Advice needed - baby car seat questions (merged)

amandada

conradmum wrote: »

So an ordinary booster seat won't do? I know you now have to have a booster seat for them until they're quite old, but I wasn't sure how old they are when they start using them.

Yes an ordinary booster would do-both my kids have gone from the carseat they outgrew at about 4 into booster seats. As long as you use the adaptor (which will be supplied with it) to lower the seatbelt from their neck, theyre absolutely fine.
I have a Graco booster which is good, and ds finds it comfortable-I'm sure it was about £12 from Toys r Us. It also has a couple of wee cupholders which he loves!

meeps

My son will be 4 next month, and I am going to get the britax evolva isofix to go in our fiat punto after checking at halfords- hoping to ask for contributions for his birthday!!

funky-footprints

the concord lift protect is what we have gone for, my daughter was 5 a fortnight ago, and this seat will last her until she is 11. Though expensive i think it something you cant realy argue with, when it comes down to thier safety. My son (7) has the britax highliner, both came up recommended in thew which report 18 months ago when we were replacing thier seats. i havnt seen the latest report.
For emergencys we have britax boosters with no backs, for friends sharing car journeys etc. I picked up a 2nd britax high liner on offer at argos for £30 back in the summer.

Sagaris

conradmum wrote: »

So an ordinary booster seat won't do? I know you now have to have a booster seat for them until they're quite old, but I wasn't sure how old they are when they start using them.

It goes by weight more than age - around 40lb and they should move up in to the high back booster seat.

Rachie_B

My son aged 5 & nephew aged 4 both have a Graco one,very similar to this

http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Product.aspx/bruhome/brutravel/brutravelcarseats/brutravelcarseatsbooster/725811

hobbesy_2

Very happy here with the britax highliner. Its a high-back booster, we got it on offer in mothercare last year. I like the fact that when little man falls asleep he has somewhere to rest his head to the side rther than lolling around. It will also last him a long time

We also have a standard booster for emergencies and journey's in friend's cars etc.

Strapped

I'd recommend the highback boosters too. We bought a model which has sides so extra protection too. Our son is very big for his age - he's only 3, so falls asleep in the car still a lot, and the sides/back/head support mean he stays safe rather than lolling out of an ordinary booster. We bought a good brand (sorry, forgot the name now!) but got "last year's style". We bought from an eBay shop, which i know some people would feel uneasy about, but it was only £26 (could've been cheaper if we'd fought over an auction rather than BIN) & we're really pleased.

It was a Nania Dreamway SP...remembered now ;-)

Carmina_Piranha_3

it's worth asking the mothercare staff because they are trained in which seats to use etc.

it goes more on height and weight than actual age. my large son had the britax seat that goes up to age 4 but he was too tall for it when he was still a year old.

he was 15kg which is the min weight for the type rachie b posted a link to but for 3 months he was a little bit short for the seatbelt so we used a different one we borrowed off somebody, it had a different seatbelt bit and could be used for shorter children.

if your son is tall enough and heavy enough for the one rachieb posted (i assume most 4 year olds are) then i would recommend it. the back comes off for when you just want a booster.

mothercare staff will be able to tell you if just a booster would be suitable. obviously a booster is cheaper but sometimes the sides etc. on the high back seats are good for long journeys, sleeping etc.

depending on how tall your child is they might not need one for long anyhow. mine will probably be 135cm tall at age 7. but if they will still be using it at age 11 for high school trips you may want to consider a plain pattern rather than a cartoon character one

Carmina_Piranha_3

i just looked on kiddicare.com and they have the nania seats, graco etc. pretty cheap. they also have the disney designs for embarrassing a 12 year old

conradmum

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

. they also have the disney designs for embarrassing a 12 year old

Always useful!!:rotfl: