to think the new childrens car seat law is a waste of time.........

[2shoes]

I have lost caount of the ammout of children I have seen using an adult seat belt.

Hmmm, well the idiot from where ever it was we bought our car seat from had far less idea of fit than the extremely competant fireman who checked all of the tensions and gave me some excellent pointers on how to make sure any car seat is fitted properly.

ok ok!!!! just saying that they aren't covered to fit seats as they aren't qualified and therefore they could be sued so most won't even entertain the idea!!!

a good seat fitter is a godsend, they will try as many seats to check which one is the best for your car, we tried 14 before finding one that we were happy with (stupid damn awkward seats!)

Maybe it is just Gloucestershire CC then as this was an advertised thing via the local council, and also they sent some people out to my local toddler group who offered to check everyone's seats were fitted correctly (amazingly, less than half the mothers took them up on this and some even scoffed at the very idea).

My mum died in a car accident before you had to wear seat belts - today if she were in the same crash she would still be around because by law she would have been wearing one!

What does that tell you?

It tells me that you are probably very careful with car seats twinkie.

Yep and child seats and think they are a great idea and if the law means one more child uses one and is alive after an accident which would othewise have meant it not being so thats great!

@LIZS

I'd be interested to know which harness seat you use for an older child, as I am looking for another harness seat for my DS - pref one that will grow with him.

I have a britax Eclipse SI (I think) as the renaissance does not fit my car. For my DD I used a M&P Pro Tour (these grow well with a 5 point, then become a high back booster and then a booster cusion), but sadly this does not fit my car safely either. He is nearly 15kgs. It needs to be a 5 point harness as he has low muscle tone and they are safer.

My DD is nearly 8, above the legal height for no seat and still in a highback booster with serious side impact/head supports.

For dd we've got a Britax Evolva 123 Ultra, which is highback booster shaped but has a harness for up to 18kg then can become a highback booster. She was squashed in her old Freeway this time last year so got that instead . Not cheap but does the trick and she hasn't even been travel sick in it (which had been part of the issue previously) touch wood !

well I have to confess both DS1 and DS2 are on booster cushions. DS1 is nearly 7, DS2 is nearly 4....yes I know he's "too young" for it, but he's just over 20kg and quite tall. (can't remember how tall but when we went to Kiddicare - who were excellent helping us out - they measured him and he was "legally" tall enough for one) PLUS it was the only option we had for our car with DS1 in his infant seat......it was either both DS's on booster cushions, or one of them with no booster/car seat at all.......and I know which I prefer,

Both the height and weight of the child is relevant.

Seatbelts are designed to restrain the body in the most appropriate ie risk free parts of the body ie where they are least likely to cause damage and keep the person/child in place whilst absorbing a large proportion of the impact.

So, the correct positioning of the seatbelt across the body is very important. So is the correct style of seatbelts. Until the head to body ratio evens out, the child is at more risk of sliding out of the seatbelt and/or receiving a severe spinal/head injury.

So, in very simple terms - you wouldnt have someone bungee jump with the bungee tied around their neck, or their wrists, would you? However ankles, waist and upper chest are all good places to secure the harness.

This is why there is the point of forward/rear facing, and also 5 point/3 point seatbelts.

There is only so much car, and car seat manufacturers can do to make car journeys safe. Its not alot to ask to put your child in the correct seat and secure them, is it?

Well, apparently so. Hence the law taking control......im all for it.

here in Aus until they are around 4 their car seat has to be anchored by a bolt into the back of the car seat and then if you are using a H harness that too will be bolted into the back of the car.

Very strict about our car seats here. I have a 5 yo who weight wise is still okay for a 5 point harness in her seat and so she still has a 5 point harness.

I was absolutely gobsmacked when I went to the UK and saw parents putting tiny babes into the front seat of a car in their carry seat thingy's. It is illegal for children under the age of 9 (from memory) to travel in the front seat here. I just found it very strange.

I often see little ones coming to dd1's sn school sitting in the front seat of the car - how the seat belt fits them properly in anyway I have no idea.

Perhaps I am overprotective but I would rather been seen to be unreasonable than the parent of 2 rather than 3 children or have a child hurt terribly in an accident when I could have done something to prevent it.

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Home/Safety/Road/Motor_vehicle/Child_restraints/Rs_mv_choosing_a_res traint like here

try again

like here

Well, I'll be honest, it drives me nuts, it's meant that the few times I was getting out of the house with the kids have stopped, because we can't get the lifts sorted. In our own car it's a proper bugger getting four carseats jammed in the right way so they don't pop the seatbelt open.

However PITA though it may be, I'd rather gripe and swear at an inanimate object than have dead children.

@LIZS

Thanks, before I got your message I picked up dd from club and popped into Halfords, saw Evolva 123 there and asked to have it fitted - sadly no one around to do so but will pop back in soon.

I think the NY Times feature is interesting - but Madamez's 18month old would still have needed a car seat to travel safely. I'm sure it is bloody inconvenient sometimes if you don't have your own car, but tht's life. Babies are inconvenient!

Babies sure are inconvenient.

Thank goodness I spent most of children's babyhoods as a put-upon drudge who thought being miserable and never speaking to another adult for months on end was a holy task, it at least meant I didn't rock the boat.
Now the end of nappies is in sight, there's no stopping me.

yes it can be inconvieniant but that doesnt mean you dont do it. iv walked with a double buggy with a baby carrier type car seat hanging on the handels and a 5point high back toddler one laid across the top, inconvieniant but im not letting my kids travel without them

yes it can be inconvieniant but that doesnt mean you dont do it. iv walked with a double buggy with a baby carrier type car seat hanging on the handels and a 5point high back toddler one laid across the top, inconvieniant but im not letting my kids travel without them

Ok, given that another factor with car seats is that not all car seats fit in all cars, just how many car seats are the car free supposed to buy and transport around with them, on the offchance? My point, yet again, is that this idiot law assumes that everyone has a car (despite other Govt efforts to reduce private car ownership and use - nice joined-up thinking there)and it is utterly impractical, in that gap between about 9 months and about 3 years (ie between the carry-cot-clip-on-the-buggy seats and the little booster seats) for car free people.
THis sort of law is not that far away from making it a legal requirement to fit stairgates or feed your child 5 portions of vegetables a day.

madamez like it or lump it- ITS THE LAW!

PA: just because something is the law, doesn't make it right.

suspect there is rather more risk of serious injury(or worse) from a road accident than scabies ! Stairgates perhaps less clearcut, wonder what ROSPA stats say. It is hardly the fault of Govt or even manufacturers if the safest style of seat is not so portable (there have been attempts at lightweight ones for that stage but they have proved dangerous and largely gone from the stores now).

madamez are you seriously saying that putting your children at unescessary risk is right? Ok car seats can be a pain but i do everything in my power to protect my children and i believe that anyone who doesn't needs a good shake.

there are videos on youtube showing what could happen in an accident without a car seat- i suggest you go and look at them.

wow never thought anyone would get annoyed about keeping their child safe
I started the thread as I was surprised by how many people still didn't seem to care. and the police don't seem to be policing it