My daughter is 3 years old and weighs 13kg clothed. She’s got a Maxi Cosi Axxis car seat. It’s supposed to go up 3.5 years/18kg.

The seat already seems too small. She straps go over her shoulders but then down her back a bit before going out the back. As a result the straps have a tendancy to get pulled off her shoulders. I’ve adjusted the headrest/straps as high as they will go.

Has anyone else found kids grow out out of car seats faster than predicted?

Check if you’re supposed to remove some of the padding from the seat, I know we had one where you took quite a thick cushion off the bottom to make more room for the sprog when they were bigger.

You’re going to need a new seat sooner or later though…

yep, our 6 month old girl already has grown out of the Graco car seat that was supposed to last to 12 months according to the manufacturer.

She’s not even that big!

Replaced with a Britax DualFix that will allegedly last her up to 4yrs/18kg

Probably should have got one to start with but we got sucked into thinking that a travel system was a good idea.

Does her head poke out above the top of the seat?

Take the cover off and check if there are multiple slots for the shoulder straps at varying heights. It was some time ago now but I think our Maxi Cosi Priori XP seats had this.

Says you can too for your model: Here

That was the first thing I wondered, but on looking I think that twisty model doesn’t adjust the same way. Looks like the straps move up and down with the headrest which he’s already adjusted to the highest,point.

Oops! Should have read more slowly…

It’s late…

get her to smoke some cigarettes will stunt her growth for a bit.

Get it checked, but in general it’s best to try and keep babies/kids in the lower stage car seat as long as possible as it’s safer. Also make sure the straps are tight. Don’t change a seat until it is actually outgrown.

For your seat that would be weight and for the height, eyes level with the top of the seat, or straps going down behind the shoulders. Sounds like it may be too small (is she quite tall/thin?), however your daughter is too light for the next stage (min weight 15kg for that). I’d say get it checked by a reputable store for advice (or if you are lucky the road safety unit at the local council may be a able to check it and give impartial advice, Norfolk does for free).

At the other end of the scale, my nephew used his infant seat till he was nearly 2, still fitted him. He is now in a rearward facing for longer seat, hopefully till he is about 4.

Everyone with little ‘uns:

Rearward for longer link

Get it sorted, you only get one chance to get it right.

(Luckily I did get it right, saved both my boys lives. Having to look over my shoulders to check if my kids were still alive is something I am hoping I will never have to do again. Head on crash with a vehicle travelling between 60-80 in a 30 zone, other driver died at the scene. Few hundred metres from our house….. Wrong place, wrong time is all it takes sometimes)

Rearward facing as long a possible is best as above. I would be going that way if the children were still small enough.

Is your daughter just tall for her age? Ours is, she was in her 0+ seat, a Be Safe iZi Go, for 10 months before we had to get her a 0+/1 one We went ERF (extended rear facing) for safety, a Be Safe iZi Kid X3 Isofix. Beware that they take up a lot of legroom. In our Focus the front passenger seat was almost fully forward. Had to change cars anyway so got a Mondeo for the extra legroom!