Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

there is no such thing as a car seat from 9 months!!

62 replies

SqutterNutBaush · 15/05/2014 09:53

Trivial I know but a lot of my friends have babies and I am so sick of hearing about which car seat to get when they are 9 months!

I would love to tell them that car seats by age went out years ago and now they go by weight, many of the babies are small (smallest is 7.5kg, biggest is just under 9kg) and none are big so plenty of space in infant carriers. I just don't get the rush on a non-existant milestone but is there anyway to point out that group 0+ seats are fine until 13kg or the head goes above the shell without being preachy?

It's a trivial thing I know but it really grates on me when I see/hear people discussing it.

OP posts:
massagegirl · 15/05/2014 18:25

We moved to an extended rear facing at around 9 months. So glad we did as she's much more comfortable and car journeys much less stressful!

HeyBungalowBill · 15/05/2014 18:31

Thanks for the suggestions I'm going to shop around and read some reviews for the best buy Smile

Had a look at a britax one that has got all 5 star reviews and seems very good. Going to look at a few more first Smile

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 15/05/2014 18:36

Hey even if you cant get to the In Car Safety Centre in MK, they will be happy to chat to you on the ohone and will deliver a car seat. I used a You Tube guide to fit mine Grin - their online guide not just a randommer.

BertieBotts · 15/05/2014 18:48

i-size is out, meaning seats can be produced to this standard but not all are yet. i-size relies on isofix so it's not possible for every parent. So no at the moment currently produced infant seats aren't necessarily designed to accommodate up to 15 months although the VAST majority of babies will fit into the vast majority of infant bucket seats until at least 15 months.

People call them 9 month seats because that's what the shops call them. Most people aren't internet savvy and don't look on forums, also especially when you have a little baby people don't tend to really understand the groups, in the shop you have "birth - 12 month" seats, "9 month - 4 year" seats and "4-12 year seats" and combinations of those.

Group 0 (to 9 or 10kg) generally aren't produced any more because I guess the law says Group 0+ only (13kg) but there are some seats which are an exception and are produced to Group 0. These are the lie-flat kind of carrycot seats, like the Britax Babysafe sleeper, and a lot of the cheaper 0-4 forward and rear facing seats are only rear facing for Group 0, not Group 0+, which means they are not tested RF above 9 or 10 kg - you'd have to check in the individual seat's manual.

My health visitor didn't have a clue five years ago either. Told me repeatedly he needed to be FF because it wasn't safe for him to be RF any more, and only conceded with a suck of the teeth and a "Well I suppose you must have done your research since you were in that car accident". I don't think they realise that 9kg (which is around 9 months for the average baby) is a minimum and not a "must turn now" point. Actually I found leaflets in my local children's centre two years ago which predated the law change (which happened in 2006!) and advised to put babies forward facing "when they are at least six months old and can sit up unassisted".

deakymom · 15/05/2014 20:00

mine (my boys not my girl) had to come out of the carry around car seats and into a rear facing fixed car seat quite early because they were so big in weight they were too broad for the seat it was a big decision which seat to get and the seats usually say from 9 months or x kilos

nocheeseinhouse · 15/05/2014 20:23

Mine still rear faces aged nearly 6... Yes, we get funny looks/comments.

Waltonswatcher1 · 15/05/2014 20:27

'The kiss' seat is rf .
Is birth to four/five.
Has three reclining positions that you can change with child in seat .
Is isofix or seat belt fixing rear facing .
The seat unit can be taken out with a child in and has its own wheels and handle .
It fits our small skoda Fabia aswell as the larger skoda estate.
I love it and haven't regretted eating beans for a month to afford it .

AmandinePoulain · 15/05/2014 20:33

Please don't assume all HVs are clueless about car seats...I'm a student HV and dd2 is in an ERF seat Grin

I also advised a mother to turn her dd back around after clocking the ff seat in her car when her baby was under 9kg Smile

TheScience · 15/05/2014 21:19

That says rearfacing until 13kg Rabbit, which is nearer 2 years than 4 years.

RabbitSaysWoof · 15/05/2014 21:31

Oh sorry, was for the benefit of people saying 9 mnth old huge/ uncomfortable in infant carrier, (just saw bungalowbill's post) I shouldn't of worded like that, just that the seat will last years.
I got one when ds was nearly 1 turned if around at 20 months but I wished I'd realized when I was pregnant that these where for newbies too I wouldn't have bought an infant carrier at all.

Ratbagcatbag · 15/05/2014 21:45

I have the cybex sirona for 14month dd and love it. Easy to load her in due to spinning and who knew two magnets would be so useful. :)

New posts on this thread. Refresh page