Back seat car mirrors

9 replies

omama · 04/04/2015 15:15

Just want to find out peoples thoughts as to whether these are considered safe or a dangerous distraction?

DS (4.5) HATED being rear facing as a baby & screamed so much every time we went in the car - it was seriously distracting to the point where I was worried it could cause an accident so we switched him to forward facing as soon as possible.

DD (18 weeks) seems to be following in his footsteps but the new regulations mean she will be rear facing for much longer. I need to make my journeys bearable, so wondered if one of these mirrors might help, but slightly concerned that it could be a distraction to my driving in itself. Thoughts?

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dementedpixie · 04/04/2015 15:23

The new regulations only apply to the new isize seats and will run alongside the old regulations until 2018. Music, singing and toys to play with used to help with mine

TheWintersmith · 04/04/2015 15:26

Not recommended, as they are a distraction.

Original poster

omama · 04/04/2015 15:56

dementedpixie I am confused - gov.uk now says all babies must rear face til 15 months. Is that not the case?

In any case I would like to keep her rf for as long as possible since it is safer, just desperately need to keep her occupied somehow. Toys/music/singing dont seem to make any difference either .

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 04/04/2015 16:01

No it is not the case yet as both sets of regulations will run in tandem until more isize seats are manufactured. The government website does not give full information and seems to be confusing everyone.

incarsafetycentre.co.uk/safety-centre/regulations/ - explains about the regulations and new seats

dementedpixie · 04/04/2015 16:05

www.childcarseats.org.uk/types-of-seat/i-size-seats/

AliceMum09 · 04/04/2015 22:32

Not a distraction at all for me. I don't really use it while I'm driving, but when stopped at traffic lights I like to be able to look round and just check what DD2 is up to!

She's 3 (today!), I never had a mirror when she was in an infant carrier but as she got older and moved into a bigger rear facing seat I started to notice her whinging a lot in the car but this only happened when her older siblings were at school and she was in the back by herself. As soon as I got the mirror the whinging stopped!

stargirl1701 · 04/04/2015 22:38

DD1 hated her Group 0+ infant seat from 9 months on and screamed too. When we switched to an ERF seat she was happy. It is much higher and she gets a fantastic view out of the rear windscreen. I think she was cross in the infant seat because she couldn't see.

CaurnieBred · 04/04/2015 22:50

DD was in hers till she was 18 months as it took her that long to get to 9 kg. She had a mirror from the start. We never had any issues with her and it was never a distraction for us.

Velvet1973 · 05/04/2015 20:59

Like stargirl my lo gets whiney in his infant carrier that I still use in my car but we have a fixed rear facing in dh's car and ne er hear a peep out if him in that. I think because it's higher up and he also has more space. I was desperate to keep the infant carrier as long as possible as it can be handy to just nip into one shop with him in it rather than taking him out and unbuckling etc for the sake of a few minutes but I may have to rethink! We also have mirrors in both cars and not a distraction.

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