GP car dilemma - Forward or Rear Facing?

[Lucky13]

DD is 3 and has rear facing seats in our cars and my parents. PIL have recently decided that they want to take DD on their own and maybe pick her up from pre-school. I said great, but they expect me to buy her a car seat, which unfortunately I cannot afford (rear facing).

I cannot transfer the one out of our cars as it is isofix and they haven't got isofix points (nor are they willing to have them installed as car is old).

I was thinking of putting some money towards a Kiddy car seat for them even though it's not rear facing, because it's so much cheaper than the rear facing seats we have and is supposed to be safe.

Would having occasional FF trips put her off our rear facing seats do you think?

How do the Kiddy seats with the impact cushions compare against rear facing?

Am I mad to consider getting forward facing seat after going to so much trouble to get good rear facing ones?

The emotional blackmail from PIL is just wearing me down!

[jocie]

although rearfacing is definately safer i think the kiddy type seats have been tested to be the safest forward facing seats. If you don't mind not going for a kiddy the cybex pallas which is a similar seat to the kiddy is on offer in Mammas and Papas at mo down to £120 on 2 of the colour ways. Its the one that turns into a high backed booster when their old enough so lasts till 12yr.
Or is there the possibility to swap cars just for that day?!

[thisisyesterday]

if it is them wanting to take her out then the onus of buying a seat should be on them!
i would offer to split the cost

you can get a britax multi-tech from a volvo dealer for something like £164 (will have volvo branding but is the same seat), which is around the same as the kiddy seats...

[thisisyesterday]

btw, what is your current seat? some of the isofix ones can be fitted with a seatbelt too...?

[Lucky13]

My current seats are BeSafe IZI combi (isofix).

I've heard negative reviews on the multi-tech - not sure whether that was just Which? though?

Yes the onus should be on them, but they don't seem to agree! They make me feel as if I'm stopping her going out with them!

It needs to be an easy seat to fit - I just don't trust them to take proper care in fitting it. They are very 'that'll do' in that respect.

When she was little they used our maxi cosi seat and just wedged it in behind the drivers seat!

[thisisyesterday]

Which said that all rear-facing are worst buys didn't they?
because they have extra fitting steps and don't come in nice colours?

really, don't listen to Which? on this one! lol

that said, if they're that dodgy re car seats i'd be inclined to just avoid the issue for as long as possible!!!

unless you can get a seat and fit it yourself so they never have to do it?

the britax 2 way elite is ridiculously easy to fit though, if that's an option?

[Lucky13]

The other reason I was thinking of forward facing seat is that it won't be long until she is 4, so if they are going to buy a seat it does need to last a while.

She won't be out of our seats for another year or so though, hence the dilemma.

[Lucky13]

Sorry meant to add what size does britax 2 way elite go up to?

[mybootsaremuddy]

2 way elite goes up to 25kg both rear and ff.

[tinierclanger]

I wouldn't worry about it putting her off your RF seat. DS travels RF in our car and FF in the grandparents car and it doesn't bother him.

[JuneMummy]

would they not go halves with you or just give you a little something? whatever they can afford, It all helps doesn't it.
We have the Britax two way elite which my LO will rearface in until 4 and then he can forward face in it and will keep him harnessed until 25kgs so well worth the money. I paid £196 for it at the incar safety centre in milton keynes.

Or the cybex pallas in mamas and papas is £120 at the moment. I want to buy this one for LO's Aunts and Uncles to use. They have 3 door cars and to be honest it was such hard work trying to install the seat RFing in their car. Only because i needed to remove the tteher straps from my car and try and install them in sisters car. I Just worried that id be doing it wrong that i installed it forward facing instead which was alot easier. But id much rather he was in the safest forward facing seat if he needs to go FFing again.

My lo liked forward facing as it was a novelty for him but he soon forgot about it and is happy rearfacing again. thankfully!

[Underachieving]

"When she was little they used our maxi cosi seat and just wedged it in behind the drivers seat!"

No way!

I'm sorry but no. You can't trust them to fit any seat properly. In the event of an accident a £29 carseat is worth its weight in gold. Oh yeah sure a £299 car seat is likely to be better, but even a £29 one will likely have you crying in gratitude to the inventor of such items when the firebrigade get your child out in one piece.

I happen to have read quite a lot of the road traffic accident statistics and there is such a thing as The Critical Speed. The critical speed is the speed at which you would start to see fatalities. Critical speed for unrestrained adults (so for example cyclists or passengers in a car without any restraint) is just twenty miles an hour. I don't have stats for an infant.

There is also another concept called speed+speed which is another way of saying that if you're doing 40mph then expect a collision to take place at 80mph because of the speed of oncomming traffic.

Taking both critical speed and speed+speed into account your PIL can be trusted at 10mph. Which is even slower than most people travel round Tesco carpark looking for a space.

Don't do it. They lost thier rights to drive her around when they wedged the maxi-cosi instead of fitting it.