car seat dilemma

[Pob71]

Our car was involved in an accident last week (only dh in car and he is ok just a bit of whiplash neck and shoulder pain). Anyway I contacted Britax who recommended that our childseats should be replaced so off I went to Mothercare today (using borrowed seats from my childminder).
My dilemma is that, even though the recommendations for the seat I bought for ds2 (Britax Eclipse) say that it is ok for a child over 20lbs and who can sit unaided for half an hour, I just cant shake my belief that it is too early to turn him to front facing. He is only 7.5 months old. Looking around on the web most of the British sites agree with the Britax and Mothercare idea of 20lbs and sitting unaided but all of the american sites I have read say 20lbs and one year old minimum. They also mention about bones in the neck needing to ossify and that this gives the spinal cord more protection. Dh is happy to go with the Britax advice but I feel really worried about the dicrepancy in ideas between UK and US and wonder if this is an issue we are "behind" on ?

That's really interesting. We live in the US and so did wait until both one year old and 20 lbs.

Pob71- read read this thread

Pob71- read read this thread

Hope this helps.

The research I have shown shows that being 1 is the main thing - not weight or being able to sit up etc. After 1 the statistics level out, meaning that you might as well let your little one see you, have leg room etc, as they are no safer.

I moved ds 2 weeks after his first birthday.

just a thought pob71 but if the accident was someone elses fault you should be able to claim against them for the cost of the new seat.

I've always worried about this discrepancy between UK and US guidleines too.

I luckily had a petite DD and could keep her in the rear facing infant seat until she was 13 months. Even when I switched her to a forward facing seat I kept the seat fully reclined as she was probably barely 20lbs at 13 months.

If you decide to go with the forward facing option, then I'd be inclined to keep the seat as reclined as possible.

When I had DS1 (he's 13 now), you could put them in a forward seat at 6 months - even the kind that are just considered Stage 3 seats nowadays using the car's seatbelt to strap the child in, such as the Britax Supercruiser.

With my last child, we were living in the USA and aware of the regulations. We kept DD in her baby seat until she was 14 or 15 months, but she was still well short of the 20lbs. We finally gave in because she was climbing out of her baby seat, no matter how tightly the straps or the position of the buckles. I figured that it was safer for her to be in a seat she would stay in, rather than loose in the car.

How do you guys manage to keep themhappy to that late age in rear facing seats? We recently switched DS2 (now 14m) to front facing and wish I had done it sooner. We had to endure many screaming journeys before that because he hated the rear facing seat; now because he can look around better he goes about 2 horus before screaming; before we were lucky to get 1/2 hour's peace (unless he was asleep, of course).

Thank you for your replies. I have decided to get a First Class again (Halfords have them 40% off just now) and keep him rearfacing at least until his birthday. It was a non fault accident so I should be able to get my money back via insurance. I'm going to keep the Eclipse I bought yesterday and use it for ds1 as he often falls asleep and I didnt like how his head hangs forward if he's asleep when hes in the Cruiser.
I'm hoping that having his brother for company in the backmight make it easier for him to tolerate being rearfacing as they can easily see each other.

Frances

You can buy bigger seats that go rear- and forward-facing, aviatrix. The First Class that Pob mentions does this

hi aviatrix. Could you explain more about your son not being comfotable? i started the thread about my dd whom i was worried about moving ect due to her being a large baby at only 16 weeks.
Link is below.
I got her the britax first seat as well, and she has beenin it about 5 times and has cried all these times until she falls asleep.
normally when she sleeps in the car she has gone. ( e.g lift her out, change her and put her to bed without her even waking) but now she wake if we even slow down at traffic lights.

the poor angel seems so uncomfortable. i have tried it reclined, upright, losening and tightening the reins. (always to a safe level though)

Only today she was wriggling and making a new cry sound.

was this similar to your son? what did you do and say etc.

Sorry for hi jacking thread by the way!

I sympathise, Pob71. We had a similar problem. Our ds was a tiny little scrap who weighed nothing but he was really long. Before he was 9 months old, his little legs were stuffed into the stage 0 seat like concertinas. We bought a Britax stage 1 seat and asked them, graco and halfords if it was ok to move him up because we felt that his legs would be damaged in an accident. None of them would tell us, just quoted the "recommendations". I was mad. In the end, we moved him up even though he was under 1 and under the weight limit. The sitting up bit is the only important bit IMO.

Hope your dh feels better soon.

John Lewis told us that ds would be fine in a forward facing car seat from the age of about 9 months. The key thing for them was, as far as I remember, the relation between top of ds' head and the top of the car seat. It wasn't a weight thing. Ds was quite tall and when the manager in JL looked at him in his carseat he said that his head was, I think, too near top of car seat and that it was safer for him to be moving next size up. Next size up all seemed to be forward facing. It seemed pretty young to us but we were glad to move ds from that very uncomfortable scrunched up position in a rear-facing seat.

We were advised also that it was fine to be front facing from 9 months. There are some car seats that are advertised as suitable from 9 months (front facing ones) Surely they wouldn't be allowed to do this if it was considered unsafe??

If it is a 2nd stage seat using the adult belt, ie Britax Supercruiser, they now only recommend from 10 1/2 kg weight not even 9kg as per those with harnesses.