Forward Facing at 8.5 Months? Worried....

[missjackson]

DS1 is 8.5 months but already over 11kg - so too heavy for his graco rear-facing car seat. Also, the shoulder straps are now low down on his back. We have a britax renaissance forward-facing seat which we fit into the car today, but he looks very small in it, and I am now worried that he is just too young to be facing forwards.

Does anyone have links to the recent research I've heard rumours of suggesting rear-facing seats are safer? We were given this britax one and it's in excellent condition, but I don't want to take any risks.

Many thanks.

My son was very quickly out of his baby seat - he was in a forward facing seat at 7 months (his is a Britax one too).

Firstly, is the weight limit on your Graco seat really 11kg? Most of them are 13kg so worth double-checking.

In general, check out information and links at www.rearfacing.co.uk.

We have a BeSafe Izi combo that rear-faces, DD's been in there since she was 8 months, (now nearly 11 months). DH and I were convinced by the rearfacing website so we're hoping to keep her rear facing as long as possible!
video
There are a few videos on youtube that show testing of rear vs front facing.

i think that's a bit young for ff. we have ds in a britax two way elite which he's been in since nine months and is now 18months. my mindee is still in her baby carrier seat and she's 15months, soon to move to a twe. the rf seats are 5 times safer. ours can stay rear facing until 25kgs(approx 6). hth

Thanks for link to that site, prof, that was the sort of information I was looking for. The Graco seat I have is actually for 10kg or less, so he had to be moved.

Will look into this now. Many thanks.

we had the same prob with our maxi-cosi cabrio,the straps were half way down lo's back,but he is only 10m and is not big for his age,
he is now in a britax eclipse,
could you go for a birth - 4y seat,that way you can have him rf for a bit longer then turn him around?

I'd second all those who say keep our little ones rear facing until at least 21/2 if not till 4 like Swedish babs I also have a BeSafe Izi combi that is seat belt fitted. It's just been tested in the toughest test in the world in Sweden which looks at the forces placed on the little ones neck - it is the only one at the moment which has passed the test. I love it and would recommend to anyone- well worth the money - in fact, can anyone else using rear facing car seats do reviews of them on this site, so they go into the car seat table for this age group? We need to let other parents know about them

keep spreading the word guys - we have to turn around the likes of mothercare and halfords to start stocking them to the mass public

my dd is in the britax two way elite rear facing seat too, and she likes it.
is five times safer in a car crash, speak to the essex road safety officers for advice (number is on rearfacing.co.uk website)