[PreachersWife]

OP, my daughter is four and weighs approx 20kg and is 110cm tall, so another bigger-than-average!

The previous standard (2004) was weight/age based. That is seats were labelled with a max weight, which was 9/12kg for rear facing, 18kg for forward facing and 26kg for booster seats, with a min weight for 14kg for boosters.

The change in car seat laws (national now) were a reflection of this based on statistics, ie most babies were under 9kg at 6mth, 12kg at 12mth, 18kg at four and 26kg at seven. So some older information you find talks about these 'limits'. However, these seats were tested with standard dummies that have higher weights, for eg the seats limits at 18kg were actually tested with 22kg dummies. There is a sticky at the top of this forum that talks about that, is worth a read.

So, because my daughters seat is from the 2004 standard, I have chosen to go over the 18kg limit up to 21kg, to allow her to mature a bit more before she needs to use a booster. She is in a convertible booster (MR AHR) which is designed to be used as both a traditional seat with inbuilt harness and as a booster. These types of seats are good for taller children, as they tend to have higher seat backs than regular car seats.

The new standard is 2010 and is height-based. This means that seat have markers to show when a child has reached the maximums for each stage. So far, it's seems that there is no 'standard' and some seats have higher markers than others. Again, these markers are meant to reflect statistics ie, 97% of under fours are under 22kg, they are still tested with the same dummies, as far as anyone knows??

It's taken quite a while for me to get it, and the differences between standards can be confusing. It's best to make sure what you are reading matches the seat you have IYKWIM. In your case I would look at a seat with a inbuilt harness with high shoulder slots, and there are a few examples. The best way is to take your daughter and try a few out!

Good Luck, I hope that helps

[PreachersWife]

Hah! See I posted an essay and got beaten to the finish line! It's always the way, never mind, hope what I said helps