Car seat question - WWYD?

[Arimeh]

Ok DD1 is quite tall, and her eyes are nearly to the top of her car seat, so I know I have to move her shortly to the maxi rider that DS currently occupies (however he's only 17kg so I don't want to move him to a booster seat even though he turns 4 in a week or so) because that was the original plan, get a booster seat for him, she moves into maxi rider, DD2 moves into hers and new baby goes into DD2's current seat.

However - DD1's eyes are nearly to the top of the car seat - but its the padding part. So when they say that your child is too tall for the seat when their eyes are level with the seat - do they mean the actual seat part, or the padding part on top of the shell of the seat - so its like the little headrest part -but its all padding no plastic shell?

So should I get a booster seat for DS because he is turning 4 shortly (10th Jan) even though he's a kg off the weight limit for seatbelt use? Or should I keep him in the maxi rider and get another seat for DD1, who is nearly 14kg and 96.5cm tall? Even though she's not even 2.5 years yet and would have to go into another "baby" seat.

Argh confusing.

[Pretty Butterfly]

I would put DS into the booster and move DD up... but get that extra shoulder/sash thingy for DS. I hate just the normal seatbelt, I like the extra protection of the extra belt thing...

[Trillian]

YOu can get the 'H' harnesses for use with a booster seat, so maybe that is an option for DS? Put him in a regular booster with the harness, put DD1 in the maxi rider and then DD2 into her seat. How tall is your DS? If he is nearly too tall for the maxi rider anyway, you wont gain anything by getting another one for him.

[Pretty Butterfly]

Thats it Trill.... H belt, not extra belt thingy!!! LOL

[helle]

Logically you just need to feed DS a kilo worth of a roast or something...

How confusing. Subbing because I might need this for the future!

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I think not matter what your DS needs the harness anyway, what are the age/weight limits on those new rules, i can't remember.
I'm sure a normal booster with H harness would be suitable for now.

[Arimeh]

I thought you could only use the H harness with the lap belt? Where his car seat is positioned (and can't be negotiated cos of the way our car is and age of children) he will be in a lap sash belt - and I thought H Harnesses couldn't be used with those?

DS is about 106cm tall - so not overly tall, his sister is our "Basketballer to be"

[kawazuki]

id go booster seat for ds google the H harness things. im sure they can be used with lap sash belt.

can he be moved to the side seat?

[nickle730]

Yep, you just use the little metal thing-a-me-bob on the belt to turn a lap/sash belt into a lap belt. I'd definitely get a hard plastic moulded booster for DS though, not just a bum-seat or a styro number. Safe 'n sound do one (blahh... I have one but can't remember the name!!) and so do InfaSecure. Much safer than the other according to the latest ICEP testing.

ETA Hi Liner, that's what it's called!!!!

[Arimeh]

Yeah I was going to go an infa secure one - vario max or something like that? Can't quite recall off the top of my preggo brain...

[Pretty Butterfly]

The H harness should come with a metal funny shaped clip, the lap and sash go in to it, and come like a sash to thread through your H harness.....

[LimeSlice]

You can use the H harness wherever I think, ours you can anyhow (although we don't use it, Charlotte uses the normal seatbelt) and given most cars these day have lap/sash seatbelts across the entire backseat, it would seem silly if nobody made an H harness for boosters you could use.

I would move him up, and follow your initial plan.

[Arimeh]

For some reason I thought the H Harnesses were only tested to 18kg - is that not true?

[ezymay]

My friends use infa boosters for their kids (3 and 4 year olds) that I think have the H harness built in and you can use it ad a booster or a car seat. They aren't super exxy I don't think?

[LimeSlice]

No idea Mel, but you have 4kgs before you need to worry about it, then he can use the real seatbelt anyhow.

[Arimeh]

No idea Mel, but you have 4kgs before you need to worry about it, then he can use the real seatbelt anyhow.

You mean 1kg? Cos DS is 17kg. If DD1 goes into the maxi rider, she'll be fine cos she hasn't cracked the 14kg just yet. But then my next worry is her outgrowing the height of the maxi rider before she's 3.. LOL

[kawazuki]

did you get the AHR Maxi rider?
as that one goes up in height and suits taller children.

[Arimeh]

Nah just the normal maxi rider. Goes to 26kg or something, but yeah, can't adjust its height.