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AIBU?

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Original poster

To turn Ds forward facing

30 replies

UnicornRainbow83 · 31/05/2020 11:04

DS is 13 months old and I had planned on keeping him rear facing until he was at least two. After checking the spec on his car seat it states it is only suitable bro be rear facing until child is 13kg, which he now is. I feel uncomfortable at the thought of having him forward facing at such a young age but is it safer to do so now he has reached the maximum weight for rear facing? WWYD in this situation, keep him rear facing in his current seat or have him forward facing?

OP posts:
CupcakesAndCastles · 31/05/2020 11:05

It is 500% safer to have a child rear facing till 4/25Kg. Look up internal decapitation and buy a different seat. Uber kids do finance

zscaler · 31/05/2020 11:14

Keep him rear facing and buy a new seat with a higher weight limit.

Themostwonderfultimeoftheyear · 31/05/2020 11:17

I agree with buying a bigger rear facing seat. 13mo is too young. DS moved out of an extended rear facing seat just before he turned 4 as he reached the weight limit. I then went for a seat with extended five point harness.

MsChatterbox · 31/05/2020 11:17

I would buy a new seat. If you can't afford it there are websites that let you do a payment plan. I don't like owing money but this is one thing I would be in a bit of debt for!

FizzyGreenWater · 31/05/2020 11:23

13 months 😲 no. Just no. Rear facing all the way. Ideally in a new seat, but I would never ever think FF could be anything other than riskier no matter what.

britnay · 31/05/2020 11:28

Buy a new seat. mine was rear facing until after he was 4. Much safer.

RandomMess · 31/05/2020 11:30

In car safety centre Milton Keynes have a chart telling you which ERF car seats are compatible in which cars so I would review that and buy a new ERF.

Iggi999 · 31/05/2020 11:31

With my first dc I thought nothing of turning them ff after a year. Second one and rear facing was become better known so I did that. By now the benefits seem well known and the availability of rf seats has increased.

raspberryk · 31/05/2020 11:38

How on earth is your 13mo 13kg?! Shock
Yabu, legal minimum is 15 months and this is very early in my opinion.
You can easily get seats that RF to 18kg, my dd was 5 before she was this weight and about average, they're reasonably priced too. Then you can get others which RF much longer but in my experience they're a little harder to find and can be more expensive.
Presumably you need a new car seat anyway so may as well get one that's safest and RF for longer.

Thehop · 31/05/2020 11:41

Buy a seat that he can rear face in until he’s older.

Much much safer.

Joie is a good budget brand that meets European safety standards

Marsis · 31/05/2020 11:50

Keep him rear facing for as long as you can but don’t beat yourself up if you turn him earlier. I’m sure the 5 x / 500% claim has been debunked as was based on poor data. The risk of your child being killed or seriously injured in a decent correctly fitted and size appropriate forward facing car seat is tiny facing them backwards reduces it but its relative to the original risk which is tiny in the first place. I rear faced my oldest child until 3 but turned my younger one before 2 as we were more worried about having accident with all the screaming and pulling his arms from the harness etc it just isn’t that big a risk (forward facing) in the grand scheme of things.

Fudgewhizz · 31/05/2020 11:57

Get a new seat. You can buy something like the Joie Steadi for about £70 - we used this RF til DD was 4.

SimonJT · 31/05/2020 12:02

I’m fairly certain it isn’t legal for a 13 month old child to forward face in the UK.

My son is four and has always been tall for his age, he rear faced until he was 4.5 years old. You need a different car seat, or if you want ti forward face him when he is legally old enough don’t allow him in the car until he reaches the correct age if you do not want to change the seat.

SerendipitySunshine · 31/05/2020 12:03

Dont take a risk, buy a proper rear-facing seat.

CecilyP · 31/05/2020 12:04

If he is only just at the weight limit you can keep him rear facing until he exceeds it. He is quite heavy for his age so unlikely to be too tall for the seat to be rear facing. In the meantime, you can be looking for rear facing seats that go up to higher weights.

lockdownstress · 31/05/2020 12:04

2 is much too early. Kids should face backwards til 4, both mine did. Britax two way elite is a great seat for this.

Sillybilly6 · 31/05/2020 12:06

Have a look at the Joie 360 spin, it can rear face and forward face until age 4 and makes putting them in the car seat super easy.

ScarfLadysBag · 31/05/2020 12:06

Yep, just get a new seat. Plenty of rear-facing seats out there that go up to 18 and 25kg.

ScarfLadysBag · 31/05/2020 12:08

Given his weight, I'd definitely get a 25kg one. The Minikid was on sale recently.

saraclara · 31/05/2020 12:09

@Marsis

Keep him rear facing for as long as you can but don’t beat yourself up if you turn him earlier. I’m sure the 5 x / 500% claim has been debunked as was based on poor data. The risk of your child being killed or seriously injured in a decent correctly fitted and size appropriate forward facing car seat is tiny facing them backwards reduces it but its relative to the original risk which is tiny in the first place. I rear faced my oldest child until 3 but turned my younger one before 2 as we were more worried about having accident with all the screaming and pulling his arms from the harness etc it just isn’t that big a risk (forward facing) in the grand scheme of things.
Yes. The study was retracted due to the data being wrong.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2598309/

Here is the retraction itself

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5740505/

QueenofmyPrinces · 31/05/2020 12:12

How on earth is your 13mo 13kg?!

Grin

My thoughts exactly.

My almost 3 year old is only 12kg.

As has been said OP, rear facing is definitely the best option and seeing as your baby is already 13kg then definitely buy one that caters up to 25kg.

Ribeebie · 31/05/2020 12:15

Buy a new car seat. Get an extended rear facing seat that goes up to 25kg. The 18kg will not really last long enough if he is 13kg now. Axxkid minikid or move are both good and will last. Car seat safety is so important. Please don't forward face your child so young.

Glowcat · 31/05/2020 12:20

My almost 3 year old is only 12kg.

Some babies are bigger than others. The OP’s baby is on the high end. Your child is below the average weight for their age. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t both healthy and in proportion.

LouiseTrees · 31/05/2020 12:22

The legal minimum is 15 months. But a bigger car seat.

PeppasMuddyPuddles · 31/05/2020 12:28

*How on earth is your 13mo 13kg?!

grin

My thoughts exactly.

My almost 3 year old is only 12kg*

Quite obviously the answer is every child is different Confused

OP my 2.5 year old is 17kg and I've just had to replace my car seat again because she was almost at the limit for a 5 point harness. If you do get a new seat it would be worth checking out seats with an extended 5 point harness to 25kg as it looks like you'll be in the same position I was that they are too big for the 5 point harness. No point in buying a new seat to then need a new one again. The Joie Bold & the Cosy and Safe Excaliber both have extended 5 point harness use.