how old are your kids and are they front or rear facing in their car seats?

[hohohobitches]

just that

@SharpLily I FF at a year because a) rear facing isn't really a thing here; b) we don't have motorways; and c) I have a massive car.

It's not worth being horrified that others do things differently. Ultimately most parents do what they feel is right for their kids and undertake their own risk analysis.

@FuckyouBrennan

I have a 3yo & 19 month old, can anyone recommend a RF car seat for the eldest? He’s quite tall but weighs 22lb,

Britax Max Way Plus, Axkid Minikid or Axkid Move, they are all 25kg seats with tall shells. It depends on which car you have, too. You could contact your local specialist car seat retailer for advice and/or join the FB group "Car Seat Advice UK". www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

@MeadowHay

As an aside, when can they go in a high backed booster? DC2 will be born when DC1 is just over 3 and we are wondering if we will need another car seat over and above the infant carrier or whether DC2 can then go in to DC'1s current car seat and DC2 into a high backed booster at e.g. 4/.4.5 or is that too early?

Is DC1 in a Group 1 (18kg) seat atm? It depends on the children's height and weight really. DC1 will need to be at least 4 before going into a HBB (preferably a bit older, as they need to be mature enough to sit properly with an adult seatbelt). So it depends when DC1 outgrows their seat or when DC2 outgrows the infant seat, whichever happens first, and how old DC1 is at that point.

Currently 11 months but will be till 23kg or 125cm as that's the limits on the Axkid One car seat.

This video is good to show why rear facing is best for children. m.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Hf46SpIqc&feature=YouTube it's 10 minutes but worth a watch if you interested in car seats.

Ds1 is 9 and forward faces in a high backed booster. He RF till 3 though initially was FF for a short while at 1 until we found out how unsafe it was. Ds2 is 4.5 years and FF. He did RF till 2.5 years old but outgrew his seat. Ds3 is 19 months and has a seat he can RF in till about 3.5 years so will be.

DS is 4y9m and was rear facing until 4yo (22kg), now in a forward facing seat.
DD is 17mo and is rear facing, and I intend to leave her RF until she outgrows her axkid minikid, so probably around 4-5yo.

DS is 2.5 and is rear facing which we're planning on continuing at least till he's 4.

One of his seats goes up to approx age 4 and the other to 6 but he's very tall for his age so they probably won't last that long.

We have axkid move and minikid seats so will be when they grown out of these (they rear face to 25kg). Currently eldest nearly 6 and under 20kg so nowhere near yet.

24 and 22, front-facing.

Mine are now 15 months and I'm really interested in how the rear facing continues. They are already really tall (twins) and their feet are on the seats in the rear facing position. I can't see how they can stay rear facing much longer at all without them having to really screw their legs up, with feet half way up the back of the car. Where are their legs supposed to go??

@AfterEightsBeforeEight

Mine are now 15 months and I'm really interested in how the rear facing continues. They are already really tall (twins) and their feet are on the seats in the rear facing position. I can't see how they can stay rear facing much longer at all without them having to really screw their legs up, with feet half way up the back of the car. Where are their legs supposed to go??

My DS is nearly 4 and is sitting comfortably in his rear-facing seat with his legs crossed.

But what about their legs?
More and more rear facing car seats are becoming available in our stores, but they are still relatively new and a lot of people have never come across them before, so we get a lot of questions about them. Most of them are about the children's legs. How do they fit, isn't it uncomfortable, surely they'll break in an accident?
Some extended rear facing car seats (ERF for short) have a legroom gap, but even if they don't this isn't an issue. Children are happy to sit with their legs crossed or bent, this is a natural position for them and is not uncomfortable.
You often hear parents of rear facing children say that broken legs are better than a broken neck. After all, broken legs can be fixed. But there are no known cases of rear facing children breaking their legs because of the way their seat was facing. It is however quite a common injury in forward facing car crash victims.
www.carseatadvice-uk.com/rear-facing-or-forward.html

5 yr old front faces now but rear faced until age 4. 2.5 year old rear faces and will continue to do so until at least age 4 (dependant on size).

I'd never put mine front facing early and I've had two that screamed the the car at different stages. They get used to it. Never had a problem with bent legs etc either, children are every flexible. Also had one car sicky child, she's just as sick facing the front as she was rear.

Front facing seems to be treated as some sort of developmental milestone where I am, people post pictures of their children in their 'big girl/boy' front facing seats horribly early like it's an achievement the child has made. I don't get it, but not my circus not my monkeys!

@AfterEightsBeforeEight

Mine are now 15 months and I'm really interested in how the rear facing continues. They are already really tall (twins) and their feet are on the seats in the rear facing position. I can't see how they can stay rear facing much longer at all without them having to really screw their legs up, with feet half way up the back of the car. Where are their legs supposed to go??

Children are far more bendy than adults. Lots of pictures of 6,7 and 8 year old rear facing.

@SharpLily the specialists at Mothercare said our child could sit facing forward from 15 months and this was based on government guidance/law. In the end we waited til around 18 months. We aren't safety experts so we do usually defer to Government guidance which we presume is based on safety research.

If there is evidence which shows that the 15 month rule is inappropriate then you are probably correct to be horrified that the official rules are not fit for purpose.

If you have any useful links then I'd love to read them. We have a newborn who will be rear facing for the foreseeable future but would be great to keep him as safe as possible as he gets older.

Ds is 4.4 and rear facing in a 25kg seat
Dd is 2.3 and rear facing in a 18kg seat

Ds will fit in his seat for probably another 2 years depending on growth spurt (height will be a problem before weight) Dd on the other hand will not last more than 12 maybe 18 months tops. Dd will move into the 25kg seat and ds will go into hhb then. I wont get another 25kg seat because ds will be 5 at least and I'm happy to use hhb from then.

@scottish83 With all respect to the people at Mothercare, they are not specialists. They're retail assistants who will have been trained to know the features of the seats they're trying to flog to new parents.

If people want car seat safety specialists, try The In Car Safety Centre, based in Essex and Milton Keynes. They do lots of online information and give advice over the phone too (they also deliver). These are actual specialists and can tell you the safest seat for your child depending on your needs, their size, your budget and also your specific car.

Halfords et al shouldn't be allowed to give 'safety' advice they don't have a bloody clue!

[quote scottish83]@SharpLily the specialists at Mothercare said our child could sit facing forward from 15 months and this was based on government guidance/law. In the end we waited til around 18 months. We aren't safety experts so we do usually defer to Government guidance which we presume is based on safety research.

If there is evidence which shows that the 15 month rule is inappropriate then you are probably correct to be horrified that the official rules are not fit for purpose.

If you have any useful links then I'd love to read them. We have a newborn who will be rear facing for the foreseeable future but would be great to keep him as safe as possible as he gets older. [/quote]
The law is an absolute bare minimum; the safety tests show that it is much safer for children to rear-face for much longer than 15 months.
Here is some helpful information about safety testing: www.carseatadvice-uk.com/car-seat-testing.html

My older ones are all FF. My youngest is RF but I think I will turn her FF before she turns two. She cries constantly in her car seat when RF. It is a risk but we very rarely go in the car and usually on slow London roads.

[quote springtimesunshine]@scottish83 With all respect to the people at Mothercare, they are not specialists. They're retail assistants who will have been trained to know the features of the seats they're trying to flog to new parents.

If people want car seat safety specialists, try The In Car Safety Centre, based in Essex and Milton Keynes. They do lots of online information and give advice over the phone too (they also deliver). These are actual specialists and can tell you the safest seat for your child depending on your needs, their size, your budget and also your specific car.

Halfords et al shouldn't be allowed to give 'safety' advice they don't have a bloody clue! [/quote]
Yes this!

2 and RF. Joie 360 spin.
Newborn and RF. Joie 360 spin.

Will RF as long as possible in those seats and then look at what our options are. Would prefer to keep RF.

DD is 3, rear facing and will be until she is 18kg (probably around 4.5 for her), and I'm considering getting an axkid to rear face her longer.

Only child fatality in an RTC I've been to in my career as a paramedic was a forward facing toddler.

Nearly 4 and front facing. Has been since I think around when she turned 3.

Mine are 23m and 3y2m. Both RF. Hoping to get to 4.5/5ish but they're both tall. We have axkid move and I'm going to see if I can move it backwards a bit for my 3yo.

@NameChange30 sorry it won't let me quote your post for some reason. I should have said, DC1 is in a Joie every stage so can rear face to 25kg and then use as booster til 12 yrs old. Am wondering if I could move them out of this into a HBB at about 4/4.5 to put DC2 who will be 1ish into that car seat after they've outgrown infant carrier. Or whether I need to buy another big car seat if DC1 will still be too small for HBB around 4/4.5. she's quite small - 25th centile height and weight. Thanks for your help

DS is 3.5 and just turned FF. We'd have RF longer but he's 107 cm and there was no longer enough space for him to sit comfortably RF.