Car seats - do kids really use them til they’re 12?

[RandomCatGenerator]

Hello all

I’m looking at buying a car seat for my four month old and have seen some that promise longevity - up to 12 years old.

Do kids up to the start of secondary school actually use car seats? Is this actually a useful feature?

Thanks

My 8 year old is out his now because hes over 135cm. He found the booster uncomfy and i didn't see the point in replacing once tall enough.

@mnahmnah

12 years old or when they reach 135cm is the law and yes, everyone I know sticks with it. Once they reach 7/8 ish though it’s just the booster seat, which is much easier. Good to have spares for giving friends a lift as well.

I suppose that’s really what I was asking! Useful point on spares - some of the ones I’m looking at are HUGE.

Yes my child was still in a seat at 12.
Her seat I bought when she had born had expired by then though. You need to check not just features, but expiration dates.

Also, you never know exactly how your child will grow and different children fit different seats best. I wouldn’t commit to a seat 10 years out.

In a lot of other European countries the minimum height is much higher (152cm, I think), so I keep children in high back boosters past 135cm as long as they fit comfortably in the seat. The one I have adjusts widthways at the shoulder so it's comfy for bigger children.

I’m 151 cm!

There’s no way my DD1 will have hit 135cm by 12, she’s tiny! So I’m assuming she’ll be in a car seat until then.

My ds was 135cm at 7 so stopped using one then.

I stopped the booster when the seatbelt started hurting my daughters neck. She was around 8. Now at 10.5 she is almost 5 foot 4 she is very tall for her age and doesn't need one.

DD will be 12 soon and still uses a booster seat as she's small for her age and isn't quite 135cm.
I wouldn't use the same seat from 4 months until age 12 though. The plastic will almost certainly degrade in that time, especially if the car seat is left in the car during particularly hot and cold weather.
I'd buy a decent 0+ seat to last from birth until 9/12 months, then a rear-facing baby/toddler seat to last until age 4 ish (possibly longer if your child isn't too big), then move onto a really good high back booster.

Most kids reach the required height by 8/9. I've never seen any secondary school child using one.

@stingofthebutterfly

Most kids reach the required height by 8/9. I've never seen any secondary school child using one.

Really? My 8.5 year old is 122cm.

@Fridafever

I’m 151 cm!

I’m only a few cm taller @Fridafever! And DH isn’t tall either, so DS is unlikely to be a giant.

Depends a little on the car too. Obviously they have to be the required height. My 8 year old is just at that. In a small city car, his head touches the roof in a booster (especially the chunky kind converted from the high back) but he'll need it a fair bit longer in my husband's van derived style car as the belt position is much higher

I would second thinking most about what you need now. When mine were small being able to recline it slightly made them much more comfortable and no lolloping head when they fall asleep

There is the law abs then their us safety. My dc will be in them until 150cm. For dd3 that will most likely be 16/17.

And there!

Thanks for the advice on going for what I need now and then moving on when we hit the next stage. I will do so.

As someone who was 5’9 at 12 I think it’s fair to say that they shouldn’t necessarily stay in them that long 🤣

DS1 was tall enough at 7 but we kept him in it until he was 8 and a bit when the strap started cutting into his shoulder.

135cm is about 50th percentile for a child aged 9.5

It’s possible for a 7 year old to be 135cm but they would be above the 99.6th percentile line. It’s also possible for them to be 13 and 135cm if they are below the 0.4th percentile line.

So, somewhere between 7-13.

Having said that, I have a DC above 135cm who is still in a high backed booster.

@MyDcAreMarvel

There is the law abs then their us safety. My dc will be in them until 150cm. For dd3 that will most likely be 16/17.

You’d make a 16 year old sit in a car seat???

They need to be over the legal height (135cm) as a minimum, typically age 9. After that it depends on the child and your car, they need to be able to sit in the seat correctly and for the seatbelt to sit in the right places, so they may need a booster for a bit longer.

@MyDcAreMarvel

There is the law abs then their us safety. My dc will be in them until 150cm. For dd3 that will most likely be 16/17.

I’m not sure you’re allowed to sit in them when learning to drive yourself.

There is the law abs then their us safety. My dc will be in them until 150cm. For dd3 that will most likely be 16/17.

Learning to drive might be a challenge.

It’s not only the height but weight. All my children were small for their ages; my daughter in particular. She was and is also very light and I felt that in the event of an accident she would easily fly out of her booster seat and be badly injured so she sat on one until she was 12+.

My 7 year old is 140cm and still in her high back booster, I thought the cushion ones were illegal now?

It's not a useful feature in a car seat because a seat that is supposed to fit from 6months to 12 years is unlikely to be a good fit for the whole of that time. High back booster seats are pretty cheap (£50 for a good one) so you'd be much better getting a 6month to 25kg seat such as the axkid move or minikid which is really highly rated and good quality and then buy a highly rated, good fitting high back booster once they out grow that at 5yo or so.

But to answer your original question, kids should and do use carseats until 12 OR they pass the 5 point test. People who stop before that risk internal injury from the seatbelt.