Should we get a front facing car seat for baby for long drive to France?

[Holymoly321]

We're off to France in late June and DS2 will be just over 8mths. He's currently in the rearfacing baby car seat, but we're wondering if we should get a front facing seat for the Frace trip. Can't remember what age bubs face forwards from.

Rear facing are safest. They should be in the rear facing ones until they're 9kg (they say from approx 9 months) or their head is protruding over the top of the seat.

How heavy is he? Forward facing is group 1, I think, which starts at 9kg. Ds3 is just under 9kg and he's just turned 1, but he is on the light side.
you need to go by weight not age or length/height.

I'd leave him in rear-facing and sit in the back with him if there's room.

no way, not unless he has genuinely outgrown the seat - dd is 8.5m and has a loong way to go. The guideline is not before 9m for the next one up however big they are, not they must move up at 9m.

in Scandinavia they rear-face till they're 4 as it's much safer

thanks all - will have to see how heavy he is nearer the time - he was 17lbs last time he got weighed and that was a few weeks ago now! No room for me to sit in the back with him as DS1 will also be in his car seat...

Hi MrsB - did my post before seeing yours - if it's good enough for Scandinavia it's good enough for me - rear facing it is then!

read the tags on your seat carefully too - mine (maxicosi cabrio) is safe up to 13kg (28.5lb) and so long as she isn't too tall there is no way I'll move dd before that.

I am torn about moving DD (8 months). She's been sitting unaided for ages but not sure on her weight (getting weighed tomorrow).

She still fits her group 0, but hates being in the car seat and quite literally screams for the entire journey. I really dread driving anywhere.

Didn't know about rear facing for longer elsewhere.

oh for car hating screamers I would make an exception and move up as soon as safely in the weight range

more dangerous to drive with racketing child IMO (one hand fumbling for toys / cds / dummy, looking in mirror etc)

If I could have her in thr front I might be able to endure it longer but we have an airbag and I'm just not keen on the idea.

DD1 was the same and improved greatly once forward facing.

Gah! She's only 17lbs 4oz! Must endure the sreaming for a while longer.

This video shows why keeping your baby rear facing as long as possible is a good idea.

If DC is screaming, it's worth taking them with their car seat to a good retailer and getting the fit checked - DD started crying anytime we took her near it and we finally blush worked out we needed to adjust it. She outgrew her infant carrier at about 7 months (and let us know by screaming...) so we got a Concord Ultimax, which will let her stay rear facing till 13kg. Then we'll have to decide whether to turn her around or try and find a rear facing Group 1 seat in the UK.

How long is your journey? Could you break it into manageable chunks and stop off to have breaks etc? We drove Calais - vendee when dd was 3 mo and stopped overnight at rouen to make journey a bit easier for her. DS was 18 mo and it worked well.