Budget Car seat advice for 8 month old

[frekkles]

Hello!

I'm a perenially skint mum of a eight month old boy. Up until now he's been in a maxi cosi rear facing carseat, that a freind of ours handed down to him. The last month however he's really looking too big for it. He can't straighten his legs any more and his shoulders are above the place where the shoulder straps come out of the chair. Haven't had him weighed for a while, but he's prob about 17lbs I think.

So I figured it's time to buy a new carseat, but am confused. A quick peruse suggests he is still too young for a forward facing seat for a good while yet, so do I simply buy him a bigger rear facing one? Like what? What is the biggest size I can get that will last him the most time? On a budget?

Thank you carseat gurus in advance x

It doesn't sound as though he is too big for it to me - the straps are supposed to come from slightly below the top of the shoulders in a rear facing seat. He can stay in this one until the top of his head reaches the end of the seat. It doesn't matter that he can't straighten his legs - honestly, he won't be uncomfortable. It's easier, cheaper and safer to use this seat for absolutely as long as possible

maxi cosi is suitable for a child up to 13kg or as bertie says until his eyeline is above the top of the seat. My dd at 22 months can still fit in a maxi-cosi cabrio otherwise you will need to buy a rear facing seat which believe me is going to set you back a few quid!

Is it eyeline or top of head? I always thought it was the top of the head. DS is 15 months and I thought he was going to grow out of his really early, but he is still in it - he seemed to just stop getting longer somehow, or maybe it's just his legs which are growing and not his body. Their growth does slow down a lot at the end of the first year.

If you do need to buy a bigger rear facing seat though it's possible to get a Group 0+1 seat which does rear facing until 13kg (28lb) and then switches around, and is cheaper than most rear facing Group 1 seats, just over £100 I think. But I do urge you to use the baby seat for as long as possible, especially if he sleeps in the car at all.

eyeline is maxi-cosi's guidelines for ANY group of carseat- and silver cross, can't comment on the others as i've only been trained specifically by those two!

I understand that the minimum weight for the next stage carseat is 9kg, so not quite there yet. Max weight for the current type of seat varies but is typically 10-13kg.

No harm in starting to look out for any bargains in the sales, but I got DDs next carseat then had to store it for ages as it took a long time for her to get to 9kg, about 15m I think.

DS went into a forward facing seat as soon as he was 9kg but only because we were giving it away to a friend.

the cheapest rf car seat you can buy which lasts the longest is probably the britax two way elite. it is about £185 and will last until 25kgs-about 6 yo. it is very versatile and can be used rf and ff with harness and ff as a booster. www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk

although the baby seat sounds as though he could still use it. my ds is chunky and tall and still fits in his baby seat for emergencies!!

frekkles you have plenty of time still in the maxi cosi it would seem from your post. You could ask for money towards one for his birthday perhaps or asking around good friends if they may have one to sell/pass onto you in another 4-6 months time.

One tip is to leave the car seat in the car as they get too heavy to carry in the car seat.

The other thing is what ever you end up with next make sure it fits in your car properly not all car seats do.

thank you all, that's brilliant advice! I shall save my pennies for the time being and save up for the future x

cheers

x