What age did you forward face?

[febbabies2023]

I'm just curious to see when people started to forward face their children?

I see a lot of posts on 'mum groups' about how they'll basically keep their kid rear facing until they're 26, but virtually everyone I know has forward faced at about 2

For reference, my eldest is 3.5 and still rear facing. Youngest is 9m and will be for as long as I can too.
Eldest is 50th centile so car seat weights etc not really been an issue
Youngest is 99th centile so we'll see!

Just curious to see what the general population does :)

My off the chart (literally a full cm or so above the 99th centile line - was 155cm on her 9th birthday) DD rear faced in an axkid minikid until 6.5. She's very leggy with a shorter torso so fitted in the seat over the height limit, but was miles under the maximum weight.

At nearly 10 she still chooses to sit with her legs tucked up as if she was still RF as she says it's more comfy, and still uses a HBB as she still fits even though she's way over the height they are required, the seat belt doesn't sit properly without.

I have lots of friends who rear faced to 4/5 but very few who continued once they went to school. Definitely not the only one who carried on until they physically didn't fit in the seat though.

It's nothing to do with competition simply to do with safety. Majority of extended rear facing seats have been tested to a higher standard (Swedish testing), have shown lower force in crash testing and have better results.

I don't give 2 hoots what another parent decides to do. But if given the choice for me as his mum if he still fits the seat specs, is comfortable then he will remain rf in our day to day car. DS1 is nearly 5 and is tall he knows what's comfy for his leg position and he does that.

DC1 vomited when RF after about five minutes. We turned FF at about 18months and they've been fine ever since. What would you suggest there? Just have them vomiting until 3?

By contrast, DC2 has always been fine RF, and will remain RF as long as possible.

If round here is anything to go then actually going at the speed limit would be much safer rear facing or not!

My 7 year old is still rear facing (in an axkid) very happily.

Ours both ff around their 4th birthday. We had a smallish car, so it did impact leg room in the front passenger seat but we made it work. Most people I knew ff much earlier. Our extended rf seat (bought 6 years ago) was quite expensive. I think the cheaper seats usually ff, especially the ones that do multiple stages.

We took DDs 7yo friend in our car and she commented that DD was in a 'baby' seat because she was in a high backed booster. DD didn't care as she finds it comfy but I was a bit surprised her friend is just using a booster cushion. (They have 2 children, so not an issue of fitting in 3 seats).

DC1 at 2y 3m when DC2 came along - we had to move her to the driver's side and DH couldn't get the seat back far enough to drive with her RF.

DC2 I can't remember but I think it was similar.

We were the latest of all the families we know bar 1.

Agree these threads attract those who ERF, and that those who don't choose not to post because there is an air of judgement.

I think if you're going to talk about risk and statistics, you also need to understand that the numbers are tiny, and doubling a very very remote risk just makes it a very remote risk.

My eldest rear faced until 4.5 my youngest will stay rear facing longer due to safety and because he on lower centile anyway. He fits in his 18 kg joke seat. He is definitely not meetthe minimum requirement to forward face. His legs are fine folded, actually more comfortable than dangling ff

Honestly? I think it was about eight months - maybe a bit later (it was a very long time ago)

However I remember that EVERY journey was hell when she was rear facing. Whether it was because she couldn’t see me or the world properly, or whether it was making her sick or uncomfortable I don’t know but she SCREAMED on every single journey. Water torture levels of screaming. Every car journey was tense and to be honest bloody dangerous. My stress levels were through the roof every time we got in the car. We kept them to a minimum but some were unavoidable and on numerous occasions I left the journey sobbing and shaking (literally, not Mumsnet shaking) through the tension

As soon as she was heavy enough to forward face (as was the guidance at the time) we swapped her round and the screaming stopped. I don’t regret it at all and my heart goes out to the parents who are going through this. Until you’ve lived it you just can’t judge on this one.

Someone did go into the back of us once when she was about a year but she was absolutely fine - the car seat did it’s job.

He's just turned 1 and rear facing. We're now expecting twins so it will be as long as they can all fit with him also rear facing.

Currently at almost 4 year old and should get another 3-4 years in our current seat before forward facing.
You can get seats for 36kg or 125cm which ever comes first rear facing.
They have to stop at 125cm as that's the regulations for harnessed seats but bigger children do fit to get the higher weight so I expect the hight limit to change in a few years.

4.5, 9th centile for height and weight.
She's now 5.5 and what I've noticed is that this seems normal for kids her age and younger around where we live (certainly none at nursery drop off for the toddler room were FF). But for kids even a handful of years older, they were FF quite a lot earlier. So our neighbours 8yr old was turned FF at 15 months.
I wonder if it coincides with the spinning seats becoming more prevalent and affordable

6 almost 7 but she's 8 now and only 117cm so not very representative of most 8 yr olds I'd think. We changed once she safely fitted a high backed booster seat, prompted only by her growing awareness of others not in sears at all. She was perfectly comfortable and legs were fine.

I'm impressed with the parents in your nursery.
Lot's of ours have spin seats but very few rear face very long - even the manufacturer say their seat is safer rear facing.

Both my 5 year old and 2 year old are still rear facing and will be for the foreseeable as both low centiles. We have an axkid and a besafe stretch which both are designed for extended rear facing. My 5 year old is only now beginning to moan when his friends are forward facing but with him being so small still and the roads we live on not being the safest, it's not something I'm comfortable with yet. He's never once moaned about not being comfortable though 😊

I think because of the recent changes, there's a whole cohort of parents who will provide irrelevant data. For example, me right now 😂

I wanted to wait as long as possible but back then it was around 9 months iirc. I was the only one of my friends who had an older child. On her first birthday, we had a long drive home from the beach and she was screaming and screaming. My friend suggested turning her round and she instantly stopped and loved the new view. My friend is much more relaxed than me (and her baby was much bigger) and laughed that I was so overprotective. It was a very careful drive home, second only to the first time I drove with her in the car.

Mine is 3.5 and has just outgrown her 360 so we've just bought an axkid so she can RF for longer. The alternative is a booster at her height and I feel she is too young for that.
She doesn't know any different to RFing so hasn't complained she isn't FF, and seems perfectly comfortable.

Two and still RF. She’s fine rear facing and so I haven’t turned her but if she starts screaming for the entire journey, I’ll turn her. I’m not trying to get to a certain age. I’ve taken the view that it’s safer for me not to be distracted when driving and us not to be in an accident. So we’ll RF until she grows out of it or starts becoming too much of a distraction. I’m one of only a couple people I know in real life who have RF passed 2, most have started screaming around 18-20 months.

We have a Honda jazz and my daughter rear faces in a akid minkid4. She's younger than your dd but centile wise is 90th for height and 75th for weight. I expect her to be in it till 6.5/7 at which point she'll move to a booster seat.

To be fair, it's probably not representative. There are a lot of medical parents at our nursery as it's near a hospital and does extended hours. Two of DDs friend's mums are paediatricians and another is a paediatric pathologist! That mum has v much made her views and experience on car seat safety known.

We have an akid minkid4 and love it. It's a slim fit, teather install. I'm 9 months pregnant and can install independently in mins.

We have a Honda jazz so not hugest car and can fit it and infant carrier in the backseat with my 6ft2 husband and 5ft7 me in the front .

I don't think I've ever seen a child older than about one in a rear facing seat. Certainly not a 7 year old.

My son is coming up to 4 and will rear face until he's probably 6. As much as anything, he's over 18kg, but isn't mature enough to forward face with a seatbelt now that he's outgrown most options for forward facing with a harness (not that I would do that anyway, the increased risks of internal decapitation in an accident are too horrific for me to consider that!).

For reference, my son is 98+ centile for height, so very long, and has never complained of being uncomfortable in his seat. As he has never had the option to forward face he's never complained about rear facing either!

Yeah I think it comes down to not knowing any different. My daughter never once complained about being RF until we went on holiday at 4yrs 4 months and the hire car only had a forward facing seat. Then, we also got a new (second) car which didn’t have isofix so had to buy a new seat, it made sense to get a FF one as she was nearly grown out the other one and she’d only be in it occasionally so I wasn’t spending £3-400 on an ERF one at 4.5. Once she realised FF was a thing the whinging started…I still stuck it out until she physically outgrew her RF one in the other car a few months later though.

I get it if they’re vomiting, or screaming, but if they’re not, nowadays it’s so well promoted that RF is safer I don’t understand why you wouldn’t as long as you can? Yes the risk is small anyway but why increase even a small risk? I mean I’ve never been in a crash where a seat belt saved my life (touch wood!) but I wouldn’t contemplate not using one…