The grumpy thread

[Louise2cv]

Megan is above average height and never complained about her legs, just her shoulders more recently.

 

Yes the seats get messy. We have invested in a seat cover for the new car but Huw has already tantrumed it to shreds.

 

Buckle crunch is if the seat belt buckle touches the body of the childseat it prevents the seatbelt working properly or may cause the buckle to break on impact.

[Craig the Princess]

 

 

I'm all for safety, but I suspect a bit of self-serving profiteering has crept in.

 

 

Don't tell Jane Asher that!

https://youtu.be/gr5I9jAKYho

[cort16]

They play the "well you could have this one for £60 but if you love your kids you'll buy this one for £700"

When our one was  baby we had the full isofix job but now she's a bit bigger and wants to see what's going on we've got forward facing seat that's held in by the seat belt. Your problems come when they figure out how to press the release button on the seatbelt.

[JeeExEll]

^I dont think my dad had a car with rear seat belts until I was 7 when he bought the A reg Granada.

From 1968 when I was born till 1970 my dad had a 105E Anglia van. My carrycot was placed in the back behind the seats along with sparkie's tools and materials.

[Cheggers]

If they're old enough to undo the seat belt they're old enough to sign a disclaimer

 

 

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[Cavcraft]

Flipping heck £250-£400 for kids seats? That said, their safety is of course beyond priceless.

[Cheggers]

From 1968 when I was born till 1970 my dad had a 105E Anglia van. My carrycot was placed in the back behind the seats along with sparkie's tools and materials.

Much the same for me, I've happy memories of me and my brother (probably aged 5 & 7-ish) bouncing around the back of Dad's Bedford van in among the tools & timber.

 

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[Cheggers]

That said, their safety is of course beyond priceless.

Really? - I reckon about £300 each for my two, tops,

 

 

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[Richard]

I've said it before, but the first time I was in a car at over 100mph was a fellow scout's mother's Alpine with about seven kids on board, two of them in the boot.

[trigger]

I think safety has been drummed into people so much that they worry more than they haven't too now.

 

Personally I'd sooner have a forwards facing seat, they can sit correctly in it, see out the Windows better and you can actually sit in the front passenger sit again without having your knees wrapped around your ears. My sisters argument is that they can break their neck in a crash, yes i suppose so but I'm sure millions of people have had rear enders over the years and their kids have not broken their necks.

[Craig the Princess]

I'm with you on that trigger. It seems the rule changes in March change the age a child can go in a forward facing seat from 9 to 15 months which is a pain. I'd much prefer my little one to be facing forward.

[cort16]

I prefer being able to see what they're up to plus they get pissed off missing out on the action. It also gets to a point when it's just impossible to get them in the seat when it's facing backwards.

It is difficult to find a compromised. The argument it was okay in my day doesn't really add up as the ones who are alive and saying that (us) obviously didn't crash. 

[HillmanImp]

I've got a forward facing seat in my Jag and one of these ones that lasts until they are 9 that is currently facing backwards in Mrs Imps as she is a shit driver and is always crashing cars. She had one big bump when she was pregnant with him and two more since with him in the car since he was born FFS.  

 

We paid £180 for it on offer down from £330 from Mothercare. Its fine but he is restricted leg wise and really likes the forward facing one as he can see more. 

[Timewaster]

Mrs Imp. She had one big bump when she was pregnant with him and two more since.

 

You must have as many kids as me

[Eddie Honda]

where has all the Dutch shite gone?

 

The taxman sorted out those "not really enthusiasts" who were smoking around in old ex-German shite.

 

I think it used to be a straight over 25 year rule, but now:

 

"Mrb [annual circulation tax] exemption for cars older than 40 years

As of 1 January 2014 motor vehicle tax is not payable on cars that are at least 40 years old. A reduced rate applies to petrol cars between 26 and 40 years old. The exemption for diesel and LPG cars less than 40 years old has been withdrawn.

 

Government.nl / Car and motorcycle taxes / Motor vehicle tax (mrb) / Exemption from motor vehicle tax (mrb)

 

Fewer vintage cars after introduction of new road tax regime

 

EDIT TO ADD: If you take advantage of the cheap tax for 25-40 years old, you have to park the car up December, January and February.

[Louise2cv]

As I say, we have never had any complaints about rear facing from my two, they are four and a half and six. The six year old turned forward facing on the weekend and I'm pleasantly surprised that her little brother seems unfazed and not jealous of this situation, I was expecting a bit of fuss to be honest!

[beko1987]

Car seats piss me off at the moment, Amy went and bought an ISOFIX only car seat, so I can't actually have him in my car yet.

 

I'm sure she did it on purpose...

[cobblers]

Fuckin hell lads (and louise), fair play to you spending several hundred nicker on flippin seats for a kid, plus the rest!

Even when I used to work at Halfords ten years ago, I'm sure they were like £80 a pop?

Apparently I'm not normal in that I can only see parenting in a time/money/stress balance sheet sense.

It genuinely makes me admire people who can manage to be good parent even more, but I'm definitely not cut out for it.

[dave21478]

Aye, when I was at Halfords they were 60 to about 90 quid and there were a couple of really fancy ones at about 130. This was just before ISOfix was introduced.

 

 

Also..... someone above, repeatedly....

 

stork

 

If I had a gun, I would shoot you.

[Eddie Honda]

The world of baby car seats, what a expensive mind boggling mine field every mum and society has made it now.

FTFY

 

Two lads, 4 and 5 (going on 6) - 17 months between them

 

So far:

 

One rear facing seat, they've both used - given to us.

 

DSCF3889.JPG by E Honda

 

Two forward facing seats, one a metal framed thing - given to us and a plastic Britax thing like this also given to us:

 

 

Silver Honda got twatted from rear once. Child one uninjured.

 

Silver Honda got twatted from front. Both children uninjured.

IMG_20150610_151001_244 by E Honda, on Flickr

 

Now both using Graco Logico L's (£50 for the pair after cashback)

 

Happily taken them at 3/4 years old around in this - aye, nae belts. (and will again when (ahem) I fix it):

DSC_0678 by E Honda, on Flickr

 

Just looking to get one of these now:

 

Judging contemporary safety opinion, I'm probably judged to a terrible parent.

 

Children are quite bouncy and have learnt not to fall off the window ledge, sofa, whatever they weren't suppose to be doing, the hard way. They usually do it only the once too.

 

#1970sdad.

 

DSCF3449 by E Honda, on Flickr

[Guest Hooli]

I used to have a mate who took smallish kids (5-6 I think) on the back of a motorbike. Every now & then someone would have to ride up along side & lift their head up as they'd be leaning horizontally out to the side to see where they are going.

[trigger]

You haven't met my wife Eddie, She would be having kittens at that! Trouble is it's all drummed i to them that you must by new and it must be isofix and must be rear facing, but if i said otherwise and god forbit we had a accident where the little un got hurt because of it then I'd never live it down. Sometimes you just got to go with the flow for the quiet life!

[AlabamaShrimp]

I have no idea what isofix is but I'm sure the mk6 Fiesta didn't have it and the mk2 definitely doesn't.

 

We had a big plastic base thing that stayed in the car when our son was very small and his seat clamped into it backwards and also into a pushchair frame, can't remember the make.

 

For ages now he's had 3 those graco things above and he was OK in the one largeish crash we've had.

 

For me anything is better than nothing so as long as he's the seat belt on (he's quite tall) and not jumping around then that'll do.

[cort16]

ISOFIX came in around 2005.

[Guest Hooli]

ISOFIX is unamazingly International Standards Organisation Fixings. It means all car seats fit the same way so car makers can fit clips etc & it won't limit your choice of seats. Plus by all having the same mounts they can be crash tested for any car.

 

Isofix is older than 2005, my 2001 goona had it.

[doobietoo]

This whole "risk adverse" thing has gone way too far IMHO. I was in a concrete building today... imagine an old WW2 type gun emplacement type place with metre thick reinforced ceiling..... I had to wear a hard hat......

Looking at all the new "rules" I am amazed any of us older folks are still here...

[Honey Badger]

Cant you buy Velcro seat covers and make em wear a wooly jumper or something?

 

I don't have children but I am sometimes concerned how my coat slides about on the back seat, so I kind share all of your concerns, sort of.

[dave21478]

Aye, literally no motoring situation is worse than having to brake hard and your pizza slides off the seat and lands at 45 dgrees in the footwell....You just know that it will have slid up hard to the edge of the box and got all crumpled. 

[AlabamaShrimp]

ISOFIX is unamazingly International Standards Organisation Fixings. It means all car seats fit the same way so car makers can fit clips etc & it won't limit your choice of seats. Plus by all having the same mounts they can be crash tested for any car.

 

Isofix is older than 2005, my 2001 goona had it.

 

See shows you what I know as I put isofix base into Google images and it brings up stuff like what we had. I do remember it wasn't clamped in but had the seat belt sort of connection as there was no fannying with it when we bought it.

[Guest Hooli]

I've no idea why I know it, as I've never had kids & never will because I can't stand them.

 

 

 

Aye, literally no motoring situation is worse than having to brake hard and your pizza slides off the seat and lands at 45 dgrees in the footwell....You just know that it will have slid up hard to the edge of the box and got all crumpled. 

 

Curry is worse.