To buy a bog standard car seat...

[Lalalax3]

... for (huge) 20 mth old son? I got a £40 Halfords essentials job and am feeling deeply guilty that we don't have a £300 extended rear facing thing like a lot of DS's contemporaries do.

He doesn't want to rear face - HATES it, and I really couldn't see how a £150 Britax was any safer than the one I chose.

So AIBU? Do I take it back and buy something better? Surely they're all as safe as each other, right?!

[SnuffleGruntSnorter]

What about the everystage? It's about £200 I know the price is not ideal but it transforms into a high back booster so you won't have to buy another seat

[crumblybiscuits]

YABU.
I will never understand why people skimp on car seats. Rear facing has been proven to be much safer.

[Chippednailvarnishing]

You've posted before about wanting to spend £3k on a car, but you can't afford £150 for a car seat. Okay then

[Luckystar1]

I'm surprised that people are ff. Almost everyone I know has an erf seat for their DC. It doesn't make any sense to me to buy cheap. Skimp on something else, get a decent seat please!

[AndNowItsSeven]

If you can afford a cleaner and a trip to California for a wedding you can afford a decent car seat op.

[mirime]

We got a Britax for about £80 on offer. We'd got a bog standard Mothercare one but a bit fell off before we'd even put it in the car! I'd wanted a rear facing one anyway so took the faulty one back and swapped it for the Britax.

Not that we used it rear facing for long, DS is very tall for his age, always has been - measured long on the scans when I was pregnant. Still, it was worth it as we had some 4hr journeys to visit the in laws during that time and I was much happier having him rear facing for them.

[peggyundercrackers]

Rose a baby can legally go into a ff they reach 9kg, if they reach 9kg before they get to 1yr old then yes it's fine for them to do that.

[peggyundercrackers]

Salene I believe the system you are speaking about is the i-size system. There is no date currently set in which this will be the only law car seat law to be enforced.

[Beth2511]

i had one of the cheap car seats that have just been recalled, it was all i could afford at the time. it scared the life of me when the shop assistant said they were as good as useless because they were cracking on impacts and providing more damage than protection. My pride and joy who I spend all day every day had used hers routinely for a year and it could easily have killed her.

Luckily this time round we can afford a good, maxi-cosi well tested seat and I am guaranteeting that our soon to be born DS will always always have good car seats even if I have to start saving now!

[Crazypetlady]

Mama joie is extended rear facing we just paid 135 pound from mamas and papas as there was a 15% discount code on the page we couldnt really afford it but my sons safety is paramount,

[Iggi999]

Peggy, legal and fine are not the same however.

[NeedsAsockamnesty]

It is a fact of life that you can only purchase what you can afford.

Be that a car seat or a type of sausage the same thing will apply

[gunting]

Yabu.

[OwlinaTree]

We've got a rear facing seat, it's ISO fix and certainly wasn't £300! I can't remember the make, I'll have a look tomorrow.

[LarrytheCucumber]

Joie perhaps?

[OhGodWhatTheHellNow]

My 7 yo got flack from a (younger!) Schoolmate for being in a 'babyseat' - a normal high back booster ffs. I've had to politely ask this child to wind her neck in without pointing out that her parent's have so little concern for her safety she isn't even sat on a bloody cushion. I think you should get the best you can reasonably afford.
As an aside, I have a basement full of outgrown seats (well, two) what are you supposed to do with them?

[LarrytheCucumber]

According to a previous thread cut the straps and take them to the tip.

[Idliketobeabutterfly]

Can you not do a best price search for a more expensive seat... Britain is always on offer

[Idliketobeabutterfly]

Britax lol

[OhGodWhatTheHellNow]

It just seems such a waste, they were never crashed and I have no one to pass them onto. I will have to bite the bullet.

[PurpleRainDiamondsandPearls]

I agree with the comment about car safety too. It isn't often mentioned when discussing car (seat) safety. It's all very well having an excellent car seat but if your car is going to crumple upon impact, you're up shit creek without a paddle. You need a decent car seat and a car with a top NCAP rating.

[FeckOfffCup]

I think car seats are one of the things worth spending a bit more on tbh because they can make the difference between your baby living and dying in the event of a crash. I was tempted to just buy a cheap car seat until I did a bit of research, I ended up getting the Britax Two Way Elite from the In Car Safety Centre - they are great. They have a good range of ERF seats and not bad prices IMO
http://incarsafetycentre.co.uk/carseats-accessories/

Everyone I know used FF and thinks I'm a bit mad but I don't care!

[NewBallsPlease00]

It's simple to me; you spend the most you can afford on a car seat, and everything else is fine basic
For us that's Isofix premium branded car seats and IKEA antlop £12 high chairs, £49 asda cot, second have clothes etc
Having seen my friends Audi (solid brand new) rammed in a nasty crash by a Lorry... Her baby was totally fine- she got whiplash
Erf wasn't a thing for my older child, but biw I know about it we will for this one: however needing 2 seats 😲- I'm assuming the more 'normal' it becomes the lower the cost...

[gunting]

Also rear facing over front facing could be the difference between a broken spine or a broken leg - which would you rather?

[escapedfrommordor]

YABU assuming it's just as safe having done no research. It's not.