Car seats-forward or rear facing for 10 month old?

[wibblyjelly]

DS is still in his original car seat, which is rear facing, but he will probably outgrow this soon. I thought the rule was they should be rear facing as long as possible, however a couple of friends who have dc's the same age have already moved onto forward facing seats. Which is correct? Tia

My baby seat goes up to 28lbs and most of the next seat up start at 20lbs so there is a bit of crossover time. It's personal preference at the minute but they are in the process of changing the law so that all children remain rear facing until 15m
You can change to forward facing when baby reaches the weight for the seat, can sit up well and has firm head control.
www.rearfacing.co.uk has a video which shows the effects of a crash both forward facing and rear facing.

Personally, I think i'll leave DS in his baby seat for as long as I can then, as yet, haven't made a firm decision yet as to whether I go for forward facing of extended rear facing

There is no correct rule to my knowledge. What is important is that the seat fits your car. Even seats which claim to fit in a car may not do so in reality - had that problem with an IsoFix Rear Facing seat.

Keep them in the newborn seat as long as you can as weight and height are important factors for the next stage seat.

Rearfacing I believe is safer but if a seat does not fit correctly is useless.

I would say aim for rear facing as long as possible then use a single stage seat forward facing. I try to avoid multi-group seats with under 3's though take account of weight, height as they need to fit the seat not outgrow it.

Rear facing for as long as possible.

Thanks all, we are going to rear face for as long as we can. It just made me wonder if the sales people were offering that advice, and they'd decided against it for what ever reason.

Just to echo what others said, keep them rearfacing as long as possible as it is much safer if you are in a crash. Obviously once baby outgrows their seat (either by maximum weight allowed, or because their head goes over the top of the back of the seat) then you need to move up, but then check that baby is over the minimum weight allowed.

My DD was in her maxi cosi seat until just over 2! But that's because she is so petite and still fitted in it. Some people said "Oh, but she can't see out the window" but that is not important. She was also not heavy enough to go into a bigger seat until then.

there will probably be some helfpul links in the products/car seat section of Talk.

Rear facing as long as possible.

Lots of people seem to see it as a badge of development to have their baby in a forward facing carseat, when the reality is the baby stills fits in their rear facing infant seat, which is far safer.

There are several options now for next stage rear facing car seats including a Joie at Babies R Us for £150, which can regularly be bought at £130 with promotions / discount codes.

Rear facing for as long as possible.

Agree that many people really can't wait to move their child ff and then report that they love it. Often doing it way to early.

So many friends have done this as early as 8 months and it's just not a great.

Mrs Dimples - that babysrus seat is interesting. Thanks for posting about that!