Too tall for group 1 but not heavy enough for group 2

[suzi2]

DS is 5 in summer and is only 14.2kg. He's nearing the height limit in his group 1 seat (strap height and head coming well above back) but not technically heavy enough for a group 2 seat (15kg). He's unlikely to gain that weight anytime soon - he has teetered between 13 + 14kg depending on his asthma/health for the last year or so.

I'm usually a stickler for the rules and a car seat safety obsessive, but I'm not sure what to do now. There are a few group 1,2,3 seats that would give him a little longer with the 5 point harness strap height wise, but none which are highly thought of in Which? reports. I prefer to buy the best performing seats. There is a concord 'infinity pro' seat which would meet our needs (group 1,2,3 that doesn't use a 5 point harness, high performing in tests) but it's £200 which is a lot more than I planned to pay...

So, is the 0.8kg that important given that I'll be moving him to a very safe group 2 seat and he's tall enough and old enough?

suzi

I really wouldn't worry and get the group 2 seat. DD1 was always light and would have been under the weight limit.

I would have thought height was a much more important factor (and am surprised you can still squeeze him into a group 1 seat).

Thanks sundew. He's pretty short for his age ;-) DD is very short for her age (she's 3) and will probably be able to stay in her group 1 until she's 6 or 7 lol.

If it were me I would be looking into relationships between the minimum weight and the way the seatbelt works - I would be worried that a light child might not hit the belt with sufficient force to engage the locking mechanism in the event of an accident (rendering it useless), or they would get out enough slack before it locked to submarine under the lap portion.

I've also seen a study that found the worst injuries to children occurred when they were at the lower end of the limits for a new seat.

My gut feel is that I would want to investigate, but would probably err on the side of caution and get, if possible, an ISOfix seat and one that had either a 5 point harness or the Kiddy Infinity Pro with the lap cushion (is that the one you meant?) - even if that meant spending more than I'd hoped.

These ladies are fantastic and would be a very good place to get definitive advice.

I don't think the seat belt tighteners work properly until 15kg, so you really shouldn't move him into a seatbelt fastened seat until at least then.

It really is the submarining that is a big risk for children who aren't heavy enough, so it's not worth the risk

The infinity pro with the seat pad would be the only option really - he's almost too tall for the max harness height on most 5 point belts and is coming past the height limit on some too. It's just a very expensive seat when he's SO close to the group 2 weight.

I'll have another google about. He measures 15.3kg on halfords scales apparently - which is nonsense! I'll get in touch with my local Road Safety officer again and see what he says too.

He's exactly 15kg with clothes and no shoes on. Wonder if that counts lol.

I've emailed my local road safety officer to see what they suggest.