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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be considering a front facing car seat

155 replies

Wilf83 · 04/10/2014 15:28

I'm a ftm & only just heard that a rear facing car seat are the safest. All my friends with 3 year old+ have always had front facing seats after their baby car seats so to me front facing from 12 months is normal but now I'm thinking that it would be really reckless of me.

OP posts:
larrygrylls · 04/10/2014 18:59

why can't you talk properly when in rear facing seat?

Umm, because although sound waves do reflect and refract somewhat, they basically travel in a straight line, so if you face the back seat, most of the sound goes that way (and fabric is a pretty good sound absorber.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 04/10/2014 18:59

Larry google Internal Decapitation and then tell me its worth it.

larrygrylls · 04/10/2014 18:59

and diffract, I meant to say (before I am corrected) :)

larrygrylls · 04/10/2014 19:01

Think,

Well you can google all sorts of 1/100,000+ risks and persuade yourself not to do all sorts of fun and interesting things. But life involves some risk, always. And, it is always a trade off.

HazleNutt · 04/10/2014 19:03

Car accidents are not that rare.

stargirl1701 · 04/10/2014 19:03

Yes, with cars, safety is everything. There's not much else in my life where I do 70 miles an hour surrounded by other people doing 70 miles an hour.

RF is safer for babies/toddlers because their heads are a bigger proportion of their bodies than older children/adults. Babies and toddlers risk internal decapitation in a high speed collision. This is when the skull detaches from the spine. The result is death. Adults are not at risk from this.

Why on earth would you risk it? For a chat! What a bizarre approach to parenting.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 04/10/2014 19:06

Yep, it is a trade off, you are right. I choose to trade off facing my dd forward (which has had no effect whatsoever on our communication in the car), in order that if a once in a million event happens, she is as safe as it is physically possible to be.

I also minimise car trips with her as generally there are utter knobheads on the road, and simply being in a car is risky.

The trade off there is she can walk for bloody miles Grin so thats win win all round.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 04/10/2014 19:07

Larry it may or may not interest you to know that in order to be deemed safe, car seats are tested up to 30 miles per hour. That is it. A car seat travelling at 70 mph has not been officially tested at that speed.

quietbatperson · 04/10/2014 19:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Iamrandom · 04/10/2014 19:08

Rubbish. My boy rear faces and we chatter away. I wouldn't say I have some hearing superpower and it's easy to hear him. We have a good sized mirror on the back headrest so when we stop I can look back at him and he can see me. No problems.

13Stitches · 04/10/2014 19:14

We bought an expensive extended rear facing seat for DS. He's 3.5 and it still fits.

Except around 12months he developed travel sickness and the best thing we could do was turn him forward facing. Hmm he was still sick, just a bit less

Still, it's a nice seat!

worriedmum100 · 04/10/2014 19:21

Sorry to hijack thread but can anyone with good knowledge of rf seats help me? We have a Britax two way elite and DS is still rear facing. He is over 3.6 now and is 16k, approx 100 cm tall. Can he stay rf til 25k and still use the 5 point harness or will I have to turn him round? I've been trying to decipher the instructions but its doesn't seem clear until what weight he can use the 5 point harness facing in either direction or when he has to just use the seat belt. I'm sure it's just me being stoopid. .... Confused

sheeplikessleep · 04/10/2014 19:27

We are needing to buy a new 'toddler' seat for ds3 who is 13 months and nearly outgrown his rear facing baby seat.

Are rear facing available in the uk to buy? I was just going to go and probably get the pearl (we have the maxi cosi family fix base). Now I'm wondering whether we should be getting rear facing.

Thanks

SpottyTeacakes · 04/10/2014 19:31

sheep yes they are available in the UK. We're on a budget so have the joie stages.

RiverRocks · 04/10/2014 19:31

If you drive in the city, then a forward facing seat wouldn't be unsafe, but driving at 60mph+, if you were in an accident, a child would be safer in a rear facing seat.

Larry, I understand what you mean, but I read of a child who was left paralysed after a high speed crash in their forward facing, top of the range seat. The force of the impact threw them forward, damaged their spine. They'll never walk again. A one in a million chance, maybe, but...

It's all about risk assessment and personal choice. I live in the middle of nowhere, so we're on national speed limit roads to go anywhere; I will have mine in rear facing for as long as possible.

sheeplikessleep · 04/10/2014 19:33

www.maxi-cosi.com/products/car-seats/toddler/2waypearl.aspx

That one looks good, a reversible one. So can keep him rear facing until 4 (unless he looks very squished before then).

Thanks Spotty, I will look that one up.

hollie84 · 04/10/2014 19:34

sheep - yes they're available in the UK. The various Joie seats are widely stocked, Britax do some rear facing toddler seats and there's a Hauck one called Varioguard. I'm sure there are others too.

sheeplikessleep · 04/10/2014 19:38

The challenge is finding one that sits along his two big brothers seats in a touran! Need a bigger car, but that's another story ...

MiaowTheCat · 04/10/2014 19:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Tweetinat · 04/10/2014 19:43

worried - yes, you can keep RF upto 25kg using 5 point harness.. Or if using FF you can also use upto 25kg using harness. But no need to stop RF unless you want to.

Itsfab · 04/10/2014 19:44

"Well, rear facing is safer BUT, is safety everything?"

[words fail me]

stargirl1701 · 04/10/2014 19:48

Our nearest road is the A9. One of the most dangerous roads in Scotland. There is usually one fatal crash a week. It is a national speed limit road. We changed my Fiesta for a Vectra then the Vectra for a Focus so we could get 2 RF seats.

Risk is too high for us. It's not one in a million for our family.

Curiouslygrumpycola · 04/10/2014 19:49

Something that nearly put me off was that ds2 hated his car seat and screamed if awake. Everyone said he would be happier facing forward, like ds1 had been (forward facing from 12 months).

I chanced it and he chilled out in his car seat as soon as we switched to extended rear facing. Turns out he just hated the first car seat Smile

I have the sirona and love it. Will only ever use rear facing though as don't like the impact cushion.

larrygrylls · 04/10/2014 19:51

Itsfab,

Your kind of comment always amuses me. You will be taking all kinds of risks with your children that you have not assessed or even thought about, most of which are factors of 10 greater than the risks being discussed here.

But, because something has a certain profile, you profess to be shocked that someone wants to take any risk at all.

Curiouslygrumpycola · 04/10/2014 19:51

Also, I have a really mirror for ds2 so that he can see me and we chat in the mirrors. You just have time things better when pointing out tractors etc.

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