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Parenting

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Original poster

How old was your little one when you switched to a forward facing car seat?

75 replies

meganm94 · 05/12/2020 17:05

DD is 15 months and still rearward facing. Her car seat rearward faces for up to approx 4 years but she's not the biggest fan of the car. I don't know one other mum with a child over 12 months who still rear faces and I feel like I'm just being over dramatic and paranoid but I've delved too deeply into the internet to be feel comfortable with it now 😂

Not much point to this post really, just interested to see if anyone else feels the same as me as I feel like I'm the only mum out of all my friends/family who feels this way 🙈

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

NatalieH2220 · 08/12/2020 04:09

My son is 3y 9m and still rear facing.

MindyStClaire · 08/12/2020 05:06

DD1 was moved to forward facing at just over 2 when DD2 arrived. We moved her seat over to behind the driver, and DH couldn't move his seat far enough back to drive with it rear facing.

DD2 still in the infant carrier, we'll play it by ear.

DH is an academic and had a quick look at the literature, he wasn't convinced it shows that rear facing is significantly safer. I haven't bothered looking so can't comment myself, I've only ever seen the claims on parenting groups.

skankingpiglet · 08/12/2020 05:48

DD1 was about 16mo. She had outgrown her infant carrier and unfortunately the next size up RF made it impossible to see out of the side window and wing mirror in the Transit van I was driving at the time (RF definitely isn't 5x safer in those circumstances!). If possible I would have continued to RF, and the In Car Safety Centre tried a number of seats but they weren't suitable so they conceded defeat.
DD2 was somewhere between 3.5 and 4yo.

Most friends have made the move at under 3yo, and a good portion were under 2yo. One friend switched at around 10mo. These threads always bring out the 'RF until 18yo' brigade, but in reality I don't know anyone who has RF past 4.

Interested in this thread?

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1 year olds Families General parenting

Themostwonderfultimeoftheyear · 08/12/2020 05:53

3.5. I was aiming for 4 but DH let DH FF for a short journey on private land at 3.5 and DS point blank refused to be RF after that. If he had been younger I would have insisted and I did for long journeys until he was 4 when he outgrew his RF seat. He is now in the Bold and I will harness him as long as possible.

YouJustDoYou · 08/12/2020 05:55

4 or so for mine. The younger they are the more dangerous it is to have them in forward facing too young.

Snowman2020 · 08/12/2020 06:00

DS is 2.5 and still RF, I don't know many other people who still RF at that age but I'm determined he is staying that way for as long as possible. I have family members telling me he's uncomfy and that his legs will be hurting him from been squashed but I've told them if they ever put him in something I've not agreed to they won't see him until he doesn't need to a proper car seat

YetAnotherChicken · 08/12/2020 06:04

We got to 18 months, by which point he was at the weight limit for rear facing in the seat we had. Given that he hated the car and had started constantly crying, and we couldn't really afford a new seat (it would've been a stretch) we decided to forward face. Screaming stopped and journeys are much more pleasant and probably safer without the distraction of crying child

KatharinaRosalie · 08/12/2020 06:13

All the Swedish people I know (work for a Swedish bank so know lots) rear faced their kids until 4, which is how long all the British people I know did it. Extended rear facing until 4-7 is as rare there as it is here

Yes I've lived in Sweden, I can claim to know a few people too. The poster I was replying to specifically said it's not practical to rear face even until 4, because of snow and mud. Something there's plenty of in Sweden, and I do not know anybody turning kids around before that age.

Letsallscreamatthesistene · 08/12/2020 07:56

I have an 8 month old and have no plans to face him forward anytime soon. Hes a tall boy though (currently 76cm) so I think hes going to out grow it and force my hand to face him forward before I really want to.

To those who rear face their older children, is there a car seat that does this? Or do the kids have their knees around their nipples?

KatharinaRosalie · 08/12/2020 08:59

Axkid minikid fits up to a 125 cm tall child and Klippan Opti goes up to 135.

Mylittleturkeysandwich · 08/12/2020 13:17

@Letsallscreamatthesistene the 25kg ERF seats all have a reasonable amount of leg room. Such as the Axkid mini kid. I have a Britax max way and it can be fitted with loads of leg room if you need it to. DS is only 1 so it's still pretty close to the seat back for now.

riddles26 · 08/12/2020 13:46

Just turned 4 and still rear facing. She is the only one from our group of friends and nursery children (from what I can see) who is rear facing but I wont be turning her until she starts primary school. Her brother is 2 and also rear facing so they know no different.

soughsigh · 08/12/2020 14:50

I was intending to keep him rear facing till he grew out of his stage 1 seat, but sadly he vomits everywhere unless he's forwards facing.

So about 18 months, I think.

crazychemist · 08/12/2020 16:30

It was about 18 months I think. I’d wanted to keep her that way longer, but we had quite a small car seat and she didn’t like having her legs all scrunched up. It wasn’t something I’d thought about when I chose the seat. My twins will probably be similar - with 3 kids now I don’t have space for a larger car seat that would allow rear facing for longer.

FizzingWhizzbee123 · 16/12/2020 23:30

DS1 is 3 and still rear facing in a seat which could take him up to 5-6 years. I plan to keep him in it until he outgrows it. DS2 is just a baby so in areas facing infant carrier but will go into the same type of seat around 12 months and again stay rear facing as long as possible. The amount of people turning 1 year olds around really saddens and frustrates me, it’s somehow the norm and even seems to be considered a milestone of growing up. Lots of people don’t seem to realise the significant safety difference between forward and rear facing.

FizzingWhizzbee123 · 16/12/2020 23:33

We also have the Axkid Minikid, installed in the extra leg room position. DS1 is super comfy in it, no issues with leg room. Anyway, it’s more comfortable to have somewhere to rest your legs than to have them dangling.

MynephewR · 16/12/2020 23:58

Eldest is 5 and still rear facing, though this has reminded me that I need to weigh her as she must be getting close to the limit on her seat. DS is 2.5 and obviously I have no plans to put him FF any time soon.

MynephewR · 17/12/2020 00:00

Also I don't get the "legs scrunched up" thing. I think my DC's just folds their legs but, tbh, I haven't noticed what their legs are doing as I'm more worried about international decapitation

Peakedin1997 · 17/12/2020 00:08

Dc1 was about 6 (she's small for her age)
Dc2 was 4, he started to get very cross about fear facing because his sister was forward facing.

OnNaturesCourse · 17/12/2020 00:11

I think she was between 6 & 7 months.
She was, and still is, over the 99th percentile for weight and height and we drove a mini. Couldn't physically get her in the seat as her knees were over the seat edge and sitting with their legs crossed at that age is almost impossible and actually quite dangerous for any length of time. She also started protesting at being in the carseat backwards, which she had never done before, and as soon as she was forward facing she was fine again.

She is now over 3 and is legally allowed to travel with a high back booster seat and normal seat belt, has been since she was just over 2, but is still in a 5 point harness.

waits for the attack...

MynephewR · 17/12/2020 00:11

🤣 Internal not international

Hollyhead · 17/12/2020 07:07

DS1 was 3 when we turned him, DS2 was 2 because he was able to wriggle out of the straps unnoticed so it was much safer to be able to see what he was up to!

I think as with all these things the advice fails because 4 is too big a jump for people to envisage. A safety campaign focusing on RF until 2 would be much more easily received by the population, and would get infants through the super risky time (although rf is definitely better after 2 the risks reduce proportionally with age)

Natsku · 17/12/2020 07:18

2.5ish, when he started getting carsick.

IRememberMySpaceBabe · 17/12/2020 07:21

3.5 each child, we had a Joie Stages for each. DD still has hers, DS got a Joie Trillo back in the spring as his Stages had reached its expiry date ~and was full of pom bears and sand from the beach~

Harrysmummy246 · 17/12/2020 10:08

DS is 3y6mo next week, Britax TWE in my car and an axkid minikid in husband's. Both can be RF to 25kg.

He is TALL (as in over the height of an average just turned 4yo). No complaints whatsoever about his legs (probably more uncomfortable dangling in the air forward facing I reckon). He's also over 18kg now so many seats he'd have to be FF and booster, but I used his chart to work out what he'd need.

It's not negotiable for me, for as long as he'll let us RF him. No intention of trying the britax FF, although that would give more room for a passenger (ha, it's covid times).

@meganm94 He does have a tablet and will happily watch it for the entirety of a long journey. No we don't do this routinely. It was bought to allow a long haul flight for the sake of everyone's sanity on the plane. He can now choose things himself.

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