car seats - safest position

[allatsea]

We're just about to move Dd into a forward facing car seat. We've been advised that the safest position is in the middle of the back seat, but why?

If you are in an accident and a car smashes into the side of your car, the carseat is as far from either side as possible. Also, if you are rear-ended it's very common for the person to try to veer to one side to avoid hitting you, and end up smashing in one corner of the back into the backseat. The middle of the backseat is the area of the car which consistantly shows the least damage in crash-tests. Not that it goes unharmed, but by comparison it almost never takes the brunt of the impact.

Here's a wonderful website about why extended rear-facing is a extra safe (of course, I have no idea how old or big your dd is):

Extended Rear Facing

many thanks for this Corbin. Dd is 10mo, but 80cm long. I think that we'll hold off the car seat swap having seen this.

Allatsea,

I'm glad I could be of help! And I'm always so happy when I hear people have decided to leave their children rear-facing a little longer. My dd is 16 months old and is still happily rear-facing. She does weigh under 20 lbs so I couldn't turn her around legally anyway, but she's LONG! Her little feet touch the backseat and her legs will soon be bent against the seat. But honestly, I would much rather deal with broken legs than with severe internal injuries, spinal injuries resulting from whiplash or brain damage from her head whipping around.

Our convertible carseat is rated for up to 35lbs rearfacing, so I think she'll probably be backwards until she's five or so, lol! We have a Britax Advantage, and I know Roundabouts go up that high as well. We love Britax carseats so much, we could do an advertisement for them. I think they're well worth the money if you're looking for a bigger carseat that can keep your dd backwards longer but still very comfortable.

Nope, I don't work for Britax!