to wish that a few more MN's had seen my thread today......

[Pixiepants]

Here and then taking advantage of the AIBU threads to see if I can drum up a bit more support for this subject?

I probably am, but hey.....

Have to make one additional post
A PP mentioned the legality of importing seats. It is legal to import a seat as long as the seat is ECE 44.04 approved. This standard is an internation standard that all countries in the EU has adapted as theirs. From 2008, I belive that EU countries are not allowed to have their own standards set higher than the ECE 44.04, which means that countries such as Sweden has had to lower their standards substantially but they are not looking at introducing a volontary mark of approval and it is likely that manufacturers will not be able to sell seats in Sweden without this mark of approval, as Swedish parents would not buy them...

they are not should be they are now Sorry!

. One step forward, two steps back. Glad to hear about the voluntary mark though...there's hope.

Thanks, MrsAki. I'd also seen something similar on a Czech site regarding the Brio Zento, so I was a little unsure.

diplodocus - thanks, yes, I realised later that the In Car Safety Centre sell the Britax, and will deliver. However, although it says on their website to contact them re. mail costs for delivering to outside UK mainland, N. Ireland and Ireland, I emailed them earlier today and have just received a reply saying they are unable to ship their seats overseas.

The other option is that my mum's coming over at the end of May, so I could get one delivered to her and she could bring it over. A pain for her, though - it's a pity that In Car don't deliver abroad. Oh well, I should be pushing Czech retailers...

I think the rearward facing seats that are available in some parts of Europe for older children require the car to be fitted with special adaptors. The back of the car seat is held in place by fittings on the floor of the car (rather than up against the front seat).

Thank you everyone for answering my questions. I had no idea about this and think if it was a national news article say on the BBC 1pm news then the level of interest would soar. They do have a daily 'lifestyle' slot or topical one IYKWIM. Perhaps contact them to see if they would be interested in covering it.

Pixiepants, the cupping insert in my Britax seats is for safety rather than sleeping and in fact makes their seats probably less cosy than most. It's to help reduce head movement in the event of an impact, especially from the side which I understand accounts for the majority of accidents.

The research is very interesting and of course in some ways its obvious that the movement would be reduced because they're taking the impact from the opposite side. With this in mind, what happens in a rear impact situation? (I'm not being confrontational just really interested)

Because of this thread I took one of my carseats out this morning and tried to turn it to see if it fitted (not for use obv) Because my rear seats are bucket shaped and therefore higher at the front, the back of it was almost touching the roof of the car and the width of it obscured my rear view. Was this just because they are designed to be forward facing?

My DS is a very tall and broad 3 and a half year old so maybe he would be too big for this? But DD is just under 2 and I would very much have liked the choice. As it was I kept her rear-facing until she was 1yr.

Sorry to keep asking questions but I'd really like to be informed especially as we're thinking of having another.

Hi cushioncover. MrsAki has already managed involve the BBC in broadcasting this here and I agree, it would be fantastic if it made it to the lunchtime news...I'm going to approach the south west office once I have my seat.

Thanks for putting me right on the cupping...I only got into group 1 carseats last week and am learning as I go, sorry if I sounded patronising...didn't mean too.

Rear-impact. Again, I don't know the ins and outs but 'Dontcallmebaby' posted this and although I don't have evidence to back it up it makes sense, and might answer your question 'til something I find something more evidence based.

" By DontCallMeBaby on Thu 15-May-08 22:50:52
I guess, lapin, because you're more likely to have faster crashes, higher impacts, front on. Two cars head on at 30mph = 60mph impact. One car gets rear-ended doing 30mph by one doing 35mph = 5mph impact. The only way you get the 60mph impact in a rear-ender is if you're sitting still and a car hits you from behind at 60mph (or equivalent relative speeds). The high-impact front-on crash is much more likely to occur.

Please don't apologise for asking questions. Sorry I'm not as informed as MrsAki

Oops..Reading too quickly...you wrote national as opposed to regional...sos again.

Mrs Aki,

Thanks for the translation. This was the result for the Besafe Izi Kid from the results published on your site, rearfacing.co.uk... Does it mean it goes up to 25kg even though they sell them as only going up to 18kg?

Pixie, have asked for a double quote from Martin jst in case ...

Pixie, sorry just reading your posts... it is Britax Fixway that volvo dealers offer, I guess you misheard my french accent!

Mais oui! Thanks. Also have a 401lb child in one of my posts ...definately not pocketpixie.

Pixie have you seen Mrs Aki test results?

Yup. Just when I'd finally made a decision...hmmmmm. The results do speak for themselves but I'm still thinking the Fixway as it would definately be properly fitted...ohh, but then again...

Fortunately pocket pixie is ok in her babyseat for a bit longer whilst I make up my mind.

cushioncover: About RF when rear-ended:

Here where I live(in Norway) it is very often people get rear-ended, still rear-facing is recommended as the safest way for a child to travel. This is because in most of the rear-ended collisions the speed is relatively low and the powers involved in the crash is much lower than in a frontal.Preliminary numbers for 2007 shows that 2% of the people killed sat in in vehicles driving in the same direction while 47% of the people killed where in frontal collision.

If one looks(still in Norway. I don't know what the case is in the UK) at claims to the insurance companies most of the claims in rear-endings is for material damage. When it comes to frontal collisions most cases involves serious injuries on or death.

This means that it is more important to protect the child from the type of collision that would most likely inflict the child with a very serious spine/neck/head injury or worse.

I know that in the USA there is more often frontals than rear-endings. How is the numbers here?

Hmm.. looks a little bit weird with the extra stars there. It was meant to be in bold print.

BeSafe Izi Kid is sold in Sweden as a Group 0, 1 and 2 seat, i.e. up to 25 kg. Actually, most rf seats in Sweden go to 25 kg. I don't know why, but why not. The longer they can stay rf the better
Accidents from the rear. This is interesting. I am not an engineer and this is only my personal thought but I can totally picture in my head which way the body would fly in a frontal collision. It goes forward, I think we all agree on that. If I picture two cars travelling in the same direction and one hitting the other from behind, in my mind the body would still be thrown forward in the car, and thus the rear facing seat would be great in a rear impact too. As I say, this is not something I have documented facts to back up, it is only my own thought. And I totally agree with PP that the forces at play are less severe when hit from behind. Very well put by Don'tCallMeBaby; Thank you!

I agree with Pixiepants that nobody should apologise for asking questions. It is great that we do, it is the only way we will get some answers. The reason I try to promote this issue on forums is because we are all parents with our children's best interest at heart, and as such we will ask questions and try to get to the bottom of things to make sure that we provide the best alternatives for our wee ones. Let's all ask lots of questions and send them to car seat manufacturers, retailers, RoSPA, Which, baby magazines etc. Let's Turn Things Around

There's some info here on rear impact crashes (scroll down):

www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

Mrs Aki, is the 'Izi' an Isofix seat???

A true rear ending story:
myangelsaliandpeanut.tripod.com/id5.html

Mumsnut: The HTS BeSafe iZi Kid X1 doesn't have isofix.

[Amazed]!

For a BeSafe seat with Isofix, look at the BeSafe izi comfort x1 isofix and its manual

I have added a link to the story above to the website. Thanks for the link MissHH!

For more info on rearfacing, also look at Kids in cars, a Norwegian blog translated to English. There is some really good info there. There are lots of links on RF Links as well. Anything missing? Let me know and I will add it.

But iZi Comfort is only FF though