Carseats!?

[starfishcoffee]

Posting here for traffic, really. But a little bit AIBU too because I can't bloody find any information about them.

DS is 13 months, he is quite a big boy (fairly tall and chunky) and looks quite cramped in his current car seat. We have the Joie Chrome 3in1, suitable from newborn.

I've been googling like crazy, but I can't find any rear facing car seats any bigger than the one we're using already. Do I have to get him a forward facing one? What are your 1 year olds in?

TIA and sorry for boring thread.

What weight/height is he?

How heavy is he? Lots of car seats rear face to 18kg but if he’s in the higher centiles go for one that rear faces to 25kg. The britax two way elite or the axkid minikid and move are the most popular. There’s a great fb page called ‘car seat advice uk’ which you can search and usually someone has posted your question before.

Ps there will be a max height/weight for your seat if you google it or still have the manual

Dd is almost 2, tall, although slim. She is in a joie 360 spin and that should keep her until she is 4. She can be rear or forward facing.

Assuming you have taken out the newborn inserts?

New car seats are generally rear facing until 15 months by law.

My 2.5 year old is rear facing in a Joie everystage if that helps?

Mines in a britax dualfix, rear faces to 18kg and spins to face the door so no wrestling them in!
If you're anywhere near an in car safety centre then I'd highly recommend a trip

Look for a seat that rear faces to 25kg. Axkid move or axkid minikid would be my recommendation.

Dd is almost 2, tall, although slim. She is in a joie 360 spin and that should keep her until she is 4. She can be rear or forward facing

She can be in it until 18kg (which is around 4 for an average child). The age is just an average, my DC for example is estimated to be 18kg by 2.5 years so to continue to use this seat to 4 years in my case would be dangerous. If she's a low centile child she may even be able to use it beyond 4 years assuming she is under the 18kg and under the height limit

My 8 month old is 9.6kg and tall. He just about fits in his Cosatto Hold which is supposed to be up to 15 months or 13kg but his head is as the top so we've bought a Joie Spin 360. The inserts are a bit fiddly though - he seems to be inbetween needing the wedge support and not.

We have a joie 360 spin - its fantastic! Mu daughter is nearly 2.5 and around 13kg so she will fit in it for a while, but if your son is particularly large it might not last that long.

What car seat do you currently have? If it's a "baby" carseat (one that goes with a travel system) it probably is too small. If not, have a look and see if it can be adjusted or have inserts taken out

My 18 month old DD still fits in her baby seat comfortably and is within the height/weight limits it’s a silver cross simplicity. We use it in her grandparents car. In DH’s car she’s in a Joie stages - rear facing till 18kg and in mine a Britax Max way which rear faces to 25kg. I’m planning on keeping her rear facing till she reaches 25kg (or the height limit) which for her will be around 6. There’s plenty of options, plenty of Joie seats rear face to 18kg and then the 25kg seats you’ve got Axkid and Britax plus many more. Join the Facebook group A-Z of rear facing for more help.

Try contacting the In Car Safety Centre for advice. They are ERF specialists and can advise by email or phone if you're not local to a shop. They are also one of the main UK stockists for seats that rear face upto 25kg.

We've got the Maxi Cosi 2 way pearl that can rear face until age four (ish). Even if they are tall they can sit cross legged or legs over the sides etc.

You definitely don't have to turn him around yet. Our DD is big and tall (she is 6 now but when last measured, some years ago, she was 98th centile for height and 91st for weight). She was rear-facing until nearly age 5. We had a BeSafe Izi Plus and a Britax 2-way Elite. I think the BeSafe was probably the better car seat of the two, and she seemed more comfortable in it for longer, but they are both excellent and the Britax was way more convenient (easier to move from one car to another...we never moved the other car seat as it was too fiddly).

Mine went into a Britax 2way Elite. Rear faces to 25kg so around 4-5yo.

Maxi cosi 2 way pearl. My tall 2.5 yr old (32lbs and about 96cm) fits easily in it. We've only recently turned him forward as he start vomiting copiously when facing rearwards (I have the same problem myself, can't sit backwards on a train!). The seat can be faced forwards or rear and has tons of room yet.

Axkid minikid. Excellent safety and rear faces until 25kg.

There are loads of rear facing car seats! We have one which is stage 1-3. It rear faces for as long as you want them to be rear facing. The recommendation is to keep them rear facing for as long as possible.

This is ours www.halfords.com/kids-zone/car-seats/baby-car-seats/joie-every-stage-0---1-2-3-child-car-seat

Is there something specific you need as well as rear facing? Trying to out why you couldn’t find more seats as there are loads. We got the two way pearl as I wanted to have the option of forward facing in case of travel sickness. My tall 3 year old is still comfortable rear facing but I don’t think she’ll reach 4. An up to 25kg option would have given us a bit more time. However, cost does start to come into it. We need two seats to manage nursery drop off and pick ups so spent close to £800. My second child will need to use the seats when she starts nursery when my eldest is 33/4 (which I think will be the natural lifespan of the seat for her. So we’ll have the choice of high back boosters or shelling out a fortune on two 25g seats.

There's plenty of good advice here. We like the Joie Every Stage that we've been using since then.

I don't know your car seat to know how big it is but if you're well within the weight and height limits then are you worried he doesn't fit just because his legs are resting up the back of the seat? My DS doesn't seem to mind that at all, but you have to have the mindset that it's normal and ok because all the grandparents have commented to ask if he's not cramped.

I'm really surprised by the little girl fitting in the simplicity, my DS was too tall for it at 8 months not 18 months.

MRex she’s actually 19 months (typo last night) she definitely does still fit with a good few months left. The simplicity is actually a very tall seat compared to other infant carriers. I’ve known plenty more children last until 2 in it. I’d post a photo if it wasn’t too outing but I’ve posted plenty of photos on the Facebook page I mentioned. DD is 82cm so possibly slightly on the shorter side for her age but not by much and 10.5kg. I’m quite surprised your 8 month old was too tall unless you’re a very tall family, did you definitely move the harness height up to the top notch and take out the wedge insert from under the cover?.

I’d be flabbergasted if a just turned 1 year old (even a big one) wouldn’t fit in most rear facing car seats other than the size 0 ones.

Joie 360. Been in it since his 1st birthday, now 2 years 8 months and is still very comfortable in there. He's 75th centile. I've only just turned him for short journeys, for longer ones he's still perfectly happy RF.

If he’s big then definitely get one that fits up to 25kg. My son reached 18kg at 2.5yo so had to buy him another seat. We have the Joie Bold and Axkid Move or Minikid (forget which!)

my 95 percentile (height and weight who grew out of his size 0 seat at 7 months) fits comfortably rear facing in a cybex sirona m2 (one that doesnt spin) and we have a britax two way elite for him to go into next as im not ready to forward face him. i swapped the sirona from a nuna spinning seat after they were recalled and was worried id miss the spin but to be honest i havent at all. if hes on the big size and you want to rear face id advise going for an axkid or twe. its a false economy going for a cheaper lower weight seat as he will likely outgrow it for weight within the year.