Infant car seats / carriers

[tiba]

How long was your baby in its infant car seat for?

I've been told my baby is likely to have outgrown it at 8 months but that seems far too young to me

It's done by height and/or weight isn't it? (Depending on old v new regulations.) So if your baby is big or tall for their age, it's entirely possible they could grow out of it by 8 months.

DS is only 4 months old but in the 98% percentile for weight and I can see him growing out of his car seat by then. Sniff.

Mine outgrew his at 4 months but he was 11lb 9oz at birth so had a head start.

it depends on height and / or weight. DTs were in theirs at 14 months but they were tiny.

Could get an ERF instead if you have a big baby

Pastys
11lb9 - yikes!

My DS has always been on the 98th percentile and he fitted in his infant seat until he was 10 months, I think some carriers have a little more room then others.

"If you're using a Group 0 or 0+ seat that's sold by weight, your baby should move to the next stage seat when she weighs more than the maximum limit for the seat, or when the top of her head is level with the top of the seat.

Your child needs to be in a rear-facing seat until she weighs more than 9kg. Group 0+ seats are rear-facing, and usually suitable for up to 13kg. In fact, it's safest if your baby stays rear-facing for as long as possible. If she still fits in her Group 0+ or i-Size seat by weight and height, she should continue to travel in that seat.

The next stage weight-based seat, Group 1, is suitable for when your baby weighs 9kg (20lb) to 18kg (40lb). However, in most cases you won't need to move to this type of seat until your baby's 13kg.

Most Group 1 seats are currently forward-facing. When using a forward-facing Group 1 seat, your baby must be able to sit up confidently without help for an extended period of time.

However, you can buy Group 1 seats that keep your child rear-facing for longer, offering maximum safety. Many studies show that rear-facing seats, when fitted correctly, offer children up to four years much more protection in the event of a crash."

www.babycentre.co.uk/x559707/when-can-i-move-my-baby-from-her-infant-carrier-into-the-next-stage-seat

Also worth pointing or if your baby's legs are too long for the seat that this fine, it's when their head is too close to the top of the seat that they've outgrown it.

DD was in hers until 18 months.

DS has just outgrown his at 10 months, he weighs around 10kg. The seat is suitable up to 13kg but he is tall.

FWIW we have just moved on to the Joie Steadi which isgreat. It can be used rear facing for longer and would have been suitable from birth too.

My granddaughter was in her first car seat until she was 18 months but she is short. For our car we have bought her a Joie rear facing one which is for up to 4 years. It was £75 from Argos but you can buy it for £65 online. We wanted to keep her rear facing until 4 because it is safer.

About 6months - Evenflo carrier, head started sticking out, so that was that.

About 13-14 months .
Now in rear facing graco milestones

First child until he was 5 months, he was a big boy and I got fed up lugging it around. Second is still in his at 5 months, he's even bigger but I'm holding off moving him up as limited space in the car.

Baby is 90th percentile.

I'd rather him stay in the seat for a year minimum.

Is that unlikely with larger than average baby?

"I'd rather him stay in the seat for a year minimum."

Why? You're going to have to buy and use a new seat eventually, does it make much difference if it's sooner rather than later?

Yes it does namechange because a forward facing seat is less safe than a rear facing seat, particularly for younger babies, and most people buy a forward facing group 1 seat.

DS was in his baby one for 18 months and could have gone longer but I moved him.

If you're going for forward facing for the next stage keep him in as long as possible. Their growth tends to slow down massively towards the end of the first year. Most infant carriers will easily last even a big baby to 12 or 15 months. Check on his centile line when he's likely to reach 13kg or 80cm (most babies outgrow in length first).

If you're planning to buy a rear facing seat for the next stage anyway then it doesn't really matter. You can move him any time after he reaches 9kg which is the minimum.

Bertie
Not if you buy an ERF seat.

And ERF are better anyway, babies should be rear-facing for much longer than 12-18 months according to the latest guidelines and the evidence.

Just get a Britax Romer. I think it's group 0 up to group 2 and rear faces up to something like 18kg.

My chunky monkey grew out of her car seat at 10/11 months (cybex aton q). Great seat but if it hadn't been part of a bundle we'd have just got the Britax straight off.

TheLegend
We have the same car seat! Do you remember what weight and height your DD was when she grew out of it, by any chance? I'm just trying to guesstimate how much longer it will last DS.

PS The Cybex Aton Q, I mean

HAha! Just wrote this on another thread but she was 9.8kg, she'd just been weighed so I remember it clearly.

To be strictly honest, we could probably have kept her in a wee bit longer (height-wide) but she did look a bit like an angry sausage in a vice.

So we changed.

Note: the Romer can't be lifted out of the car, it's a fixed seat x

"she did look a bit like an angry sausage in a vice"

LOL

9.8kg? That's really helpful, thank you! DS was 8kg at his last weigh-in a few weeks ago. But he already looks a bit squished in there.

It is handy being able to take the car seat in and out of the house with DS in it, but the combined weight is back-breaking, so we won't be doing that for much longer anyway.

Yep; heavy baby + heavy car seat = ouch.

Just to mention, as random as this is we have baby #2 on the way and we bought an iCandy peach (1st generation) off eBay.

It takes a Cybex if you use the adaptors so in the event you're thinking of popping another baby out by the time baby #1 is 2 years old hang onto it!