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Confused about car seat regulations? Find baby car seat advice here.

Car seats

New car seat law next week

32 replies

Confused1972 · 28/02/2017 00:28

Can anyone explain the new car seat law that is coming in next week coz Im sure it can't be right?!!
It says that children up to 15 months old must be in a rear facing seat??
I dont know any child that would still be able to fit in a rear facing seat at that age!! Where the hell would their legs go?!!
The rear facing car seats like we have state that they only go up to 9 months old and then the next stage car seats are forward facing ??
So from 9 months old to 15 months old babies
can't go in a car.
Its confusing and impossible.
Anyone know??

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AndNowItsSeven · 28/02/2017 00:30

They don't but they would be safer too. My four year old is rear facing, legs hang over the side.

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chatnanny · 28/02/2017 00:31

We just bought car seats for DGC. I thought it was up to a weight in Kgs not an age?

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blaeberry · 28/02/2017 00:33

The new law applies to manufacturers and sellers of car seats but doesn't affect any that you currently use or own. You can continue to use these.

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MinnowAndTheBear · 28/02/2017 00:37

You can buy Extended Rear Facing car seats to allow older children to be rear facing for longer. You're not expected to keep them in those baby seats forever.

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Confused1972 · 28/02/2017 00:37
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JordanMcDeere · 28/02/2017 01:37

We just bought a new rearfacing seat for our 14 month old. It'll last until he's 18kg or his eyes are level with the top of the seat. I've rarely seen a child of that age sit properly on a chair unless made to so I'm sure he'll be fine & just sit cross legged or something

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JellyTipisthebest · 28/02/2017 01:47

That is full of incorrect information. Basically there are two laws running side by side at the moment. Children must be sat it a seat that meets one of them.
The new standard says children must be resurfacing until 15 mths so if you have a car seat that meets the new standard and your child is under 15 mths they must use it rearfacing.
If you have a seat that meets the old standard they could travel forward if they are 9kg BUt they would be safer travelling rear-facing. It is always bast to use a carseat until it is fulling out grown for most carry type seats that's 13kg or the head being level with the top. Leg length doesn't matter. If you are going to keep your child rear facing changing to a bigger seat is not any less safe but moving to a forward facing one is

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AliceMum09 · 28/02/2017 21:53

My nearly-5 year old daughter has plenty of room for her legs in her rear facing seat.

It's a myth that infant carriers only last 9 months. Most can be used until the child weighs 13kgs or the top of their head becomes level with the top of the seat, whichever happens first.

A baby only has to stay rear facing until they are 15 months old if they are using a new seat certified under R129 (the new 'I-size' child seat regulations). These seats are based on the height of the child.

Most babies are still in 'old' R44/04 seats, these are done by weight, with infant carriers being certified for use up to 13kgs and forward facing Group 1 seats being suitable from 9kgs.

I chose a bigger rear facing seat with a 25kgs weight limit, safety-wise that's far beyond what the regulations and laws suggest is safe.

New car seat law next week
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TalkingofMichaelAngel0 · 28/02/2017 21:57

My ds also had an erf seat until aged 4.

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AliceMum09 · 01/03/2017 07:56

The I-size 15 month rear facing requirement has been in force for at least a couple of years already. It's not new or only just coming in.

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Confused1972 · 01/03/2017 09:25

Do you mind me asking what car you have got as that looks a good fit for leg room. I have a Skoda Octavia and it looks massive but the leg room is rubbish with a Graco Milestone that we tried to fit. The car seat doesn't really fit itself let alone leg room. Thanks. x

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Confused1972 · 01/03/2017 09:27

Sorry my question about car was to Alice mum9 who posted the pic.

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Letsgetreadytorumbleagain · 01/03/2017 09:31

The car seat you have will not be until 9 months, it will be a minimum of 9 months and up to a certain weight limit - probably 13kg

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AliceMum09 · 01/03/2017 09:51

Confused1972 it's a Peugeot 5008. There is decent legroom for an adult passenger in the front, although I can't put the child seat behind the driver's seat as I would feel too close to the steering wheel. I guess it depends what you prefer though, I like to sit quite far back when driving and have long-ish legs.

I have since moved the seat to the middle of the back seat, it gives more space in the front that way because the back of the child seat goes in between the two front seats. The child seat just very lightly touches the two corners of the driver and passenger seats. This is fine, it's lightly touching not wedged in.

It's a good car for fitting child seats, we bought it when I was pregnant with our third child (DD2 in the photo above) and the older two were 6 and 3 - it's fitted any combination of child seats that we've needed. DS is 11 now and tall, so he doesn't have a seat, but he's got plenty of space and isn't squashed in between the Multi Tech II (above) and our 8 year old's high backed booster.

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BertieBotts · 02/03/2017 09:17

You don't need to change anything, the law is only changing for new seats sold.

Carry on with the seats you have.

Jelly has explained it well.

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Anotherminime · 02/03/2017 09:22

Jelly has explained it well, but I also wanted to add it's really easy for them to be rear facing. My DD is 16months and we have a rear facing car seat. She has tonnes of space and is perfectly happy with it.

It's so much safer for them to rear face, that is why they are changing the laws.

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Confused1972 · 02/03/2017 10:11

I don't get why they say its safer facing backwards.
The rear facing car seats are ok if you try and pull forward on the seat as the belt secures it tightly but when you push the seats from behind they move straight forward into the chair and so how is that safer with that amount of movement.
With the car seats facing forward the belt holds the chair securely against the back of the car interior and then the baby also has straps on and there is no movement in the car seat in the event of a crash. I know which way I'd prefer my baby to be facing if a lorry came crashing into the back of my car.
I actually don't think rear facing is safer.
Why do you think that rear facing is safer??
Im just interested in why people think its safer. I'm not being rude or anything.
Thanks for all these responses.

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whatsthecomingoverthehill · 02/03/2017 10:15

I think it's because it's more common to hit something else rather than something to go into the back of you. If you're in a forward facing seat you're whole body is flung forward, and your head/neck are particularly vulnerable whereas in a rear facing seat your head is up against the seat so doesn't get flung about as much.

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Batteriesallgone · 02/03/2017 10:19

Rear facing is safer. High speed collisions nearly always happen when travelling forwards.

The force of a crash when travelling forwards will pull the child against the seat. You don't get that jerk forward you see in car crash dummy vids where the head and shoulders are thrown forwards.

The size of a child's head relative to the size of their body is way more than adults - they have massive heads. So that jerk forward on the neck is more dangerous. Rear facing reduces the stress on the neck in a crash.

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Gungdjur · 02/03/2017 10:25

My daughter will be 6 this summer and is still rear facing as are her two younger siblings. Our ERF seats are attached to the seats in front, they don't move at all and certainly wouldn't lift up to whack into the back of the seat in a forward collision. Have a look at the ERF seats and you will see how stable they are.
as to why it's better, it's to do with force on the neck in the event of impact - frontal collisions tend to be at higher speed as well. Have a look at carseat.se and read about internal decapitation.

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Confused1972 · 02/03/2017 10:32

Ive got a Graco Milestone ready for when she is in the next size seat.
I will have to read up about whether it can be rear facing..What youve all said about he neck makes aense now so thanks for the advice.
I can see why its safer now.

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NameChange30 · 02/03/2017 10:38

"Rear facing seats are 5 times safer in a frontal collision."
www.rearfacing.co.uk

New car seat law next week
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Anotherminime · 02/03/2017 12:31

Firstly the new standard means that all the rear facing seats need to be isofixed which is usually much safer than a seatbelt. That prevents any movement of the seat at all.

Secondly as batteries says it's to do with the head size of babies as a proportion of their body. A baby's head is about 25% of its total body weight in comparison to an adult where it's about 6%. Under significant breaking your head is flung forward. This effect is significantly exaggerated in babies because of the relative size of their heads. This combined with the fact that their skeleton is soft means the bones in their necks don't protect their spinal cord anywhere near as well as an adults, so it can snap if strained too much. If however the baby is rear facing, the force of the breaking instead moves the head into the back of the car seat so there is much less force placed on the neck. This is why it's much much safer.

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Anotherminime · 02/03/2017 12:34

A good video to demo what I mean (in case I deceived it badly!) m.youtube.com/watch?v=sssIsceKd6U

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BertieBotts · 02/03/2017 12:40

It's because the most high speed crashes happen front on.

What would happen in a FF seat in a front impact is that the child's body is caught by the straps, the head and limbs are not restrained and are thrown forwards. The head moves more than the rest of the body which can cause whiplash (in adults) - but in very young children (because of the larger size of their heads) or very severe crashes it can actually break their necks causing paralysis or death.

With a rear facing seat their whole body is caught by the shell or "cradle" of the seat itself. The same forces are spread across the body and the head doesn't move any further than the spine.

Rear facing is safer even for adults but we like to see where we're going! The forces are less serious for adults because our heads aren't as big, but if you look at racing drivers for example, they wear special helmets which are designed to stop their heads from moving away from their bodies in the event of a serious crash.

Rear shunts tend to happen at low speeds so even though the reverse happens it's usually not as serious.

You should get a seat with good side impact protection whether rear or forward facing as many accidents involve side impacts.

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