To think forward facing car seats can't be unsafe?

[pinkyp]

My sil was telling me the benefits of extended rear facing and how dangerous forward facing is. Surely if this was true then they'd be more popular over here? She also said in Sweden they have extended rear facing and have very fewer deaths (child) because of this. Dh says most people drive volvos in Sweden (one of the safest cars you can get). I'm not convinced there that great. Can anyone advice me?

Well in the event of a collision, yes. But actually you have got to also consider the safety/comfort of the passengers overall, especially as the vast majority of car journeys do not end in collision.

For example, I know that in a collision my 10 year old son would be safest sitting in the rear of the car. The dynamics between him and his younger brother however means that I, the driver, woud get constantly distracted if they sat beside each other, so I have had to make the decision that overall it is safer for the family if he rides in the front when it is just the 3 of us in the car. Equally I will make decisions about whether to drive or take the train based on the overall costs and benefits of the alternatives (which will include safety).

It's also safer to sit facing backwards in a train. Do you want to go flying into a table and get cut in half by the table if the train stops suddenly?

one reason more people don't go for rear facing is ignorance....just like at one time people didn't bother with car seats much, even though they were available....ignorance.

The price and availability of rear facing seats are also factors. I bought the safest car and safest car seats available to me. I need to know that if my DC are involved in a car crash I have done everything I can to protect them. I couldn't live with myself if one of them died and I was thinking "if only I...." I need to be confident that I did what I could....

But you have to make sure your the safest driver too and do everything you possibly can,services, check your tyre pressure all the time, switch to better grip in winter etc. I imagine alot of people buy rear facing car seats and thing 'were safer' when I think forward facing can be safer it depends on more than just the seat. I really don't believe there that great or that much better than forward facing. If they were then they'd be in the shops and people would buy them, I mean lots of people on this thread have.

Ps this IS a AIBU not me asking about car seats. If you check my past posts I try to post in the relevant sections.

"But you have to make sure your the safest driver too and do everything you possibly can,services, check your tyre pressure all the time, switch to better grip in winter etc."

Well, yes, DH does all that for me. Of course I drive as safely as I can with DC in the car.

"I really don't believe there that great or that much better than forward facing."
I really don't want to be rude or offend you, but it doesn't matter whether or not you belive it's true because it is true. Most eople who buy forward facing seats either don't know about extended rear facing, don't believe they're safer (as in your case) or don't care that much. It has amazed me how much I've tried to tell my friends-with babies the same sort of age as mine (11 months)-all about the benefits or rear facing as long as possible and yet in many cases they have gone and bought a 5 point harness forward facing seat as soon as their child has hit 9kg. I've even told them about the cheap ones nearby (as I've put in a seperate thread) but they still don't want to know. I think they like being able to see their child in the mirror, which I can completely understand, but to me saftey is far more important.

I don't think FF are unsafe, but I do think that RF are safer so now have one for DS. I started off with an impact cusion FF, which I then had to change as it didn't work for DS. It was only when I started looking for an alternative that I found out about extended RF. Once I'd seen all the evidence, I really didn't see how I could buy a FF. I had to drive a long way to get a RF, and it was at the higher end of the price spectrum (£190), but then it was only £20 more than my original one (for which I got a refund).
I kept my DS in his RF Group 0 until he was 14mo and hanging out of it, whereas everyone else I knew had their babies in a FF as soon as was possible. I honestly think in this country there just isn't enough information / promotion of the safety benefits of extended RF. The fact that Mothercare, Halfords and Babies R Us don't sell them is quite shocking. Yes they are more expensive, but people need to opportunity to make an informed choice.

And I agree that this should have stayed in AIBU!

"Which?" magazine has done a lot of tests of car seats and they aren't all equally safe. They presumably all meet the minimum EU regulations or BS regulations, but that doesn't mean that you should just go out an buy any seat. It is possible for one to be safe and one safer. So there is no reason not to believe that RF might be safer than FF. Which? also rated RF seats badly as they think they are harder to fit than FF and a badly fitted seat is obviously not going to be as safe as if it was well fitted. I think this is part of the reason that the main retailers don't sell them - they offer a fitting service and can't guarantee that they haven't employed the odd chimp who can't follow instructions reliably.

RF seats do tend to take up more room than FF ones and culturally we are not used to them. I really like ours - it is much easier to get DD into a rear facing seat because of the way the doors open. The words "internal decapitation" were enough to send me off to Milton Keynes to get a rear facing car seat and there were plenty of other people there doing the same thing.

plenty of info here on benefits of rear-facing car seats :)

I ordered our Britax 2-way Elite from the InCar Safety Centre at Milton Keynes and had it fitted by the lovely ladies at the Essex County Council In-Car Safety Centre near Southend which is open on Fridays

Sadly got to get DD a forward facing one for my MIL's car though - hers doesn't have the bars under the front passenger seat to put the tetherstraps round :(

So rear facingcar seats are no good if not professionally fitted?

IMO no car seat is 100% safe if not professionally fitted.

Shape of car seats, length of seat belts, buckle stems can all affect fitting. Often seats are incorrectly fitted due to ignorance.

I wasnt aware of the above until I went to get my chosen car seat checked to be told it was no good. You have buckle crunch and your seat belt is no too short for this infant carrier.

One mumsnetter was recently told similar and she had been using seat.

A friend realises she has been driving around with an incorrectly installed base.

Rearfacing ones are likely to be better fitted as the parents take more time over it and learn how to fit them.

How many people regularly check their stage 1 are fitted correctly? Have the right harness hole? Are tight enough?

pinkyp, you should always check your seat's fitting instructions very carefully to make sure your seat's fitted properly. I spent about 40 minutes fitting my and my sister's new carseats when we first got them. I feel like you take more care with a seat that isn't simple to fit. I managed to fit my first infant carrier incorrectly for about 2 months before my sister did it properly and I told her off for fitting it badly!

Blondie, you could get a seat that you can strap the tethers around the front seat. I know you can do it that way with the BeSafe Izi Combi X2 and I think the Britax HiWay can be installed that way too.

Of course it is possible to fit a RF seat yourself. The In Car Safety Centre has videos to show you how to fit them and after the woman at the centre fitted the one in DH's car he was able to fit the one in my car. However there are people who are trained to fit them and know what they are looking for in a well fitted seat. One of the advantages in getting your seat fitted by a real expert is that they won't sell you one that doesn't suit your car (e.g. because the seat belts aren't long enough). Buying one that doesn't really fit would be an expensive mistake.

Right, convinced that DD will be staying RF when she outgrows her first car seat. But which one? And can I get an isofix one?

Tried out some erf car seats on tge weekend, got a renault megane 5 yrs old and the seat belts are too short to secure it, completley gutted. Advisor jokingly said to me and DH, how about a new car. But seriously contemplatng it. We currently have a rear facing Graco which isn't that great or secure, i am sure as DD strains tge straps are loosening. It is quite old andneeds replacing, just wanted the erf option rather than another rf baby carrier.

Rear facing just makes sense, she's alsi small fir age so really needs to be RF for as lobg as possible.

Did you try the britax two way elite? That's what I think will prob fit my Renault megane scenic best

Giraffes yes you can. Just watch out for any storage boxes you may have as foot rest can't rest on them