settle a argument please,i think im right

[tor8181]

hi settle a disagreement please that my sister and me are having, i think im right

an incident happened to my nieces friends mother last week(shes 6),she took her (small)5 y old to the supermarket(5mins away) without a seat and a passing police car stopped her and gave a fine

my sister thinks we are now going to get stopped as my 8 yold isnt in a seat my argument is hes way to big and its not needed

hes not 9 till end of july hes very very big for just 8 hes 125-130 pounds and 5ft 1 or 2 already(medium bottoms, large tops size 6 shoe)hes not fat just pure solid everywhere he even needs adult gloves

hes never been in a car seat ever as one was never needed as we used to bus every where(he was either in my arms or walked on) or walk and we got a taxi on the odd occasion,then he used to be in a seat belt,we even left the hospital as a newborn in a taxi and he came home in my arms(i know laws have changed in nearly 9 years)

hes been massive since birth(8lb 10 26 inches)and was always in clothes years bigger than his age,6-9 m at birth and it went up and up from there

we got a full time car(his dad passed) just over 2 years ago(son was a few months off 7) and when i googled it he was taller and weighed more than the limit so i never bought one,we have been everywhere in it since then,holidays 2-3 hours away every 6-8 weeks(we love our caravan holidays),day trips out, daily outings shoppingswimming cinema etc and hes never had a problem as he sits in the back with me with the best on properly and his feet touch the floor and the belt rests on his collar bone

my nephew is 6 months older than him, hes small for his age(well way smaller than mine anyway) 4ft 2 or 3 and 60-65 pounds hes been in a car seat from birth and still in a full seat(booster with a back)with plenty of room either side of the seat,his feet still dont touch the floor

my sister thinks that as mine is under 12 he should be in a seat anyway as thats the law but my argument is hes not 8y old sized and we are unusual circumstances as hes classed as a small adult due to size and has been for years,he looks 12 or 13 and if a police man spotted him he would think that as his head comes up way past the window and on the head rest

when we tried my nephew seat without the back his bum and lower body was wider than the seat and it pinched into his skin

i showed her the info on google and shes adamant he still need it as it says under 12 but im right aint i? as hes so big and it pointless as on a seat his head wasnt far off the ceiling

settle a argument please

Joey - if he lost 2 stone he'd still be pretty solid and right at the top end of healthy weight for his height.

Dd is 18 and was 9lb 7oz at birth and skinny (tall) she was in 0-3 month clothes at that point.

The law then - (which is far longer ago than when you had your son) WAS that a car seat was necessary - you've been lucky! Taxi may not have required it legally but I don't know any parents that would have taken that risk with a newborn. Makes me wonder if this is a reverse?

While he's seemingly over 135cm now (have you actually measures him?) I'm finding it hard to believe he was 135cm tall 2 years ago. So again you've been very lucky - not just legally but in not having been involved in an accident.

You seem to have a very lax attitude to car safety generally which is worrying

And yes on the measurements you've given he is obese and that needs to be addressed too.

"it might be different as im valleys of south wales" completely irrelevant. Your child was still put at unnecessary risk

“The law then - (which is far longer ago than when you had your son) WAS that a car seat was necessary - you've been lucky! Taxi may not have required it legally but I don't know any parents that would have taken that risk with a newborn. Makes me wonder if this is a reverse?”

I don’t understand this- OP complied with the law so why was she lucky?

The law then was NOT that a car seat was required. And it still isn’t. As it was a taxi. Nobody has been lucky?! It’s still and was the law!?

@Deadringer he was 27 inches according to the newborn check, and is still very tall for his age. He looked ridiculous in the maternity ward with teeny 6 pounders, as he was absurdly long and had a totally different cry. We have a lot of male family members who are 6’5ish and v slim though —sadly not me —

He is still very tall for his age and doesn’t legally need a car seat. He is still in a high backed booster (although it is now looking tight heightwise) as his shoulders just fit under the head rest. I bought the tallest possible HBB as he has younger siblings and I wanted him in a car seat for as long as possible.

thanks for the replys

im ignoring the ones accusing me of lying about birth size or exaggerating his size now as i also have a 6ft 2 14 y old who was 27 inches at birth so i have very long babies and big kids

im also ignoring ALL the obese comments as not once did i ask for advice about it or say it was an issue,just because he dont fit in to the norm of what you expect a 8 y old to look like doesnt mean it wrong or made up

it has made me laugh at all the taxi comments as like i can do anything about it now this was nearly 9 years ago and if you would buy a seat for 1 journey more fool you any normal person wont knowing full well it would never be used again

and at 6 he was 4ft 8 and 90 pounds so one wasnt needed then either

just weighed and measured him hes 126 pounds and 5ft2

just weighed and measured him hes 126 pounds and 5ft2

So definitely obese. Which you're gonna ignore. Poor kid.

Bmi chart suggests there's an issue however that's only part of the picture. My friend has a son similar. Her husband is 6 foot 8 inches and a rugby player with big thighs. His son is the same.

This thread is amazing. The poster asks for advice on car seat regulations for an eight year old and gets feedback on how she should have brought him home as a new born from hospital and on whether he is obese or not.

Yup. MN at its finest.

Alternatively OP wasn't aware his size was an issue, now is (or will be) and will do something about it saving kid years of misery.

She’s already essentially told you all to fuck off so I doubt it.

Wow there's some nasty people on here tonight. My 8 year old is taller and heavier than the ops son and is overweight according to the BMI but BMI doesn't always give the most accurate picture. My dd was always about an inch above the centipede charts for weight and height and is now about 2 inches above for height and 1 inch for weight. As a exclusively breastfed baby she was the same but we did get her checked out and had a full clean bill of health and she barely ate. People have different body types. Even now as an adult I am 15 stone but only a size 14 (which I am aware is still obese but the weight doesn't match my size).

That is very very tall for his age. It’s literally off the charts. I don’t mean above the top line, which is 99.6th percentile, I mean the chart for 2-9 doesn’t actually show that height. You should probably talk to your GP about this and get some hormone testing done. It must be so hard for him being so much bigger than his peers.

Alternatively OP wasn't aware his size was an issue, now is (or will be) and will do something about it saving kid years of misery

yeah like i didnt know my 8 y old wasnt normal size and like i said before no matter what his bmi says hes doesnt look obese just solid

im buying him medium bottoms and large tshirts and going on that comment i must have thought that was normal,he should be in 8-9 which he was in at reception age at 4

hes been massive or bigger than norm since birth as he used to put on a pound or 2 a week as he always went through a 11 oz bottle of hungry milk every hour to hour and half as hes always been a hungry baby and a fed on demand

from newborn hes being big than normal his whole life

when you 3 y old at nursery is the youngest there and is already a foot taller than kids a year older than him you know your child is never going to be normal or average

sonjadog Alsohuman thanks for having common sense

Just because the law says a car seat isn't needed in a taxi does not mean you get special powers that would stop a crash happening. I wouldn't care what the law says. I still would never travel in a taxi without a car seat being used.

But it’s not about what you’d do sunshine is it?

Passthecherrycoke, amanduh, lucky that there wasn't an accident! The law is the least of it!

Ignoring the comments about his size is no skin off our noses op, it's YOUR kids that will be dealing with the long term health implications. Quite sad you don't care about that.

In addition there are some medical conditions for which his size could be a symptom. Are you seriously not even concerned about that?

I don’t think you’re lucky everytime you have an accident free car journey tbh. Car accidents are hardly the norm

I was 5’9’’ at 12 and there were several folk taller than me in my year at school. I just never seemed to grow again after that so I can quite believe a 12 year old could be over 6’. My friends husband is 6’8’’ .

I am surprised you managed to leave hospital without a car seat as my youngest is over 21 and even then it was something that was checked. Not worth worrying about 8 years later but it did make my eyebrows raise.

Oh and even though you didn’t mention or ask about your sons weight please think about getting him checked by a medical professional as tall doesn’t mean men’s medium clothing at aged 8. His foot size is not overly big. Size 6 would be the average for a 12 year old and even if he had the body of a 12 year old to match his foot size he would still not need men’s medium and large clothing.

Both my boys at birth were around the size your lad was. The older one is now 5ft 7 size 8 feet and 30 inch waist. The younger is 6ft 2, size 12 feet and again 30 inch waist.

No he doesn't need to be in a car seat but is be more concerned about the fact you have a 9yr old that weights 125lbs.

My son was 8lb 10oz born too. I had to go out and buy some more newborn clothes as growth scans suggested he would be big so I didn’t buy any!

Your son is about an inch shorter than me so I wouldn’t bother with a booster. I was in one until I was 11 as I am a short arse. The laws changed when I was 9 and my mum had to re-buy one after getting rid of my booster when I was 7!

The hospital OP is on about is under intense scrutiny at the moment for its maternity services/maternal and neonatal deaths, so I would fully believe she was allowed to leave without a car seat as they are so woefully understaffed.

My DD is 5’3 and 11 and hasn’t used a car seat for a good couple of years as her head hits the top of the car when she’s on it 🤷🏼‍♀️

Why would they need to check her car seat when she didn’t have a car? You are allowed to leave them hospital and get a taxi, bus, or just walk home! It would be a simple discussion with the midwife to explain that