What age did you face your LO forward in a car seat?

[Mamabear04]

What age did you face your LO forward in a car seat?

[jollyho]

@Liverbird77 contraception and abortion isn’t free everywhere in the world. Where I live now, contraception is about £10-£15, plus a DRs appointment fee (only £2).
And when I tried to book an abortion appointment in the U.K. the receptionist wouldn’t let me.

[Sirzy]

@OverTheRainbow88

My kids are 2 and 4 and FF since about 14 month each.

Until this thread I’ve never heard of kids RF at 4!!!! Seems very excessive

If you actually look at the safety data then it’s clear it’s not excessive at all

[SinkGirl]

We are changing now to FF at 4.5 as they’ve outgrown the weight limit for their current RF car seats and it feels crazy to buy two very expensive extended RF seats when they are past 4 and we rarely use the car these days.

[Liverbird77]

@jollyho fair enough. I was assuming the other poster was in the UK. I totally accept it isn't free in every country.

I have to say your treatment by the receptionist you encountered was disgraceful. Did you report her? She had no right to do that.

[LostBlanket]

Around 14-15 months as he started getting motion sickness. Since I've turned him forward facing, he has never been sick!

[Bluebelltulip]

4 I think most of her friends were FF earlier, I'll keep dc2 RF for the same time possibly a bit longer as he's low centile so should be over 4 when he reaches 18kg.

[3WildOnes]

I’ve just turned my youngest FF and she is around 18 months. She screamed the whole time RF which meant that we really avoided going anywhere in the car. She is much happier FF. I think the risk of is crashing is significantly lower now that we are not feeling stressed from having to listen to her scream non stop (occasionally broken up by vomiting because she screamed so hard).

[Rhubarblin]

My eldest ff at something awful like 8 months, her baby seat only went to 9kg at the time and she was fairly chonky as a baby (in the 00's). I hadn't heard of rf back then.

My 3yo is still rf.

[Rhubarblin]

I'm the only person I know who uses an erf car seat though!

[BlackLambAndGreyFalcoln]

4.5 years.

[Christmaspuddingsteaminghot]

Nearly 4 year old rf in a 25kg seat with us. He has outgrown the 18kg one I bought before he was born that was a spare with grandparents, he will now ff in their car but hasn’t yet because of lockdown. It will be interesting to see if he likes it.

[BittyBatHats]

2 for DC1 because he was a true car seat screamer who was later diagnosed with autism. It was just horrendous for everyone. DC2 made it to just before 4.

[GrouchyKiwi]

Earlier than suggested with my first (didn't know about it then; we didn't have a car so hardly travelled with her anyway).

About 15 months with my second.

9 months with my third. She screamed and screamed every single journey while rear-facing. As soon as we turned her around she was absolutely fine in the car. We decided that was safer.

[LadyBugg]

DS1 rearfaced until he turned 5, he had been at school a few months before he got his new ff seat.
DS2 is 4 and I will keep him rear facing too until he is 5, maybe even longer as he is small for his age.

[ThornAmongstRoses]

With my first son (now 7) I forward faced him when he was 10 months. I’m pretty horrified with myself when I think about it now, or when I see old photos of him in the car seat, but back then it was just the done thing.

My second son, who is 3.5 years old is still rear facing and needs a new car seat because I’m having issues with his current one. A lot of friends/family are telling me to get a FF one because he’s older now and it’s cheaper etc but I still don’t feel comfortable with that. I’m trying to research into forward facing seats within the requirements I want and it’s a nightmare.....so many to choose from and I feel a bit lost.

That’s another reason why it keeps being suggested to me to get a FF seat as apparently it’s less complicated??

[Notmydaughteryoubitch]

My 5 year old DD still RF, bought a seat to allow extended RF. Will FF when out grows which I imagine will be another year or so.

[BertieBotts]

Thorn there aren't that many RF seats suitable for a 3yo (ie won't be shortly outgrown) ,this is the whole list :

Besafe izi plus
Britax two way elite /Max way /hi way 2 / max way plus /multi tech 3
Axkid move / Minikid / one
Klippan century / Opti 129
Avionaut sky

There also aren't that many forward facing ones unless he's very small for his age or you want to put him in a booster seat.

Happy to help you find a seat if I can.

[ThornAmongstRoses]

Happy to help you find a seat if I can.

Thank you so much. I just feel overwhelmed and lost in the process.

He’s only a little thing, probably only about 14kg so I’m hoping that we’ve got some time left in a RF car seat. If I have to put him in a FF one then I will but ideally I would prefer RF.

[BertieBotts]

Oh yes definitely. The seats I listed above are all rear facing ones up to 25kg so will last him plenty of time.

There are also lots of rear facing seats up to 18kg, but I'm guessing this is the type he is currently outgrowing, so he may be too tall for those? They are all around the same size for height.

[BertieBotts]

(Happy to take this to PM or a separate post somewhere else)

[Trixie78]

Our twins are 2.5 years and still RF, we plan to keep them like that as long as possible. We bought a 360 rotating car seat though that does RF and RF for times one is upset in the car seat, you can turn them round for a bit to calm them before spinning them back round.

[Puntastic]

@BertieBotts

(Happy to take this to PM or a separate post somewhere else)

If you do end up starting a different thread @ThornAmongstRoses, please link to it here. I've an almost-three year old who I'm planning to put in a 25kg RF as soon as she hits 18kg/her baby brother outgrows the baby carrier and needs her current seat. Could do with the tips!

[MyDcAreMarvel]

Age five.

[lovelsa]

My eldest was in forward facing around 18-19m, my second was forward facing around 12/13m.

They were both Houdini's and would manage to get out of the straps of their rear facing car seats while we were driving. So it was safer to move them to forward facing with a lap impact shield thing rather than the harness straps.

[TokenGinger]

My son is 2 this month and way over 100th centile and rear facing with plenty of room in my small Renault Clio. I'm really surprised at how much room he does have in such a small car to be honest. We have an Axkid Minikid. We had a Joie Tilt before he outgrew it by weight and he had less room in that. We'll RF until he reaches the weight limit, which will be before age 4 given his centiles, unfortunately.

I'm really surprised by how many people have said FF have reduced travel sickness. I suffer terribly with travel sickness and I am at my worst when sitting in a back seat with no clear view just looking at a head rest. Looking out of the side window and seeing everything whizz past really upsets my brain (and tummy) which results in my sickness. I'd have thought having a clear view out of the rear view window and seeing things move away from you, rather than whizz by you, would be more helpful for sickness, though I guess not judging by how many people have had positive experiences by moving to FF.