. Apart from the farm boys around here who are just crazy. You could not live your life if you spent all your time panicking about safety rather than coming a logical decision based on all the parameters- one of which is the head size, head control and neck strength of your particular child.

SecretNutellaFix · 20/02/2011 15:29

no it's not. In a crash like that it is going to do what everything in the car will do which is move straight ahead at the increased speed until it reaches a stopping point, usually a windscreen.
If anything, it is going to meet the back seat and lift off slightly, which means it clears the head rest of the front seat.

It doesn't peek over the parcel shelf, notice there's a baby there and decide to drop on it's head!

SecretNutellaFix · 20/02/2011 15:31

and your first paragraph makes the reason for rear facing even stronger. An adult has much more muscle control than a child does, especially a very young child.

OADCB · 20/02/2011 15:32

That Argos seat looks a bit flimsy.

First class is £110 in halfords but can be tricky to fit rearward if belt not long enough. Needs a trained fitter to check it properly.

Can you borrow a bigger infant seat? Some give more room

OADCB · 20/02/2011 15:35

Nutella had an argument with ex today about loose CDs etc being damaging in an accident. Stupid bastard wouldn't listen. I hate my son travelling with him

SecretNutellaFix · 20/02/2011 15:36

I remember one of the programmes, not sure if it was mythbusters/ brainiac, but that type of show, who actually did experiments on a crash rig to show what happened to unsecured items in a crash.
Sobering stuff.

bubbleymummy · 20/02/2011 15:43

It's very sad (and scary!) that so many people are completely unaware of carseat safety basics! Those of you talking about neck control - what utter rubbish! That Halfords woman is very very wrong. Fully grown adults with amazing head control get severe neck injuries in car accidents - children have larger heads in proportion to their bodies so the strain on their necks is much greater and the risk of internal decapitation is a very real one.

Duchesse, my DS2 is the most wilful child you will ever meet and he happily travels rearward facing at age 2. Rearward seats sit higher up than the infant carrier so they can still see out the window and he doesn't know any different! In any case, even if he didn't like it (which he does!) I would much rather have a slightly grumpy child than risk a dead or severely injured one!

mamatomany · 20/02/2011 15:50

She is 5 now and still only weighs 9.5 kg and now she just has a booster as she is tall and skinny, I couldnt really still fit in her a carry seat

You are seriously saying your 5 year old weighs the same as most 15 month olds ?
If that's true a car seat is the least of your worries but all the more reason to protect her in a high backed booster at the very least, they go up to 135cm's the size of most 10 year olds.

mrsunreasonable · 20/02/2011 15:54

The Britax First Class or equivalent installed rear ward facing is absolutely the way to go.

It has nothing to do with head control, fully grown adults can break their necks in car accidents it doesn't bear thinking about what would happen to a baby in the same circumstances with their head's being large and heavy in proportion to their necks.

Please please don't do it my DS2 is the same age as your DS and only a smidge of the 9ky minimum weight for forward facing but the thought of him being forward facing until he is MUCH bigger fills me with dread. His older brother is forward facing and I couldn't give two hoots if this bothers him its tough he is staying rear ward facing as long as possible.

Also please take everything the assistants in Halfords / Mothercare etc with a pinch of salt do your own research from the official road safety websites etc and base your decisions on that not what the sales people say as they have told me some cr*p over the years!

80sMum · 20/02/2011 16:00

Extract from Which? website

Child car seats and height
Few children get too tall for a seat in their weight range
In most cases, the child will reach the weight limit of a child car seat before becoming too tall for it.
However, your child will have outgrown the child car seat if his or her eyes are level with the top of the seat.
If they're below the thresholds suggested above, seek advice from a qualified child car seat expert (contact your local authority's road safety office to find out who this is in your area).
In extreme cases they may advise you to seek advice from a doctor or paediatrician.

Jojay · 20/02/2011 16:08

Another recommendation for Britax First Class. Mine did DS1 until 3.5, now DS2 is in it front facing at 2.5. A well made, comfy seat that has lasted well.

bubbleymummy · 20/02/2011 16:12

80s mum - that is true for the group 1 - forward facing seats. For the group 0 seats if the top of their heads goes over the top of seat they are too big for it. I have spoken to maxi cosi directly about that.

bubbleymummy · 20/02/2011 16:14

Link to FAQs on Maxi cosi here Go to "When should my child move out of his first Maxi-Cosi baby car seat into the next car seat?"

atmywitssend · 20/02/2011 16:21

We took DS to John Lewis at 9 months. He was 98th centile for height and weight. They looked at him in the "baby" seat and roughly measured him before agreeing that he was too big for it and advising us re the next size up. I would thoroughly recommend them (Wellyn(?) Garden City Branch). When we initially phoned to make an appointment to go to see them the man initially said that 9 months was too young and only changed his mind having seen him - so we were happy that they weren't just trying to sell seats. Would recommend that you seek from somewhere like John Lewis if there is one near you. Its not about age its about height (head above the back) and weight NOT comfort.