Better to rf in front seat than ff in back?

[MindatWork]

Help please! My DM is going to be having my 1 year old DD for me one day a week when I go back to work. She drives a 3 door SEAT Ibiza and it is nigh-on impossible for her to manoeuvre and strap DD into a RF seat in the back.

DD is just about still in her Pebble Plus so thus far we’ve been swapping the isofix base into DM’s car (behind passenger seat) and she’s been hefting the seat in gradually from the driver’s side with DD already in it.

Yesterday we tried putting our RF Pearl Smart there to see if she could manage getting DD in it and she physically just can’t.

This isn’t sustainable long term and we can’t afford a rotating seat so really stuck on what to do? Is it better to have a RF seat belted into the front seat than have DD FF in the back? We can really only afford £90ish for an additional seat so was looking at potentially getting a BRITAX Romer or Joie Tilt - would these be suitable for a front seat?

Any other advice much appreciated as I’d really prefer DD to be RF for as long as possible when she’s with my mum.

I did join the car seat safety group on FB but was a bit scared to post . Thanks!

Yes, rear facing in any seat will always be far safer than forward facing, especially with such a young child. Rear facing seats in the front passenger seat are really common in Sweden.

If you rear face in the front the airbag needs to be switched off.

Yes, absolutely RF in front (with airbag off) is safer than FF in back :)

Joie Tilt is fine, although is smaller than other seats so may be outgrown sooner - this might be a plus in the front, so you can see around it easily. You could also look at Joie Steadi and maybe Stages, if you can find it on offer somewhere.

Britax-Römer is the name of the company, which seat is it you're looking at? Is it the First Class Plus? As that is only rear facing to 13kg and then forward facing after that.

Thank you for the comments - I had read somewhere else on mumsnet that front seat was a massive no no as you’re more likely to have impact in the passenger seat, flying glass, distracting the driver etc, so wasn’t 100% sure which was best. DM has had my niece in the front seat before so she knows about turning the airbag off.

@BertieBotts Yes we’ve been looking at the First Class plus but I didn’t realise you could only rf to 13kg so will look at another model, thank you.

The Joie 360 is very reasonable.

Front seat RF definitely safer. Try the FB group Car Seat Advice UK.

The Joie 360 is good, but probably won't work in the front as you tend not to have isofix points there. It's also overbudget.

Can she just stay home with her/go walking so no need for the car? It's only one day a week.

Just seen from OP you're in the FB group - even without posting, the search function is useful. Try "front seat" "joie tilt" "budget" and her car model. :)

It’s one day a week, does she needto
put her in the car?

If it’s a necessity then I would spend as much as it took to get a RF swivel seat for the back seat.

I’d tell anyone who asked what they could get DD for Christmas that a small contribution to a car seat would be a fabulous gift. Plus obviously whatever you & your parents would normally spend and you’ll make the difference up fairly easily I should think. She doesn’t need tons of toys, she needs to be safe

I wouldn’t use a car seat with just a seat belt these days, I really wouldn’t.

Why on earth not? There is nothing unsafe about a seatbelt fitted car seat, provided it is fitted correctly. All of the 25kg ERF seats are seatbelt fitted. And where a seat can be fitted with both methods, seatbelt often crash tests as slightly better.

Swivel seats are often impractical in 3-door cars as they actually require a fair amount of room behind them to swivel - they don't always fit. It's a shame really as you'd think they would solve the problem nicely. I think it is OK if you can swivel it in the direction of where the door would be, but not great for a 1yo as you tend to need to hold their legs up out of the way which wouldn't work if you're turning them away from you.

DM comes down to us to pick DD up in the morning as she lives in the opposite direction to my work. She has other commitments during the day and we live in a small village without many amenities so not really fair to expect her to stay here all day.

@IncrediblySadToo I’m well aware she needs to be safe, thanks - that’s why I posted on here for advice .

@BertieBotts thank you I’ll look at the search function on the group.