To keep ds in a rear facing seat?

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Dh thinks so as ds2 (22months) fusses and cries a lot and dh thinks his legs are "squashed up".
He wants to turn the seat round so that ds can see more and might not get as upset in his car seat.

Dh said it won't make a difference and that he drives carefully but I pointed out that it might not be dh that causes an accident heaven forbid one happens and that it all depends where the impact is etc and so if rear facing is meant to be safer I want to keep ds that way.

Dh thinks I'm being over protective and has said he is concerned about ds legs being so restricted.

AIBU

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Those who use ERF I'm thinking of buying the BeSafe for ds, does it come with isofix base?

My Besafe is seatbelt only but I think there is an isofix option. My daughter rear faced until the age of 4 with no problems. Be aware that isofix is only good until 18kg whereas some belted seats like the Britax two way elite last to 25kg - relevant if your child is high on the centile charts.

I think there's a new Besafe that is fine until 4 years old?

I didn't know that Slow - I thought you could get boosters with isofix?

We have the same one bonzo and really like it. We didn't have it from the infant carrier stage, but DS2 is still in it at 3 and seems comfortable. It seems to be one of the more compact RF seats and we have it in both a VW Polo and BMW 5 series (behind the driver's seat int he BMW).

I agree with slowcomputer that you need to take into account the size of your child when buying, as a lot of the RF isofix seats seem to only cover up to 18kg. This isn't an issue for us as ours were low on the centile charts, but it might not last to 4 for a lot of other children. There are quite a few which go up to 25kg, so it's worth looking around carefully.

You can get boosters with Isofix Bertie, but I think it's got something to do with the testing of the harness seats that they don't go over 18kg.

DD3 is 4y 4m, 16kg & 105cm and rfing in a Britax Two Way Elite. She is on the next from top slots so has plenty of growing room, leg room isn't an issue either as she can prop her legs up or cross them. She has been offered ffing but she has chosen to stay rfing (she rides ffing in her spare TWE or in a HBB in other's cars so she does know what ffing is like).

Also all my DDs have HMS (hypermobility syndrome) so is at greater risk of injury like your son. We had an accident recently (DH looked in his rear view mirror just as somebody stopped suddenly so even though he is an excellent driver, circumstances meant he was at fault) and DD4 didn't cry or even wake up (was in a Britax Baby Safe SHR II), DD3 cried but wasn't hurt at all and DD1 & DD2 cried and had very minor pain where their seat belts tightened up.

DD4 is in a Britax Max Way rfing and loves it - she's 17m, 9.5kg & 76cm. No way in hell is she ffing for a very long time.

We do extended harnessing too as we had to ff DD2 when she was just under 4y due to unpredictable vomiting from gastritis (arthritis meds wrecked her stomach) but she stayed harnessed in her TWE until she was nearly 6y when she outgrew it by height..

Also do HBBing until 150cm as DD1 is 129cm & nearly 8y and DD2 is 122cm & 6y and they ride in HBB (Diono Montereys - love them!!). I even make their friends ride in HBB [evil] - our car, our rules.

Rear facing here til 4 in a proper rearward facing seat,

Show your DH the you tube videos and introduce him to the concept of internal decapitation which can happen to a young child forward facing.

Tbh he is a bit of a dick if he feels his driving skills will protect him from the other idiots on the road.

Thank you for this thread,me and dp had no idea they could still be rear facing once they moved up a car seat! We even went somewhere to choose one and get it fitted and not once was rear facing even mentioned though we should have researched it ourselves.Am going to research and invest in a good rf'ing car seat tomorrow.Can you tell we don't know what the hell we are doing? The oldest is 10!!

When ds gets to 13 kg rather than turn it forward is there another seat I could get that could stay rear facing ? is there any particular seat that is really good. I'd like to keep him rear facing if possible as he has joint/muscle problems so ideally I want him to be rear facing for as long as I can. His joints dislocate so easily so even a small jolt could hurt him and I'd rather he was as safe as he can be

The britax two way elite is ideal if hips may be painful,the bit you sit on has low level sides so legs can comfortably fit without being squished. I also understand that it actually fits in the vast majority of cars (I've had it in the back of a lotus élan and a old style and new style vectra all three cars are notorious for problems with car seats.

We had a rf Besafe isofix until DS wa 4.5 and had to change to ff then because he was tall. He didn't have any problem with leg space. We managed to get it in a small Skoda.
As soon as we turned him round he turned into a back seat driver. There was running commentary from the back on the state of my driving.

The legs against the seat loosening the seatbelt is bollox with a good seat.

We have the axkid minikid. Big seat but compact, not isofix but has floor anchors and doesn't wobble.

I keep reading that the regulations require 15 months & a certain length to turn FF. Do your homework.

Yanbu. Dd was rear facing until 2. She's tiny though (9kg at 2!)

One of the problems is lljkk it is against the law to manufacture a group 0 infant carrier they now have to be 0+ but many people don't know this, I believe ones in circulation are ok to use but you can't buy them anymore and those were only ok up to about 9 months that's where the must ff from 9 months comes from.

In the last 3 weeks I've had a mum tell me her 14 week old ((about 10lbs) baby had outgrown his car seat,turns out she was using a old second hand group 0, I didn't tell her that baby hadn't outgrown it as the harness was frayed and chunks of polystyrene were missing (I'm not a complete cunt I did just give her one of my 0+ ones)

We're going for rear facing till 4, which is around the point that childrens proportions change and the risk of serious head and neck injuries diminishes. Yes they have to cross their legs in erf, but broken legs (in an accident) are not as scary as internal decapitation etc.

Your DH seems to thinking of this as a milestone rather than really weighing it up.

This is quite helpful

www.parentdish.co.uk/baby/child-car-seat-confusion-guide-to-the-new-regulations-and-products/

yabu. He probably feels sick. The thought of having to travel backwards in a car omg . Risk is about balance. So many people on mn seem obsessive but in rl I see 4 yos on booster cushions, 3yos under 15kgs on booster seats.

brettgirl

Erm why risk management? ??? Not allowed to have a different view? ???

Genuine Q. We do a lot of long drives. The passenger in the front spends large amounts of time leaning around, handing back drinks or snacks and separating them when they are nicking each others toys chatting. Can you still do that when they're rear facing?

also 2 year old wriggle out of straps and you wouldn't even know.

Can I have an answer on how long I keep my dd in her infant carrier for? Recaro young profi plus isofix. Am I right in thinking its 13kg or head over top of the seat - whichever comes first?

We have a mirror so we can see ds and he can see us.

in rl I see 4 yos on booster cushions, 3yos under 15kgs on booster seats just because people do it doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. People do terrible things to children every day it doesn't mean we should all do the same.