Is it ok or a massive no-no for an older baby to be in a forward facing car seat in the front passenger seat?

[NoDontLookAtMeImShy]

As above.

The passenger air bags are turned off.

I understand that in the ideal world he would be in a rear facing car car seat in the back until he's 16.

But how bad is it if he was in the front in a forward facing seat, air bags off?
Is it way more dangerous than him being forward facing in the back?

I have 2 large children. The older is 4yrs 3 months and is tall. He is rear facing in a britax two way elite. He hasn't outgrown it by height and is a long way from outgrowing by weight (he's 19.5kg, it goes to 25kg) my younger son is 2yrs 8 months and uses the same seat. Dc1 has his in an extended leg room position, in my small car (older style golf).

This seat is a good fit in many cars, reasonably priced, and compact. The Axkid move is another good option.

I still never understand how people can fit ERF seats behind a tall driver/passenger. We have a decent sized car but just can't do it and fit ourselves in the front seat. We managed when we only had one kid, with two the older child (in a maxi cosi 2 way pearl) had to be rotated to forward face.
People claim on mnet that they do it in tiny cars with tall drivers (the britax twe is commonly mentioned) but ive never seen it in RL.

This does bug me as I see so many of my DS’s friends (he’s 6) getting into cars and sitting in the front. I sat in the back until I was 12 in my mom’s car

Omg this. I have an almost-5 year old and on the walk home from school we pass loads of her pals sitting in the front of their cars. She’s now hounding me to sit in the front and it’s not happening but it’s very difficult to explain why when her pals all do it!

Someone up thread suggested the britax evolva 123 as a rear facing seat - it's not, this is forward facing only.

If you do have the money, time, inclination to investigate erf in a niche car the best thing to do would be to look for an extended rear facing specialist retailer in your area, or if there are none contact the in car safety Centre by phone or email.

I suppose people who are tall don't usually buy small cars or if they want to rear face accept that they will need a new car, like how you have to buy a new car if you find you can't fit enough child seats in the back for example.

WRT space, the larger rear facing seats actually take up less room because they are more upright. I can have my front seat further back with our joie 360 than I could with the infant seat, and I understand the larger rear facing seats are even more upright so would give me eben more room.

Additionally many people don't realise that you ought to really have a gap of at least 55cm between the back rest of the back seat (actually the point where the backrest and seat meet, a line drawn straight up) and the back of the front seat (or dashboard) in order to fit a forward facing car seat safely. They are designed to allow a certain amount of forward movement in a crash, but any further than the 55cm marker and they fail. However if the front seat is further back, there's a risk in a crash the child could hit the seat in front and be injured. For this reason you actually get more room with many rear facing seats, if they are allowed to touch the front seat, which many do.

Maxi Cosi 2WayPearl is a bit bigger than some smaller ERF seats as well. Sometimes if you have a situation that's not perfect (e.g. small car + tall driver) you have to spend a bit more time finding the right seat. You can see the difference in space (check how forward the passenger seat is in the photos) in the pictures in this article:

erfmission.com/you-cant-rear-face-in-small-cars-debunking-myths-4/

We have an axxkid move and a couple of britax two way elites. The latter needs to brace on either the seat in front or the dashboard and be tethered. The axxkid uses a floor brace, and so needs a bit more space between rows. Both are really good seats that we are very pleased with. The britax can FF as well, with a 5 point harness to 25kg which is very high.

It's a Maxi Cosi Axis. I had another look and it just mentions weight not age. Which is bizarre if that's the law?!

What is bizarre is you not understanding the relevance.

Weight is important not age because every child is different and you will get very light toddlers and very heavy ones. Weight is constant. Age is not.

Rear facing for as long as problem. In the back.

@Userzzzzz

Joie stages have just been recalled

Is the front seat and airbag safe in rear facing?

CileyMayRhinovirus

There was a recall in 2013- has there been a new recall? It is still being recommended on the rear facing groups as a good lower priced seat.

No, ways switch off air bag when RF

Worth noting that my tall 7.5yr old is still only 22kg something, so could still RF in his elite. 😁

@Userzzzzz

No you're right didn't see the date. Although means I probably can't use mine as that was the year I bought it. Sorry

Having the airbag turned off doesn't guarantee that it won't go off in an accident. As middle seat is unusable, directly behind you is next best so you can protect both of you in an emergency.

My dd is nearly 11 so we don't use a car seat anymore. I'm now concerned.....

My dd is nearly 11 so we don't use a car seat anymore. I'm now concerned.....

Presumably you mean years, not months, so why are you worried.

Obviously you had the sense to check she was tall enough to be out of a car seat? If not, why not?

Because it seems the rules have changed since she was a baby! It sounds like they're in car seats until their 21! Yes, she meets all. the height criteria and has done for some time. Maybe I'm just a bit out of touch!

I have an 11kg 6 month old who will outgrow her infant carrier long before 12 months. The thought of forward facing her just because it's now legal to do so is terrifying and I can't understand why anyone would risk it.

Yerroble - not really :) If she's 11 then car seat rules haven't changed much since then. The main difference is that the culture around car seats is changing, awareness is increasing about the benefits of rear facing and far more affordable seats are on the market. I also have an 11yo, and he went forward facing at 18 months, now still uses a booster (much to his chagrin) as I don't feel the seatbelt fits him correctly without it. We are in Germany so the law is 150cm here, rather than 135cm - he would have reached that years ago, but he didn't fit correctly in an adult seatbelt when he was just that height.

I will not be forward facing my now 13mo at 18 months because my knowledge is updated, meaning I'm less comfortable with the risk now than I was then, but mainly because I had the means and motivation this time to buy him a longer-lasting rear facing seat. We have our own car and we have a higher income. When DS1 was this age, I had no car, no driving licence and not very much money so I bought a forward facing seat, and I still think that was a reasonable choice at the time.

I don't think a conversation about always rear facing to X age (except the lower age points) is especially helpful, what's important is that people feel it is accessible and possible for them to make decisions they feel safe making.

I would like to see the 15 month rule be law regardless of the type of seat people are using but currently it's not. I also like that it's no longer tied to the weight class of the seat (which is why the 9kg limit is so low; it's very outdated now and was first proposed in the 80s, when hardly anybody used a car seat - a forward facing car seat even for a 6 month old is a massive improvement over no seatbelt at all!) - because this means that in the future it's likely this age-based limit will be increased. I would expect to see 3 years as the standard eventually. I don't actually think it will go higher than that. There's just not much evidence for it if you break it down - the reason I think a lot of European experts are going with age 4 currently is about people saying/thinking "Oh well he/she is nearly , there's no point buying a whole other seat just to get her another couple of months of use."

I found this an interesting read - about the realities of types of car seat used in Sweden (where child deaths from road accidents are almost zero - and those who die tend to be in catastrophic accidents that no car seat could have saved them from.)

www.besafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/BeSafe_Studie_Volkswagen_INT.pdf

What is bizarre is you not understanding the relevance.

It wasn't the relevance I was referring to, you patronising halfwit. Xxx