Should I buy a carseat and if so what would you reccomend?

[joyfulspike]

We don't have a car and can't afford one. My sister is the only person who has a car in the family. She lives fairly close, so we often meet up and I walk/bus to hers if me and ds go there.

I borrowed her ds's carseats on the rare occaison we travelled by car (about 5-6 trips in 2 years!), but my ds has pretty much outgrown them.

So, should I bother buying hte next stage up? I want him to be safe if we ever travel by car, but its so rare an occurance its difficult to justify buying one. Also I haven't a clue what to buy. When I asked at Mothercare they looked at me like I was mad and said they couldn't help me or check if a seat fitted. Duh, how could they when we don't have a car?

Any advice/suggestions?? ds is 2.5

If there is ever a chance you will use a car you must use a car seat. The money shouldn't come into it tbh.

He's pretty much outgrown carseats and he's 2.5?? Legally he HAS to be in a carseat until he's 11 so yes you need to buy one, or never travel with him by car again.
You can still be killed in car accident if you only travel 3 times a year and you can still be charged with the offence of not having your child properly restrained if you only travel 3 times a year.
He'll need 2 more seats, one from now to age 4 or 6 (depending on what seat you get) and another from 4/6 to 11.

sorry, I meant that he's outgrown the 2 I borrowed!

Any suggestions on what to get? It has to be easy to carry on the bus so not heavy and easy to fix and remove. Can I get away with just a booster seat thingy or do I have to get the whole chair type seat? We can't afford much though, £40 absolute max.

how heavy is he ? That determines the style of seat suitable and there isn't much getting away from it, other criteria have to come second to safety.

Boosters which are just a base are crap imo.

Depending on how tall he is and how much he weighs he may still need a 5 point harness. If not, a maxi cosi rodi is good.

Why not invest in Britax Evolva 123 which is the car seat that will fit him now. It comes with a 5 point harness BUT you then remove the harness and it anchors into the car with an adult seatbelt, so will cover him from now until he is 11.

Although pricey you won't be buying 2 car seats.

There is some good info about carseats here...
www.childcarseats.org.uk/types/index.htm

It all depends on his weight, if he's over 33lb then you've got more options (my DD was at 2.5 but she's at the top of the charts).

he needs to be in a car seat till he is either 11 or 135cm tall.