What age can they be put forward facing

[Dadzillla]

Hello

Well I'm sure I read that the age limit now is 15 months to be forward facing.
Me lad is just about to big to be rear facing as he cant fully stretch his legs now but he's only just 12 months.
I thought I'd rehash the current laws and I'm unable to see this information now.
Have I made that up, can anybody clarify?
Cheers

[iamdivergent]

You could get a group 0+-1 and continue to have him resurfacing. I have a maxi Cos i milofix which are on offer on their own website atm. My son is a very large 13mth old and has a ton of space to rear face still.

[BakerBear]

The law is now 15 months for forward facing but it is much safer to keep rear facing for as long as possible. In some countries its the law to be rear facing until 4 years old.

If his legs are not streching out then he will automatically put them in a frog position which does them no harm at all.

Childrens heads are much bigger and heavier than the rest of their bodies and therefore if they are in a crash when they are forward facing then their neck jerks forward and it can damage them internally.

[FoodArtFreak]

Legs are zero issue! Rear face as long as possible- bakerbear covered it all really.

I've worked for a car seat manufacturer.

[FruitBadger]

If it's an old "Group" sized seat they can FF from 9kg.

If it's a new iSize seat they need to RF to 15 months.

Advice is that all children should be harnessed and rear facing until 4 years.

If your son is tall and / or heavy try to have a look at the 25kg rear facing seats, he'll outgrow iSize before he's 4 and you have to buy another seat which will be an unnecessary expense. Something like the Britax Two Way Elite, or the BeSafe or Acid range. The In Car Safety Centre is the only UK stockist for the Britax seat.

[FruitBadger]

Axkid, not Acid!

[Cheekyfuckerneighbour]

Ds is 4 and still rear facing. He'll stay that way until he's 45 pounds. Everyone here rear faces their kids until at least 4.

[furryelephant]

If he's in an infant carrier style seat the majority are only outgrown when they're at the weight limit, or the top of the head is at the top of the shell (can test by putting a book over the top and seeing if baby's head touches it!). Some do go on actual height but that's specific to certain seats

[littletwofeet]

Keep rear facing as long as possible - far, far safer.
I would do what is safer regardless of the current laws-the laws always take a while to catch up with safety.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=tuZFVPv3Rpk

[Dadzillla]

Thanks for all the info guys, helped a lot.

The seat he's currently in is rated to 13kg if I remember correctly. He's roughly 11.5kg and very tall.

Problem is my car doesn't have isofix so it may be a case of forward facing at15 months

[littletwofeet]

Mpst extended rear facing seats are without isofix.

You can get isofix fitted into most cars but it's only suitable for up to 18kg so you would probably be better with extended rear facing with seatbelt anyway.

Have a google and look at some other videos. There is no way I would put a 15 month old (however heavy/tall they are) FF.

[littletwofeet]

• most

[Dadzillla]

Ah okay. Will have a ganders. Thank you.

[FruitBadger]

None of the 25kg seats are Isofix. Isfofix is only safety tested to 33kg, but that's the weight of the seat and child combined, hence why most only last until 18kg. Seat belt fitted is just as safe as Isofix, as long as the seat is installed correctly.

[FoodArtFreak]

If he's tall enough that his head is over the top... new seat. PPs are correct

I would go to Halfords and ask for a safety check. Or mothercare. Or ToysRUs but only listen to the shop assistant if they sound like they have a clue and can tell you safe weight limits off the top of their heads etc. Go elsewhere if they don't know straight away

[AliceMum09]

If he's very tall you need a seat with a 25kgs weight limit (with the increased weight limit comes extra height in the seat) if you are to keep your son rear facing until he's at least 4 years old. These seats are all seatbelt-fitted, I'll add a couple of photos of my Britax 25kgs seats (Multi Tech II and Two Way Elite).

Do not go anywhere near the high street chains recommended above - they don't sell these seats, and quite often the staff will tell you that rear facing seats with a 25kgs limit just don't exist.

You need to find a specialist retailer near you, this website has a Find a Retailer section.

As well as Britax you can get 25kgs seats from Axkid, Besafe and Diono.

I always like to point people in the direction of this BBC News article from as long ago as 2009 - that's at least 8 years since experts warned in the uk that children should be rear facing until they are at least 4 years old and still nobody 'official' is doing anything about it, so parents often think that because the law allows a baby to forward face as soon as they weigh 9kgs this must be safe because it's legal

[teaandbiscuitsforme]

Don't go to Halfords or mothercare or anywhere like that!!!

If you're on Facebook, join the car seat for mummies and daddies group. Daft name but utterly amazing advice. They'll be able to advise you on which non isofix seats would work best for your car.