Recaro Sport Car Seat or Any Other Recommendations?

[ChocolateDippedSproutHater]

Hi, has anyone got a RECARO SPORT car seat that they use for an OLDER child? I am looking for recommendations before I buy/bid on ebay, as I am not sure if one of these would be suitable for my son. He is only 8, but the height and build of a 12 year old.
He has been in a Graco Maxi Junior, but has outgrown the height and width. He has low muscle tone and Hypermobility Syndrome, so needs the support of a high back rest still. In a normal booster cushion he flops around all over the place, the seatbelt alone isn't enough to hold his shoulders back in the seat.
Or is there anything else that would be suitable? All reviews I've found seem to be by people with 4/5 year olds, nothing for the older children.
TIA.

Hi! Would the Graco nautilus 3 in 1 be suitable?

Hi, thanks for the suggestion, I've just had a look online. It may be a possibility, but the problem with his old Graco is the fixed arm rests are really tight where his hips are and he can barely squeeze between them now...he's not 'chunky' as his 11-12 clothes are a little loose on the waist.
I'll put that one on my list to sit him in in the shops! Thanks.

Ring the In Car Safety Centre in Milton Keynes. They specialise in car seats for SN children and NT children. [http://www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk/]

Try [http://www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk/ this]

OFGS! You get my drift........!

Lol, thanks very much, I'll give them a ring!

What about one of the Crelling harnesses. My son has one as needs to be restrained in car not for postural support but it does hold him firmly. He uses it with a booster (he's also eight).

www.crelling.com/PRODUCTS.htm

Just a thought as well - does he see the OT? My son's OT got his a crelling harness to try for a couple of days to see if it was what I wanted. She was unable to get funding for one for me as they no longer fund things for the car but it was great to be able to try it out before buying it.

This thread caught my eye because DS2 (almost 6, ASD and hypermobile) has learnt to escape his crelling harness. No unclipping involved, just an awful lot of wriggling and squishiness. We ended up doing 70 down the A1M with him only wearing the lap belt portion of his seatbelt at the weekend . He'd used the shoulder padding to force down the chest clip we've got on the harness and then wriggled his arms out of it and wriggled around until the whole top of his body is free.

We improvised by fixing the chest clip with one of the shoulder pads under it so we could get home without any more houdini attempts, but it's not ideal and short of duck tape, we're out of ideas.

We did have him in a Britax junior traveller, but he's too tall for that and it never provided him with enough head support, anyhow.

My 5 yr old likes to slip out of the shoulder strap of his seat belt. Little sod! I may well look into the alternatives. Good to know that I am not the only one!

I think the only thing that DS2 couldn't escape is the traveller plus (bigger version of what we had) but I've no idea how well it would fit in our car, since it has moulded seats. I'd be less concerned if it came with isofix, but SN seats always seem to be several incarnations behind in safety compared with standard carseats (as well as ridiculously priced)

My ds has a crelling and they also do them for support, his is very supportive as he has a tendency to flop although no dx of anything. I have also managed to convince transport to get one. he uses this one which although it says for a single seat will go on both as long as there is a gap between the back and seat IYSWIM.
DS has had a traveller plus and a recaro, both donated by other mums. Traveller isn't very supportive but is big, recaro isn't very wide at all. Ds is 5 but size and build of 9. The other problem I found with the recaro is that even though it was isofix it sat about 3 inches away from the back of the seat in my car so rocked all over the place.

Its rare to find a uk (or EU for that matter) car seat for >25kg with an integral harness, as the regulations mean its easier to get approval for
age 4+ (group 3) if they use the normal seatbelt.

The recaro is an exception, as are disability specific seats. So is the fabulous but pricey minimac multi-child seat. In the US there are a lot more, so if you know any friendly air crew.... I have seen baby equipment hire places rent out the recaro, i presume its good business cos being aluminium, its abit tougher than the plastic and polystyrene mainstream versions.

SCOPE are very helpful with equipment tips even if your child doesnt have cerebral palsy.

Thanks for all the replies...I realised I meant to say I was looking at the RECARO START 2.0, not the Sport.

After trying every seat in Halfords, I have come to the conclusion that this is going to be near impossible!
I tried the Britax Adventure, Maxi Cosi Roddi Air Protect, Britax Traveller Plus, as well as another I can't remember the name of and all the boosters without backs......none are wide enough, most are not tall enough.
I have bought a Recaro Start on ebay, but can't pick up for three weeks (rather not trust courier ) and as DS has outgrown the Graco Maxi Junior I need a temporary measure. The only seat that was not incredibly tight across DS's hips was the Pampero Safetrip which I have decided to buy tomorrow and either keep for DD (not quite as tall as her younger brother) or re-sell on ebay! I am pinning all my hopes on DS fitting in the Recaro. If not, I will be looking into the Crelling harnesses as recommended by keepingupwiththejoneses thanks for that by the way, I didn't realise they did support harnesses too.

Your welcome the way ds's harness works is great as it has a pad at the back and 1 at the front with2 straps that around him, the pad at the back is attached to the seat and then there is a strap that goes through the legs if that makes any sense. I know crelling call one of the other harnesses a 'houdini harness' but ds got out of that one really quick, this one is so much safer and supportive.

Sounds great, thankyou :)

(name changed!) Just in case anyone is interested, we now have the Recaro Start for DS and it is fantastic!!! We are so pleased with it, I am buying a second for DD2. The padding is amazing, like an armchair...so comfortable DS hasn't complained about sitting in it once! It is wider than the Graco and all of the other seats we tried, the height is adjustable, DS still has four more settings to go (DS is 142cms tall) and the shoulder rests are also adjustable. The actual seat extends too, so it the edge is under DS's knees, not mid thigh! DS is 142cms tall. It also reclines for younger children.
I would thoroughly recommend the Recaro Start to anyone looking for a seat for tall/older children...it is fab!