large toddler, car seat -confused

[mum133566]

Looking for some advice please ! My son is currently in a rear facing seat group 0/1 which says it goes upto 39lb(18kg) my son is 20 months and weighs 33lbs so is big for his age he is on the 99th centile for weight and height. I know I will probably have to invest in an extended rear face seat at some point but my mother & mil want to buy a seat for there cars , trouble is I’m not sure if a group of 0/1 will last long at the rate his growing ? How soon do you think he would reach 18kg? Group 2 is a booster so no way he can go in that. My mil is asking to buy him a forward face seat but I would rather they kept him rear but I know they won’t want to spend a lot on a seat as they only have him occasionally. I did see a joie tilt on offer for £60 which can go rear but will that be any good for how big he is ?

You will probably need a seat that goes up to 25kg.

Heightwise a 1/2 seat will last longer... But will only be harnessed up to 18kg.

The jpie stages (if that is still made) is bigger than the tilt but harnessed up to the same weight

He's very close to the 99th centile. At that weight he is likely to reach 18kg at roughly age 2.5 years, so no I don't think the Joie Tilt will be worth it for you.

You will need a seat that goes up to 25kg which you can get rear facing or forward facing, although they don't usually do both. The forward facing ones are cheaper but tend to need top tether attachments in the car. One option for you might be BabyAuto Dupla for the relatives' cars, if they have top tether. This can be rear facing until 18kg and you can then use the harness on it forward facing up to 25kg. I saw it on offer for £80 recently but it's usually about £140. You can then use it as a booster seat after 25kg, so at least it would be an investment.

Otherwise if no top tether the rear facing seats up to 25kg start at about £180, sometimes you can find Britax Two Way Elite for less, but it's a bit more complicated to use.

The cheap(er) rear facing seats up to 25kg are Britax Max Way, Britax Max Way Plus and Axkid Move.

You're right he can't go in a booster seat yet, although he is the minimum weight he is definitely too young.

Thanks so much everyone I don’t understand why they don’t make this clear when buying seats it makes us with big toddlers waste money as it’s a shame all the rear face 25kg seats are so expensive. Wish I’d invested in one at the start instead of my current £150 18kg seat.
@BertieBotts

Thanks so much I’ve had a look at your recommendations is this one any good ?

www.online4baby.com/babyauto-dupla-every-stage-beltfit-group-0123-car-seat-black

It says it’s belted so would you not need a top tether ?
There’s no way I could ask them to spend more than £100 on a seat unfortunately.
My mums gone and bought a joie tilt now I’ve told her it would be best to return it but o think she thinks I’m being over the top and it will last 🤣 X

The babyauto dupla only rear faces to 18kg, although does harness to 25kg while in forward facing. I think it’s a rather good seat, although would be wary of ordering it from online4baby as I’ve heard of people not getting what they purchased before. As belted no won’t use top tether

@teaandlotusbiscoff

I know but I’ve looked at the cost of a rear facing 25kg one and i know they won’t want to be spending £150-200+. It’s a shame as I wanted to keep him rear facing but won’t be able to afford too. Seems unfair if he was smaller I’d be able to keep him rear !

Thank you il look into the website. Are belted seats compatible with all cars ? X

I don't know whether that version of the BabyAuto Dupla needs a top tether. Realistically, the only thing you can do is order it and then check the manual. Or maybe see if you can ask BabyAuto, or the retailer.

As far as 25kg forward facing seats go, I do trust it (the top tether version) and he would defo be better off harnessed than in a booster seat after 18kg, and at least it can rear face until he's about 2.5, so yes I would go for it.

My only reservation is the question mark over the top tether, because there is no belt fitted only version on their website, so I'm unsure as to whether it's a mistake on the shop. The other thing is that what we find is car seats up to 25kg harnessed really do need some kind of third point of anchorage, whether it's top tether holding it back from the top, or a support leg going down to the floor. (Or the Swedish tethers for rear facing seats.) If that's really belt fitted without either, I would have serious concerns about how it would actually perform with an older child. However, if it's your only option you might have to go with it. At least you know it's passed the legal crash tests with a 23kg dummy in. But I'd probably swap it to a booster seat as soon as you feel he's safe and he gets a good belt fit like that.

I wouldn't normally suggest second hand, but you could have a scout around to see if you can find any second hand 25kg ERF seats, if there's no top tether available and you want him rear facing. At least someone who's gone to the trouble of buying and using an ERF seat likely knows the importance of not selling on after an accident.

The thing with the sizing of the Tilt is that they are marketed and labelled everywhere as "Up to 4 years" which is probably why she thinks you're being daft. I would point out that he's the size of a 3yo at 1.5 / not yet 2, so while the seat she's picked will fit an average child to age 4, if your child is the size of a 4yo at age 2.5, then it will be too small for him. That's why you want a seat which goes up to age 6, because that's likely to last him until he's about 4. And their weight gain levels out, so he won't be massively above his age forever!

It's only a marketing thing, because if they list it by weight, people have no concept of what that actually means, at least years gives you a rough idea, and it's accurate for about 60-80% of children. The problem is, anyone with children in the top or bottom 10-20% is going to find that their kids are way outside these estimates, it's just like clothing sizes really. Maybe if you explain it to her like that she'll see what you mean.