Weight of child for group 2/3 car seat

[PigeonPie]

I know this is a bit mad, but is the 15kg weight stipulation for children to go into the group 2/3 car seat clothed or unclothed?

DS2 is only 14.5kg unclothed, but is over once he's dressed.

Do I wait for him to put on half a kilo, which could be ages, or do I put him in his new seat?

Thanks

personally i wouldnt,seatbelts are only tested from 15kg,if your child is under that the seatbelt may not lock properly in an accident/if you had to brake hard,

MUCH safer to keep him harnessed a bit longer.

Keep them harnessed for as long as possible.

Mine outgrown his britax- eyes over top but was only just 15kg.

We got a recaro sport 123 which gave us the option if a harness til 18kg and no prob with height,

What's the hurry? Is there any reason you want to put him in the next one up any time soon? If there isn't, I'd keep him in the group 1 seat as long as possible, it's safer!

Wait - in summer he won't be wearing half a kilo of clothing !

Thanks folks.

I kept DS1 in it for well over 15kg, but the car seat cover is disintegrating, despite me having patched it and then almost patching the patches and I can't really afford more than £40 for a new one when I'll be throwing out the car seat once DS2 has finished with it.

So you can probably see my dilemma. Is it safer to put DS2 in a new isofix group 2/3 one or leave him in the old one?

how old is the seat he is using just now??

I'm ashamed to say it is fairly old. It was only recently I discovered that they had a use by date (and I've no idea why I hadn't thought of that before)

ok so its neither an option to keep him in the seat he is in,or to move him into a high backed booster.
you really need a 1-2-3 group seat for him,with either a 5 point harness or an impact cushion x

I'm a bit wary of this useby date stuff. Firstly what make is it? When cover removed us the plastic shell and polystrene in tact?

Yes the cover may have seen better days but as long as doesn't affect the harness function and the seat is otherwise okay I wouldn't throw if out just yet.

Is £40 your max budget ? Can someone lend you a group 1 if you don't trust current one?

in both my maxi-cosi instruction booklet and my britax one it states to replace the seat after a maximum of 6 yrs

I bought a new cover for an old MC Rodi - ds has used it for over 7 years, now justa booster cushion. The Britax Freeway had more than 6 years use too. I'm a bit at "use by dates". You could get a 123 which goes through all stages, if one fits your car (dd graduated to an Evolva 123 Ultra eventually, first with harness until 18kg , since without.) However £40 for another 5 years or more of use seems a bit tight tbh and buying just a booster is a false economy if he is too small. How long until you could afford one that suits him ? Remember you may be able to get Boots points if you ordered from them or use Tesco vouchers etc

Thanks folks. It's a Maxi Cosi Priori and it's been used on and off for 11 years. It's in good condition apart from the cover - certainly the polystyrene etc was ok last time I looked at it when I repaired the cover in November.

I think I'll keep him in it then, patch it again and wait.

I don't dispute the manufacteurs put that but is it a marketing tool to get us to buy new when current one probably okay and just needs inspection.

How would that work for a stage123 as liz has highlighted.

On seats expiring:
babyproducts.about.com/b/2006/07/12/reader-question-do-car-seats-expire.htm

It might be fine, but would you want to take the risk?

this has a good table

After researching more and realising it not just USA litigation obsessed that issue this advice I'm inclined to go with the advice about expiry dates.