Car Seats

[Shepherdess]

Hello everyone

This is my first post. I've been lurking for a while and have taken on board lots of recent posts, especially regarding weaning. My little girl R is 7.5 months and we've been loving weaning

Anyway, my question is, how do you know when your little one is too big for their car seat? My little girl is very long and slim, she's between the 50 & 75 centile so not huge but I'm concerned about her car seat.

We have a mamas and papas Aton seat and her feet are starting to stick over the edge. They don't look like they do when we are actually in the car but when I'm carrying her they do. I'm sure if she gets much longer she'll need to bend her knees in the car.

I also fear that I might accidentally knock her feet when I carry her, off a door frame for example. I obviously try to be very careful

Her seat is "supposed" to last until she is between 12 and 15 months

 

[kitten2014]

Not sure how to answer as have similar situation, tall 8 month old and same thing re: feet, I have a graco 0+ junior car seat and not sure when we need to upgrade either...

will be watching with interest....

 

[Mrs CW]

Their legs and feet are fine to be crossed or frog legged in the car seat. The first seat is the safest and they don't out grow it until their head is level with the top of the seat (i think) or they've reached the weight limit. Both of my boys stayed in their first seat until they were over a year and were comfortable even though their legs hung over the edge. There's a few Facebook pages on extended rear facing that give a better description of when they've out grown their first seat. Hope that helps x

 

[mrs_b_x]

'Car seat advice for mummies and daddies' on Facebook!

As said their feet hanging over the edge isn't an issue, my son is 22months and still rear facing so his legs are much long but fine being abit bunched up/crossed. It's more about their head, their head and neck is what needs to be kept safe. I think in infant carriers there's different instances where it's outgrown which the manual should tell u, it's usually either when the top of their head or their eyes/ears are level with the top of the seat! That Facebook page is worth it's weight in gold, u can post photos, details about your car and seat and child (weight, height etc) and you will get a quick response from experts about it.

Not sure about the seat of the original poster but my sons infant carrier was graco junior and he was happily in it til 10m and even a few times after that when using it as a spare!

Definitely looking into extended rear facing, website called rear facing is the way forward have some really useful videos which scared me to death! My son now has a seat to rear face til he's six

 

[Charliebump3]

I was under the impression that the rules of car seats were changing to rear facing till 4 years old so when we bought my daughters seat we bought a britax iso fix which is rear facing until they are 4 years old x then I read it was rear facing until 15 months and I kicked myself because there was no need to buy such an expensive seat! £350. Hubby complains that it's worth more than is whole car!

As mentioned above their legs are fine to stick out just as long as they are under the recommended weight and their head isn't above the top then the seat works fine. Halfords are great, if you are worried they will give you loads of information xx

 

[Phoenix85]

Rear facing til 4 is by far the safest option though so it's worth doing. Also, it's the same buying one expensive seat that lasts 4 years as buying 3 middle-of-the-road seats that each only last around a year or two before being outgrown.

My older kids (now 9 and 11) were rear facing til almost two (around 22 months) but both were small so fit their Graco first stage car seat for a long time.

This time I'm planning to get a Joie car seat, probably the Joie Stages. One that's rear facing til 4+ anyway

 

[Charliebump3]

If I can afford it I will buy the same car seat. Its so easy to get baby in and out as it swivels around to face you so it's so easy to put baby in. If not the joie stages will be my 2nd choice. Its great value for money and lasts a long time. They only thing that put me off was that car seats get messy and I wasn't convinced it would last very long!

 

[Orion]

Check your car seats instructions. Mine says to have the seat forward facing once the child is above 13kg. He's 10kg at 7 months old, so I'm guessing by the time he's 1 he'll already be forward facing.

 

[Pumpkin9]

Would highly recommend that Facebook page and also rear facing your child for as long as possible.

We had a maxi-cosi cabriofix and my little boy was in it comfortably until 13/14 months - just make sure you've read the manual and you are putting them as low down in the seat as possible with the middle buckle right up right to their crotch.

We probably could have used the first seat longer (my son is 75th centile for weight and height) But we bought two other car seats as I was going back to work and needed a seat in each car. We've got the Joie I-anchor and britax Max fix 2 - can recommend both. Also have a Joie stages for grandparents cars and it's a brilliant seat for rear facing on a budget.

 

[Smileygirl]

I was under the impression that the rules of car seats were changing to rear facing till 4 years old so when we bought my daughters seat we bought a britax iso fix which is rear facing until they are 4 years old x then I read it was rear facing until 15 months and I kicked myself because there was no need to buy such an expensive seat! £350. Hubby complains that it's worth more than is whole car!

As mentioned above their legs are fine to stick out just as long as they are under the recommended weight and their head isn't above the top then the seat works fine. Halfords are great, if you are worried they will give you loads of information xx

Please don't kick yourself. The car seat you have gone for is by far the safest option. I would say though to be wary of info given in high street stores selling car seats... I have heard of some very scary misinformation being passed on, car seats being installed incorrectly etc. The sales assistants are often just that, shop assistants and not necessarily experts in the field. My advice would be to look at the Securatot and Rear Facing - The way forward websites where you will find a wealth of information and a list of independent stockists of extended rear facing car seats run by professionals.

And re:OP
As for when the infant seat has been outgrown, it's best to check the manual. For maxi cosi, I understand it is when the head is level with the top of the seat (place a book across the top) for infant car seats and for toddler car seats, when the eyes are level with the top xx

 

[Phoenix85]

Check your car seats instructions. Mine says to have the seat forward facing once the child is above 13kg. He's 10kg at 7 months old, so I'm guessing by the time he's 1 he'll already be forward facing.

Similarly though, some say "Forward facing from 13kg" etc, but that is just the minimum weight they need to be to be turned forward facing.

It's worth making sure that the weight advice for forward facing is really the weight limit for rear facing as it's not always the case.
Some seats still say they can be forward facing from 9kilos but this doesn't mean they have to be turned forward at that weight.

If you did have one that only allows rear facing til 9/13 kilos etc and your baby reaches that before 2 years I would look for an extended rear facing seat rather than turn them forward facing at 1 (or younger), as even if they are heavy, their bones and spine are just not strong enough to withstand the impact of a crash facing forwards and outcome is much better if they still rear facing.

 

[Shepherdess]

Thanks for all the replies I really didn't look into car seats enough when I was pregnant but I'll pop into halfords in a few months and discuss my next one

 

[JD.Deedee]

You'll get the same issues with feet eventually in a buggy or pram too.. These seats shouldn't be replaced until their heads are sticking over the top compared to their feet.. You could replace the car seat for a next stage one from 9 months. Or buy a rearfacing mutiple staged seat but you'll have to take baby in and out of the car and you could swap now.. Those seats are no longer for taking out and carrying little one in it.. Have you removed the insert yet? My little one was a chunk and was in his seat quite a while cause they are the safest for travels while they last.