When do we get a new seat?

[Mibby]

DD is 4 months/ 17lb and very long. Shes still in the carryable rear facing car seat that goes with her travel system (although shes in the buggy part when we go out now) but its getting a tight fit.

When do we change and what sort of thing should I look for? She's our first child and Im not sure what kind we need. We have a 3 door car if that makes any difference

She needs to be at least 9kg/20lbs and preferably able to sit independently with good head control to forward face. Lengthwise the top of the seat back can be at eye level before it becomes "too small". If she is younger than 9 months when she outgrows the current seat consider getting one which rearfaces again but stays in the car although that may be a pita in a 3 door. Some rear facing seats go up to aged 4/18kgs + now but most parents still opt for a forward facing Stage 1 seat.

what seat is she in??

if she is only 4 months, she will need to be in a rearfacing seat for sometime yet. her infant carrier should do her for some time yet ( most have a 13kg weight limit,usually about 16/18months)

her feet will touch the back of your cars seat,thats just the way it is,but so long as her head isn't above the top of the seat shell she is fine.

Its the Graco 'I love my Bear' travel system one. It does say "up to 12kg" but its a pretty tight fit now. The seat itself isn't too bad, its well above her head but the harness is the problem. We've got all the straps on maximum length but they only just fasten round her, I really cant see it fitting for much longer

Ive taken all the newborn padding out but its way too cold to take her out without a coat.
I'll look into a bigger, rear facing seat for her. I want her to be safe, but comfy, not squished up.

Try the Britax First Class Plus.

You really might want to rethink putting her in without her coat on - a thick coat prevents you tightening the straps enough to keep her safe - a blanket over the top is a much better bet. According to the UK Department of Transport, 60 to 80% of all car seats are used incorrectly, with harness tension being the single biggest failing. You need to have the harness done up tight enough so that you would be confident to hold the seat upside down over your head with your dd in it and not worry about her falling out. And straps should be readjusted every single time you put her in the seat. She needs to be squished to be safe!

BranchingOut Thank you, thats great :) Just what I wanted, something weight based, not age based

we had a carseat cosytoes for our dd,so she didnt have to wear a jacket in her carseat,it was only about £6 from ebay x

Ok, I didn't know about the car seat-coat thing, no ones mentioned that to me before. Odd as shes been to the GP and health visitor in her car seat and coat!

The car seat cosytoes looks good (blankets don't stay on long enough for me to get the car off the drive), that should work until she reaches the weight limit on the seat

Thank you all for your help :)

we found it was really handy as i used the carseat as part of a travel system,
instead of having to take a coat on/off when putting her in/out of the car, we just unzipped the blanket part when she was in the car zipped it back up before we took her out,

You can download our FREE best practice guide at the link below. This will tell you which type of car seat is best for your child. It also explains WHY.
The guide covers advice for each stage of child development, from infants to older children. www.trl.co.uk/child-seat-safety-centre/RCTBP.pdf