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Original poster

What do I do about car seats for my heavy boy?

31 replies

Haylstones · 16/10/2008 11:07

Ds is 7 1/2 months and weighs nearly 28lbs.
I moved him out of his Rock a Tot at 24lb as advised and into a Britax First Class (rearfacing). However, he's now nearing the weight limit for rearfacing but isn't old enough to face forwards
The only options I can see are to either continue facing rearwards but over the weight limit or facing forwards but under the age limit (neither of them particularly appealing tbh)
Can anyone advise? I also have a Britax Freeway in the garage but that's also forward facing so no use at all...

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bozza · 16/10/2008 11:11

The age limit is not really relevent it is a guideline for most children. But he should be able to sit well before he goes forward and also be the weight which he obviously is. How is his sitting?

fruitymum · 16/10/2008 11:17

we put DD into a maxi cosi front facing car seat at 7 months - because she was long and unconfortable in the rear facing one. She had good head control - so it wasn't a problem.

Twelvelegs · 16/10/2008 11:18

He's heavy enough for forward facing, or you could get a larger rear facing athough they are expensive.

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eleanorsmum · 16/10/2008 11:21

yes it is the ability to hold hid head up and sit unadied that is the real decider as to move hime or not. the britax first class is a fab seat and should see you out ok. its all to do with the head to body weight ratio. they suggest 9kg and 9 months as a standard.

you are a good person for considering your option! i've seen soooooooooooooo many tiny ones put forward facing 'just cos its easier!'

bozza · 16/10/2008 11:22

twelvelegs it sounds like she has already done that with the britax first class. I think it is his head control that is the deciding factor tbh.

giddly · 16/10/2008 11:29

At that age it would be better to keep him rearfacing if possible because of head control and strength of neck muscles, as well as heald to body ration. You could go for a stage 1 rearfacing car seat. There are a number of threads on it. We have one for out DD (3 years and tall) and it's fine, although as Twelvelegs says they are quite expensive. Have a look at www.rearfacing.co.uk. It tells you where you can get them.

Twelvelegs · 16/10/2008 11:53

No, there are rear facing for children up to age four... they are very expensive but supposed to be the safest on the market. My ds2 had a Maxi cosy that had five settings that made it practically horizontal when right back.... this is forward facing too.

Original poster

Haylstones · 16/10/2008 13:40

Thanks all, I had to rush out to doctors appt.
He sits up unaided really well but I just don't feel comfortable with him facing forwards yet.
I can't really buy another seat as I have the 1st class and Freeway from when dd was smaller (we had 2 cars, weren't collectors!)
I'm still not sure what to do...

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Olihan · 16/10/2008 13:52

I'm sure the 1st class would be fine still rear facing. At the end of the day, it's the same seat whether it's facing forwards or backwards, isn't it?

I'd think he would be safer at that age, to stay rearfacing than to be forward facing. It's all about the relative heaviness of their heads and the undeveloped muscles in their neck, which aren't fully developed until around 1yo.

The Britax Babysure is a rearfacing infant carrier but goes up to 13kg, which I think is 35lbs. It's £35 here. There are other seats that take that weight too.

Original poster

Haylstones · 16/10/2008 13:58

Maybe I've done my calculations wrong. Ds is 12.54 kilos, which I thought was nearly 28lbs..
if I have and am panicking over nothing!

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Olihan · 16/10/2008 14:00

Nope, sorry, mental maths is not my strong point . 13kg is 29lbs. Duh! I still think he'd be safer rear facing though. The seatbelt routing isn't that different to forward facing, is it?

wheniwasyoung · 16/10/2008 14:00

Just a thought, are you sure the first class can go rear facing? We had the club class and it couldn't. Halfords were fab though and got us home safely with another seat. I would go to one of their branches and get their advice.

Olihan · 16/10/2008 14:02

First class definitely can. It's a Stage 0& 1, so Birth to 4 yrs.

sammybeth · 16/10/2008 14:02

There is no age restriction it is all done by weight they say approx 9 months bit it is as long as he weighs enough. My ds was in a forward facing britax car seat at 6 months as he was very big for his age and weighed enough to go into one.

Original poster

Haylstones · 16/10/2008 14:02

Seatbelt routing is much the same but there is a 'foot' that comes out at the bottom for when it is used rearwards to raise it slightly (I think that's what it's for anyway)
The first class can definitely be used both ways

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Original poster

Haylstones · 16/10/2008 14:05

I'm worried because all the latest guidance I've heard/read implies that babies are better facing rearwards for as long as possible but certainly for the first 12 months. He is only 7.5 months and despite his siz\e just seems too little to face forwards.
I'm not sure what the risks are if he continues facing rearwards in the first class when he reaches the maximum weight. there's always the slight possibility that he'll stio gaining weight but I find that very unlikely going by his current size

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Original poster

Haylstones · 17/10/2008 11:01

Sorry for the bump but I just wondered if anyone had had similar experiences?

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wheniwasyoung · 17/10/2008 11:21

I think you should go to Halfords and ask their advice. They will be able to put your child in various seats to see which is best and also which ones will go in your car.

Original poster

Haylstones · 17/10/2008 15:53

I'm not sure if there is any point in going to Halfords tbh. All of the rear facing car seats seem to have a maximum weight of 13 kilos, which ds is very very close to despite being only 7 months. If he will be ok facing forwards from 9 months that is about 6 weeks away so there seems little point in trying to buy a new one with a higher age limit anyway. Furthermore, the only reason we have the first class seat is because it was the only one that fitted our car properly when dd got to 9 months(this was fitted by Halfords). I think it may be that I restrict our car journeys until ds is 9 months then turn the First Class round to front facing, which will be a total pita but I can't see any other options- either I take the risk of facing him forward before he is ready or put him in a car seat that he is too heavy for.
Surely ds cannot be the only baby that has this problem??!!

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Tangle · 17/10/2008 21:10

DD outgrew her infant carrier at 7 months. We didn't want to turn her forward facing so bought a Concord Ultimax (rearward facing to 13kg), which she will shortly outgrow as a rear facing seat. She's now 18months old. Having started looking into the RF/FF options when we bought the Ultimax, we're firmly convinced that DD will be safer in a RF seat for as long as possible and so we're planning on buying a Group 1 RF seat in the near future. There are at least four seats currently licensed in the UK to 25 kg as RF (
Britax Two-Way Elite and Multitech, Brio Zento and MaxiCosi Mobi) plus quite a few more that are licensed to 18kg (Recaro Polaric, BeSafe IziKid and Combi - and quite possibly others). You can find where to buy them on this page. Be aware that the Mobi is HUGE. To my knowledge none of these are currently available from either Halfords or Mothercare.

If you can get to them, the Essex County Council Road Safety Team have most of these seats to try for free, and will almost certainly know if there are others worth considering - even if you can't get there it's worth calling as they may well have tried to fit one into your model of car previously.

I don't know what the physical risks are of leaving your DS RF beyond the tested weight limit of a seat - but in a worst case scenario if you do that and are in an accident and your DS is injured the insurance company will have a reason not to pay any claims you make for injuries to your DS

Hope that helps.

Original poster

Haylstones · 18/10/2008 19:32

Thanks tangle, I have only just seen this. The problem I have is that ds is almost 13 kilos (12.54 nearly 3 weeks ago) so very cloe to the upper limit for most rear facing car seats.
I am going to keep him rear facing for now as he is just under the maximum limit and keep an eye on his weight. I hope there is a small chance he will get to 9 months before 13 kilos- he will be 8 months in 6 days so just over a month. I really can't afford to buy another car seat, although agree it would be best to keep him in a 'big' rear facing seat for as long as possible.

OP posts:

LackaDAISYcal · 18/10/2008 19:50

I would call Britax for advice on this one. They have an excellent customer services department. I can't imagine that a seat that is suitable for heavier babies facing forward will suddenly become unsuitable at a lower weight in the rearward facing mode.

Original poster

Haylstones · 18/10/2008 20:26

I think I have baby brain as that didn't even cross my mind so thank s so much for that! I am going to contact them RIGHT now.

OP posts:

wheniwasyoung · 19/10/2008 14:26

It isn't just about what the label says. They helped us when we went for a seat for our 2 year old and the staffer saw our days old baby in a seat that was perfectly fine, but they had another seat that was better for her. We would have carried on with the seat we had and not known about the new one.

Tangle · 19/10/2008 22:52

Hi Haylstones

Hope Britax had some useful advice for you. Large children can get expensive (I can only offer sympathy - DD is bad enough, and your DS is in a whole different league). I really REALLY wish I'd known about the Grp 1 RF car seats before we bought the Ultimax, but that's life - you just have to do the best you can.

Fingers crossed you get a working solution

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