To be shocked people are actually rear-facing their primary age kids

My eldest is 16 and I don't remember anyone RF until age 2. Most people switched at about 9-12 months. I remember a friend's daughter was 16mo and she wasn't quite 9kg yet but they put her in a forward facing seat because they thought at her age it was ridiculous.

But anyway, things really changed when spin seats became popular, about 2016 I'd say. The big thing ~15 years ago was those 123 seats which converted into a high back booster. Today almost everyone goes for a rotating 360 degree spin seat for their second stage. It means you can keep them rear facing as long as you want and turn them forward facing when ready, which means most people now rear face up to about the age of 2, and about 1 in 5 children are still travelling RF at ages 3-4.

There was a bit of a shift/awareness earlier in the 10s but 2016 was when ERF seats (at least up to approx age 4) became widely available and affordable and "the norm".

Out of curiosity... has anyone found the evidence behind the "4x safer" statistic? Its often quoted but I've never found out what exactly they mean.

Yeah, I don't think I've seen a rear facing child above the age of 2 in real life. Also, despite the number of very tedious conversations I've had with other parents over the last few years, car seats isn't something that's come up at all. Even the more anal types I've met who aim to cut all grapes into quarters until their child is in secondary school just have their school aged kids in regular booster seats.

I'm not particularly shocked what people do either way but I am a bit puzzled, that a person who has chosen totally against the national trend, perhaps buying a specialised seat to do so, to RF past their own child's fourth birthday is surprised or shocked to realise that some people do it even longer.

That is no judgement from me, I am just surprised and find it a bit amusing mainly I suppose because I primarily see the "RF until 4!" message coming from very insistent pro ERF spaces where seats are advertised which last until age 6/7 and it's not uncommon at all to find people using them to the max.

I'm more shocked that despite ALL the evidence proving that rear facing until 7 is safer so many people don't! My youngest was rear facing until 6, my older ones went into booster seats at 3, that is terrible looking back but if you know better you do better!

I think we should have a competition to see who can rear face their children longest.
Anyone gets to 18yo and I’ll send a prize.

So did I. Both of my kids were front facing from 18 months old. They were both very tall for their age and it was not comfortable for them to be squished in rear facing

Interested in this too! We only managed til age 3 in our Focus- the issue wasn’t leg room for my daughter but for my husband in the passenger seat, as he had to keep moving his seat forward to accommodate the RF car seat as she grew.

Can I ask what seat you used and what car you have? My DD is only 2.5 but will soon outgrow her rear facing car seat. We have a hatchback - same size as a Golf/Focus so limited space inside, especially considering we're tall. Wondering if there's one that will be suitable for her to move on to.

There’s definitely a dichotomy between online, where everyone rear faces, and RL, where no one does past eighteen months.

I think rear facing is good but the safety aspect of it is massively exaggerated and any increased safety is negated by eg screaming, sickness or similar. I also think some people can do it as a way of suggesting that they are better parents than those who do not, and I dislike that.

If that was true, whiplash wouldn’t be a thing.

A car hit from behind moves forward in the first instance

I’m baffled! My kids are now 16 & 17 but in their day rear facing ended at about 2! As soon as you were too big for the baby carrier you went into a forward facing car seat? Same with all my friend’s kids. When did that change?!

DS is 7.5 and still rear facing.

He’s far more comfortable, and more importantly he’s safer.

I constantly get hassle from my DF about how it’s going to “bend” his hips.

mind you this man is a qualified - albeit retired - nurse.

He should know better, but also unfortunately also thinks he’s the authority on the subject 🙄

I was told by a health visitor when mine was 9 months that it was time to get her out of the baby seat and into a forward facing one, which would be “so much easier”. This was 13 years ago and rear facing was definitely a thing then.

disregarded that along with almost everything else that came out of her mouth

Dd reAr faced until 4 as per the advice and tbh I don't know anyone who didn't. Yabu. Rear facing is safer

If adults had to rear face i would never go anywhere. #travelsickness 🤮🤮🤮

Rear facing is safest for a head on collision (statistically most likely type of collision), forward facing would have actually been better for your kids if the car was hit from behind. If you watch the crash test simulations you'll see why.

No anti sickness tablets work for me, I’m strange that way.

Agree, I always book train tickets that way. My youngest DD still gets travel sickness. She screamed in the car until forward facing so was safer for me. Never grow out of it.
I hate on bus when the rear facing back seats are the last left.

I RF for as long as I could, had some comments but I put safety first. I’ve seen the crash test videos! And read about internal decapitation.
There are such things as travel sickness pills for kids who are sick!
The reason rear face seats exist is because there has been lots of research done and medical and practical evidence that it is much safer for a child, in FF impact, the child’s head is the heaviest and gets thrown around and the crash causes the most horrific injuries.
Yes there were no car seats or even seat belts when I was young, (70’s baby) but there was a lot less traffic on the roads then, and if families were lucky enough to have had a car it was just one like us.
Research also suggests that the majority of accidents happen very close to home so that ridiculous concept of “oh it’s only down the road” is dangerous, I saw a kid shoved into the footwell of a car while his mom sat in the passenger seat in her mates car as there were no other seats once. She lived at the top of the street 🙄 and I saw a woman strap a seatbelt around her and her 5/6 month old baby once 🤦🏻‍♀️ someone related to my exDH had her grandchild regularly in her car and FF when her grandchild was still very small, honestly the seat buried her. But she said it was because baby wanted to see out the window 🤦🏻‍♀️ God forbid if anything happened!

Mine rear-faced until 7 and 6.5, they’re now 13 and 10. With all the information available even then, it is shocking that companies continue to push parents to buy seats which encourage people to put their children at such avoidable risk.

Mine started getting car sick when rear facing around age 4. Forward facing stopped it when everything else failed. We don't travel by car much and mainly travel on roads in our local town at 30 miles an hour. We made a judgement call about what was the right thing for us as a family.

Mine started getting car sick when rear facing around age 4. Forward facing stopped it when everything else failed. We don't travel by car much and mainly travel on roads in our local town at 30 miles an hour. We made a judgement call about what was the right thing for us as a family.

I have similar aged children and agree with you . I’m sure they were only rear facing up to maximum age 2, then moved to front facing. I’m sure it was the normal at the time. Obviously things change over time with research. Not sure when this changed. New car seats must be bigger to accommodate the longer legs.

Yes I did. It’s 5x safer. Why wouldn’t you?! 🤷🏽‍♀️ she rear faced until she was 5.5 and I knew her
bones were a bit safer. My son will do the same.