to think I was mad for considering this seat when I searched on mumsnet and found this link?

[tryingtobemarypoppins]

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WdBRPiNJC7s

Amidaiwish- If your DD is too tall but under 18kgs then go for something like the Evolva 123..or any of these www.mothercare.com/b/44453031/275-7539387-4758452?%5Fencoding=UTF8&mcb=core which will then turn into a high back booster once she hits 18kgs.

Amidaiwish- If your DD is too tall but under 18kgs then go for something like the Evolva 123..or any of these www.mothercare.com/b/44453031/275-7539387-4758452?%5Fencoding=UTF8&mcb=core which will then turn into a high back booster once she hits 18kgs.

oldraver thank-you thats much clearer.

amidaiwish doesn't sound like you have a choice wuith regards her height. I'd go for the 5 point booster seat.

marypoppins lol@stunt the growth. My DS2 is only 13kg at 3.7, and out of interest I looked in his red book to see whn he will hit 18kg.. and its not ill he hits 7, unless he has some miracle growth spurt

I may have to get him a HBB before them, I cant see him being to chuffed going to school in a group1

Here are some car seats that allow harnessing to 25kg/55lbs

Britax 2 Way Elite Rear or Forward facing 9-25kg.

Britax Nordic Secura Rear facing 9-25kg only.

Britax Nordic Multi Tech This can be used 9-25kg rear facing, 9-18kg forward facing and 15-25kg in High back booster mode.

Brio Zento Same set-up as Britax Nordic Multi tech.

I have the top 2 seats (2WE & NS) for my DD1 3y/o 16kg 101cm tall and my DD2 20m/o 11kg 85cm tall. Both are rear facing and they will stay rear facing until they out grow the seats. I have seen the side by side crash test videos of rear vs forward (i.e. both seats on the same test sled) and just couldn't do it on a permanant basis (forward face).

DD2 has never forward faced and DD1 has only forward faced about 10 times since she hit 13kg (spare seat is Britax First Class so no rear facing over 13kg). DD1 has only been sick once in the car but as she was sick the rest of the weekend I don't think it was travel sickness. DD2 has never been car sick. They do not fuss about being rear facing even though DD1 has experience of foward facing and she enjoys rear facing more.

They do take up space BUT my 6'2" DH has room to sit comfortably in the driver seat (though it is further forward than it used to be) my seat is even further forward than DH's because the Nordic takes up more space as it has a recline function. I am still comfortable and I am 5'8".

I do not understand where the child's legs go with a rear-facing seat... how do they fit in?
Also- is there not a danger of their legs being broken in a crash situation by the impact?

Message withdrawn

oldraver bless him! He can tell his mates its because my mummy really loves me she makes me sit on a thrown!

TryingtobeMary- good luck at your 12wk scan!

We had DD in a Britax First Class Si which kept her rear facing until 13kgs, we then turned the seat round and she is forward facing in it until 18kgs. We used it from birth and have just ordered another one for DC2 due in 5 weeks. We also have the Evolva 123 in DH's car as she can also stay harnessed until 18kgs and then it turns into a highback booster. DD is 4yr6ms now.

Amidaiwish I was told it was to do with the height of the ears and therefore the bit of the back of the head that actually touches the seat. If her ears are above the height then I would move her.

Also another indicator was how the straps lay over the shoulders - if they are on the highest notch and they have to go up to go over the childs shoulders (if that makes sense) rather than coming down over them then the straps are as safe as they could be.

I think the weight is the most important one - at 18kg they will activate the adult seatbelt but are too heavy for a standard harness.

If I feed DS solely on fruit shoots and gregs sausgage rolls from now on will he shrink

EachPeachPearMum in answer to your question

"What about the legs? Will they have enough room in a rear facing seat?
There are no reported incidents of rear facing children hurting their legs. There are a multitude of reported incidents of children hurting their necks (or worse!) in forward facing car seats. Proper rear facing group 1 car seats are positioned so that there is space for the legs. Have a look at the pictures in the gallery to see what they look like. "

From rearfacing.co.uk

EachPeach - I actually had a mnetter come to my house and show me the rear facing seat that she had. She had done a lot of resarch into this and apparently, children are actually quite comfy even if their legs are bent (they are a lot more flexible than we are!) and in a crash, rear facing with legs bent is still safer than forward facing

I believe Group1 (maxi-cosi xp/tobi etc) are fine height wise until the DC eyeline are level with top of car seat

AS USERNAME posted the HBB would be better for a tall but not yet 18kg child

I think I will have to get one eventually even though I have said DS1 could go in his Tobi till 7 as I'm sure he would exceed h the height (plus if I still have my car the roof isnt very high and there's not much room anyway)

Verity79 thanks so much great links. Just wondering they are not ISOFIX. Do you think rear racing out weights ISOFIX safety? This was our question when moving from the first rear facing new born seat.

DD rear faced until she was 2, she just crossed her legs...good practice for school! lol! Eiher that or she sat with her legs splayed over the sides! She didn't ever complain even on a 1500km trip we did across Europe...I complained lots on that trip!

Good post listing the rear facing options Verity. We have the Britax Multi Tech. It was more expensive than most forward facing but will last for ages. There's a bit of a gap between back of seat and front of carseat, so the legs are fine. I do think some tall kids would struggle more, but in Sweden they only have rear facing up to 4 ( I think) so it must be fine.
Basically they are FAR safer, and the sooner the govt and manufacturers get their act together the better.

The Britax two way elite is available here and is suitable for use up to 25kg with a harness.

www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk/shop/special_br_08.html

I think that is that only UK available seat which you can use the harness with after 18kg.

tryingtobemarypoppins, thanks for the links. I'm with Tesco insurance and they already said they'd pay for a new car seat, but can use part of the letter in my letter to them when I send instructions or receipt to them.

Off to bed for me. What a great thread will keep thinking on this one! Safe driving everyone!

tryingtobemarypoppins - ISOFIX is not safer than installation using a 3 point seat belt. It is just easier to stuff up the installation of a car seat with a seat belt! So if you compare a correctly installed ISOFIX seat and a correctly installed using seat belt car seat they are just as safe as each other.

Actually some of the big rear facers allow installation with a lap belt as they are also tethered to the driver/front passenger seat, I think one of the seats I have allows this but can't remember which one .

EachPeach - DD1 has very long legs and puts them on the seat back or crosses her legs. Even if there was an increased risk of breaking her legs in an accident I would still rear face her as you can put a cast on a broken leg but what do you do for a broken neck or internal decapitation. This is when the spinal column (bones/muscles) stretches further than the spinal cord (nerves) and the spinal cord snaps. It is almost always fatal and only a few children have survived this abet with major disabilties and a long recuperation period.

thanks peppapig, usernametaken and tryingtobemarypoppins

will weigh her tomorrow and look into those options.

Only read OP so apologies if this has been repeated.

Not only that but ideally children should stay rear facing until they are at least 2.6, but really the longer the better. In the UK most 5 point harnesses only go up to 18kg and booster seats only go up to 36kg. In other countries 5 point harnesses go up to 36kg and booster seats go up to 45kg which is obviously much safer and I don't know why we don't stock these in the UK. I think in the UK the best weight limit you'll get for a rear facing seat with a 5 point harness is 25kg which will last until approximately 7 years. Here are some to look at and see if they will fit your car:

Britax Nordic Freeway

Britax Two Way Elite

Britax Hiway

Brio Zento

Nordic Secura

The following are suitable from 9kg NOT birth.

Nordic Multitech

Maxi Cosi Mobi

There's a non-isofix one called the Be Safe Izi Kid X1 that goes up to 25kg aswell but I can only find the isofix version which seems to only go up to 18kg.

There's also the Akta Graco Cosmic Comfort S but I heard this one is only up to 25kg if used in the passenger seat. If you use it on the back seats it is only up to 18kg. I don't know if that's true for definite though so would be worth checking out just incase.

Also as well someone said in this about winter jackets. You shouldn't have outdoor jackets on children in car seats it can affect the fitting of the harness.
I read on the which site that one way to check it is to put your child in the seat with their coat on remove from the seat but don't adjust the straos in anyway. Take coat off put child back in and you will see how loose the harness is. To be effective the harness has to be neatly fitted around the body and a thick coat can hinder that.

Hi Ladies, hope you don't mind coming back to this thread but I recieved Bump to 3 through the post today and low and behold a rear facing ISOFIX car seat for up to 4 year olds!

www.bumpto3.com/product.aspx?DISPLAYCAT=safety&CAT=Products&CATGRY=In_Car_Safety&PID=JG101