AIBU to be cross with Mothercare?

[famishedpotato]

I bought a 0+ Joie Gemm carseat online from Mothercare ahead of DD's birth in August. Well, at 15weeks old she doesn't bloody fit in it!

She's only 6kg, but the straps are too tight to close round her because she's very long. Contacted Joie to ask if it's safe to remove infant insert before the proscribed 10kg if she just doesn't bloody fit, they say no... Sometimes babies just don't fit, try a different seat.

Contacted Mothercare to ask for a refund and they've said sure... If I take it in to store. They've just closed my nearest store though, so the next nearest store is over an hours drive away... And I don't have a sodding car seat!

AIBU to say they ought to sort this out without putting all the hassle and expense on to me? I'm a new mum, and it's their megacorp that sold me a crappy product!

Take the cushions out if she doesn't fit for God's sake

Mothercare are a shower. They took all my details including email and postal address when I bought a Britax seat. About 6 months later i recommended the seat to somebody who Googled it to tell me that there was recall. Mothercare had had no problem sending me marketing guff but hadn't bothered to tell me about the recall. When I approached them I did get a full refund but that is hardly the point when it comes to safety.

Peddlers which britax seat has been recalled?

Britax Xtensafix back in October 2013. I found out about the recall in June 2014 via my SIL. When I complained to Mothercare the only response I got was that they were sorry for my disappointment and would pass my comments to the product team. I switched to a Norwegian brand ...

Thanks, not one of the 3 Britax seats I have.

We have this carseat! My enormous 98 centile one year old still fits it!

She is going to have egg on her face when she goes to Mothercare.

Really she should put a call out on facebook and see if anyone she knows who has had a baby before can come and show her how it works, before she makes a complete tit of herself going in all guns blazing.

OP you need to remove the foam cushion from the insert. There is absolutely no way it is supposed to stay in until 10kg, you have got your wires crossed somewhere about that. It is confusing if you have never used a car seat before and joie gemm is not the easiest but honestly your baby has not outgrown it.
I promise you my 7mo ds is tall and he has plenty of room left in that car seat!
Also are you using the button between baby's legs to adjust the slack both ways? As in pulling the slack to tighten and holding down the button and pulling the straps to loosen?

OP I was you with one of our Britax seats DS hated going in it because he was concertina-d in as I was adamant there was no adjustment. Until someone took the cover off and showed me that the bottom single strap (between their legs) had a thingummy Bob on which released the extra shoulder strap length. It honestly took me months! Please listen to other posters with the same seat and investigate a bit further.

Oh and yes, take DD to trial any new ones and ask the staff to show you how they work

Oh I’d love to be in that Mothercare when OP goes in screeching that the car seat ‘isn’t fit for purpose’ only to be shown the button 😂

Oops, OP there is no way on earth the straps are not adjustable, get someone to show you how it’s done.

There is literally NO WAY the straps don't adjust - the seats are designed to fit from tiny newborn to 18 months.

I mean, common sense would say they must adjust, surely?

I know I'm stating the obvious here but have you read the instructions?

I thought all car seats had adjustable straps? 🤔

She hasn't answered anyone when asked about the button near the crotch buckle. There is no way she has pulled them the whole way out and they still don't fit the kid, unless she popped out a child with giant's blood. But the way she's described it to Mothercare will have made it seem like she's done it right and it simply isn't long enough and they have told her she must be right so bring it back... So that's the end of. Until she gets there and they try it!

I have never wanted an OP to come back so much before! The straps aren't adjustable in the sense that they don't have a little adjustable buckle like on his pram or high chair. It does have the button between the legs to pull out the straps by a looooong way though.

@HairyPotter I know that feeling. I worked at a brand under the umbrella of a huge sports retailer (the one that claims to be monarch of footwear). I lasted 3 months, returns were hell!!! Esp web ones.

I suspect OP has gone to investigate. Or has combusted in mothercare.

You come. Across as agressive and a bit of an arse. You asked for advice and people are giving it to you, yet are being stroppy?!

Hi Mumsnet!

Car seat still doesn't fit despite having read the instructions again (the actusl ones that came with the car seat, not just random instructions for an older model that happen to be floating around on the internet) as well as watched several videos and spoken directly to Joie and sent them several photos to ensure I was doing it right.

Have been using the button at the front to tighten/loosen the straps the whole time - I'm not hiding because I've discovered how the sodding thing works, I just don't have much to add.

A couple of PP have said they have the same car seat and took the insert out around 3months - did you check the weight limit first? I was tempted to just take it out- it looks like it'll be fine, and I like the instant-clicky in and out of the car thing, but I have to cross a dual carriageway twice a day, there are a lot of accidents at that junction and all the impact would be right on the part of the car where she sits, so I'm a bit paranoid and Joie have told me not to remove the insert yet.

Enjoyng how many people are still yelling "remove the insert!" though. I shall endeavour to cancel the cheque while I'm at it.

Does the insert have a cushion under the bum area that can be taken out leaving the head bit in?

Something seriously wrong with the 10kg guide. I wonder if they mean can be used to 10kg? Rather than must be used to 10kg.

My DC2 is almost 2yo, still using a MC Pebble. They are 10.4kg even if you say its 4mths since they hit 10kg that means if they were in your seat they'd be expected to have newborn bits in up to 18mths! It just doesn't make any sense.

My DC1 didn't hit 13kg until they were well over 3 and had long outgrown infant seats.

The instructions say either A or B.

The person at Joie must have misunderstood the question, or have the wrong information. No way could any baby use a newborn insert until 10kg. Lots will have outgrown the whole seat by then. We had to remove the foam cushion at about 4 months.

There's no way your baby has outgrown the seat. Seats are based on head height and weight. I could still recently use a seat for a 21 month old because he was still way under the weight limit and head fitted fine.. if their legs hang out that's fine. Please do your research, so many people have told you what needs to happen but you aren't listening!

Wish we could get an image of how the baby looks in the seat. It's hard to know what OP means otherwise. Appreciate you probably wouldn't want to share an image of your child on an open forum though