to wonder why it is only Sweden that care about safety in the car?

[seeminglyso]

Right..the whole boring car seat trawl has started as my baby is nine months and ready to move to a group one seat...then I watch a video about how rear facing car seats are 500 times safer ..why the heck are most car seats here forward facing? I just dont get it?

Just moved to UK from US - push there is to do rear facing until age 2. Leaving aside whether that is reasonable or should remain optional, honestly, I was very concerned about the poor UK car seat selection/rules when I researched the move. We couldn't legally bring our US car seats and use them (OK legally for visitors, but not for residents), and I was SHOCKED to not be able to find a UK car set with a 5 point harness forward facing for my daughter (who is only 3 1/2 but very big for her age - over 50 pounds and tall). Until just a few months ago, she would gleefully unbuckle a shoulder positioner booster (including her older brother's, if she could reach it). Now she must ride in one herself, but so far seems to understand the danger of unbuckling while driving. But 5 point is must safer for any child (distributes force of a crash better) and in US even children aged 5 or 6 or 7 have the ability to wear them.

I am looking at group one car seats so age 9 months to 4 years and I see the rear facing ones all use isofix but I have a big car with under seat storage and the isofix base of my previous chair doesnt reach the floor...what a pain this whole thing is..you are right though the UK is pretty rubbish when it comes to safety with this which is surprising given all the health and safety red tape that exists in everything else!

You can get the Besafe in a non-isofix version, we have one. Will find you a link.

Apparently the reason they are not widely on sale in the UK is because British parents prefer bright colours

Our rear facing seats are not isofix (britax two way) and my dds who are four and six are in them,the six year old will soon be too tall for it,but its great that it has fitted her for so long. I love the Swedes!(we have a Volvo estate as well)....

The car seat made by volvo is supposed to be the best in the world

Here you go

Several belted ones (as opposed to isofix) on here. The only drawback is that once it is in, the position of the front passenger or driver's seat is fixed and you can't slide it back and forth.

www.rearfacing.co.uk will tell youbwhere you can buy a group 1 r/f seat in Britain.

Wow thanks ladies. I am a bit gutted about the iso fix as I wanted to use it as it does feel safer than using just belts? Is it?

Hellymelly, did you have to go for these because of your seats being high up as well? I have a Seat Toledo.

Thanks for the link pookamoo.

Volvo make more than one type of car seat. I was researching on Which? and one Volvo seat was in the top ten and shockingly one was in the bottom ten.

Was a bit as used to work for Volvo.

We don't have isofix points in the car (ten years old). We went for the Britax one because after chatting to the lovely man in Sweden linked to on the rearfacing website,it seemed the best model for us and our car. DD1's seat came from a british supplier,DD2's came from Sweden as she had hers a bit later (was in a baby seat when we bought the one for DD1). I don't understand why they aren't more popular.We have even had police rattling ours as though we might have put them in the wrong way!!!

I have 2 RF seats in my pug 206.

Britax two way elite (non isofix) and maxi cosi mobi (also non isofix but does have a foot prop)

I can't believe they aren't more readily available either.

There is sooooo much research proving they are safer. Why wouldn't parents want them?

I am worried that I buy a non isofix one and the bloody foot prop doesnt reach the floor either. I really wanted an isofix one..I wonder how I can find one compatible with my car..I keep looking but it doesnt seem promising?

Call these people and chat to them about it.They will give good advice. www.carseat.se/

The stage 1 seat Volvo sell is basically a britax multitech with a Volvo logo on. It is a bit cheaper than the britax and the big plus is you can order it through a Volvo dealership rather than having to drive to one of the very few places selling rear facing seats. I don't have it but will prob get one when we get a second car. (You don't need to have a Volvo to get a seat from them)
We have a besafe isofix seat for DS (2) and I love it. He's so comfy and loves being able to look out of the back window. I'm sure the non isofix one is equally nice. I got ours from securatot and they are very knowledgable about different seats in different cars, just give them a call.
I'm the only person I know with rear facing. Most people just go with whatever mothercare or halfords have on offer.

It's extreme to say that the British "don't care" about car safety - our roads are well known to be extremely safe by world standards (far more so than the US for example). We're a bit crap on rear facing car seats, and it's probably worth doing a campaign on that, but on all other areas (including the crucial one of how likely you are to have a crash in the first place) we're exceptional.

I've got a Britax TWE bought from the In Car Safety Centre, which rests on the front passenger seat, no foot prop / isofix.

Btw I don't think isofix is any safer than a correctly fitted seat belt install, it just minimises the possibility of incorrectly installing a seat. The shops selling rear facing can help with installing and there are YouTube videos etc for most of the seats you can get.