What age did you change your DC car seat from rear to front facing?

[pinkbottle48]

The advice in the UK seems quite different to other countries. A lot of friends I know changed at about 9 months. However, Sweden, for example, recommends not till the age of 4, the US I think is 2. DD is 16 months and still rear facing people here seem to think it's strange we haven't turned it around yet. But why do other countries have such different recommendations?

About 22 months. He really hated it but I wanted to keep him in that seat as long as possible.
Now he can speak i realise he probably felt motion sick going backwards. He’s very prone to it now but better forward facing.

@Unihorn just to say my son was the same, absolutely hated his infant seat, going anywhere was a nightmare. He got better around 10months then soooo much better when we swapped to the next stage seat- still rear facing but as it was more up right he could see out the window which he liked.

DD1 was unhappy in the Group 0+ seat which was rear facing. She was much happier in the Group 1 rear facing seat because she could finally see out of the side and rear windows.

Child 1 at 2.5years & child 2 at 4years - both were moved out of rear facing when they hit the 18kg limit of out car seat

8 years old.

Eldest was turned forwards at 3 years 5 months when he outgrew the ERF seat we used. Back then (he's 8) everyone thought I was crazy for keeping him rear facing. DD is 3 and a half and still rearfacing.

Mine is 2 and a quarter and still rear facing. When she grows out of this seat we'll change her to forward facing so probably 3ish.

I agree she prefers this larger seat it must be group 1 rear facing because she can see out the window. She hated the baby seat.

I'm happy to hear that things are changing and extended rear facing is becoming more normal. With my now 12 year old we wanted extended rear facing having seen the statistics on safety and the fact it was the norm in Scandinavia. The only place we could get a seat at the time was a specialist shop for SEN kids. Everyone thought we were mad. My personal opinion is to keep them rear facing as long as possible. Safety trumps any other consideration. ERF seats are different from an infant carrier so the child can see out the side and rear windows and have leg room.

To those who are saying 7-8 years old, how tall are they and what brand of seat? DS is 8 and at least 142cm. I can't see how he could possibly sit in a rear facing seat!

The biggest rear facing seats got up to around 120cm but it mainly depends where a child's height comes from. A child with a long torso will outgrow any carseat earlier than a child who has their length in their legs. So height is only a guide, where as weight is a definitive with regards to carseats.

@Sandstormbrewing we moved her to a bigger car seat and unfortunately she still hates it. I can only drive very short distances with her for the time being as she gets incredibly distressed and makes herself sick. My older one was the same but we resolved it by moving to a bigger seat and so we thought this would be just as simple, sadly not!

I'm also surprised that there are rear facing 7/8 year olds. My DSD is 8 and has been on a booster cushion for the past two years, and now no longer used a seat at all.

My eldest went from a newborn seat into a normal front facing seat at about 10 months as I knew no better. I had never heard of extended rear facing.
A few years later when my 2nd was growing out of her newborn car seat I did some reading and found a lot of evidence about the safety of extended rear facing. So I got a Joie Stages for my 2nd child and she's still rear facing in it at age 4 :)

@Unihorn
“My DSD is 8 and has been on a booster cushion for the past two years, and now no longer used a seat at all.”

How tall is she? The law says that children must use a car seat until they are 135cm tall or 12 years old (whichever is first).

She's 140 now but I don't think she's used one past about 130 maybe.

Ds is 4.5 and still rear facing. His seat goes up to 25kg and he's only 20. He's super tall though (long torso) and seems to be having a massive growth spurt so I think he's going to outgrow it very soon.

DD is 3.5 and will be rf for another year or 2 in her current seat (a 2way pearl). She's low centile, thankfully for this purpose, but if she gets uncomfy in it I'll happily buy another seat to keep her rf longer.

Sadly my in laws have turned their 18mth old ff despite owning 2 seats that rf to 18kg. I was hoping all the info I share and my dd still being rf would help them make the safer choice.