Forward Facing Car Seats

[innercry666]

Does anyone use a forward facing car seat for their kids?

Apparently there are only two available on the market that allow for harnessed kids up to 25Kg and our first choice, the Joie Bold, has a top tether that isn't short enough to be tight enough on the top tether point in the car which was a bit of a disappointment.

I'm looking for a recommendation as we would like our 3 year old boy to still be harnessed. What do others use?

[bn8959]

My 3 year old is now in a forward facing maxicosi seat that uses the seat belt. Works well. Our two year old is in a forward facing maxicosi Pearl. Both seem good. Both isofix (no too tether needed as we use them in a Polo too).

[3v3ntus]

I use Recaro Young Sport Hero Group 1/2/3 Car Seat, does the trick, uses the seat belt and will take her upto 12 years old. John Lewis £160/2 years warranty plus easy to clean. Got the Recaro seat protector that it sits on to save the ever so precious seats which has saved my a$$ a fair few times

[bn8959]

I have a couple of these under the seats - they are excellent, and have a pocket in the front too - small things entertain children!
https://store.audi.co.uk/audi-child-sea ... 19819.html

[MikeFish]

I use Recaro Young Sport Hero Group 1/2/3 Car Seat, does the trick, uses the seat belt and will take her upto 12 years old. John Lewis £160/2 years warranty plus easy to clean. Got the Recaro seat protector that it sits on to save the ever so precious seats which has saved my a$$ a fair few times

Most seats only allow you to use the harnesses up to about 19kg child weight, above that they use the cars seats belt to hold them in rather than the 4 or 5 point harness of the seat. Unless i read it wrong, the OP wants a seat that he can still use the harness for up 25kg.

Innercry, to answer your question about what we do, we have to switch to seat belts at about 19kg or whatever the harnesses are rated at. I agree that they would appear muc better protected with a 5 point harness than an adult seat belt which is why I leave the harness for as long as I can then forcefully have to switch to seat belt.

[Heden]

Just putting out there that the most secure way to keep your kids in the car is rearward facing up till 4 years old. Below 4 years old, a toddlers neck is not strong enough in relation to the weight of their head in the event of a crash.

We use this seat which you can use both rearward and forward facing (it swivels, which is great for getting your kid in an out of the car) http://cybex-online.com/en/carseats/sirona.html

[innercry666]

I use Recaro Young Sport Hero Group 1/2/3 Car Seat, does the trick, uses the seat belt and will take her upto 12 years old. John Lewis £160/2 years warranty plus easy to clean. Got the Recaro seat protector that it sits on to save the ever so precious seats which has saved my a$$ a fair few times

Most seats only allow you to use the harnesses up to about 19kg child weight, above that they use the cars seats belt to hold them in rather than the 4 or 5 point harness of the seat. Unless i read it wrong, the OP wants a seat that he can still use the harness for up 25kg.

Innercry, to answer your question about what we do, we have to switch to seat belts at about 19kg or whatever the harnesses are rated at. I agree that they would appear muc better protected with a 5 point harness than an adult seat belt which is why I leave the harness for as long as I can then forcefully have to switch to seat belt.

Mike's correct I'm after a car seat that takes the child up to 25kg but with a harness. It would appear there are only two on the market and we have one of them for the wife's car but the top tether is too close so isn't 100% tight in the RS6 and so the seat is a little bit loose. We could go with a seat that goes to 19 Kg however that would need to be swapped out sooner rather than later as he is already 16kg!

We have been using the Cybex Sirona's in both cars for our son and they have been great seats but they only take you to 105 cm's in height and our boy is 104.5 cm so there isn't a lot of growth room left. I'm using an infant carrier for our daughter in the RS6 who only just fits that so it's a race as to which comes first, my boy outgrows the Cybex or my girl outgrows the Besafe.

There is a new Besafe high back booster seat on the market which seems to be well thought out for how the seat belt interfaces with the seat and the child so that will probably be the way we go once we absolutely need to.

We are very keen to keep the kids rear facing until the age of 4 as that is by far the safest way for them to travel however height has trumped age. I know a number of parents who went forward facing once out of the infant carrier which was a bit scary as the wife has a medical background so has seen first hand what can happen...

Car seat protector wise I've been using Hauck Car seat protector but I've just ordered a new one for the Joie - Kid Transit Car Seat Protector that describes itself as 'Bulletproof' protection for the car seat so we shall see how that goes.

Appreciate all of the responses. Thanks, Mike.