To ask for urgent help with car seat

[Theladyloriana]

DD 16 months about 10kg has just got out of the rear facing Maxi cosi we have had from birth while driving on motorway. Never a problem before. I have made an emergency stop at halfords and being sold 400 pounds of seat fix and seat. Guy is now saying cheap front facing is OK. I don't know what to do can anyone advise? Thank you for any recommendations

[BertieBotts]

At 16 months it's likely that he is too big now for the 3-point harness which is included with infant seats. These are sufficient to hold a passive child in the seat in a collision but not to contain a wriggly escape artist. A determined child can easily push an arm through the straps (this is still possible with a 5ph but less easy) or a slight one can wriggle enough that their shoulders pop out of the top - this isn't as possible with a 5ph.

I'm probably too late to help you with this but will post anyway - Halfords sell a device called Five Point Plus which you can add to any car seat to make it less escapable. I'm surprised he hasn't sold you that TBH. In the absence of that option, I'd buy a pair of reins or other removable harness and put it on under the car seat straps with the car seat straps threaded through it until you get home, to buy you thinking time re upgrading the seat, which I do agree is urgent. (I wouldn't use the reins trick permanently).

Longer term - yes forward facing is safe and legal at this age/weight, but it's not the safest. I certainly don't agree that any cheap forward facing seat is fine, BTW, because some of the cheaper seats are horrendous, but that said - they are better than a totally unrestrained child.

If it's possible for you to borrow a seat with a five point harness - whether rear or forward facing - I would do that and try it out for a few trips to see if he can escape from it. Lots of children can just by sucking in their tummies and if he's 16 months old, he's not likely to respond to any scare or reason based tactics to stop him doing it. Rear facing might be safer, but if he's rear facing and you can't easily see if he's fully restrained then that spells disaster - I mean, realistically, he could have been slipping his arms out of his current seat straps for weeks and you might not have noticed if he put them back in again.

If he's escaping the 5ph as well then you can either try one of the two options which make this more difficult again - the 5 point plus accessory as mentioned or there is a "belt collector" made by BeSafe which holds the shoulder straps together. There's another product called Houdini Stop but this isn't recommended because it's untested and might place undue force on the straps in a collision (though - again, maybe better than an unrestrained child).

Or the other option would be to look at an impact shield based seat, which doesn't use a harness at all so is less escapable from that point of view - but a skinny child can, apparently, push slowly at the shield itself and then squeeze/climb out the top of it. You can't get these in rear facing.

There is one seat which is a 5ph when rear facing and an impact shield when forward facing which might be worth looking at?

Hope you find something that works, anyway.

[ceebie]

captaincake that's really interesting. I did always wonder about them being able to lean out to the side so that their head wasn't actually contained within the very well-padded head rest section. I'm actually glad I haven't seen that until now, when they're out of that system. Buying a child seat is ridiculously stressful - you can't do right for doing wrong. I researched on Which and bought what I believed to be the safest option. It's just so difficult! And to think that when I was small, five of us were stuffed into the back of a Morris Minor, or we occasionally sat were thrown around in the boot of a car (which did nothing for my car sickness).

[FatimaLovesBread]

What seat is he trying to sell you? A pebble? If so don't buy it as that's a group 0 seat so it'll be grown out of soon.
Rear facing is safer. Something like a britax dual fix or the couple mentioned above

[coconutpie]

Also, for car sickness, things like ensuring your DC isn't too warm in car, letting air circulate by opening a window and encouraging your DC to look out the window can help with car sickness.

[coconutpie]

You're far better off buying a rear facing iSize seat - it's a new EU safety standard where the seat has been side-impacted tested in addition to the usual tests.

I have the Nuna Rebl - it is an excellent seat and rear facing until 4 years of age, and it rotates 360 degrees which is so so so useful for getting DC in and out of the seat on both sides.

[Patapouf]

And although strictly speaking, it is legal to put her in a forward facing seat, it isn't necessarily safe. Sorry to be so blunt, but the UK legislation is shite.

Isofix is preferable because it rules out any human error in fitting the car seat but it is not any safer. In fact, there are a studies that show a little bit of give in the seat belt is beneficial in an accident. This will make no difference to her car sickness and shouldn't with a seatbelt, if it is fitted properly.

I'd be tempted to buy one of those little harness waistcoat things that prevents Houdini-esque escapes until you get home. They are about £20 IIRC.

Feel free to PM me OP.

[Patapouf]

Pebble is not what you want to go for, if you want to get a lo of use out of it.

Keep your DC rear facing, it is five times safer.

I would go for an extended rear facing seat with integral isofix (like Cybex Sirona) or one with a separate base like the Joie iAnchor. I agree that high price doesn't necessarily mean safety but unfortunately the best seats are v. Expensive.

The best seat, is the one that fits your car best and I wouldn't trust Halford TBH. I used to work in the car seat industry

[captaincake]

ceebie because of this study they rate highly on places like which because they are lightweight, user friendly, easy to install etc. I don't want to say I think they are inherently unsafe - I would put DS in one if it was a choice of that or him escaping the harness all the time, just not recommended as a first choice. My DS wasn't happy in his infant carrier. I'm not sure if he got a bit car sick or was just bored because he couldn't see out the window. We moved him out of the infant carrier earlier than needed into a besafe izi i size and he was fine after that (it's higher up so he could see out the window). I definitely wouldn't panic buy a seat from halfords today. Do some research on a seat that suits your car and your requirements. There is the besafe chest clip and the five point plus to help stop them getting out of the harness.

[2016ismyyear]

Five point plus from Halfords. Remove bulky clothes. Check harness is at right height.

Then research next stage - rearfacing.

[LBOCS2]

You do but only because it's UK legislation, not because of any other safety reason - they're approved for use in other European countries and the US because they don't have the same restriction.

The britax first class plus is a good extended RF car seat by the way - it goes to 13kg RF, 18kg FF, and has an audible click 5 point harness. AFAIK the pebble is only a stage one seat isn't it?

[lalalalyra]

Do you know how she got the strap open? Could it have not clicked shit properly? Or a fluke?

Don't rush and buy a new seat because if she can open the clips on her current seat then she's likely to be able to open new ones so it's going to be important to pick the right one or you are going to have the same problem again.

[Sanch1]

ceebie, do they prevent the straps being released with one hand? I was under the impression that you have to be able to release the straps and get a child out in the case of a collision using one hand.

[ceebie]

oops - we're now on to car seats suitable until the DC are 12

[ceebie]

captaincake I'm just curious about why impact shields aren't recommended on that Facebook page (too lazy to join the group as we're not on to car seat suitable until the DC are 12). My DC no longer have the body shields now anyway, so it doesn't matter to me any more, but I'm curious. I'm aware of (1) the danger if a car rolls, and (2) that children can slip down. Those two reasons are enough in themseves, obviously, but just curious if there's something more to it? We always loved them, and the children never slipped down. They are highly rated on Which? which is why we got them.

[Sanch1]

Please don't panic buy a new seat! That's the worse thing you can do. If she can undo the one you have she'll be able to undo any 5-point harness as they're all the same. My DD went through a phase of undo-ing hers for a few weeks then stopped, it'll pass.

Rear facing is safer than front facing, but please take time to choose something that suits you.

[tobysmum77]

They all get out of car seats. It has nothing to do with forward or backwards facing, mine did it in forward facing seats. You can but clips to stop them, I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to tell you that these are terribly dangerous and should never be used, personally I took the view that they were safer than a baby only attached by the waist.

[newmumwithquestions]

How did she get out? Has she worked out how to unclip or can you do the straps up really tight to make sure she stays in? I'd be inclined not to buy anything in a rush!
If you do the rear facing is what I went for as supposed to be safer (as ceebie says). By seat fix do you mean isofix? In which case I wouldn't bother.

[Alexa444]

Ceebie I'm reading it to mean that the child gets sick travelling backwards.

[ceebie]

I'm not aware that an Isofix makes any difference to car sickness. Facing forward might help, but as above, not as safe as rear-facing.

How will a different seat make a difference to her getting out? Surely she's just as likley to escape from a new seat? Sorry that's not reassuring but I just don't see how spending £400 is going to solve the problem.

[captaincake]

Well firstly check the harness, is your DD wearing anything remotely bulky and is it tightened enough and at the right height? Are you on Facebook? There is a site called car seat advice for mummies and daddies. It's really helpful. They also have a part on why impact shields aren't generally recommended. The in car safety centre will give you good advice on the phone.

[LittleNelle]

Something like a Britax First Class will rear face til 13kg and forward face til 18kg. They're about £100.

[carefreeeee]

Put a bit of duct tape round the fastening for now and sort it out at leisure when you get home?

[Theladyloriana]

Thanks so much. Thought the seat fix meant less motion so less sickness. Feel in a bind to buy one immediately as terrified of her getting out again and need to get back on motor way

[ceebie]

I assume by 'seat fix' you mean Isofix?

I don't understand how that would make any difference to her opening the harness?

[Theladyloriana]

Should I get th seat fix too? Guy insisting that the pebble is what I should get but £400!