What next? Weight limit reached on Joie Bold.

[Clevs]

My five year old (almost 6) has always been on the top centiles. He is currently 126cm and 38kg.

We have a Joie Bold and Joie Trillo which both have a weight limit of 36kg. So what next?

At five years old I feel he's too young for a backless booster, and the ones I've seen also only go up to 36kg. He's not reached the height limit of the Bold & Trillo yet but is obviously on the weight limit.

Not sure what to do 🫤

[Eightfour]

A lot of Cybex R129 compliant seats go up to 150cm and have a weight limit of 50kg.

[HJ40]

Any chance you've weighed him incorrectly? 38kg is top centiles for a 7+ year old.

[TheOneWithUnagi]

My 3.5 year old will stay in her 125cm seat RF until she outgrows it, but then we will use HBB which will hopefully be a similar age (she's tall). Is there a particular reason you think your child isn't ready? Not meaning to be goady at all, as I'm sure that there genuinely is and you obviously know your child. But if they can sit up nicely etc then they would be very safe.

Not saying it's right but many of my child's friends have already moved into HBB at 3 or 4 when they have outgrown their isofix seats

[HJ40]

@TheOneWithUnagi

My 3.5 year old will stay in her 125cm seat RF until she outgrows it, but then we will use HBB which will hopefully be a similar age (she's tall). Is there a particular reason you think your child isn't ready? Not meaning to be goady at all, as I'm sure that there genuinely is and you obviously know your child. But if they can sit up nicely etc then they would be very safe.

Not saying it's right but many of my child's friends have already moved into HBB at 3 or 4 when they have outgrown their isofix seats

OP isn't questioning HBBs, she's saying she can't find one >36kg.

[Scalessayeek]

@HJ40

Any chance you've weighed him incorrectly? 38kg is top centiles for a 7+ year old.

Was thinking this. My daughter is six in a few weeks, 125cm and slightly heavier than she should be at 28kg. (7-8 & 8-9 age clothes).

[TheOneWithUnagi]

@HJ40 sorry my mistake 🤦🏼‍♀️

[cluckinhell0]

if you are using it as a high backed booster the weight limit is discretionary as the seat belt is taking most the load so you can continue to use it. backless boosters are not supportive and offer no side impact protection do better to stay in high backed booster longer 😊

[beetr00]

https://www.madeformums.com/reviews/best-car-seats-for-really-tall-children/

[Clevs]

@Eightfour

A lot of Cybex R129 compliant seats go up to 150cm and have a weight limit of 50kg.

Thanks, will have a look at them.

[Clevs]

@HJ40

Any chance you've weighed him incorrectly? 38kg is top centiles for a 7+ year old.

Nope, he's a big lad. Always has been. He's in 9-10 clothing. My nephew was the same and he's now a well built 6'4" adult.

[Clevs]

@TheOneWithUnagi

My 3.5 year old will stay in her 125cm seat RF until she outgrows it, but then we will use HBB which will hopefully be a similar age (she's tall). Is there a particular reason you think your child isn't ready? Not meaning to be goady at all, as I'm sure that there genuinely is and you obviously know your child. But if they can sit up nicely etc then they would be very safe.

Not saying it's right but many of my child's friends have already moved into HBB at 3 or 4 when they have outgrown their isofix seats

He's already in a HBB. I'm researching alternatives because he's reached the weight limit on it (but still ok height wise so would prefer another HBB at this age rather than a backless booster).

[Clevs]

@cluckinhell0

if you are using it as a high backed booster the weight limit is discretionary as the seat belt is taking most the load so you can continue to use it. backless boosters are not supportive and offer no side impact protection do better to stay in high backed booster longer 😊

This is what I've read. But it was in a Facebook group so wasn't sure if it was right. I have contacted Joie for clarity because I can't find anywhere else online saying that it is ok. I'm just confused why it would be ok if there is a clear weight limit on the seat.

Now that you have said the same though I'll do a bit more digging around because I'd obviously not prefer to have to buy new seats if I don't need to!

[Clevs]

@beetr00

https://www.madeformums.com/reviews/best-car-seats-for-really-tall-children/

Thanks. That mainly concentrates on height but its weight that we've outgrown. Still room in them height wise. I will look at those though and see if we're still within the weight limit of them.

[MyLifeMyChoices]

https://www.cybex-online.com/en/gb/p/CS_PL_Solution_T_i-Fix_EN.html

this might be worth a look

[BertieBotts]

High backed boosters approved under the newer R129 standard do not need to have a weight limit, only a height limit. So there ought to be several R129 boosters with no weight limit. In practice, many of them seem to have a weight limit - 36kg like the old standard, or something else.

With the older R44 standard, 36kg was the end of that standard, and it was not possible to certify booster seats over this weight, but that doesn't mean they can't be used over that weight. You must obey the weight limits with a harness, because it may fail with higher loads, but with a booster seat you can use your own discretion to go over it - the adult seatbelt is tested up to something like 200kg body weight. There used to be some official sources confirming that it's safe to continue using a booster seat over 36kg, as long as the child physically fits into it, however because the newer regulation removed this restriction, you don't tend to see this advice "officially" any more - they just point to the newer regulation.

The fact that the newer regulation does not force companies to specify a weight limit makes it clear (IMO) that a max weight for booster seats doesn't really make sense.

As for why some companies have continued to apply the 36kg (or other limits like 50kg) weight limit to their R129 boosters - I have no idea. It might be just for consistency with older models. It might be that they actually don't recommend its use after that weight, for some reason. It might be that they consider something like the side impact protection is sub-optimal after a certain weight (which you could of course ignore, because if the alternative is no seat, then the side impact protection is non existent in that scenario anyway). It might be that they have looked at a weight chart and based it on age. You could write to the companies and ask for clarification, or you could make a reasoned decision that having the belt adjustment for the hips and shoulder is more important than the seat working exactly as the manufacturer intends.

If I were you I would forget about weight limits, but look at the belt fit on your son, this can be less optimal with children who are on a higher weight than height centile, especially if they are approaching or over the limit of the seat, and it can be worth changing seat in order to get a better belt fit if this is currently not good, because belt fit is the most important job of a HBB. Lap belt should run over the tops of the thighs, preferably in contact with the pelvic bone. If it is over the soft abdomen, it is not a good fit. Diagonal belt should run centrally on the shoulder, not over the shoulder tip, but also not touching the neck. It should cross the collar bone.

The child should be able to sit comfortably without slouching, with their bum to the back of the seat. If they are slouching because their feet almost reach the floor, you might want to add a foot rest such as an empty cardboard box, suitcase, or you can buy inflatable footrests or ones which click into the isofix under the car seat.

Diono HBB seats tend to give a good fit to children with this body type, as they are a bit roomier. They are all R44, I think, so all have the 36kg "limit" but they have the exact same models approved to US standards with a much higher weight limit of 120lbs (about 54kg) They are sometimes cheap on amazon, though currently don't seem to be. One colour is £125.

I agree that Cybex can be good too - I sat in a friend's car to secure my DC in their middle seat and they had a Cybex HBB on the side - I could sit on it quite comfortably with adult-sized hips, though it would have been too small for my shoulders!

[Clevs]

Thanks @BertieBotts, that's really useful. I've had an email back from Joie saying that the seats should not be used past the specified weight limit.

[BertieBotts]

If they haven't given you a specific reason why, then it could just be legal covering their own arse in case the worst happens. It might be because they themselves have some R129 certified booster seats which have no weight limit, so they have made a decision as a company not to support the use of their R44 booster seats over the 36kg because they have this alternative offer.

I have heard that in combination seats (harness to booster) it is recommended to stick to the weight limit. I can't tell you why because I have never come across any reasoning for this and it doesn't make any logical sense to me. But for example the R129 version of the Bold has a weight limit on the booster mode, whereas the R129 version of the Traver (a high back booster seat only) has no weight limit.