Gigantic 7mo, group 1 rearfacing ok?

[thing1andthing2]

Ds is 7 months old, 10.10 kg at a weigh-in last week. He's big and broad so although he hasn't grown out of the infant carseat height wise, his shoulders are too broad for it, especially in a thick jumper (no chance of him fitting in with a coat). It is already a group 0+ up to 13kg carseat and my dd fitted in it till 19 or 20 months.
Anyway, we have a maxicosi mobi for dd which is a lovely rear facing seat for 9-25kg, I thought I would get another for ds. It says it's suitable from 9kg/9 months - do you think that is either/or and it would be ok for a 10kg 7mo? It does recline so he wouldn't have to sit upright in it.

as he meets the minimum weight guide it should be fine especially if he is going to be rear facing. The age is a guide as weight is most important.

The most important thing is the straps fit across his shoulders correctly and it is rear facing. (Google "rear facing the way forward" for more info).

Kiddicare have lots of birth to 4 seats on sale at the moment including the Britax first class and baby weavers shuffle which can be rear facing.

Baby Weavers Shuffle is a group 0 not 0+ so OP's DS is already too big for it rfing.

I'd get a proper group 1 rfing seat & if your happy with the Mobi & it fits well in your car why not get another one?

I've just had the baby weavers delivered today and if it's the one I've got its definitely 0+ as I brought it for exactly the same reasons. Its very sturdy for the money and ds looks much more comfortable in it.

www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplay0_10751_-1_147939_10001

Ahh I see. Maybe I am mistaken then. Hmm. Wondering if I've made a mistake buying it myself now !

Will have another proper look tomorrow. I still have the box etc.

it looks like it is a combination seat that is designed to be turned round at 9kgs to be forward facing so maybe not what you were looking for.

Thanks that's good to know about the straps. I will check him in dd's mobi.
We love the mobi which is rf to age 5 but never see it mentioned on here. Not sure why.

So, bearing in mind I need a seat on a reasonable budget, is it unsafe to use it rear facing if ds is on the 9kg cusp or slightly beyond it ?

Sorry to hijack thread. Just really concerned now!

I'm tempted to send it back and get the Britax first class as reading the blurb it says can be rear facing till 13kg.

Hmm.

p.s. it counts as being in the Group 0+1 category as it is for both group 0+1 ie. birth to 4 years

I feel a bit daft now :)

I was so focused on the rear facing thing I didn't really think about the forward facing from 9kg aspect. Is that because it's not safe to take the weight propelled forward from the rear at that weight anymore?

Or is it the reverse and saying 9kg is a minimum for forward facing as most people seem to be in a rush to forward face?

Hmm, I'm not sure - with combination group 0/1 seats the rear facing way is usually only certified for group 0 (up to 10kg) OR Group 0+ which is up to 13kg. No other groups exist from birth in the UK, so there's no way it can be RF only until 9kg (legally anyway)

I'd double check if the rear facing position is Group 0 or Group 0+, though - it will be in your manual. There needs to be some overlap between groups, otherwise you'd have to keep an eye on the scales for the minute your baby hit 9kg - any smaller and they'd be unsafe in the FF position, any larger and they'd be unsafe in the RF position!

I do suspect sadly that the BabyWeavers car seat is probably Group 0, just because it's cheaper for them to test and produce it to a lower level of support.

The Mobi that the OP is talking about is an ERF seat - so the Group 1 position of that seat supports rear facing as well.

Britax First Class is a Group 0+ and Group 1 car seat, it can be rear facing until 13kg.

9kg is indeed a minimum - in fact the only minumum legal requirement in the UK - for babies to be allowed to forward face.

It's probably lazy reporting on the website because there is NO "group" which is 0-9kg, hence if the seat is only tested to 9kg, it hasn't passed ECE guidelines and isn't legal to be sold. But it is likely to be only Group 0 rather than 0+ and hence only tested rear facing until 10kg rather than the higher 13kg.

The seat might be safe past the weight it's been tested at, but as it hasn't been safety tested, I wouldn't want to risk it.

What does it say in the manual/on the box? I'm interested now :) The weight limit is sometimes printed on the plastic of the car seat itself too.

Thank you. How confusing. And I thought I was better than most on car seats etc after my ex worked for the baby section in boots! (Embarrassed).

It says in the booklet rear facing till 10kg.

I think I need to weigh ds properly and decide what to do.

I don't think I can afford to spend hundreds on a car seat :( literally struggling as it is! But absolutely won't have him forward facing. I couldn't live with myself if god forbid something happened.

Look at the negative reviews on it with people saying their 4, 5 month old babies cried when rear facing so they put it forward facing!

I would return it - you have 7 days under the distance selling act or something - and get the First Class, which is around £100. That will keep him RF until he's around 18 months - 2.5 depending on how tall and how heavy he is, and after that it's a good forward facing seat. It's also very sturdy and Britax are a good make, they safety test their seats far higher than the budget brands like babyweavers and nania do. To be fair, the babyweavers one looks nice and sturdy and I can see why you went for it. But those extra 3 kilos on the weight limit make quite a lot of difference, if you look in your red book - their growth slows down massively after the first 12 months.

I've just seen a picture somebody put on one of the reviews and their 11 month old is almost too tall for it.

Thanks. I think I will return it.

Feel like a bit of a doughnut. Oops.

I have a similar problem!! My 6m is 9kg and I have to kind if wedge him into the seat which is a 0+. And I'm the same with the jumper/coat thing. If he is wearing more then a baby grow then I can't do the straps up over his belly!!

I went to mothercare at the weekend, tbh the lady made me feel silly. Said I shouldn't ever put DS in the seat with jumper anyway as he would get far too hot. She then removed a piece of polystyrene from under the cover, which to be fair has given me a little more belt. But he is now sat just in the plastic of the seat with no padding! She also said that it was not appropriate to move him up a seat until his ears were in line with the top. I think when I get to this stage I'll have to use grease to get him in and out of it!!

Hi Abigail, yes I think a rearfacing group 1 is probably the only option for our giant babies!
The mobi is £250 though so it's going to be a bit of a stretch. But it's so solid and sturdy, reclines, gives leg room etc. don't really want to try anything else.

I think your right, the mobi seems like a good option. Lets just how our babies growth tails off, otherwise it's going to get expensive!

Er - did she remove some kind of infant insert or the actual padding of the seat? Surely removing stuff makes the seat less safe? She sounds like a bit of a loon TBH. Although she is right about the ears, if the baby has not outgrown the seat in other ways. If you can't do the straps up safely (over a jumper is fine, it's just coats which are a problem) then the seat is not suitable for him any more.