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

Ok gone back and read all the posts.

As you say he's not likely to be tall, the spinning Isofix seats are probably going to be your best bet as they do from birth to four and you can get a high backed booster after that.

The Joie ones are praised for their budget price but I think they do have some downsides - poor leg room for rear facing and the harness and inserts can be a bit tricky.

Britax Dualfix is a great one. I'd go for the i-size and get the extra comfort insert. The good thing about these is they tend to do well in testing even when FF which is great if you don't see yourself rear facing for the whole time. That is the safest option but not everyone wants to do it. Recaro and besafe are other brands which seem to do well here.

IIRC though you don't know which car the seat is going in yet? In that case it might be worth getting a very cheap seat like Joie tilt or even Joie Juva to tide you over until you have your own car and can test the seats out. You can then keep the cheap one as a spare for grandparents etc. Maxi Cosi rock was on offer somewhere recently which would be a great option for an infant carrier.

Cybex sirona S is another good budget one but short in the shell and doesn't recline that much so only good in cars where the seat isn't too sloped.

Another incredibly helpful set of posts, @BertieBotts, as is your MO!

We do now know what car we’ll be getting, and it has Isofix. Based on this thread I probably won’t follow through my plan of buying a seat in the Boxing Day sales and will instead wait until we can take the car to buy a seat.

I have the cybex sirona and wouldn't particularly recommend it, the swivel function is good but the shell is short so it's quite quickly outgrown if you have a tall or even average height child. Plus it's very bulky and heavy - although I expect all the swivel seats are similar.

I don't regret buying it though as I now have DC2 which means getting plenty of use out of it.

I'm a big fan of Britax so I would probably go with that brand if I was buying an 18kg swivel seat again.

Mine were in a car seat until
Y6- they loved it and it seemed easier to sleep in in long journeys. Expensive to buy but worth the money.

I did joke that DHs nan should sit in a car seat because she was so tiny.

"Based on this thread I probably won’t follow through my plan of buying a seat in the Boxing Day sales and will instead wait until we can take the car to buy a seat."

Good plan. I suggest a specialist retailer from this list: www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

Do you know what centiles your baby is on (or is likely to be on)?

@NameChange30

"Based on this thread I probably won’t follow through my plan of buying a seat in the Boxing Day sales and will instead wait until we can take the car to buy a seat."

Good plan. I suggest a specialist retailer from this list: www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

Do you know what centiles your baby is on (or is likely to be on)?

Currently 9th, so quite small

a seat covering 0-12 doesn't usually perform well in safety tests. we used an infant carrier, then moved onto a 25kg extended rear facing seat and will use that until DS outgrows it, then will move onto a high backed booster.

It’s a marketing gimmick OP. A car seat that fits a four month old brilliantly is not good for a 12 yr old. And no 12 yr okd needs one.

Mot

Paddingtonthebear Hmmm…based on that info graphic I might need a booster seat in my husbands car (I’m 40!]. I get the belt on my belly not lap, and can’t sit back fully with my knees bent/feet flat on the floor. :-/ I will look into this further, thankyou! (I don’t really want a child seat, but at least I could see if I can adjust the chair better, in the first instance).

My 10 yo is still in a high backed booster but he is only in the 9th centile. His older siblings had grown tall enough before the age he is now. He is in a seat that he has used from approximately age 4.

My 12 year old is 5"10! He did go on a booster for as long as I could get away with 🤣 They hated it and laugh about it now. We did have to get the type that extend the backs as both kids very tall for age even at a young age. A

My Y6 DD has been entirely out of a seat for about 18 months. She’s on the taller side of average. She was tall enough for us not to mind her not being in one occasionally from about 8.5. We kept her in one until her shoulders got too broad to sit comfortably/safely when she was about 9.5.

DS is only in Y2 and is already above the height required to go without one. Again, we will keep him in one for as long as it seems more comfortable/safe for him but I can’t see that being much beyond 8 at the moment.

@Bobholll

I’m dying of laughter at the 16/17 year old comment. I hope that’s a troll & not serious. ‘Oh hi driving instructor, just brought my booster cos my mum says it’s safer’ 🤣🤣

I wouldn’t have been seen dead in a booster seater as a teenager. To be fair, I mostly got the bus & train everywhere .. not even a seatbelt on those so 🤷🏼‍♀️

Well, depending on your torso height, you could've been literally dying in a collision if the seatbelt wasn't fitting you properly.

@RandomCatGenerator

Another incredibly helpful set of posts, *@BertieBotts*, as is your MO!

We do now know what car we’ll be getting, and it has Isofix. Based on this thread I probably won’t follow through my plan of buying a seat in the Boxing Day sales and will instead wait until we can take the car to buy a seat.

I don't want to shoot anyone down, but spin seats dont 'go to 4yo'. They mostly go to 18kg, regardless of age. If you have a baby on the higher centiles, a spin seat won't last until 4yo. It's best to buy a decent infant carrier, wait until they've maxed that out, then look at what centile they're following - this will tell you whether an 18kg or 25kg seat is appropriate. The laws on car seats are one thing. The safest path is another entirely. I'm no ERF evangelist - I forward faces my son before he was 3yo. But on most seats (specifically R44 seats) the age is a guide and not the actual limit. Weight is the limit.

@lochmaree

a seat covering 0-12 doesn't usually perform well in safety tests. we used an infant carrier, then moved onto a 25kg extended rear facing seat and will use that until DS outgrows it, then will move onto a high backed booster.

This is perfect.

Nope. As soon as ours were tall enough not to use them we got rid. Our eldest was close to 12 as she's not very tall but next 2 were both 9.

Both my DD's are tiny, the eldest is 12 next month and still not tall enough to go without a booster. The youngest is 10 soon and is still in her high back booster because she thinks it's comfortable! No way she'll out grow the booster by 12 either.

In practice, they don't actually fit in them that long. They're rarely wide enough to sit back in, even if the kid is still short.

@rainydogday

My 12 year old is 5"10! He did go on a booster for as long as I could get away with 🤣 They hated it and laugh about it now. We did have to get the type that extend the backs as both kids very tall for age even at a young age. A

That's bigger than me! 😂 My DS is also tall, was 136cm at 6years old so the booster disappeared when he was 7.

And I know that booster cushions became discouraged, as people were using them too young but I found them useful with both of mine for straddling that gap between a high backed booster fitting properly (skinny legs and torso but wide shoulders) and a seat belt fitting properly without one.

@Fispi

I bought one that should last till then. Slightly off topic but have a look at how easy it is to take apart to clean. After lockdown my then 2 year old vomited on every car journey for a year. The vomit inevitably leaked into the seat and its not possible to fully take it apart. It still smells. It's also really heavy to move between cars. My children are both long but as youngest is a baby I'm stuck with it for years yet.

I would recommend Rug Doctor urineliminator spray it would get rid of the smell in your car seat if you can keep it damp for a couple of days whilst it works - buy it at supermarkets where they rent the rug doctor out

DS is 140cm tall. No seat needed in the front of my car due to seat belt position (it's adjustable) but still needed in back of my car and dsis car as still a bit too high for him.

DS is 9. I wouldn't just buy one seat. I had a baby car seat that fitted on the pram wheels and a rear facing seat that swivelled when he outgrew the first one. Both of the early seats also tipped back for when he was sleeping. The big high back booster we have is a fancy wide cybex thing which does have a slight tipping back function for sleeping but not as easy as the smaller seat (and much less call for it now tbh)

I was told the reason the booster seats without backs aren’t recommended is because if a child is the size to use a car seat with seatbelt and car seat, I guess 4-11 year olds approximately, then in a bad crash they will try and take child out out car in seat, using it as a kind of support for back and head to prevent additional injuries in neck etc.

My DD grew out of hers at about 8/9

As others have said I wouldn't buy a multi-age seat. Get the safest and most comfortable seat you can afford for the stage they are at now and upgrade when required.