Is forward facing for 13 month old illegal?

[daisy0123]

Hi,

My 13 month old is 11.6kg and very tall. Way way back when I was pregnant my husband and I bought a Maxi-Cosi 'package' of a Pebble and a Pearl along with an isofix base from John Lewis.

We've recently moved my son from the MaxiCosi Pebble up to the Maxi-Cosi Pearl with the isofix base, which is forward facing. My son was just far too big for the Pebble and was getting red marks on his sides from being squished into it.

All was going well, until my friend told me it was illegal to be forward facing until he is at least 15 months old. I was horrified. Having done my own research now, I think my friend might be right, although I am completely confused about the different regulations (for example forward facing under 15 months is not illegal in Ireland I understand).

So in a nutshell: Is it illegal to put my son forward facing at 13 months in England?

Thanks!

From maxi cosi website:

i-Size car seats meet the highest level safety standards. If you have chosen an i-Size car seat, your child must travel facing the rear until they are 15 months old by law.

The Pearl is an i-Size seat, so your friend is correct.

www.maxi-cosi.co.uk/c/what-are-car-seat-rules-rear-and-forward-facing-travel

You can rear face in the Pearl up to age 4 using the base. It won’t make any difference to the child in terms of comfort.

Yes. I would be more worried about the potential consequences if you have a car crash rather when your toddler is forward facing rather than the law.

Rear facing until 15 months is the legal minimum but is far from ideal to change them round at that point.

The Pearl rear faces anyway so no need for it to be forward facing.

Not illegal but not the safest option

No it's not illegal.

In a rear facing seat a child is 5 times less likely to die in a car crash. They should be kept rear facing as long as possible regardless of the law, unless there is some very real reason like requent travel sickness which might be improved by forward facing and is obviously distressing to the child.

In 15 years as a paramedic the only dead child I've seen in a RTC was a forward facing toddler.

Not illegal, no.

It is against the law with an i-Size seat. These must rear-face up till 15 months. Please read the first reply.

ECE R129 seats (known as i-Size) are based on a child‘s height.
• When height based seats are selected, the child must travel rear-facing until they reach the age of 15 months.
ECE R44-04 are based on a child‘s weight.
• When weight-based seats are selected, the child may travel rear-facing until reaching a weight of 13kgs

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

Here's the law.

As PPs have said, it's unsafe to FF such a young child. Since the Pearl allows rear-facing till 4 years old, I'd turn it round.

Don't beat yourself up about it, your child is fine and you didn't know.

The Pearl does rear face. I should point out my DS was the 140th percentile in height at the same age and managed to rear face fine. He’s 18 mths now and still rear facing perfectly comfortably and will continue to do so until he is 4. I don’t understand why any parent who can afford otherwise would want to risk their children’s lives by fwd facing them before then. You don’t get a medal for fwd facing & your kid wouldn’t be considered more advanced than rear facing kids. I know parents who would kill to be able to afford to rear face after 15 mths but can’t afford the seats and you have one and haven’t even read the instructions about how to use it properly

Thanks very much all, really appreciated. My Pearl and the Familyfix base are both forward facing only and as my son fit well above the minimum weight category specified on the chair (9kg+) I assumed that meant it would be fine, but clearly not the safest option. Thanks again

The original Pearl doesn't rear face, and isn't i-size, which is why it's legal to forward face in it from 9kg.

Unfortunately with the original FamilyFix base there are no rear facing seats that go on it past the baby stage. Only the newer bases take the rear facing versions.

People are getting confused with the newer Maxi Cosi seats like Pearl Pro, Pearl Smart, 2way Pearl etc.

It is a bit confusing when they name their seats all such similar things but anyway.

If you can keep him rear facing it would be very much worth doing so, whether you can squeeze him into the Pebble (which is one of the biggest infant carriers!) a bit longer or get another seat. The 9kg rule is very outdated and is only based on when children can on average sit up. They are at quite high risk from FF in an accident at just one year old.

Rear face your child. My son is nearly 5, 19kg, probably 115cm tall and rear faces. There's no way your baby (because, let's be honest, that's what he is) is too big to rear face.

Genuine question is it not dangerous for the child to be in a car seat they are too heavy for ? I don’t know enough about car seats to know what is more dangerous.

@daisy0123

Hi,

My 13 month old is 11.6kg and very tall. Way way back when I was pregnant my husband and I bought a Maxi-Cosi 'package' of a Pebble and a Pearl along with an isofix base from John Lewis.

We've recently moved my son from the MaxiCosi Pebble up to the Maxi-Cosi Pearl with the isofix base, which is forward facing. My son was just far too big for the Pebble and was getting red marks on his sides from being squished into it.

All was going well, until my friend told me it was illegal to be forward facing until he is at least 15 months old. I was horrified. Having done my own research now, I think my friend might be right, although I am completely confused about the different regulations (for example forward facing under 15 months is not illegal in Ireland I understand).

So in a nutshell: Is it illegal to put my son forward facing at 13 months in England?

Thanks!

No its not if you're using a seat that's not an i-Size seat. There are 2 sets of regulations running side by side - one is for i-Size seats and the other is for the weight based seats.

I-Size specifies rear facing until 15 months but the other regulations say you can forward face from 9kg although its safer to keep them rear facing as long as you can

Yes it is dangerous to exceed the weight limit of a car seat, but he isn't too heavy for it. OP says he's only 11.6kg and the weight limit on the Maxi Cosi Pebble is 13kg.

He might be too tall for it though.

The pebble is ok until 13kg
Are there any inserts that can be removed?

He's only too tall if his head is over the backrest

The pebble plus he's a really too tall at something like 80cm

I emailed with MC as my petite DD was over the 80cm but still fit fine. They told me that the pebble and pebble plus are made different hence the plus having a lower height limit