Approaching the 18 kilo limit

[WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant]

Hi. We are in the uk.

Dd is a giant. She is 2 1/2, but the size of an average 4 year old.

Weighed and measured yesterday. 99cm, 17.3 kilos.

She is currently in a britax 1-2-3, using the 5 point harness.

Very soon, I am guessing she will hit the magic 18 kilo cut off for the buckle.

I know the 1-2-3 converts to a high-back booster, but without the harness, every journey will take a million times longer while I put her back in the seat every 10 feet.

She has no concept of "sit still, even though you know you can escape"

We are going through diagnostics for several things including co-ordination delay.

I don't have masses of spare cash to buy lots of seats, especially as this one is a decent one and I would like it to last.

Is there anything I can do? Apart from gaffer-tape her in?
Never drive again?

It has crossed my mind to try and find out if it is safe to use the 1-2-3 in both modes, together.

Put the adult belt around dd and the seat, as for a child over 15 kilos. Which she is.
But keep the harness on, to keep her in! Then the buckle wouldn't be under strain, as the "safety" is coming from the adult belt.

Is this possible? Safe? Logical?

Who could give me a "legal" answer? Britax? Mothercare? Boots?

Britax are about to bring out a seat with a harness that can be used up to 25kg. It's called the Advansafix and it says "coming soon" on their website. Maybe contact them and find out when it will be in available? Sorry, I know you said you didn't want to replace the seat you have, but I can't think of another solution!

I feel your pain. There's no way I would have wanted DS in a seat without a harness at 2.5. He's still in his harness at nearly 5, but fortunately we're in the USA where Britax do a seat with a harness for up to 35kg.

I was in your position a year or 2 ago. At that point the only option was to buy a btitax 2 way elite. Best decision I every made. Ds is now 4 and still in a 5 point harness. He still finds the seat comfy and it is v easy to move car to cat. Check our the In Car Safety Centre website

*car to car obv. The cat wouldn't be demeaned in manner of donkeys.

We recently faced this, though dd is 3.5 so I half feel I was being a bit pfb but anyway. There is one seat on the market that has internal straps that work above 18kg - up to 25 kilos. It's by britax and costs £220. Which is a lot more than other seats. Will last until she's about 12 of course.

I couldn't find any other model that offers this.

Shops just repeat the manufacturer's recommendation, which is the 'by weight' limits. They have no idea about age suitability because that's not what the seats are tested and regulated for.

I read stuff about seat belts not being safe for younger children because of their lack of bone development, so their stomach and internal organs, rather than hip bones, will take the strain in a crash. It wasn't clear how reliable that info was, or how much it might have been a few people getting very exercised about a tiny possibility.

Tits...

I wasn't even going to mention moving the car to the cat. He is a stupid furball who sits in the middle of the drive, trying to outstare the car.

I have been reading some the other threads on here. They want £395 for these seats. I haven't got that spare!

Ds was tall, but better behaved. He moved into the graco hbb just before his 3rd birthday. I think dd will be nearer 30 by the time she can sit still enough.

I still remember filling in the checklist in toys-r-us..

Name "Fred"
Age 1 (nearly 2, in a few weeks)
Weight 15.7 kilos

Well, says mr helpful, at 15.7 kilos, she can have this hbb...

Almost as helpful as the man in halfords. Who said its not worth buying a 5 pointer for her, she is too tall (maybe for the eclipse, but others are adjustable...), her only option is a rally harness. Go to demon tweeks.

As far as I understand (possibly out of date, as I haven't done much research for dd. ds survived my car seat choices...)

The 15 kilo minimum is to hold the carseat in place with your own body weight. And the adult belt.

The 18 kilo max is the limit of the buckle.

The other limits are when the eyes/ears are above the top of the shell.

Now wondering about contacting britax to ask if they will sell the 25 kilo buckle? That could work...

I don't think it's just the buckle, it will be the design of the harness and seat. No harm talking to britax about it though.

Dd being able - and likely - to wriggle out of the seatbelt was a reason for us choosing the 25kg harness seat. Turns out she can get out of the harness too if she tries. As she could with her previous seat. It's a less obvious thing to do though.

Mothercare had the seat in store to look at and try sitting her in.

MrsFrumble I just looked up the seat you mentioned and it says available now, www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/advansafix/
You do have to visit a dealer though to have it installed properly.

I very much doubt any manufacturer will agree the safety/legality of using both belts, or to selling you a buckle from one seat to fit on another. They combinations won't have been through the safety tests, so they couldn't give them the safety markings they need to be legal.

I think your options are;the Britax Two Way Elite (approx £220) which fits to the car with a seat belt, and lasts until 25kg, or the Britax Advansafix (also approximate £220) which needs isofix and a top tether anchor point, but will last until age 12.

The In Car Safety Centre are brilliant, and will talk things through on the phone if a visit is too difficult :)

I'm just starting to look into the same problem. On the Halfords website they sell a 'Halfords Essentials Group 123 Child Seat' www.halfords.com/kids-zone/car-seats/child-car-seats/halfords-essentials-group-123-child-seat
It costs £39.99 and is suitable up to 36kg with a 5 point harness, I might be missing something obvious - sorry! If you take a look let could me know what you thing?

The advansafix is what we have.

Lots of seats have a five point harness that is safe to 18kg, at which point you swap to seatbelt mode. So the seat covers a wide age range, the harness does not.

Surrey, I think you are missing this...

The seat is suitable up to 36 kilos, but after 18 kilos, you will have to use it as a hbb. Sorry, that's not what you want to hear!

But many of the 1-2-3 style seats are the same.

The ones that harness above 18 kilos are unusual.

I will contact that in car thing, thanks happy.

Order a Britax Two Way Elite. It rear and forward faces to 25kg with the harness. It has one of the tallest shells too so lasts to a good height as well as weight.

£220.

Penny, I can't order that britax as I don't have the money