Is there such a thing as a rear facing seat which doesn't cost a million pounds?

[DitaVonCheese]

DS is 6 months and over 22lb/10 kg. It is almost impossible to cram him into his first stage car seat any longer. I would like to put him in a rear facing seat anyway but obviously will not be putting a 6 mo fwd facing. However, wasn't really expecting rear facing seats to be so expensive or rare! Is there such a thing as one under £100? Advice gratefully received.

Most decent ff car seats are around the £200 mark now so I doubt you'll find RF for less

Two way elite is £180

Thanks :) Meant to say sorry for brevity - one hand trapped under DS!

Urgh at prices :( We are so broke. Both DC already in secondhand seats!

ERF is safest without doubt but if you truly are that skint that you just can't afford more than £100 (I know the feeling only too well so I can empathise with you, £20 spare a month anyone??) anyway... How about a Britax First Class (if it will fit your car) DS can be rear-facing untill the 13kg/29lbs mark then the seat turns front facing. Not ideal I know, but may be a good mid-way seat.
If you tell me what car you have I should be able to tell you if it'll fit :)
Also, DS can stay in the Group0+ (if that's what you have rather than group0) untill he is 13kg or the top of his head is at the top of the seat
first class £99.99 at mothercare at the moment

agree with justforinfo regarding the first class. we have got this seat of we couldnt afford an ERF as it would have kept DS reafacing till at least age 2.
WE paid 190 for the britax two way elite.

that was meant to say would have got it. not have.

Thanks for the info. My car is a VW Golf (estate if that makes a difference), DH has a Toyota Yaris.

We actually can't afford £100 either I was just too embarrassed to put £40. We are having a squeaky couple of months :(

Have seen a couple of Britax First Classes come up on ebay so will keep an eye out as an interim option until we are hopefully a bit less skint. Not sure about current seat it's whatever comes with a Mothercare Urban Detour, but the issue is that I am struggling to do the straps up and I'm not sure how much longer I'll physically be able to squeeze him into it (he hasn't been able to wear a coat for a couple of months!).

lagrandissima thanks for message, apols for lack of reply

aww I really feel for you :( are you anywhere near Chester? I have a First Class spare you can have, it is slightly pink but your welcome to borrow it until you can afford your own if your near me :)
I'll be honest with my seat - I crashed with it in the car (no child in it) BUT i have had it inspected by Britax and they have deemed it safe :)

Oh and It should fit in a Golf rear facing - but not the Yaris rearfacing (I'd be surprised if it did!) HOWEVER :D the First Class has an alternative routing when front facing for cars with long seatbelt buckles (buckle crunch)

I had the first class for both my kids. It's a bit of a faff to fit so not great if you have to be moving it between cars, but otherwise I found it an excellent seat. I have a mk3 Golf and it fitted in that no problem, but the front passenger seat did have to be quite far forwards so if you have to transport 6ft passengers they might find it a bit of a squeeze!

Argos have some much cheaper group0+1 seats. Now obviously they will probably not be as good as a £200 seat but they seem to fit your budget better and might be better than squeezing him into a too small seat. link to seats here

I have a Britax RF seat (the one Volvo used to supply, may well still do so, for all I know), with isofix base, going for free, if you can arrange collection.

I know it is secondhand, but I can promise it hasn't been in any accidents at all, not even scraping the gatepost . it is just outgrown.

nice and roomy, dd1 was very comfortable in it.

I am in Surrey, if any use to you, OP (or anyone else browsing)

oh, meant ot say - it is a RF toddler seat, not infant seat.

Just checked out the seats from tutu100 but they won't fit your cars as your buckles stick out the seat :(

Oh wow - that's fantastically kind of you silverfrog and tutu I am not in Surrey (though have family in Dorking - but my car isn't isofix) but am about 7 miles from Chester :)

Thank you both so much (and everyone else who has replied with info and advice) I am really really touched :)

Just wanted to warn you - some of the cheap brands (nania, first start etc) do combination seats like the Britax First Class which go forward and rear facing, but they will be no good for you, because instead of the RF limit being 13kg it is only 10kg. This is not always mentioned on the product listings.

Just thought I would mention in case you saw it (Asda have an offer on them at the moment IIRC) or a well meaning friend or relative pointed it out.

oh, sorry it's not suitable. hope you can work something out

Britax First Class is £82 online at Halfords if that is any use at all... overdraft maybe? "only" twice your budget...

It's a shame because the older mothercare own brand seats (the travel tot) were excellent and very roomy, they were made by dorel (maxi cosi) and pretty much copies of the old Cabriofix model with less padding. DS fitted into his for 18 months (he was small, though). But then they changed to this "spin" seat which got bad reviews because the handle was too flimsy, and now the ziba which is quite a bit smaller and looks like a copy of the "budget" brand seats.

Silverfrog - bit cheeky but wondering if you're still offering the rearfacing carseat? I'm looking for something for 9mo DD.