What to do about car seats - 3 year old and 10 month old - what did you do?

[alittleteapot]

Just wondering if we should just bite the bullet and get two toddler car seats (ds is outgrowing the backward facing baby one) or whether we should get dd (just three, average weight) the next stage up which lasts till they're six. I've always heard that you should keep them in car seats as long as possible which would suggest not doing the latter, though it would make sense financially. Any thoughts?

I had DD about one when she moved into next stage car seat and DS nearly 3 who was in a stage 1 car seat at the time. I got him a Britax Evolva 123 one which will last him the rest of the time he is in a car seat, and DD had his stage 1 seat. He was still in a 5 point harness until he was nearly 5.

My DS1 is 2.5 and DS2 is 9 months old. I borrowed a car seat from my friend. Her DD1 went into a booster seat (the one that goes up till they are six) when she was about 3.5. I think the minimum weight requirement on those are 15kgs? DS1 is about 13kgs now so I reckon another 6-12 months before he can go into the next stage car seat and I need to return the car seat to my friend. Have you tried local nearly new sales? I went to a local church one (not an NCT one or anything) and people were flogging their car seats that used to retail for £250 for about £40. Also, I think Asda is having a baby toddler sale on and you can get a car seat for £25!

Keep them in car seats for as long as poss.yes.If you can,get them rear facing.My dds now 3 and 5 are both still in rear facing car seats,the 3 year old has had this seat since she was 1 and still fits it well.Rear facing seats are much much safer,so keep your two in them as long as you can.

Thanks everyone. The Britax Evolva looks interesting.

This is one that we've seen that would cover dd for years. She's 3lb off the guideline weight although it says age 4 and she's only just three.

www.johnlewis.com/230939901/Product.aspx

hellymelly, what rear facing car seats are you using?
The reason I ask is that my DCs (3.5 and 15 months) are far far too long to fit in a rear facing seat without their heads sticking out of the top of the seat which is incredibly dangerous in the event of an accident.

I moved dc1 into a hi back booster age 3.0 as he started getting out of the straps of the 9 to 18kg seat. At least he could get back into the adult seat belt. We had two 9 to 18kg seats for about a year, one borrowed.

I also bought a Britax Evolva 123 when ds2 was almost 3, the only downside to it is the recline can't be activated whilst the child is in it, ie you have to have a lever thing underneath the seat either in the recline position or the upright position.

Apart from that it is a good car seat. Ds2 is now 4 so we haven't got the 5 point harness on it now (it tucks away neatly behind the seat) and he has the normal seat belt across him. He is still very comfortable in it.

sleepdeprived my car seats are by Britax,but I'm not sure of the model name,we have two different ones,and they are made for the swedish market.They were hard to get here and hideously expensive,even more so as we had just bought a new forward facing one for DD1 when i saw the research.My three year old is just below average weight,but average height I would say (98cm) .My five year old is 115cm tall,although very light,and she still easily fits in her seat which is designed to fit until 4 or over if the child is within the height range (Swedes are tall).In Sweden it is law to be rear facing until aged 4.

Thanks for the info hellymelly, I will investigate swedish car seats

There is a website here www.rearfacing.co.uk/ and that is where I found links to a stockist for my seat.I think that possibly bumptothree stock a rearfacing seat too,but I seem to remember it needs isofix which our knackered old Volvo doesn't have.