Car seats - Almost 8kg baby "stuffed" into Group 0 seat - what to do?

[twelveyeargap]

Hello

My baby (5.5 months) is almost 8kg now, but she's really looks stuffed into her Maxi-Cosi Cabrio. Her shoulders look to wide for it; I have to kind of wedge them in and she's never happy about it.

I see the Group 1 seats start at 9kg. Is it hugely unsafe to put a lighter baby in them?

She can sit up well on her own and happily sits in a Trip Trap high chair, so there's no issue with the strength of her back or neck. (She's almost crawling in fact.)

Any thoughts? I'd rather buy another Maxi-Cosi than say a Britax Group 0/1 seat...

Thanks.

If you have tall for age children look at car seats that have a long back rest - ie from the seat to the top of the head, of course this is after testing which one fits in car best. The Britax renaissance is taller than average.

My DS is 10.5kg, just 8mths and still fits into his Maxi Cosi! He's long and wide He can't straighten his legs but his head isn't over the top.

Keep them in the rear facing position as long as possible, it's by far the safest way to travel. Most babies tend to grumble when you put them into their carseats at this age.

I think I swapped DD (almost as big) to the next stage at 9-10mths, but will keep DS in the Maxi Cosi Cabrio til 12mths+ if possible.

thanks everyone, and runnyhabit for the link.

Can any body clarify - I'm sure I read something somewhere about the straps - that they should come down over the baby's shoulders. Ours already go up to go over DD's shoulders which means that she can lean a long way forward in the seat. Most journeys now need me to stop and readjust her so her head is against the back of the seat but it doesn't often stay there for very long.

Her head isn't at the top of the seat yet and her legs still have a little room before they hit the back of the seat - she's just got a very long body.

Does anybody have any advice? I don't really want to change the seat yet.

MC Cabrio fits them weight wise up to 13kg so no need to move them until they outgrow it height wise until they are 13kg. DD is 15 months and 8.5kg and about 2 inches from the top of the seat. She will be in it forever or until the new baby arrives (not until May) when she will go into an impact cushion seat.

golemmings - for a rearward facing seat the straps should be AT or BELOW the shoulders. For a forward facing seat the straps should be AT or ABOVE the shoulders. This is due to the different way forces act on the child in a forward seat v. rearward seat in an accident.

If your DD can lean forward in the seat the straps need to be tightened, you should only be able to get two fingers between your child and the straps i.e. index & middle finger extended in 'gun' shape with both fingers flat against chest of child.

As a general rule most seats allow for 1" or more of car seat shell to be above the child's head before the seat is outgrown but check the manual as each company does have different instructions.

Legs touching the car seat are unimportant when it comes to rear facing seats as this link and this link shows.

go into John lewis on Christmas eve - ours started putting their sale stuff out in the afternoon last year and we get DDs maxicosi Toby for £75, as new just no box! Lots and lots of car seats at silly prices!

My DS still fitted into his Maxi Cosi at 21 months, weighing about 11.5kg (so well within the weight limit for the seat). Height wise he was fine as well- he is on about the 50th centile for height so probably was taller than your DD is now.
The seat should be fine for a while yet- it is best to keep them rear facing as long as possible, and that is a particularly good seat. I would stick with it for now.

rear-facing is safest, and you can get rear-facing seats that go up to 25kg.

we've just put our 9kg 6month old into a britax 2 way elite, which he'll stay in, rear-facing, until he is at least 4.

if you watch the crash test clips here you'll see why it isn't safe to have a small baby forward facing

and more info here about car seat testing