Is your 1 year old facing forwards or backwards?

[proseccohohoho]

Car seat law has changed since my first born and I'm a bit confused, even with the help of Google!

DS 1 is 11 months and weighs 11.5kg. He is facing forwards as the seat I have is from 9kg. However, someone told me it is the law they should face to the rear now. Is this correct?

Mine all rear faced til about age 2.

It depends on your seat - if it is a new i-size one they should rear face until at least 15 months.
Older seats you can still forward face from a minimum of 9kg.

However, they are much safer rear facing for as long as possible.

Rear facing 18m old here, its over 500% safer to rear face until at least four. My boy is a lightweight shortie so aiming for rear facing til six years old.

Adults would also be much safer in a crash rear facing however thats obviously not an option

My boy is nearly 3 (tall and solid build) and still rear facing. My youngest is still a tiny 6 month old but she'll also be Rf for as long as possible.

It much safer for them to be RF in the event of an accident.

I was always told when their legs can touch the back car seat (rear facing) then it's time to swap it to front facing. My daughter is a bit taller so changed her around at 1 and it was recommended her car seat to be behind the drivers side. I'm from australia so it might be different where you are.

My 15 month old is rear facing. Not in an I-size seat, but he’ll be rear facing in his Joie seat until he reaches the weight limit which is 18kg. Depending on how old he is at that stage, we might consider upgrading to one that will rear face for longer.

@rebecca102 i believe it is but from what I've seen on rear facing advice groups its becoming more common to rear face longer in Australia too. I think knowledge and testing of different options is constantly being tested so advice will be updating regularly but laws take a long long time to change as does advice. Things take a while to filter through sadly, for example 99% of people now know cot bumpers arent safe yet its legal to sell/buy them.

I just bought the axkid minikid because my 2 year old reached the maximum weight for his original rear facing car seat. He will rear face until he reaches 25kg. There's lots of info about why it's safer so just do a quick Google search.

Nearly 18 month old rear facing and will for as long as possible

Rear facing here, aged 27 months. Like many previous posters will continue to rear face as long as possible.

@rebecca102 that's dreadful advice, statistically much safer behind the passenger seat.

I was told in a rear facing if kids are in a bad accident then as the feet touch the backrest they are likely to break their legs. If they are in a forward facing they are likely to break their necks. Mine were rear facing until they were four and they were big four year Olds.

Backwards. All rear faced until around 4.

Watch a video on YouTube of a rear facing versus forward facing crash and the difference it makes ... that will make your mind up!

2 next week, still rear-facing

2.5 year old still rear facing here, and she will be as long as she can. We have a joie every stage seat.

@PoultryBallot I've never heard about being safer behind passenger before. My son is currently there but I'm due another... How do I choose which to go behind driver?

DS2 is 13 months and rear facing. DS1 is 5 and just forward facing - only so because he outgrew his rear facing seat

My me rear faced till four.

And surely you care more about safety than law?

My eldest rear faced until 3 and a half. Youngest is still rear facing at nearly 2 and will be for as long as I can keep her that way.

The key bit of research is that regardless of 'big for their age' all children's skeletons are not ready to forward face until age 4.

Until age 4 their heads are far too heavy for their necks / spine, and could be severely damaged in a collision.

For some reasons some parents see forward facing as a development step and rush to do it. Our 3.5 year old is rear facing and crossed his legs just like they do when sat on the floor. He's over 1m and has no issue at all.

@MsChatterbox I get a bit obsessed with things and when mine were small I researched everything. Most dangerous is 1. drivers seat

1. passenger front
2. Drivers rear
3. Passenger rear
4. safest providing it has a proper three point seat belt is the middle seat.

Not all cars can comfortably have car seats next to each other but safest would be baby in the middle seat and older passenger rear. If you can't fit them next to each other the youngest child should be in the passenger rear and the older behind the driver. Seriously look at extended rear facing and look at the you tube videos.

It's not the law but rear facing is so much safer.

12 month old and 3 year old both rear facing. Will be until 5. Second car we have rear facing until 18kg/105cm which is liable to be within 6 months for my 3 year old (so 3.5) but if a journey was planned in that car I’d move his seat over from my car. So he’d only be in that car forward if I blew a tire out and dh had to pick us up in an emergency and it wasn’t safe to change car seat over. After 4 I think I’d let him forward face in second car.

My two year old is forward facing.

My DS screamed in the car when he was rear facing. He hated it.

@PoultryBallot thanks for that info! I'll see if the infant one will fit in the middle seat. I'm a big supporter of extended rear facing though!