New car seat for 14kg toddler

[LolaLollypop]

I've got baby no2 on the way and need to put the newborn in my Maxi Cosi newborn seat/Isofix.
My 2 year old daughter is currently on that base in a Pearl. She weighs about 13kg now so i estimate when no2 arrives she'll be about 14kg.

She already undoes the straps on the Pearl and I have to battle to get her to stay in. So I'm thinking maybe buy her a "big girl" booster seat in the 15kg+ category rather than another 9kg-15kg toddler seat. She'll be just under the weight/age limit I reckon.

Thoughts? Too risky? Ideally I'd have her in the toddler seat til 4yrs but she already manoeuvres out of it!

Or buy a new newborn set for no2, keep toddler in pearl then change the seat again in a year when daughter is 3.5 And baby is ready to move into the Pearl.

Either way I'm forking out for new car seats this year and next 🤔

Thanks welshweasel. My original post was based on some of the seats available from age 3 and 15kg. I would never put her in an aged 4/18kg+ booster seat until she's ready.

I appreciate that rear-facing is the safest option but my daughter has already been in her forward facing Pearl for a year. I don't really want to have to buy a rear-facing seat now, risk her absolutely hating it and I'll have to buy another seat when she gets to 4 anyway (18 months later). I appreciate the safety advice but I have to think practically too. Ideally I want to buy just one more car seat when the new baby arrives - I think the 1,2,3 options are the best bet for me.

I think you misunderstood me - there are no booster seats that are safe for children under 4 - that is the absolute youngest age that they will have developed skeletal maturity to make it safe to sit in a seat without a harness. I get that you don’t want to turn her back rear facing, but I’m just pointing out that if she reaches 18kg before she turns 4, it wouldn’t be safe to put her in any sort of booster seat and you’d need to buy a further seat to keep her safe.

If she will be 4 by the time that she hits 18kg then your plan is ok, just make sure you keep her harnessed until she hits the 18kg (assuming she’s over 4 by then) then switch to using it as a high backed booster.

Does that make more sense?

Yes makes sense. I doubt she'll be 18kg before she's 4 anyway. There are some car seats that say from age 3/15kg though - hence my initial question. Appreciate from the responses that it's not safe to use before they're 4 though. That's why I asked, as I've never used a booster seat before!

If you're wanting to forward face, the joie bold harnesses to 25kg but needs isofix, top tether and seatbelt to be fitted correctly.

Yes they are legal from 15kg (average weight of a 3 year old) but absolutely not safe. I wish they would update car seat laws to make it more straightforward.

We have two of the britax evolva 123 seat op, first one we've had for almost 4 years now and it'll easily last til my eldest doesn't need a car seat. She's been using it without harness since she turned 4. The other thing I found weird about the pearl is that it's hard to get the straps close to the body! Best not to get into a debate about the relative safety of different perfectly OK seats