Car seat confusion

[ExPresidents]

Firstly this isn’t a debate on the pros and cons of forward v rear facing - I know the arguments for both and we haven’t decided either way yet but I have a question about my current forward facing seat to rule it in or out as an option!

When I had my first DC the rules were children had to be rear facing to 9 months old. We moved DC1 into a forward facing seat at about a year old when he outgrew his baby seat.

However we now have DC2 and I know the new law is that babies should be rear facing til 15 months. DC2 will have outgrown the baby seat by then so I need to decide whether to buy a new seat for DC1, and then move DC2 into his seat, or buy a new seat for DC2 which can rear face.

Can I actually move DC2 into a forward facing seat, as we already owned the seat before the new law came in? Or do babies HAVE to be in rear facing til 15 months now regardless of when you bought the seat?

As I said we haven’t made any decisions yet and may decide to buy new to be able to rear face DC2. I just want to be clear on my options.

Thanks in advance - the info online is so confusing!!

They can still go into a ff seat that you already own. They shouldnt. But they can.

The new rule is only in i sized seats. Seats are still sold that are ff from 9kg. So you could use the sea you have. But another thing to consider is children should be harnessed until at least 4 so if your older child is not yet 4 ( its due to bone development not height or weight) and the seat they are in will take them until 4 then I would just get a new one for the baby.

Firstly this isn’t a debate on the pros and cons of forward v rear facing - I know the arguments for both and we haven’t decided either way yet

What is there to decide? If you know the facts surely it's a no brainer? Do you want your child to be at a massively increased risk death in the event of a serious accident for the sake of saving a bit of cash?

Apologies, I know that sounds really bitchy but some people spend hundreds on prams, perfect prep machines & unnecessary items yet cannot invest any money in the safety of their children which baffles me. I understand that some people's circumstances are different.

The old rules are running alongside the new ones so yes you can legally put dc2 in old ff seat

Legally is irrelevant. It's vastly safer to rear face until 4, so if safety is important to you then get a new ERF seat for child and keep him in it til 4.

Are you sure they'll have outgrown the baby seat? Our 2 (quite large) children both still fitted in the baby seat until past then.

Yes, you can still use existing car seats that came in before the new rules. The old and new rules are running side-by-side to allow people to use existing seats.

If you buy an ERF seat, please double check it will fit in your car. Ours was huge (up to age 5 approx) and it literally just squeezed in with the passenger seat as far forward as it would go (okay for me as I have short legs). DS has just moved out of it at 3.5yrs because he was too long in the body for it, that's why we bought it because he outgrew his baby seat very quickly and we didn't want to put him ff so young.

Thank you to those of you who have clarified the situation - it’s helpful to know what the legal standpoint is before we look at other factors.

Also if reusing a seat check if it has an expiry date, as it might not be OK to use long enough for what you need. Some seats don't have an expiry or have a long one like 8/10 years, but some are as low as 5 years so worth checking.

Expiry dates aren't an issue here they are an American thing due to their extremes of temperature.