is it too early to upgrade my baby's car seat to a convertible seat at 6 months old? she's currently 7kg (4 months old) and I will be passing on my maxi-cosi infant car seat to a friend in 2 months time. which seats will you recommend?

Keep her rear facing for as long as possible. It's recommended to rear face young children to minimum of 2 years old, ideally till about 4 years old. It's much safer for young children to rear face - 5 times less likely that they would be seriously injured from a crash if they are rear facing as compared to front facing. Watch this video if you aren't convinced: https://youtu.be/G8mFsXNXOLw. See how the front facing child's head is suddenly thrown forward? Their necks and spines are not well developed yet and may not tolerate the stress. Two inexpensive convertible car seats: Joie Stages at $340 Rear face newborn to 18kg Front face to 25kg Joie Every Stage at $400 Rear face newborn to 18kg Front face to 36kg Can buy from Takashimaya and Robinsons.

Babies grow pretty fast so upgrading the car seats out of safety is a good idea. I'd recommend brands like Graco or Britax. They are known for their safety standards, sturdiness and good workmanship. The Marathon car seat series from Britax are easily convertible - from front facing to rear facing.

babies grow fast. as long as possible I'll keep her rear facing.

You can upgrade the carseat as long it can be rear facing.

Clek Foonf from Mothersworks can rear face to 22kg

Joie Every Stage

Joie Stages