AIBU to use expired car seat?

[Bubblemilk]

We don't do a lot of journeys with ds but have got a couple of big ones coming up as we travel for Christmas. He is using his cousin's car seat, but I have recently learned this expired 6 months ago. Unfortunately at 14.5kg and only 96 cm, even though he is 4 years old he can't go into a high back booster. My options are to leave him in the seat until he hits 15kg/100cm then get a hbb ( this could take 6 months or more), buy a new extended rear facing seat that goes to 25kg or buy a forward facing harness seat that turns into a hbb at the right size.

Which would you say is safest to do between leaving him in his current rear facing seat or moving to forward facing harnessed seat? Has anyone else continued using their seats for subsequent children when the seat is older than 7 years? My other arguement is which is most reasonable between us buying an expensive new rear facing seat or one of the other two options which are cheaper and last longer? We won't be having any more children so won't need any seats after he's finished with them.

Can but I wonder how many do? Mine are older we rear faced them until 4 years old and that was becoming standard where we are but unheard of in the UK back then. So you rear face them until 7 but in UK over children 135cm no longer need a booster. Some 7 year old are 135cm no real relation is there?

Not many do no, but that’s just because there is a lot of ignorance and a lack of education around the safety of ERF.

Just because the law says one thing it doesn’t mean it’s safe. If you want to keep your children as safe as possible they should be rear facing for as long as seats allow, which is 6/7.

If you have a budget I’d buy a britax advansafix. It’s a ff harness seat to 105 cm/21 kg
then converts to a brilliant booster seat and so is the last seat you’d need. It also has an anti submarining crotch pad to stop your child sliding under the belt when using it as a booster.
it would be the last seat you need
additionally whilst ERF is certainly safer lots of your child’s spinal ossification will have happened now as well as their head being much more proportionate to their body so there is less need now at 4.

@NoKnit no 135cm is the law, any parent with common sense uses a car seat until 150cm which is the safe height limit.

You can get a HBB with 5 point harness which are fine under 15kg. Later you remove the harness and use as a HBB with the adult seat belt. I’d buy one of those.

This is just an example of what I mean:
www.boots.com/mothercare-advance-xp-highback-booster-car-seat--grey-blue-10288515

i wouldn’t use an expired car seat but equally too big to buy a rear seat or a chunky 5 point car seat.

I genuinely feel the expired seat would be safer than the Mothercare one linked above, it looks much sturdier and had been put through more vigorous tests. In any case we will be getting a new seat before we travel on Christmas Eve.