Rear Facing Query

[B1rdinthebush]

I'm looking for a seat belt fitted car seat for occasional use in my in-laws car (we have the 2 Way Pearl for ours).

I want something that rear faces for as long as possible so the Joie Steadi looks like my best bet and a reasonable price at £100 (I have twins so have to buy two).

However, I have seen the Mothercare Madrid is currently on sale but claims it can only be used rear facing until 9kg. Why is this? Surely if a seat is rear facing it can be used as such for as long as possible? I find the whole thing so confusing!

No, definitely stick with the Joie Steadi!

The Mothercare one has only been tested up to 9kgs, it would definitely not be safe to use it rear facing if your child weighed more than this. And it's a rubbish seat, it's really hard to get it to fit securely rear facing, the shape of it just doesn't seem to be compatible with any car and I don't think it reclines enough to be safe some rear facing seats have tether straps to tie them down to the floor of the car and stop them rebounding in the aftermath of a crash, ISOFIX ones tend to have a rebound bar that presses into the backrest of the vehicle seat that the child seat is installed on. Some seatbelt ones, like the Madrid, the Britax First Class and the Joie Tilt, Steadi, Stages and Every Stage, don't have either of these features. Instead they rely on the fact that the seat has to be fully reclined at all times when rear facing, that level of recline acts as rebound prevention as the foot of the seat touches the vehicle seat high enough up to stop the seat moving too much. I think the Madrid would just tip forward and throw your rear facing child face first into the vehicle seat in the aftermath of a crash.

The only thing to watch for with the Steadi is buckle crunch. It's ok for the seatbelt buckle to touch the child seat, but if your car has the buckles on long stalks you might find that the buckle is needing to bend round and is being pulled into the child seat when you pull the seatbelt tight to install it. That's not safe as it will put too much pressure on the buckle in a crash.

This explains buckle

^ that link explains buckle crunch

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed reply!

I didn't realise that weight testing was what determined rear/front facing usage in this instance (though it of course makes sense when you think about it). To be honest, I wasn't planning on buying the Mothercare seat but I was curious to understand how they determine how it should be used.

Will definitely purchase the Joie but will watch out for buckle crunch. Thanks again so much.

You're welcome. Sorry for the waffle, I realised I missed a full stop out there somewhere!