Rear facing car seat - laws / rules

[user1465146157]

I'm a bit confused about how long a baby car seat has to remain rear facing. Online I watched a video saying it's recommended up to 15 months, however a car seat sold in Mothercare is made to be forward facing only from 9 months.

I imagine that's ok if they sell them like that.

I really want to buy it today but wanted to check thoughts.

thanks

There's 2 different types of seat - the weight based ones and the height based ones. The older weight based ones are still legal and could mean a child could forward face from 9kg. The height based ones are iSize seats and require a child to rear face until at least 15 months. The iSize seats are all isofix so if your car doesn't have isofix points that would be an issue

And although a baby could forward face from 9kg the majority of older style infant carriers are actually ok up to 13kg

There are 2 laws currently . It is far safer for babies to be rear facing for as long as possible . The rear facing for as long as possible are the safest

thank you demented pixie -

this isn't my car it will be for grandparents car - do you know how i know it has isofix points? I doubt grandparents will know.

I have a Joie Gemm baby carrier currently and although my LO is 10kg, and it should be fine for up to 13kg, LO looks a bit big for it and is never comfy.

The safest way for your child to travel is rear facing, for as long as possible. The benefits are greatest up to the age of 2, but plenty of parents rear face their kids until they are 4, or even longer.

You baby should stay in their infant carrier until they have outgrown it either by height or weight, which most wont do until well over a year old. Ideally you’d then put them in a rear facing toddler seat for at least another year.

Car seat laws are very slow to catch up with best practice from a safety point of view. Yes, it would be legal to use that seat but assuming you already have an infant carrier, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Get a joie stages and keep him rf. So much safer if you have a quick Google it will tell you more about it. Also some good FB pages.

9kg is just too early to be FF. A lot of countries I didn't think allowed this. We're not all that progressive unfortunately.

What age is your baby? You could go for an extended rear facing seat that can last up to age 4

I wouldn’t bother with isofix for a seat that’s going to be used in grandparents car/moved between cars. Something like the Joie Tilt or the joie steadi would be worth a look. But I’d leave them in their infant carrier for now.

It is recommended to be rear facing until at least 15 months, preferably much longer, because studies have shown its 5x safer for your child. However this isn’t mandatory yet because there aren’t enough rear facing car seats being made. In a year or so production will be sufficient and they will phase out the old laws allowing forward facing once they more than 9kg.

www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules