To keep ds in a rear facing seat?

[Edenviolet]

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

Red my dds are loosely crossed, or dangling over the sides, or stretched up the back of the seat they are facing.

She recently did two fove hour journeys and not a grumble out of her.

Volvo do an own brand rear facing seat suitable to 25kg (it's non isofix). You can use it in other cars too - contact your local Volvo dealer for information.

We are debating whether to get another ERF as the Besafe only goes to 18kg and DD is approaching 17kg weight (aged 4). Torn between getting the latest Besafe or the Volvo one, or switching her ff to the Cybex, which has scored highest in the European forward facing seats.

We do 25,000 miles a year, so we have seen lots of accidents (mostly cars driving forward into things) - I guess this makes us more nervous.

Which cybex are you looking at?

Needs the conversation upthread was referring to isofix limits rather than RF or harness limits. I think it got a bit confused.

New regs have come in for manufacturers, meaning that car companies and car seat companies can begin making and testing seats and cars compatible with new i-size regulations, which, yes, involve RF until 15 months.

However I'm not sure how it's going to work because it uses a new system similar to isofix, ie, you need anchor points in your car. If the cars have only been started to be made since last year then it seems unlikely that all parents will have an i-size compatible car by 2018 which is when I read that they are bringing the new standards in as law. But, it's possible I've misunderstood something somewhere.

The current regulation is still the ECE R 44-03 as introduced in 2005.

Ah OK, I did misunderstand - they use isofix, but the two will run side by side (possibly only until 2018) because cars have been manufactured with isofix since 2002, so it's likely that by 2018 the majority of parents will own cars with isofix fittings.

I was looking at the Cybex Solution X2-fix, which is an isofix and has won quite a few awards for safety.

Anyone a member of which to access their best buys? Iknow they are predominantly FF but would be useful for us whose DC have outgrown RF?

theonlyoneiknow I don't have Which, but the Cybex is flagged as a "Which Best Buy" on several websites, and the blurb said it came out top in the Which tests.

Wow, I can't believe so many people use rear facing car seats for their older children. I have honestly never seen a child older than 8-9 months in a rear facing car seat. I know my two both went into the forward facing seats when they were 9 months old, I never even thought of keeping them the other way (and didn't know you could get car seats for older children this way)

I can see the reasoning behind it but like someone else said, I can 't concentrate when there 's screaming/crying coming from the back of the car so it made sense to have us all facing the same way and without the crying and with easy distance of passing food and toys to the back of the car

Thanks world we actually have the kiddy guardian pro in our campervan and like it - looks like the Cybex are the same idea but a different make. There definitely seems to be a for and against camp with regards to impact shields vs harnesses though!

As I understood it, the shield is only used once the child is over the age of 4 anyway, and hopefully most children would be in their other rear-facing seat until that age. When we switch (unless another seat scores higher in testing) we will be using it with the seatbelt fitting.

Haroldplays, I'm so glad you wrote that because I was beginning to think I was the only one who had never seen a older child rear facing. I actually looked at my 2 year old in his forward facing car seat and thought there is no way he'd sit rear facing.....where would his legs go for starters.

How old are your DC Harold? I don't know anyone who has done extended rear facing, but I also don't know anyone personally (children under 4) who has turned their baby around as early as 8-9 months. All infant seats have had to last til 13kg for the last few years so most people seem to keep their babies rear-facing until 12-18 months depending on size. I think the safety aspect for babies is becoming much more well known.

I didnt know anything about ERF until Mumsnet. The information really isnt readily avaliable.

Harold my 2.2yo is in 3yo clothes and she fits nice and comfy in the erf seat. Ill try and tale a photo next time we are in the car.

I also find it easier to pass stuff to her as her head is right behind the passenger seat, so I just lift my arm and put it behind the passenger seat.

Impact shields are used till 18kg then seatbelt only

Seatbelt only with the seat I mean, just take impact shield away. If it is a group 123 seat likw the kiddy guardian pro

I think the safety information available on car seats is poor, muddled and most is obviously biased.

DS is huge, and at 2 years 9 months has outgrown the 'up to 4 years' seats (18kg limit!). You can't get a car seat with a harness over 18kg so he has to go in a forward facing seat with only an adult belt. The only seats I could find on sale in the UK with a harness above 18kg are either a specially made SEN one (£350ish!) or a ERF seat which you can only buy from one place in Milton Keynes. I am heavily pregnant and struggle to drive DS to pre-school let alone drive to Milton Keynes.

Can anyone tell me why harnesses are only tested to 18kg? DS is huge but not massively so - above 95th centile for weight. That still means there is another two or three children per hundred whose parents also face this problem. Why do small children get to be safer??

Anyway, the only way to keep sane about this is to look at it from the 'managing risks' angle - we don't drive much, not a lot of motorway driving and have a safe modern car. Not a lot more I can do. I think we will get an ERF for DS2, but I expect to face the same problem with him having to go FF before he is 3 because he is even bigger than his brother.

You can order online from the milton keynes place if you want

At under three he absoloutley should NOT be secured with an adult seatbelt only.

A britax TWE can keep them harnessed to 25kgs

And can be ordered online and easily self fitted.

A child who is too small to use an adult seatbelt, will go straight through the windscreen

Worldgonecrazy - when we bought our Volvo a couple of years ago, their 'branded' seat was actually a britax TWE - but about £100 more expensive. I don't know if it's changed since, but if that's a seat you're interested in then I would see if the Britax branded one is cheaper and save yourselves a few £££ :)

Unbranded is £220.

A child who is too small to use an adult seatbelt, will go straight through the windscreen

An 18kg child is presumably not too small for an adult seatbelt though? They can use HBB from 15kg.