Car seat safety

[Ascuriousasgeorge]

Mum to 2DCs.
DC1 is 3 years 9 months (height 100cm: weight 15.9kg)
DC2 is 15 months (height 79cm: weight 9.8kg)

Due to a ridiculous childcare arrangement we thought would work fine(!) we need 3 sets of car seats - 2 in my car; 2 in DHs car and 2 in PiLs car.

We have the Joie 360s in my car (main car), cosatto rotate seats in DHs car and cosy n safe spin seats in PiLs car.

I joined a car seat safety group on FB recently and having read all their posts they have put the fear of god in me that the cosattos and cosy n safe seats are terrible and unsafe!

Not sure what to do. I’m not wanting to fork out on 4 more car seats (especially given DC1 is nearing the weight and height limit for all 3 seats and will move to HBBs sooner rather than later). Could someone please put my mind at rest?!

Thanks!!

[BertieBotts]

The groups end up very polarised and I don't think it's helpful. For example, they will probably suggest that you replace them all with something like Joie Stages, which isn't necessarily any safer.

Remember that any car seat you buy today is going to be miles better than something that was on the shelves 30 or so years ago.

Yes, it's true that the generic/budget brands tend to have fewer safety features when compared to the top end brands who make safety their USP and are at the cutting edge of newer technologies, but all the "new" safety features trickle down and become part of the basic seats eventually. For example, even cheaper car seats these days tend to have deep side head protecting wings, whereas this did not used to be a feature on more basic seats. Things are improving all the time and I do not think it is helpful to shame people over using a brand which is not on the approved list of some group.

Your DC1 is quite a while off the limit - probably a year or so away, so no rush to change them. Are some of the seats you have all stages type seats?

The seats are best off used rear facing, especially for the 15 month old. For the 3yo it's less of an issue to be forward facing, but if worried about the quality of a cheaper seat and RF is an option (ie not over weight limit), then it is an easy way to instantly increase safety.

It's important to ensure that the seats are used correctly as per instructions. If they have top tether, make sure this is attached properly. Make sure the harness/headrest is set to the correct position - this is usually as close to the top of the shoulders as possible. If child is between two slots, go up one for FF and down one for RF. Don't put them in the car in bulky coats, do tighten the harness so it's snug to their body - show your PILs too. This is more important if FF.

If you have the option to increase space between the child seat and the seat in front, this is also useful to do, but again, a nice to have, not essential. In the vast majority of cars there is already enough space to cope with the expected movement in a crash as long as the seat + tether is correctly fitted and the harness correctly tightened.

In general I don't think that you would gain a massive amount in safety from replacing the seats, certainly not compared to the cost. Keep at least the 1yo rear facing unless there's extreme car sickness or something, make sure you double and triple check the instructions, use the seats as best you can. No need to put yourself into financial difficulty. (IMO).

[Ascuriousasgeorge]

Thank you so much for this detailed reply! It really has made me feel a lot happier.

DC2 has only ever been rear facing and I don’t plan to change that. DC1 used to forward face but I changed that about 6 months ago and now only ever rear faces. So as long as both stay rear facing then that makes things a bit better.

All 3 seat types are harnessed until 18kg/105cm. The Joies would then be outgrown. The cosatto/cosy n safes are all stage seats so would need to turn FF and use the car seat belt.

Given centiles, I think I’ll just keep the seats we have for now and ensure they are fitted correctly. DC1 should last about a year (I think?!) and then move to a HBB (would prefer a dedicated HBB than convert an all stage seat). At that point I’d have a spare Joie and use that for DC2 as a replacement for either their cosatto or cosy n safe. Is there one that is better than the other?!

[BertieBotts]

I don't know TBH as it's hard to say. Does one have a top tether and the other a support leg? I prefer support leg for rear facing, as I feel like top tether allows too much movement ideally, although it seems less of an issue for smaller/lighter children. Do you get the sense that either model feels more robust or anything like that?

So actually, if this is the case then you might be best off giving the older child both of the support leg seats and keep the younger in the top tether ones (since both are RF) then swap back once DC1 outgrows the rear facing mode. And yes you could swap one of the Joies into the most used car at that point.

I think you'll likely be fine for another year or so though the Joie has a really generous harness limit too - you might find that the others get to the limit of the harness sooner in which case you might want to swap the second Joie seat around.

[Ascuriousasgeorge]

Thank you!

The cosatto is a support leg and the cosy n safe is top tether. The cosatto feels heavier/more substantial (albeit not by much).

Will double check how they both fit in each seat and assess from there.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply (and not judging!) I was too scared to post on the Facebook group I mentioned!!