Car seat issues!!

[Jen & Her Men]

Went to Mamas and Papas today to see if there was a solution to the fact that James is outgrowing his current car seat. His head is nearly above the top of the one he is meant to be in til 9 months and his shoulders are really crammed in so that he is hunched up in his seat. As a result he cries his eyes out for most of every journey we go on.

We want a seat that is bigger and more comfortable but safe. As of next year shops are no longer allowed to sell car seats without the option of using an Isofix type solution with them as this is deemed to be alot safer than just fastening the carseat to the car with a seatbelt. So we have an isofix base and really wanted a chair which would attach to this for optimum safety.

Mamas and Papas only do forward facing seats for James size and they arnt allowed to sell them to people with babies James's age as 4 month old babies neck muscles still arnt strong enough to cope with being in a forward facing seat if there is a crash.

Halfords and Mothercare do do rear facing seats from 0 - 4 years BUT they dont come with the isofix bases and only use the seatbelts and the man in the shop said that because of their size, if they are rear facing and there is an impact, they will move around a lot more causing more injury potential for the baby.

So what the bloomin hell am I supposed to do?! Its not gonna be long til he literally wont fit in the seat at all...but we wil be breaking the law if we put him in a forward facing seat.

I was so bloody frustrated in the shops I nearly cried! My car is my lifeline as I live in the country so public transport is not an option. I dread going anywhere now as it is as James creates so much because he is so uncomfortable and as I say, it wont be long til he wont fit in there at all..

Grrrrrrr!!!! People need to cater more for big babies! Im sure Im not the only one who has this problem.

 

[mary70]

Hi hun i have a mamas and papas one that hannah was in from 4 1/2 months for the same reason as u and we picked the one we have as it lays down when she is in it, we have never had a problem and my thought was she was safer in a seat that fit even if it was facing forward and i was told by a local police man that as long as she was in a car seat and safe then that was fine

 

[Krystal]

I wouldn't put him in a forward facing car seat. If your worried about safety issues of the rear/forward facing ones surely to sit a baby who can't sit alone in a forward facing one risks more injury iykwim

Jack was a bigger baby and we got him a britax one which is 0-4 rear then forward facing. TBH i've never heard of these being illegal as of next year and can't see how that can be, the seats are so large (have to be to fit LO in) that with an isofix base they wouldn't fit in your car. Plus I don't think the bases make it any more secure.. I thought they were mainly there for ease of use with travel systems?

 

[Krystal]

btw if you see a car seat and want some official views on it I am online with WHICH? so can paste them for you?

 

[Jen & Her Men]

I wouldn't put him in a forward facing car seat. If your worried about safety issues of the rear/forward facing ones surely to sit a baby who can't sit alone in a forward facing one risks more injury iykwim

Jack was a bigger baby and we got him a britax one which is 0-4 rear then forward facing. TBH i've never heard of these being illegal as of next year and can't see how that can be, the seats are so large (have to be to fit LO in) that with an isofix base they wouldn't fit in your car. Plus I don't think the bases make it any more secure.. I thought they were mainly there for ease of use with travel systems?

TBH it was my DH that told me. He is a bit of a nerd about this sort of thing and did LOADS of research on carseats before we went to get one and all the experts (according to him) recommended that you get isofix (or simialr brands) for the car as they are safer (due to the shock absorber and the fact it doesnt move around as much as a seatbelt) and apparently he read it somewhere that shops will only be allowed to sell cars with isofix bases as of next year which is why all cars from 2004 are all manufactured with the isofix sockets in them.

So thats why we were keen to get one with the isofix base cos my nerdy hubby reckons its loads safer!!

He may be wrong but trying to convince him of something when hes made his mind up about it is like trying to convert the Pope to a different religion!!

Hopefully he will realise that there is no other option but to get the 0 - 4 year one and use a seatbelt and my life will become a lot more peaceful when Im driving about!!

(And thanks for the offer of the Which links, that would be great )

 

[Krystal]

ahhh right I get ya.. you mean the actual car (brum brum) needs holes in it so all car seats will fit directly into the car? Well that would be a lot safer I guess. Hope you get sorted hun. I know I was getting a bit stuck when Jack was outgrowing his too quickly

 

[Jen & Her Men]

ahhh right I get ya.. you mean the actual car (brum brum) needs holes in it so all car seats will fit directly into the car? Well that would be a lot safer I guess. Hope you get sorted hun. I know I was getting a bit stuck when Jack was outgrowing his too quickly

Thanks hun. Its really frustrating isnt it? Think I might set up a company to produce things for bigger babies like car seats, the bath supports etc cos there is definitely a hole in the market!

 

[happy-chick]

Aww poor James, I can vouch for that he's defo uncomfy in it & wont fit soon... I cant help Jen but hope you get something sorted soon

 

[Sherlock]

We use a Britax Ultra Si 0-4 for our LO and have done since birth. We skipped the whole baby carrier part.

I did my reading on rear facing here fwiw

http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/index.php

Many older cars don't fit Isofix and the 0-4 seats are all tested and meet all the safety standards. We opted for the Britax as it had good reviews etc and didn't need an Isofix as our car is too old.

 

[paradysso]

I always found m&p car seats smaller then other brands, try him in a different make, Harriet now has a Graco and the base that goes in car and shes alot more comfy before she was in a brittax i think

 

[rhian85]

we had this problem when C was thesame age, his head was above the back of the seat ans was always uncomfy..we got this car seat:
http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... 0001_14568

its from birth to 4 years and ill tell u on ething it is the most secure car seat i have ever had for him..its big..airy..comfy and has brill head/shoulder and side impact protection. i found when he was rear facing he would be asleep within minutes and always seemed so comfy.

dead easy to install and i promise u once its in the seat does not work loose or move around.

he is now forward facing and double the size he was when we forst got the seat and he still has so much room and always seems comfy..it has a fab recline position (almost completly flat - so their airways are protected when asleep and their chins do not log forward onto the chest like most car seats) u can also put it into recline so easily as the handle is at the front of the seat.. so u could put it into recline when ur driving.

totaly brilliant seat, well worth evry penny. we have a Britax first class SI in grannys car and it has no way near as much room or head support and the britax works loose every few months - i hate it

 

[rhian85]

we had this problem when C was thesame age, his head was above the back of the seat ans was always uncomfy..we got this car seat:
http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... 0001_14568

its from birth to 4 years and ill tell u on ething it is the most secure car seat i have ever had for him..its big..airy..comfy and has brill head/shoulder and side impact protection. i found when he was rear facing he would be asleep within minutes and always seemed so comfy.

dead easy to install and i promise u once its in the seat does not work loose or move around.

he is now forward facing and double the size he was when we forst got the seat and he still has so much room and always seems comfy..it has a fab recline position (almost completly flat - so their airways are protected when asleep and their chins do not log forward onto the chest like most car seats) u can also put it into recline so easily as the handle is at the front of the seat.. so u could put it into recline when ur driving.

totaly brilliant seat, well worth evry penny. we have a Britax first class SI in grannys car and it has no way near as much room or head support and the britax works loose every few months - i hate it

here is the mothercare reviews (bottom of page) my review is even on there
http://www.mothercare.com/gp/product/B0 ... 1&mcb=core

 

[Gem & Leland]

we have a graco junior for leland and thats birth to 4 years

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GRACO-JUNIOR-MINI ... .m14.l1308