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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Baby outgrows car seat at 6months, now what?

61 replies

murphy36 · 21/04/2014 20:13

He's 90odd%ile and his head is just reaching the top of the head rest.

I've been given 2different car seats, both forward facing and one tilts to several different positions.

Anyone else moved them into forward facing at this age? Or do I have to bite the bullet and spend 200-300 on rear facing?

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TheScience · 22/04/2014 10:45

Lots of group 0+/1 seats rear face til 18kg - even the basic Kiddicare ones if you don't want to spend lots of money.

MoominsAreScary · 22/04/2014 10:52

The kiddicare ones a rf till 13 kg then ff until 18. Kiddicare only stock two rf carseats for over 13kg, one is a britax cant remember what the other is. Both over £200

BertieBotts · 22/04/2014 10:58

If you do go forward facing, choose the seat with the best recline because he'll be safer more reclined.

But I agree - he needs to be rear facing. You could look at one of the combination seats like the Britax First Class, they are usually around £99 on offer somewhere. Avoid the very cheap babystart/kiddicare/baby weavers/nania seats (all the same company) because the rear facing is only until 9kg or 10kg unlike the Britax and Maxi Cosi ones where they RF to 13kg. - TheScience you are mistaken.

With rear facing it needs to be top of head, because in an accident the straps allow for a little bit of movement up the seat, which means if their head is too far over it it could fall off the end potentially being totally unsupported by the seat at all.

He would be better off FF and reclined, than in a RF seat which he is too big for.

GingerDoodle · 22/04/2014 12:01

I know there all be mixed responses but I watched a few safety videos - froward vs rear facing in crashes and happily spent £160 on our Britax extended rear facing seat from In Car Safety Centre. DD is 19 months is it is fab. It also has the option to turn it around when we want to.

We bought a cheap forward facing one for my sisters car for very short trips and there is no way I would put DD in it (it says from 9 months) even now without sitting next to it!

MoominsAreScary · 22/04/2014 12:26

Ginger which one have you got? Im looking for extended rf for ds4 and still cant find one for under £200

Original poster

murphy36 · 22/04/2014 18:37

Thanks Parliamo, the head rest is slid up to the top, but will take the little seat off. Might give me another few CM to work with.

He seems particularly long in the body as opposed to leg which I think adds to fitting difficulty.

I've seen the Britax first class which will be good until 15kg rear facing, might be 12months, might be 2.5 years as he's been all over the growth charts, swung between 75 and 25% several times for weight!

Otherwise I guess just go for something RF in group 1 for about 200£ and use the group 2/3 I've been given when needed.

OP posts:

morethanpotatoprints · 22/04/2014 18:45

We had a car seat that went from birth until the size they didn't need it anymore, it wasn't very dear at all.
We bought it from Argos, not sure if they still do them.

BertieBotts · 22/04/2014 20:38

They were recalled more.

BertieBotts · 22/04/2014 20:39

13kg rear facing the First Class is ok to, not 15.

DS outgrew his car seat in height at about 18 months but he wasn't 13kg at that age. I can't remember what age he was 13kg.

MoominsAreScary · 22/04/2014 20:51

The joie I anchor is rf up to 18kg and is £160

NomDeClavier · 22/04/2014 20:58

We had a Britax first class from 8months - DS was very long backed and off the charts tall. He turned forward facing just before 2 when he hit 13kg and is only now at just turned 3 into a high backed booster. I thoroughly recommend it.

Lioninthesun · 22/04/2014 21:03

Get a Britax 1-2-3 - DD was 98th centile and did the same. This is meant to last until 11yo

BertieBotts · 22/04/2014 21:06

But it's not rear facing Lion.

riskit4abiskit · 22/04/2014 23:14

We just got a joie stages. Under one hundred and fifty pounds.

MiaowTheCat · 23/04/2014 07:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Artandco · 23/04/2014 07:18

The extended rear facing actually work well will long legged children. Our 4 year old still fits nicely rear facing in the cybex as very tall but fine weight wise

Indith · 23/04/2014 07:32

I have a first class plus too from when dd outgrew the infant carrier at 6 months that her brother had been in until a good year or so. ds2 is in the first class plus now and still rear facing age 2.

I know it seems a shame to buy another seat when you have a forward facing ready but a couple of hundred is nothing compared to the life of a child.

Be careful of how the second hand ones have been stored too not just she and if they have been in accidents. storing in a garage or loft where they are exposed to extremes of temperature weakens them.

Original poster

murphy36 · 23/04/2014 12:10

Joie stages and the britax max way are which don't buys because of install and side impact concerns.

OP posts:

ClairesTravellingCircus · 23/04/2014 13:21

"IS THE JOIE STAGES A SAFE SEAT?

Which? Magazine gave the Stages a 'Don't Buy' a while ago, and ever since then, this question has come up time and time again. So I thought I would explain it here.

The crash test and ratings that Which? Magazine use are conducted by the German Motoring Organisation the ADAC.
The ADAC's ratings are based 50-50 on safety and user-friendliness. Some forward facing seats, including impact shield seats, are light weight and easy to install. The child appears to be quite comfortable in them and the covers are easy to remove. All these things will bump that half of the rating up. In crash tests the dummy is retained in the seat and the seat doesn't move more than the maximum that the test allows. So they rate it 'safe'. Combine that with the high user-friendliness score and the seat gets a 'Best Buy'.
But the dummies used in those crash tests have no sensors that measure the loads on the neck. And they have no sensors that can detect the effect that the harness or the shield has on the internal organs. When the ADAC test rear facing seats they mark them down on things like installation, the child's view and comfort (all nonsense). Because their test dummies have no way of measuring neck loads and internal injuries, the huge safety benefits of rear facing are completely lost in these tests.
Forward facing seats (including those with shields) are given high ratings for all the wrong reasons. And rear facing seats are marked down for the wrong reasons.
It is true that the Stages got a fairly low side-impact rating. But no worse than any rear facing seat installed with the seat belt in that way would get. I have tried a few different belt installed Group 0+ seats and some are quite wobbly unlike the Stages which is very solid.

The way that seats like the Stages are installed will give them a little more movement than Isofix seats or tethered ones. So most infant seats that are belt installed and seats like the Britax First Class Plus perform in a very similar way.
The Stages got an excellent frontal crash result. Frontal crashes account for 75% of all crashes and side ones are only 20%. Of course side impact should not be ignored but most car seats are designed mainly for frontal impact.
It got a good result forward facing in the crash test. But all that that test does is place a bar 55cm away from the dummy's face and crash the car. If the head doesn't hit that bar the seat passes. But that tells you absolutely nothing about the effect that that crash had on the child's neck. In a crash at 40mph there is an extremely high chance that the child has broken its neck. But the head didn't strike the bar so they give you the impression that it's a great seat!
Also please be aware that European Standard ECE R44/04 does NOT include a side impact test at all. So there are lots of seats available in the shops that haven't been through any independent testing so there is no way of knowing how good or how bad their SIP is.
I think that the Joie Stages has quite unfairly suffered a lot of criticism. There are other seats that don't do well in the Which? tests but no one bats an eyelid. Other seats are recalled for various reasons and it goes unnoticed. I personally think that the Stages is a great seat. The cheapest rear facing seat is still better than the 'best' forward facing one. If you have £350 to spend then by all means get a BeSafe or an Axkid. But if your budget is no higher than £150 then the Stages is by far the best option. It will offer your little one far far more protection than a £250 forward facing seat."

This is from the FB page for www.rearfacingtoddlers.com, it gives an explanation on why Joie Stages is still way safer than any FF seat.

BertieBotts · 23/04/2014 13:30

Claires (or anyone else) Do you happen to know what weight the Joie Stages seat is harnessed until? A friend is looking for an inexpensive seat which harnesses past 18kg but I couldn't see from the site whether this was the case.

ClairesTravellingCircus · 23/04/2014 13:41

Not 100% but I think it's only to 18kgs.

BertieBotts · 23/04/2014 13:51

That's what I thought. Bummer.

riskit4abiskit · 23/04/2014 14:17

Thanks claires, much relieved with your comments, especially since we have only had it a few weeks

MultipleMama · 23/04/2014 17:58

Keep rear-facing. 4 of my DCs are in Cybex Sironas. I recommend them. Expensive but they last a long time. My other 2 use Cybex Pallas.

MultipleMama · 23/04/2014 17:59

Also Jolie Steadi are good seats.

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