Advice needed - baby car seat questions (merged)

winnie81

Hi there, my 4th baby is 22lb and 5mths &1 day old and will be staying in her baby car seat untill absolutely nessasary. We have been looking for her next seat and have found this for her

http://incarsafetycentre.co.uk/shop/special_br_04.html

this may be also of use to watch on the benefits on rearward facing seats untill they are 4. I grew up in europe where rearward facing is standard

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7330000/newsid_7335600/7335674.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1&bbcws=1

Please dont move your baby from a seat too soon

Claire x

Alias_Omega

hi all, little one was 5 months yesterday.

well he has a breakfast thing, unsure what it is but i think its heinz baby breakfast where you mix it with milk. Loves to be fed this at breakfast time followed by milk, from there we go with a bottle for dinner then for tea time he can have another meal, these come in jars then followed by some more milk.

He has been eating solids for about 2-3weeks, which we found he would quite happily do, he spends most of the day in the walker we bought him about 2 months ago.

I can show you pictures of him in the walker with a pillow under his feet, he likes to stand up,but now he is taller he can walk around the front room on the laminate flooring, nor right but he is going to be a walker before a crawler.

As too chocolate, well the way we managed to get him onto foods was the random tesco chocolate mouse, or cheap yoghart. Not alot but he was happy to eat it.

Health visitor said not too feed him solids for as long as possible, well you tell this little baby he cant have his food in the morning.

As for a treat, gets a little bit of white easter egg chocolate in his walker tray, and funny enough picks it up too eat it.

Wife says that he was 2 teeth coming though, hence the recent crying.

Pictures to come when im not away with work, but ill ask her to post up.

Ophie

I don;t know if I am able to give any valuable input here on the OP's post but....

My daughter at 18mths old was 15lbs, she was kicking/pushing the chair with her feet and making her rear facing car seat tip backwards. Fortunately the seatbelt restrained the entire movement. But it was a very scary thing to watch!!!

So I took her to kiddicare and was advised that the 9kgs is an 'average', and although she shouldn't move up to a forward facing chair, for her own safety as she was pushing it backwards I should get one. She is now 2 years 3mths old weighs 20lbs 7oz and we have never looked back.

My concern for the OP's child is that as they are unable to support themselves the risk of injury to their neck in case of accident would be highly probable. I would suggest that the OP take themselves to a car seat fitting place (even if you don't purchase one) and get some advice from the 'experts'. I'm sure there must be one near you. They can advise you of which seat is best for you - I have a concord rear/forward facing seat which also tips up to create the illusion of lying down.

As an aside to all those making comments about the OP's choice to feed her child a variety of food items. My daughter HAS to have chocolate and double cream as part of her diet in order to boost the fat/calories, we have to feed her high calorie/fat diet. Although I can't stand doing it and it goes against everything I wanted for her, she even has to have 'hidden' sugar put in to her savoury foods. If I feed her on a 'normal' diet she doesn't gain weight and every other month or so I do stop with the fatty foods as I worry what it is doing to her system. Last month was an example of not feeding her high calorie foods and she only gained an ounce in weight, which when you are wobbling around on the 0.4th centile for weight is not enough.

So perhaps we shouldn't judge anyone until we know the full facts

pamelab21

Is this advised. I have been offered a used car seat from Freecycle and it would be for my aunts baby due in August.
The person who has offered it has assured me that it has not been in any accident or have any damage but has no instuctions with it.
Should I take it or is it not worth it?

Wario

I wouldn't. Unless you personally know them, how can you trust them?

shelley_crow

i agree. It's not worth the risk to the baby's life (should an accident happen god forbid). You can pick car seats up pretty cheaply brand new these days. Most of our baby things were second hand but the car seat was one of the few items i insisted on buying new. x

floss2

No. Never ever, no matter how skint I was.

Your baby's life is worth more than the cost of a car seat.

I would suggest that your Aunt either saves up for one, or asks for one as a baby-present.

daphne_descends

Ophie your darling little girl (I have seen pictures, you have me all broody! :happyhear) though tiny is still so very different to a 5 month old - and the OP states his weight and it's not small for age - a friend of mine had her baby prematurely and she has to sneak calories in at every opportunity - scrambled eggs made with cream, topped with cheese etc.

Personally I don't care what anyone else feeds their child, but was confused to see 'giving chocolate' as a sign of supposed maturity.

misty

I think it is safe for your child to still be in the back facing seat - it is when the head is coming over the top that it would be dangerous.

I didn't notice the OP asking for opinions on giving chocolate - some people are very quick to try and give what they think is their superior parenting skills an airing. I thought the question being asked was clear enough.

My son didn't have chocolate until he was older - whilst my friend's son had the occasional chocolate button - I doubt the OP is giving their child a family size bar of Galaxy to munch on - but even if they were - they weren't asking for opinions on it.

Carmina_Piranha_3

my youngest is huge and in addition to being as tall as a giraffe he also has a long body and short legs - so when he sits down he is much much taller than the average child.

i asked mothercare for advice when he outgrew his first car seat. they told me that because he is so tall and his head was too high for the seat he did need a new one.

we got the britax one, and it is quite difficult to get the baby into the car without bashing their head but at least they are safe in a crash.

he was able to stay rear-facing for much longer, which was safer.

as for lasting until they are 4 years old, he needed another one when he was 2 and a quarter. but the person we freecycled it to had a child OLDER than ours and is still using it 6 months later.

having a larger than average child means you might need to change equipment that you thought would last, but you can do it safely if you get advice

(i had to change prams too, he's such a tall child lol!)