Child Car Seats

kyh

Help!

My mother has driven back to Devon with my daughter's car seat in the back of her car (obviously minus my daughter:D ) - this is over 230 miles from where we live.

We now need to replace this fairly quickly - it is too far(costly) to drive to get it, it will cost too much to post/courier it up so only option is to buy new one.

We were looking at new ones anyway as daughter is now 3 but not planning to buy for about 6/8 months

Problem is we have been looking at the next stage up which she is not supposed to go into until she is 4 or over a certain weight - this is difficult because height wise she is definately big enough for the next stage up (1m tall and only just 3) but she is a skinny little thing so weight wise isn't up to the next stage minimum weight yet

What do we do? I don't want to spend a fortune on a new car seat of the old type as she will onnly be in it for 6 - 12 months, it won't get reused after as we are not having any more children. However if I spend the money on the next stage up and get a decent one will she be okay in it?

Any ideas

Quillion

Freecycle i know your not supposed to use secondhand but as long as it has not been in an accident it will be ok.

Krystaltips

I think it goes on height more than weight after a certain age... One of the seats that is a booster with a back on it that raises her and pushes her forward so the seatbelt sits across her correctly should be fine now. My daughter has been using this sort of seat since she was 3 (maybe earlier)

bestpud

If you get one of the more supportive ones she will be fine.

One with a fitted head rest and big 'wings' on the side (can't think what they are called). The seat belt usually theads through the head rest then so fits snug on the child iyswim.

I'll have a look and see if I can find one!

Krystaltips

They had a fantastic Graco one in the bargain clearance shop the other day... If I had a car I would of gotten one for DD!

bestpud

This one is expensive but will take her right through her car seat days:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_233059_langId_-1_categoryId_165554

But dd has had one of these since she was at nursery (but she is tall and the right weight for her height - not skinny):

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_233065_langId_-1_categoryId_165554

The head rest moves up and down, so as long as she her shoulder is as high as the lowest setting and her weight is not massively under the recommended, I'd have thought she would be ok. Do check that out though! Only thing is the back stays on it so dd(7) doesn't like using it all the time now - she has a £10 booster seat for day to day use and we keep the bigger seat for longer journeys, when she tends to fall asleep (the head support is fab with it). Still loads of growing room for her in there and, like I said, she is tall for her age.

poly1

We have just had to buy a new seat for my 2 1/2 year old DD (the old one was damaged). She is nearly 1m tall too (!!) but really slim, so weight wise she was still in stage one seats. I didn't want to put her in a stage two seat because they do not have a five point harness and although she was nearly the right weight for it I wasn't going to risk it. In the end we bought this:
http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_475_10751_-1__51544_10001_
Its a britax Evolva 1-2-3 ultra, so will be ok until she no longer needs a seat. The harness is usable until she weighs 18kg so that will be some time in the future. Its really easy to adjust has lots of extra features (even cup holders!). When we weren't sure if it would fit in the car we went to halfords to try the Evolva (not ultra) just to see if it went in ok. Then bought the ultra one from kiddicare cos its the cheapest place I could get it from. I know it seems expensive but it will last until she doesn't need one (which even if it is only until she is 7 or 8 that means it only costs about £20 a year - to protect her in the car - thats nothing really is it?)

MrsKelly_2

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3754494/Trail/searchtext%3EBABY+SEAT.htm

My daughter has one like this in pink they are only £23.99 and are suitable for a child from 9 to 36kg (approximately 9 months to 12 years).

Becles

Have a look on www.parcel2go.com and www.interparcel.co.uk

They use a DHL@Home service which may be cheaper than buying a new car seat.

As an example, I've just returned a faulty printer to a company. It weighed 13kg and was in a box 50cm x 30cm x 30cm and the 48 hour courier fee was £7.53.

kiara77

You could take your daughter to Mothercare say you are looking for next size seat up and get free info from them as to which seat you should get and then buy it from somewhere else. The previous persons thread sounds worth looking into as you should be able to get the carseat sent by courier for cheaper than a new or second hand seat.

kj*daisy

We've got the Britax Evolva 1-2-3 same as a poster above. Had it since DD was about 2, she is nearly 4 now and still OK in the 5 point harness. It's a great seat and it will last her for ages as wehn she gets to 18kg we can use it just with the adult seat belt - just check it fits in your car OK. Britax have a fit-finder on their website whch should help with that.