Money for having children?

mattt44

I was wondering about people saying you must buy car seats new.

We got a second hand seat off a friend, so no accidents, it checks out fine, no cracks, no frayed belt, the material on the seat is a little worn at one point, but a peice of heavy duty tape took care of that.
Everything fits OK in the car, so if you take all that into account, why should I have bought a new seat?
I agree with only getting a SH one off a friend or family though.

I've just been away and discussed this with the OH actually, she says whilst at a antenatal class a lady from john lewis came in and said that you must buy a new car seat for each child. OH asked why and was told that people can store the seat outside in the garage and with the cold, it can degrade the plastic. When OH pointed out that people with their 1st child, always leave the seat in the car overnight instead of taking it out, thus leaving it in the cold, the lady didn't know the answer to that.

shelly

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this as I just scanned the posts left by everyone else. You may already know this but you should start taking folic acid as soon as you start trying to get pregnant and for the first 3 months of pregnancy. Cheapest place I've found them is Tesco for a big 180 tablet pack at about £2ish. I can't offer any financial advice as we are currently trying again for our first.


Good luck and best wishes.

HappySad

mattt44 wrote:

I was wondering about people saying you must buy car seats new.

We got a second hand seat off a friend, so no accidents, it checks out fine, no cracks, no frayed belt, the material on the seat is a little worn at one point, but a peice of heavy duty tape took care of that.
Everything fits OK in the car, so if you take all that into account, why should I have bought a new seat?
I agree with only getting a SH one off a friend or family though.

I've just been away and discussed this with the OH actually, she says whilst at a antenatal class a lady from john lewis came in and said that you must buy a new car seat for each child. OH asked why and was told that people can store the seat outside in the garage and with the cold, it can degrade the plastic. When OH pointed out that people with their 1st child, always leave the seat in the car overnight instead of taking it out, thus leaving it in the cold, the lady didn't know the answer to that.

I am like you and used a car seat from a good friend. Then I discovered that it was not up to the current and lastest safety standards as these had greatly impoved. So we went ahead an bought a new car seat. Reading the manual to the new car seat.. it says that you should replace it after 5years because the plastic will degrade.

Also has your second hand carseat been professionally fitted for your car? We went to Mother & Papa's to get a Which? magazine (see free in your library) carseat and they tried to fit it in the car by a trained car seat fitter .. they said that they could not sell us that model because it did not fit correctly and would therefore not provide the proper protection. I could not see that it did not fit correctly but after the car seat fitter showed and explained I could then see that it did not fit. So in conclusion if you get a carseat from someone else you cannot be sure that it fits correctly for your car.

Also if you don't have the manuals you may not be fitting it totally correctly.
I read that in the Which? Magazine that a major problem with car seats it that people don't fit them correctly which meant that the children are not properly protected.

So get a brand new carseat or if you must go second hand get one that is from someone you know and trust you life with(well your child's life) where the seat is well under 5years old. You must have the fitting manual and find some way of getting it properly fitted. The very best and only reasonable way is to spend the money and get a properly fitted by a qualified staff car seat. Which? magazine will help you to get a good value carseat that is the safest.. so you are not just spending loads of money for a seat that is not that good.