Going out with toddlers is always quite an experience…..hehe

Yesterday I decided to change the cat litter tray, only to find out after I changed it that we were out of litter… And with nothing open… (Easter..yey) that wasn’t really ideal. :wacko:
So  today I had to take the kids to Tesco and pick up some bits and pieces along with the cat litter.
As always when you have toddlers, getting out the door can be quite challenging, if its not an explosive nappy or the for ever classic; “I need to pee” as you’re locking the front door, it’s finding their shoes or their socks… in our house I swear we have a house elf. Nothing goes missing like shoes and socks here! :scratch:

Today was no different, and by the time I had reached the car they were actually fighting about where to sit. This is a rather new phenomenon, Henry is only 19 months so his just now started to really let the world know that he means business, and today – that was his sister’s car seat.
He was locked on that seat like a heat seeking missile and nothing was going to make him change he’s mind.
Caitlyn is usually on about how much she wants to sit in he’s seat, she has a BeSafe herself, but since we don’t have ISOfix in our current working car (Ford Mondeo) and I’m not about to turn her forward facing any time soon, she’s using the spare seat, which is the Britax Two Way Elite.
Today though she wasn’t that keen, but once in Henry’s seat, she was happy.
There was however a small hiccup before we left…

In the BeSafe she can get her arms out of the straps. She’s a tall and slender little girl, and the BeSafe’s straps sort of go “outwards” as they travel down the body and into the buckle when fastened. The TWE doesn’t have this, so in that seat she can’t get her arms out.
This is why she wears a belt collector in some pictures:

I have made a video of the belt collector, I’ll put that down at the end of the post if you are interested in knowing more about it.

I could however not for the life of me find this item. I had it a few weeks ago, and I was positive it was in the Citroen, but nope… so, I had a very serious conversation with my 3.5 year old about keeping arms in the harness and never taking them out until “mamma opens the door and un-buckles you”.
And it worked. She understood and she never once did it again, that trip, I can’t be sure it wont ever happen again, so really want to find my belt collector though!
But yeh, having a serious conversation explaining exactly why it’s dangerous and so forth works. Children are very receptive to information if we take the time to actually explain things.

Finally in our seats and ready to go, and I just had to take a few snaps of Henry in the TWE just to show how much room he actually has in it at top 90th percentile child of 19 months, he’s just under 98th to be exact as he’s 13,5 kg (28,6 lb) and he wears size 2,5 years in clothes.

And this car seat isn’t outgrown until the eyes/ears are level with the very top of the shell.
He has in other words, a massive amount of room left, and it would keep him rear facing and then also safest, until he is about 5/6 years old. At least if he kept himself on the percentile he’s currently on.
That makes the £220 the car seat costs a very good investment. It lets you keep your child travelling in the car in the safest possible way (rear facing) for approximately £3.50 a month.
Something to add to the pot when evaluating whether or not a rear facing car seat is “expensive” or “worth the cost”.
The BeSafe will last him pretty much just as long since it’s also rear facing to 25kg (55lb) and is quite tall, but the TWE will last the longest of them all.

And finally a snap shot of he’s leg space, because I know a lot of newcomers to extended rear facing are really worried about this. But please don’t be. Bent legs, crossed legs, octopus legs and so forth is not a problem and it’s not dangerous.

 

The seat also installs with extra leg room, quite a lot of leg room at that, but that’s not needed until he’s like 4-5 years old and he’s head has reached the top of the shell. :good:

 

 

 

 

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