Too small for Group 1?

[Szeli]

Hi, my son is only 10kg at 16mo so weight wise is fine to stay in his infant seat. Height wise comes the issue, his head is almost level with the top of the seat.

Tried him in the 1/2/3 kiddie care seat my DM has bought him but he doesn't seem tall enough for this, just the tops of his ears are within the head support.

Does anyone know how tall they should be to be safe in these seats or if there's any booster cushions available for car seats?

Thanks

There's a £60 Britax one in the kiddicare sale at the moment that is 9kg-18kg. I'd maybe use the Kiddicare own brand one once he's grown out of group 1 at about 3ish.

Try a Britax Prince, dd2 is tiny and always fitted well in hers.

Kiddicare have the Britax Evolva for a really great price just now www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplay0_10751_-1_298473_10001

Before I discovered the joys of ERF I had an Evolva for my oldest child and really liked it. As you can see from the picture if you click on my link, the headrest comes much further down than the Kiddicare one.

The other trouble with the Kiddicare one is that it is very upright. A friend has one, and her DDs head always falls forward if she sleeps.

The Evolva does recline, but you have to decide whether or not to recline it (there are only 2 positions, 'upright' - but still not as upright as the cheap seats - or reclined) before you fix it into the car, and you cannot change the position without taking the whole seat out and installing it again. I actually used mine in the recline position all the time because it fitted better in my car that way.

I've always bought Britax seats (most recently a Multi Tech ERF seat, which funnily enough is exactly the same as the Evolva but with the addition of a support leg and tether straps to allow it to be used rear facing), I would not buy a cheap brand, I really do think that with car seats you get what you pay for and I'd scrip and save on any other baby equipment to be able to pay for a decent car seat.

We're in the same position as you and looking at either the Joie Tilt or Joie Steadi , both under £130 and ERF.

Thanks for the feedback, will pass it on to my DDad.

Can't take another photo until he's in a car again in around a fortnight, will look then and see if these alterations can be made.

Interesting about 30mph, he'll be lucky to ever reach that driving round here, so thankyou.

I simply cannot afford a car seat and I don't wish my parents to buy another so if it's a definite no go I guess they'll have to walk/use public transport with him instead of drive

If it's the only option available and especially since they are going at low speeds, then I would say use it. It's not ideal, but it's not going to pose a danger, and he'll be much safer in the car seat than using nothing at all. This car seat is designed for older children, but it's also legally approved from 9kg+, and it's not like he's a 9 month old, he is a toddler.

The kiddycare nania etc car seats are produced by a company called team tex. Their seats tend to score poorly in independent crash tests but seem popular because of their extremely low prices. Last year asda and kiddy are offered refunds for one of this seats after which magazine gave them the lowest possible score and recommended that people who had the seat replace it. Personally i would ask round amongst friends and family for a good seat with proven history (car seats do have a expiry date though) and use that if i was not in a position to get one with good independant safety rating.

Thanks mad do you have any links? I've been googling for over an hour but only found issue with their infant seat, not this one. If there is a chance of return at this point tho that would be grand.

All the reviews I can find only mention lack of recliner, which isn't a problem short distance, but are otherwise well reviewed, although I know some companies pay to have bad reviews shifted. Aaaargh!

This wasn't the seat that was recalled, it was a different one that was group 0/1/2/3 I think.

Yes it was a different seat which was recalled. The idea of a 0/1/2/3 seat is ridiculous anyway - how could you safely cater for a newborn and a 12 year old in the same seat! - so I'm not surprised that was recalled. Group 1/2/3 seats as you have are fairly commonplace and even the big names make them.

Reviews are all well and good but won't tell you how the seat performs in an accident, is the issue. Also good tip is to sort reviews by negative first, as IME positive reviews don't tell you anything useful, but negative ones will highlight issues such as lack of recline or any problems installing and you can more easily judge if the reviewer has had a genuine problem or was misusing the product.

Libraries should have a copy of the Which safety test if you want to see if they reviewed this seat. But as said before, all seats for sale in the EU have to adhere to safety standards which say that they protect a child in a 30mph frontal crash. So for short distance, low speeds, I would be happy with absolutely any legal seat that a child is within the weight guidelines for.

This looks like the same one rebranded. www.which.co.uk/baby-and-child/baby-transport/reviews/child-car-seats/nania-beline-sp/review/

It won't show you the results of the test unless you're subscribed but you can see which one it is to check at the library or maybe pass on to your folks.

Have done some googling and it gets 3/5 in the stiftung warentest which is the rating "satisfactory" (2/5 is "sufficient" with 1/5 being "insufficient"). The stiftung test is a German test which is very similar to how they test new cars for safety. ADAC Motortest - which is the car test - gives it 3/5 as well.

Unfortunately the sites are in German so I can't give you any more info than that.

I have a which subscription. This is the review for the seat Bertie linked to;

The Nania Beline SP is a forward-facing group 1 2 3 seat, for toddlers from 9kg right up to children of 36kg (around one to 12 years). The adult seatbelt secures the seat and an older child in place, while younger children (9kg-18kg) are secured with an integral harness. Find out how it compares with other multi-group booster seats.

The Beline offers reasonable protection for older children, but is less effective for group 1 use.

Safety
Side-crash protection for all ages is acceptable, earning the seat three stars in this test, but falls a long way short of the Best Buy grade.

In front crashes, it scores three stars for protecting older children in group 2 3 mode, but two stars when used for toddlers in group 1 mode, as we found it exposes the child to a risk of injury

Fitting and using the seat
The Nania Beline has clear instructions and warning labels, but our experts felt that installing and adjusting the seat, and strapping the child in position, is too complicated.

The seat is uncomfortable, offering poor leg support, and the padding is quite hard. The seat shell is quite narrow, meaning space for the child is quite limited. The view for the child is quite limited, too.

Overall finish quality is good, but removing and cleaning the seat cover is quite complicated.

Overall rating
The Nania Beline SP scores 49% overall, which is fairly poor for any child car seat and not very far above our Don't Buy threshold.

Updating our tests
In 2011, we changed the car body we use for testing to more accurately reflect the current typical family car seatbelt layout and design. We carried out some repeat testing to ensure that previous tests shown online are broadly comparable to the current ones. However, such a significant change means we can't make absolute comparisons.

This result is from our 2012 tests.

Do you already own this child car seat? If you do, click the customer views tab - above the picture - and tell us what you think of it.

Pros: Clear instructions, good finish quality

Cons: Poor front crash protection, awkward belt routing, overly complicated to install seat and strap child in, hard padding, narrow seatshell

It is quite complicated to install for the younger child - my dad just can't work it out at all! Although DS is under 18kg I prefer my parents to use it with just the adult seatbelt as they don't seem to manage to install it safely for use with the harness.

Thanks bbq although I can't read it on phone, will try get on a computer for a mooch.

May just stick with this then and use it when he's a bit bigger, and if any long distance journeys crop up, tough or try borrowing one

Once again, thanks a ton