Is your 5 yo in car seat?

[TiredTuftyTeddy]

Mine is and apparently this is odd??

I want to keep him on one for as long as I can, however he is getting big (116cm tall).

I have a Britax Romer 123 at the moments.

Any recommendations for the next one or will he be ok in this for a while?

car seat belts are actually designed for the typical male average height, so technically she probably would be safer in a booster! (The book invisible women goes into this in depth)

@elrider it is the harness, it's the full seat not a booster seat. I was just concerned that his head is over the top

I'm shocked that kids aren't in proper car seats at 5. My DD is almost 5 and very tall (about a head taller than her mates), but we just got her a car seat designed for older kids. It's safer and she thinks it's comfier, so win win.

Which exact seat do you have? The evolva grows and you pull the head rest up and the shoulder widens.

@BertieBotts absolutely keeping him in it, just didn't know if there was a limit so to speak. I want him to be as safe as possible but after the comments wondered if it was more from a safety point of view. Clearly not as children a lot older are still in the same sort of seats

The 123 type seats do adjust at the headrest - you must adjust the headrest up higher to meet his shoulder height. The bottom of the headrest should be level with the chin with Britax seats. If the headrest is too low then it won't be offering him the right protection.

With the Evolva there is a little clip on the back to detach it from where the 5 point harness was attached which should free it up to go all the way up. I think if you've taken the straps out, then this should already be done but I can't remember exactly. I can find a video if this is confusing.

As your seat does up to 12 years, you don't need to change it for another type. But it does adjust between two modes, the 5-point harness mode for roughly 1-4 years (Group 1), and then the high back booster mode which is for roughly 4-12 years (Group 2/3).

@PlantDoctor which seat have you got please?

At 128cm a seatbelt would not be in the right position without a booster/car seat.

OK, so it sounds like you still have him in the Group 1 mode, which is probably not right if he's 5 and 115cm tall - he is probably over 18kg which will be the weight limit. So you do need to change it into the Group 2/3 mode now, which is a high back booster seat.

This shows you how to adjust it. If your seat doesn't look like this it might be a different model. I can probably tell you what model it is if you can put a picture of the seat up.

@Hercisback1 it's the Evolva (I've just checked) I've lifted the head rest which is on its last setting, but will have to have a look at the sides widening....

Is he light enough to still be in the harness? I had a seat that went up to 12 but the harness was only up to 18kg.

The sides don't widen really, but the headrest will go up more when you take the straps out.

Ds was unusually tall and moved to a high backed booster from around 3 and then was out of the car seat completely from 8 or 9 when he was above the legal height for one

Our sides kind of splayed a little as the head rest went up but I'm not sure it's the same seat.

Check Berties video of how to convert it.

You shouldnt have his head above it, need to increase the height on it. Car seat is normal at that age though and then to booster and stay on booster till 135 cm. Always need head supported though with car seat or head rest higher than head when they are in booster.

@BertieBotts yesssss! This is what I needed! He's still in the group 1/2 mode!!! He's 19kg so too big for the harness this is where I'm going wrong!!! Thank you!!

The seat I have for my dgc, she is only four , but no way will she be out of it by 5. Already been toned in her mum’s car by a fool who went through a red light. Luckily unharmed and seat replaced. They are so vulnerable and need as much protection as possible

What I read (and made sense) is that once they reach the height/weight for a HBB, it becomes a maturity question. If they can sit properly in a HBB and not unbuckle mess around etc, it isn’t any less safe than a car seat. For us we moved DC when they turned 6, mainly because we used a booster for a long haul trip and she made it pretty clear that she hated the car seat in comparison after the trip and she was very able to sit appropriately in her booster.

Yes. My 95percentle kids were still in actual car seats at 5,6,7.
booster seat now for the almost ten year old.
the straps are too close to the neck if he sits without one .

Mine were in car seats until 10 and past the minimum height. They rear faced til 4 as well

This is the same seat also, showing where the headrest should be when it's in booster seat mode. As you can see here, it's OK for their head to be a little bit over the top, as it will be when they are a bit bigger because their heads are that much bigger too. But their eyeline should not be higher than the top, and rough rule of thumb is bottom of headrest in line with chin. Make sure you clip the shoulder belt into the red clip under the headrest, and adjust so it's in a comfortable position on his shoulder. Not rubbing his neck, that's too high, and not on his arm at all, but going directly over the collarbone.

If you have the SL version, then you should have little flappy metal hooks if you pull the strap on the back. Those are latch hooks which can go onto the isofix in your car to keep the seat more secure and stop it moving around when he climbs in and out, also to prevent it flying around and hitting you if you were to have an accident when he's not in the seat. If you don't have these, then you are supposed to fasten the seatbelt over the seat even when it's empty (I don't know if anyone actually does this!)

If your car headrest pushes the seat forward and makes a gap, take it off and put it back in backwards, or if it won't go in that way, store it somewhere in the house until he's outgrown the child seat.

My five year old still rear faces (axekid minikid) and I fully expect him to remain in that seat until he is seven given his weight and height.

DD is (massive) 155cm tall aged 9(!) and so no longer using our Cybex HBB. Her bestie is a lot shorter so we still have the seat in case we take her anywhere. I tend to look at where the seatbelt is sitting on the child, if it’s across the neck rather than the shoulder then they get put in the seat regardless of age/weight etc. probably means some adults should also be in the seat…

She's the same height as me and I'm a 30 year old woman 🤣

Of course my five year old rear faces and will forward face at around seven in a HBB until 150cm. My 12 year old has just stopped using their car seat a couple of months ago.