Hi,
I wonder if anyone can help me????

I have twins who will soon need stage 1 car seats as they are fast outgrowing their infant ones. However i also have a 3yr old who is currently in a maxi cosi tobi which i believe goes up to age 3.5/19kg. So technically this means that dd1 needs a new car seat too in the next few months. Obviously this would mean that i could use dd1's car seat for one of the twins (it's less than 1yr old!).
But... DD1 only weighs 11kgs so she is nowhere near the weight limit for the next stage and looks perfectly comfortable in it??? So basically i want to know if you follow the age limit or the weight limit when moving up to the next stage car seat?
I don't care how many new seats i have to buy i just want them all to be safe but i am so confused

Not sure if any of that made sense but thanks for reading anyway

Hi,
You need to go off weight limit, your dd1 has a long way to go yet in it, as long as the tops of her ears are not above the top of the headrest, in which case you will need a high back booster for her. Don't forget you can adjust the headrest and straps on the Tobi.

The ages are just a very rough guide.

How much do the twins weigh, as with a rear facing seat the length of the legs don't really matter, again, it is when their top of their heads are above the top seat that they need to go up into the next size. Not sure what kind of seats they are in currently, but the majority are 0+, which go up to 13kg, rather than just group 0 which only go up to 9kg (9-12 months)

Message me if you need more info, by all means, I ised to work in Road Safety, and infant seats were my speciality!
Bets XxX

Oh that's brilliant, Great info! i had no idea about any of that!
The twins are 8 months old and only weigh about 8.5kgs but they are very long (heads not quite reaching the top of the seats though). They are currently in maxi cosi cabriofix seats.
DD1's head is nowhere near the top of her Tobi either (she is tiny in weight & height!)so i think we'll be fine for a while longer.
I could never understand the age limits as i could not imagine how dd1 would in any way be safe in the next stage seat, but then again you doubt your instincts when a manufacturer tells you a 3.5yr old shoud be in the next stage if you know what i mean?
Thanks again, much appreciated x

Too add, when moving up a car seat for a baby the age is quite important as this determines how strong their neck is. For example a 6 month old baby who is heavy enough for what the car seat reccomends, would still need to be rear facing as their necks wouldn't be strong enough to withstand a collision.

xxx

it is now recommended that all children are rear facing until the age of at least 2 as this prevents so much more damage.

there is a video on youtube that is really quite scary, it compares the effects of rear and forward facing in a crash.

I think I'd always go with the later of the two at this early age. We've got a Brittax First Clas Plus and dd is still rear facing at 11.5 months, she's running out of leg room though. She's only just over the 9kg limit for facing forwards so we haven't turned her yet. The manufacturer's instructions say she can face forwards from 9kg, which is about 9 months (according to them!) but she was only just 8kg at that age.