Can someone help — car seat question!

[Helpmee6287]

My daughter will be 3 in February

She is currently in a stage 2 seat with harness and the seat is supposed to last up until age 4 however she is exceeding the weight (by 3kg) and height already... she’s very big for her age!

I popped into mothercare to look at seats but they have advised me she’s too young for a stage 3 seat - even though she is in the correct height and weight category

What do I do -

Keep her in her current seat even though it’s too small for her or put her in a stage 3 too early?! Ahh

What is her weight? I have an extended rear facing seat with harness up to 25kg or around 6-7 years.

She’s 21.5/22kg.. can you tell me the brand of your seat please so I could have a look

If you want to continue forward facing, the joie bold harnesses to 25kg but needs isofix seatbelt and top tether to secure. A better option would be a 25kg rear facing seat eg Axkid Move. The car seat advice uk group on Facebook has loads of good advice. It's really dangerous to use the harness above it's weight limit so ideally need to get an alternative sorted.

There are several ERF seats. I have a brittax two way elite which goes up to 25kg. There is also the brittax maxway, axkid minikid.

As above - safest option is a 25kg rear facing seat such as the axkid move or minikid. The most popular forward facing 25kg seat is the joie bold - you need a top tether to fit it though.

You need to sort this ASAP, she’s not safe in her current seat.

You must replace this seat ASAP as it isn't safe to keep using it. Unfortunately car seats only go on averages, so larger than average children outgrow them more quickly than expected. I agree you don't want her in a booster seat just yet.

However, don't panic, you have some options. The next weight category is 25kg or Group 2, and there are now several seats on the UK market in this category:

If you would like to stay forward facing and you have top tether points in your car:

Joie Bold
Cosy N Safe Excalibur

If you would like to stay forward facing but don't have top tether points:

Maxi Cosi Beryl

If you would consider rear facing - do! :) Children often find it exciting to face backwards again, and it's much much safer if you were to get into a crash. It also expands your options for seats hugely. You do not need isofix for these seats and many will go into almost any car (The Britax ones have a stricter fit list).

For rear facing:

Axkid Move
Britax Two-Way Elite
Britax Max-Way
Klippan Century
Axkid Minikid
Besafe izi Plus
Britax Hi-Way
Britax Multitech

There is also one last seat which is up to 25kg, can go rear or forward facing and needs top tether -

Diono Radian 5

If you are interested in rear facing, you could look into an ERF specialist, who will advise you on the best seat for your car and budget and fit the seat for you. There is a good list of ERF specialist retailers around the UK here:
www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

Thanks everyone, especially bertiebotts that has really helped!

It’s my first child and as the seat is supposed to last until age 4 I never would have thought she would exceed the weight in it already. I only found out yesterday.

My daughters safety is very important to me so I will decide on the best seat and get it bought ASAP.

I have a Britax Maxway and an Axkid Minikid. The Minikid is a larger seat and will last longer but it’s more expensive.

Just want to thank you for the post! I'm now getting the minikid seat! It looks brilliant.

The minikid is great :) it's a shame that more retailers don't explain the ages are just an average, as it would have saved you money OP!

Hi OP, I would investigate the Kiddy range of car seats. We had one of these which adapted from toddler up to 12 years old. It's a German brand, expensive but if you consider the age group that they last to they are great value for money. We had the Kiddy Guardian Pro.

Mothercare just don't even bother stocking seats that have ERF to 25kg as an option (well that's a moot point anyway as they're closing down)

But they didn't make a sensible suggestion for my 98 centile for weight son so I didn't buy from them. Did my own research, got britax twe in my car and axkid minikid in DH's. Would really have preferred axkid minikid in both but we weren't sure it would fit my car at the time.

He's 15.5 kg at 2.4 but I do monitor his weight, hence me going and looking at stage 1 seats when we was just about 6mo and quite long but getting pretty naff advice at mothercare along the lines of 'well tough, if he gets bigger, it'll have to be HBB then' which isn't an answer to actually keep them safe when their skeletons are not mature enough for the seatbelt.

DS should be in these seats, RF til he's at least 4. The minikid is only rear facing.

Kiddy aren't making seats any more unfortunately, but even if they were, they wouldn't be suitable for OP as the weight limit of the impact shield is 18kg leaving her with just a booster seat, which her DD is too young for.