Group 1 RF seat and childminder/other cars

[doublevodkaandcoke]

We have decided to take the plunge and buy a Recaro Polaric for DS (11 months) to go in our Renault Scenic. This is the car that DS will be riding in most of the time, and also the car that we would be doing any motorway/A road driving in.

However, he will be going in a forward facing seat while at his childminders for 3 days a week in term time (not spending another £210 on a car seat for her, plus I dont know if she would even have room for one). And also, DS will have to sometimes ride a very short distance to the childminders in DH's MX5 which cannot take a rearfacing carseat, partly because of space, but also because passenger airbag cannot be switched off (however, handbook categorically states that as long as the seat is pushed back as far as it will go, FF seat is safe - as safe as FF can be - as the airbag cannot reach back that far).

I know this is not the ideal situation, but having risk assesed, it is the safest we can go under our cirumstances!

The thing I am worried about is that if DS is forward facing some of the time, he will start kicking off when rear facing! At the moment he is fine rear facing but I wonder if that is because he doesnt know any different. He is a very placid baby and just goes with the flow really.

So after all that, my question is - does anyone else's baby FF some of the time but RF most of the time? Or are people of the opinion that if their child is going to go extended rear facing, then they will never forward face until they are older? And if so, are they happy to do both or do they end up preffering FF?

One of the reasons my DD is going nursery is the whole ERF issue and I hate anyone else driving my children (I'm getting better with DS nearly 5 but dreading playdates etc)

Only solution I can think of is does anyone have a britax first class (or similar) you can borrow for use rf in childminders car?

Ps have you tried the recaro to make sure prop misses storage box? Interested as we have a scenic 02 plate.

Ps that wasnt meant to sound funny- I really really would prefer a CM but just can't cope with the whole car safety thing (i get real panicky)

Thanks one

Lagoon, we have filled our storage box with phonebooks to take the support leg, as DS started in a maxi cosi cabrio fix which has a leg as well. Again, not ideal, but DH's job is in automotives and physics and he says that this is ok - the supporting leg does not take the whole weight of the seat as it is anchored in the isofix anyway.

I think we will end up with DS just going in the ff seat at childminders as it will be for short journeys in fairly low speed areas, I just hope he is ok switching between the two!

Its really hard isnt it - I guess life is about risk assessment. As DH says, if you wanted to eliminate the risk completely you just wouldnt go anywhere in the car at all (or cross the road, or ever go out the door at all really!)

He probably won't mind at all. I remember as a child always choosing rear facing seats e.g. on trains, buses etc or the seats in the boot you used to get which were backward or sideways facing, because it was exciting to face a different way.

My DD is rear-facing in our car and FF at the childminders. She's not objected to RF so far!

I am a CM with RF seats in my car.