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 :)

Escalated to what? It's a toddler tantrum, they're not going to explode.

It isn’t particularly safe to drive with a screaming child, though.

I find it very, very difficult to focus if this happens and it massively increases the possibility of an accident because my hearing and attention is impaired.

Like many things, we make sensible decisions based on our own lifestyles and personalities.

5 years, once too big for RF seat. DC didn't know any better, although admittedly was in the front a lot because the seat wouldn't fit in back (so not ideal).
Cousin is nearly 4 and we now use the same seat when carrying two of them.

I will be keeping mine rear facing in their ERF seats for as long as possible and until they don't fit, hopefully age 5-6. I don't know anyone else rear facing their toddlers, all my friends and other parents from groups have their toddlers forward facing. It really blows my mind as the facts are so clear on how this is unsafe. I hate the implication that people who rearface beyond age 1-2 are over the top or a bit crazy and this is implied through your comment 'keep their kid rear facing until they're 26'. There's no real downsides to rear facing and if the child doesn't know any different and doesn't have another option then they won't mind. Kids can also actually see more out of the windows when rearfacing than forward facing and can use mirrors to see you driving so those aren't valid arguments. When it really is SO much safer why are so many parents willing to risk their child's life, your sole job is to keep them safe. I just don't get it.

@gentlemum just to clarify (again) I still rear face my 3.5yo, and will continue to do so. I'm fully aware that ERF is up to 5 times safer so I in no way think it's over the top. Couldn't imagine FF my two yet and I make it very clear to anyone who takes the kids that they must be RF

@febbabies2023 sorry my comment about FF early wasn't directed at you, but more just a general comment on the amount of people who FF early and ignore how unsafe it is. I just thought your comment about people rearfacing till age 26 makes it sound like parents who choose to rearface for as long as possible are a bit crazy.

Exactly this. Both of mine went through a stage of screaming in the car. They'd never forward faced, so had no idea this was even an option, so I very much doubt it was because of the direction they faced. What did help was moving out of their infant seat into an ERF seat and putting a mirror on the head rest. ERF seats are higher, which means they can see the road and look at the cars, and both love making faces at themselves in the mirrors.

Is that even English 😂

Babies who HATE rear facing is the rush I suppose.
not all kids like the car. Esp when they can’t see the parent.

Yep. Good point.

We've always had mirrors so the kids can see us and vice versa.

@bungletru but how do you know the baby hates rear facing? Young children don't know forward facing is an option so they don't want to forward face. Some kids do hate the car and not seeing their parent, but there are safer options.. use a mirror, rear face them in the front seat with the airbag off. No need to rush to forward face then

The screaming gives it away, I imagine. I can understand forward facing if baby does nothing but scream in the car because on the whole, that is probably safer than driving with a screaming baby distracting you.

@SouthLondonMum22 yes I can maybe understand it if you've tried absolutely everything and still your child screams the entire time in the car, but I think the point is most people don't try other options or use forward facing as a last resort. It also just doesn't make sense why a child would scream rear facing (if you use a mirror and they can see you) but they're fine forward facing. It's likely another issue.. like a mirror isn't being used or the car seat is uncomfortable because it's the wrong seat or wrong fit

That's fair. It should definitely be a last resort.

My eldest turned 4 a couple of months ago and has just outgrown her joie in terms of height. I’d quite like to buy another rf seat but I’m pregnant with number 3 and we can’t fit 3 rf across the back of our car or afford a bigger one, so think she’ll need a HBB in the middle.

My DS is 5 next month and has just grown out of his Joie 360 and started forward facing in a new car seat last month. Youngest will hopefully make it to around the same age too as they are both on the lower percentile for height and weight.

DS1 switched to forward-facing at 15 months because he would scream and vomit. We had a Joie360 and had every intention to keep him rear-facing, but it wasn't safe for us. He is now 3.5 and weighs 18kg (he is slim but incredibly dense like DH) and wouldn't be able to use the seat now anyway.

DS2 is 13 months and has just moved into the Joie360. As long as he doesn't develop car sickness, we will keep him rear-facing until he outgrows the seat.

We are in a 2008 Corsa, so it's really tight for space. I won't be buying a seat for ERF because it would be very uncomfortable if even possible.

The extended rear facing seat can take up the same amount of space as the joie spin seats but you have the option to give it more leg room if you have it.

Hi @gentlemum
my baby hated not being able to see ME. The mirror did not help as I can see him but he cannot see me

its a rarity (apparently) when a child doesn’t like the car

being forward facing has helped us so much. He is so happy to see me driving and is much more content.

we knew there was a difference when we were almost transitioning and we had a forward facing seat in my parents car and the rear one still in mine. He was happier in the ff one.

hope that helps..

i don’t rush anything with him, but my goal with him is to be calm and ensure he is a content baby.

You've missed the point of that previous post = "Young children don't know forward facing is an option."
If yours wasn't forward facing in gps car, they wouldn't know they preferred it.

I know exactly what the poster meant
my point was they hated being rear facing BECAUSE they couldn’t see me!
not because they knew any different.

honestly.

Did you try one of those car seat mirrors so that your child could see you?

Yeah and still cried

So the issue mustn’t have been that they couldn’t see you then, if they could see you in the mirror?

It’s fine to make a choice that you think is best for your own child in your own circumstances, no need to make excuses to justify your decisions to random people on the internet.