Rearfacing Car Seats for 9 months to 4 years- Please read and spread the word

[Carseatcrazy]

Please please spread the word about rear facing car seats for 9 months to 4 years.

?In Sweden between July 2006 and November 2007 not one child under the age of six was killed in a car crash. Children in Sweden sit rear facing until the age of four.

205 children under 5 are seriously injured in the UK every year and a further 21 are killed, while in cars (the AA).

Two thirds of child fatalities in the under?four age group in the UK occur in cars (the AA).?

Rear facing car seats for this age group have now been proven to be 5 TIMES SAFER than forward facing.

If this isn't enough have a look at these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=Y2DVfqFhseo&feature=fvw

The other day I walked past a mum having her car fitted outside a well known retailer, and I felt so sad for her that the staff would be giving her the standard "no seat is safer than any other", when that is total rubbish There is a vast vast difference in the safety of these seats.

I just really want to spread the word to other mums and let them see the facts for themselves. (The government and retailers are of the view that UK parents don't want to buy these seats - and therefore don't tell us about them - incidentally there are places across the country now starting to stock them...)

I've done the research, and there is no way in this world I would now get a forward facing car seat. Yes they can be slightly more pricey- but generally about the same price as the higher end forward facing ones- and to be honest, I'm of the view that if you can possibly afford it, safety is the one thing you should skimp on

Anyway, if anyone wants more info, please just give me a shout, also there is loads of great info on: www.rearfacing.co.uk

happy car seat hunting

i emailed the incarsafety and carseat.se people that said i could probs fit a 2-way elite in our car so im just trying to decide whether or not to just go for it, in case it doesnt fit...tho it sounds like it will and i will be happier with rf!! i would love to hear from ppl with 5 seater 2001 kia carens with this/other rf seats tho

we've got a honda jazz and a peugeout (sp?) 306 estate. Had real trouble even finding stage 1 seats to fit with dh's driving seat. will let you know (apols for typing - bf both boys!)

We tried 6 makes of rf stage 1 seats in both cars and only 1 fit behind dh's driving seat. britax evolve- no chance.

I wish rf seats would fit - but they don't.

ps if anyone HAS found a rf seat that fits in a jazz behind a 6 ft 4 driver - please let me know because we'd love rf seats!

just had another reply from carseat.se with a car fitting list for britax 2-way elite and hi-way if anyone is interested

I am! What cars do they fit in? can you copy and paste?

its a pdf file im not sure...maybe i can email anyone who is interested?

hiya bbts...just read back and seen you have a honda jazz...checked both lists and britax HI-way and 2-way elite fit your car hth!

Just wanted to say thanks to CarGirl and arcticlemming for recommending that place in Milton Keynes, we managed to get a RF seat in the back of my Alfa and tall DH can still fit in the passenger seat so I didn't have to get a new car (because I love my car more than is possibly reasonable).

Thanks taegsmum - but we tried a 2 way elite and it didn't fit according to our local car seat centre!!! (buckle crunch was the problem).

We're trying a Kiddy Infinity pro - ordered today.

BBTS, how long are your seat buckles...ie. what is the distance from the car's seat to the end of the buckle - iykwim, cos i too thought this would be a problem as ours are a bit long/not flush with the seat, but according to 'in-car safety centre', 2way has alternative seatbelt routing which eliminates this (i told them i was concerned about this)...did u try the alternative routing? just wondering as i dont want to fork out £200 only to find it does buckle crunch!!

Yes - 2 way was fine ff but not rf!

Alternative routing can only be used in ff mode.

taegsmum, not the same car my friend has sorry! i would ring simon at the in car safety centre on 028 9074 2052. there are a few ways to put the seatbelt on the twe. over or under or even through 1 side! he has been fitting these seats for years and believes they are great seats.

BBTS - We have the TWE installed rf with the alternative routing i.e. instead of the seat belt going over the side, under and then over again to be plugged in to the seat belt stalk we have the belt go under then over then under to be plugged in.

The alternative routing means that the seat belt is visible on the child seat cover where DD's legs/feet go rather than being under it.

Also if your seat belt stalks are fabric you can twist them to shorten the height of the stalk.

Aaaaaah. Obv our car seat centre didn't know about that . They are usually quite good but I will go back and check with them, thanks. They def. didn't try a routing with the belt over the cover.

The stalks are fabric, but they pivot at the bottom (they are attached to a bolt and metal loop under the seat) so any twists you put in just untwist themselves, iyswim.

great info ts & nicm thnx - just wondering if u twist the fabric, might that make them weaker/more likely to break in a collision?

Taegsmum - that is what I thought but it is common practice i US to twist the belt stalk up to 3 times. Here is a thread on Car-Seat.org that discusses 'buckle crunch'. The buckle should not be in the belt path (part of child car seat where the seat belt is threaded through) but is allowed to touch the child car seat.

ooh that is all very enlightening! thanks!!

hi taegsmum, did you get to speak to simon?

hi, no i found a very kind lady who lives in inverness with a TWE and she let me try it out in our car (kia carens) after a bit of front seat adjusting and seat angle adjusting etc it fits!!! yes!!! i had to use the alternate belt routing. it is ROCK SOLID...i've now ordered one from incarsafety and its due to arrive today whoohooo altho we have a foot of snow and its busy blowing a gale - its literally horizotally snowing so im not holding out for it to arrive until tomoro!

happy days! glad you got sorted...yes snow in april and typical at the start of the school holidays!

Just clicked on one of the links with RF car seats - why on earth are they so much more expensive than FF seats? Double the price! Surely they must both cost the same to make; it looks like they're just trying to make money out of parents' fears.

some are not double the price, the ff maxi cosi priorifix i wanted for ds was £275 and we got his rf britax two way elite for £195.

apparently they make the britax ones in the uk, export them to nordic countries and then uk stockists have to import them again! who knows why...

as to why other companies have higher priced seats-i think they price them higher to try and put people off buying them as they don't want to stock in the uk! maybe not but these are my thoughts...

I also think that if rearfacing seats were more common, the price would come down

Rear facing car seats are produced in lower volumes which is one reason they are more expensive. Price is in reality a bargain since the seats can be used for 4 years.

Experiences in Sweden show that it's almost impossible for a child to die or become seriously injured when sitting in a Swedish rear facing seat. Things look far different when young kids are in forward facing seats. It's up to each parent to decide if car seat safety is a priority or not.

Dealers in UK don't have to re-import Britax seats. They are delivered straight from UK.

Car seats cost a little more in Sweden but it's rare to have parents complain. They know kids are ultra safe and consider a few hundred Euro a small price to pay for safety. €75 a year for amazing safety can't be considered expensive in my opinion.

The attitudes are of course much different in countries where parents don't care much about car seat safety. Anything spent on safety is then considered an unnecessary expense.