To think most parents don't know that rearfacing DCs is safer?

[mumaw]

I'm in Facebook groups that specialise in advice for mainly extended rear facing car seats. It's proven that rear facing your child is much, much safer (in fact 500% safer) than front facing.

But I never see anybody RF'ing their child and don't know anybody that does either.

Is it just a case of parents not knowing that its safer?

We rear face because we have to where we live, we will switch to front facing when she is big enough which will probably be at 8 months m.

People know. They just choose not to.
I chose not to RF after a year. That’s my decision to make. A woman I know RF’d her son until 4 but her younger daughter until 9 months.

I think they know, and they certainly don't want to be told if that is what you are thinking! I would stick to discussing it in your FB groups.

I know but have chosen not to. There are many things you need to weigh up when making the decision, and in the end we decided to FF.

I agree - I do a nursery drop off every day and honestly no other child is rear facing. We live in an affluent area where breastfeeding/baby wearing is very prevalent so I'm always shocked how this obvious way to keep your child safe is ignored. My son will rear face until he is at least 4 which is the important thing. As much as I do notice it, there's definitely a "not your kid, not your problem" aspect to this!

I knew it was safer to stay rear facing, but DD gets carsick, the risk of choking on her vomit in her car seat (which has happened before) is higher than us being in an accident. So she is forward facing and has been since she was the legal age/size so that I can more easily deal with her when she is sick.

I rear faced my son but he screamed and screamed and screamed. It actually made car journeys more dangerous because I was so stressed and distracted by his distress.

As soon as I turned him forwards he was fine.

I understand the "it's not your kid, not your choice" aspect of it. Just curious as to what people's reasons are for choosing to FF

I think some parents see turning the car seat around as some form of “milestone”. But where I live a decent minority keep the children rear facing for a good while. I have kept my kids rear facing to 3-4.

I think parents can (largely)be trusted to know the law around across seats. Do you really need to be in (multiple!)Facebook groups about it? I'm fairly sure Mothercare/Halfords etc will fit a car seat for you- they certainly did when we bought ours (we don't drive so we took my sisters car as that's the one the would be in most, but they're pretty universal).

My three year old is still rear facing.

I think people don’t realise how much safer it is. Plus RF seats can be much more expensive.

I’m a big RF advocate, but tbh given that the work done by Which? suggests that around 50% of car seats are incorrectly fitted plus a huge number of children are incorrectly fitted into their seat (wrong size, straps not tight enough, winter coats etc) I think the bigger focus currently needs to be on properly fitted seats that children are securely fitted into.

Especially with winter coming.

I think a lot of people know but ERF seats tend to be more expensive, they might have a child who gets car sick, they might only do short journeys or rarely use the car so feel it’s less important etc. There are lots of reasons that people don’t RF.

DS’ Seat will RF until 18kg. I don’t know what we’ll do after that as I don’t currently know how old he’ll be when he reaches that weight. I do plan to RF as long as possible but I think people online can get a bit evangelical about it.

@InDubiousBattle I'm in the Facebook groups Car Seat Advice UK & A-Z of Rearfacing because I was unsure of if my DC was in his seat correctly and I wasn't getting a reply from Joie

My 3yo is rear facing but he's the only one out of all his friends. And I only found out how much safer it is because my friend is a paediatric A&E consultant and has seen horrible avoidable injuries from FF car accidents.
If anyone wants more info I've found the Car Seat Advice UK facebook group really useful.

I couldn’t carry on rear facing ds hated it. No matter how tight I did the straps he’d wiggle his arms through the straps then half chuck himself over the side. He does this thing that he slips his hand up the strap and out - no tightening would stop it!
In the end it became dangerous so I had to turn the seat around. He sits nicely now and doesn’t get out. I would prefer him rear facing but he sees his older sister facing forwards and I’d rather him be in the seat than hanging over the side

All infant carriers are RFing so surely DCs know no different anyway?

Mine rearfaces and will until he's outgrown his extended rear face seat.
Iv said a few times to close friends and sisters who ff really early but it's fallen on deaf ears. I don't bother saying anymore because it's not wanted advice

My neighbour collared me at the local shop the other week to express how concerned her daughter is the our boys still RF. I've not really thought about turning them yet. They're one and two and happy how they are

Injuries from FFing terrify me

@HalyardHitch does she think FFing is safer?

@InDubiousBattle You'd be surprised at how clueless Mothercare/Halfords are. They are in a tricky spot though because the legal minimum safety requirements are nowhere near where they should be. I suppose their job is to sell car seats and that's what they will do.
Incidentally, we had Mothercare fit a seat into a relative's car in an emergency and it was entirely wrong. On another occasion I myself went to Halfords to get a seat for my partners car and was told by the shop assistant that my son was "so near the legal limit for forward facing that you might as well just buy a forward facing seat now". My son was 7 months old!

I am well aware RF is safer but I also dislike the presentation of the risk reduction as a percentage vs FF. The reality is serious car collisions involving children in the UK are quite rare, so you are reducing an already low risk.

My toddler gets very car sick when rear facing. In addition, despite having a reasonably large car, we cannot fit even a RF baby seat (reclined for a newborn) behind 6ft 3 DH. So we choose to prioritise RF the newborn behind my seat, and FF the tall, heavy 2.5 yr old (who is bigger than most 3 year olds) behind DH.

We make very few journeys by car at high speeds (perhaps 1 per month). We have to weigh up probabilities and practicalities.

Injuries from FFing terrify me
Whilst yes, they are proven to be worse, the risk is still quite small on the whole. This kind of hyperbole is what gets parents’ backs up. It smacks of superiority because you know better and can keep your child safer.

Ps OP you probably do lots of things with your DC that carry a much higher risk of accident than travelling FF in a car. Many of the accidents children are hurt by happen in and around the home etc