3yo in Highback booster - not sure she is safe? 5 point harness for 18kg+?

[SherryMerryLennipillar]

Sorry in advance for yet another car seat thread. From January I am childminding my nephew and have had Mothercare fit child seats for DD (3yo, 96cm, 16kg), DS (1yo, 25kg) and my nephew (1yo, 21kg) they all need to travel regularly in the back of my Honda CRV.

Currently I have DS in his rear facing Britax Isofix infant carrier which will last him another couple of months and DD in a Maxi Cosi Priorifix (also Isofix) which should in theory last her until 4yo but she is starting to grow off the top of it - her head is no longer wholey contained within the side impact part of the seat iykwim. She is nearly 16kg and 96cm tall.

When my nephew is with us from Jan DD will travel in a high back booster seat which was fitted by Mothercare and she was checked by them for height/weight etc. They assured me she was safe to travel in it. I wanted a 1-2-3 seat but because of DD's weight they said not to buy one as she would outgrow the 5 point harness too quickly and would be left just with a basic booster at about 4/5yo which is too young. My nephew will travel in DD's Priorifix.

However, I don't really feel like DD is mature enough to be without a 5 point harness even if she is big enough. What do you think? And does anyone know of a 5 point harness seat that goes beyond 18kg?

My ds(3) uses the maxi cosi rodi xr which uses the adult seatbelt rather than a harness as he is too heavy for a harness to be used. He is very good with it and has never undone the belt while driving.

the britax two way elite can use a 5 point harness to 25kgs. www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk sell them. they can give advice over the phone too. either that or call the essex car safety ladies, they have been very helpful in the past.

Thank you - have had a look at the two way elite, do you know if they are wide or not? I can't seem to find any measurements on the web. Will try essex car safety people tomorrow I think.

Also noticed a typo in original post - obviously DS is 25lbs and my nephew is 21lbs

No they're not very wide, plenty of room for a large child but mine fits in with two other seats as well.

Sherry - was thinking they were whopper children

I have same dilemma - DS only 2.8yrs and over 18kg. Just spoken to incarsafety at Milton Keynes, they were v helpful. I'm just cautious cos I can't try fitting it in our cars (we're up north) and cos the side protection doesn't look great.

Anyway - another question! We're thinking of buying a Honda CRV - do you have the newer shape, and if so can you fit 3 carseats across the back? I need to fit in whatever I get for DS, Britax 123 for DD + another (preferably high back) booster for DD's friend who I take to school every other week.

i'd say you'd be grand. at the minute a i have a twe, a priori and a cabrio but soon to be replaced with another rf seat and that's in a golf! the only way is to try them all in it though.

Wow how do you manage that??! I have a Passat with a priori and a Britax evolva 123 and I struggle to even fit a low booster between. I can only fasten the belts if I remove my watch and rings and even then I lose a bit more skin each day!

apparently it's because one is gp 1 rf. they said it wouldn't work if the were all ff. oh and once they're buckeled in they're not moved very often because i can't get my hands down at all lol, well without a big struggle!

I can fit a priori xp (or Britax isofix infant carrier -cosytot??), priorifix and a highback booster in my new shape CRV now and they fit well. The booster in the middle is awkward to buckle but there is no skin lost the booster is a Britax Adventure.

I want to swap the adventure for a twe and put a group 1 rearfacing seat in for DS instead of using friends priori xp when he outgrows the infant carrier.

Had kind of thought it would work as one would be rf but need to ring the milton keynes/essex people.

I've got a TWE, a Britax Nordic Secura and a Britax First Class all rear facing in a Mazda Premacy. The TWE is really quite narrow and has a really low profile as it doesn't have a base like some seats.

My 3.7 y/o loves her seat and she has loads of room left in her seat (she is 17kg and 104cm tall).

Ideal combination for me would be a TWE for DD, another rf group 1 pref isofix for DS(like the look of the BeSafe ones) and then my priorifix for my nephew as there is no chance his parents will fund a rf seat - they had him ff at 7mo for some reason. My rear seats are bench style ones that can be slid forwards and backwards so I'm thinking I could adjust the seat behind the passenger seat forward to take the priorifix and then fit the TWE on the middle seat pref rf but ff if it won't fit rf and the rf group 1 seat behind the driver - any ideas if this would work? Might copy and paste that onto the rearfacing.co.uk board.

Ah, it sounds like RF seats create a bit more room if there are 3 in a row in the back. Unfortunately there's no way DS would revert to rear facing now

So the search for the ideal carseat (and car!) continues...

I was thinking that too since DD has been forward facing since about 11mo. But I asked her about it today and she said she'd like to go backwards like her brother. I also have some of those in car DVD players that fit to headrests, if I put those on her headrest not only would it entertain her but I'd no longer have to have childrens tv fed directly into my ears! Now ordinarily I am anti-tv but I breed very bad travellers so needs must!

The elite can be used forward facing as well, not recommended below 15kg though.

your ds might surprise you. my 3 yo mindee is ff in her mums car but likes rf in mine. they can see so much out the back and side window. i took the headrest off so they were looking out and not at the headrest.

Hmm, I'm not so sure! He's already desperate to be in his big sister's seat (FF Britax Evolva 123) and he's bloody minded stubborn too. Would've been perfect if I'd known about it when he was still a baby.

Sherry - make sure the DVD players are very secure, if you were to crash they could fly forward and hit a child in the face if they're RF...

Both DD1 & DD2 forward faced in GPs car when GPs looked after them while I had DD3 and they went back to rear facing with no problems. The TWE is a big boy/girl seat, it really looks nothing like a baby's seat.

Am taking delivery of a TWE on Monday - thanks all for your help. Not sure if going to fit rearfacing in the centre but going to change all my seats if need be so it does, am totally sold on rearfacing now. Thanks again for your help.