What age can a baby sit forward facing in a car seat?

[Lollibert]

Hi ftm wondering what age can baby sit forward facing in a car chair as a lot of conflicting advice online some saying 12 months some 15 months and some saying 2 years old??

As late as possible my sisters kids were rear facing until they went to school it’s much safer

The best practice - and by far the safest option - is rear facing until 4 or older.

legally, it depends on the type of car seat

Our country is v backwards in this, evidence shows chance of serious injury or death is between 4 and 5 times higher forward facing, keep rear facing as long as you can ❤️

You can buy forward facing car seats suitable
for 9mo. But whether you choose to is different question.

By law I think it's 15 months but this is still too young to be forward facing according to the experts (and laws of many other countries).

In the countries with the most science-based intelligent approach to car seats, the norm is becoming to rear-face until 6 years!

Internal decapitation is the main risk of forward facing too early and doesn't bear thinking about. My DD rear-faced until 5yo or thereabouts. She did so happily and actually now misses her RF seat.

Is there a reason you want to go forward facing? The reason I ask is because my DD was what is known as a car screamer. When she was rear facing she screamed and screamed and screamed until she puked. So she went forward facing at 9 months. Turns out she got horrendously car sick facing backwards. But rear facing for as long as possible is always the safest option.

There's a really good car seat group on FB called Car Seat Safety UK. It has lots of info about the benefits of rear facing beyond the legal minimum in the UK and some frankly terrifying videos about what happens in a forward facing crash situation.

The UK law is here: https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules but as others have said, from a safety perspective 15months (the legal age) is way too young. We are aiming for at least 5yrs old.

You can buy seats that rear face until 36kg or 125cm which ever comes first. So many children get to 6+ years. My daughter will get towards 7/8 years old due to being short and light!
Look at Axkid, Besafe and Britax.

Legally, it varies from country to country so make sure you are looking at a webpage for your country (I’m assuming the uk?) like https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules

Generally, the advice has been rear facing as long as possible, however, some forward facing seats do actually do better in crash tests than rear facing seats.

Do your research on individual seats before making up your mind. Look at the results of each test category, not just an overall summary.

You will want the safest possible seat for your circumstances, which will be:

• within your price range
• fits in your car

If you're ready facing past day 3 so an age where they're Def sorting with megs crossed our bent up, does that affect how long you can travel without a break? Do you kiss not get awful line and needles otherwise?

If you have an i size car seat (height based) then legally not until 15 months. It wouldn’t be illegal to forward face in some older car seats (weight based) from 9kg or roughly 9 months. https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules

From a safety perspective keep them rear facing as long as possible. DS started facing forward around 3y3 months, which is considered quite early on MN.

Most (not all) first stage car seats are designed to rear face until at least 15 months. However, just because you might legally be able to forward face, doesn’t mean you should. DD is almost two and still rear facing and I plan to rear face until she’s at least four, ideally six. Rear facing is so much safer. A number of specialist independent retailers can provide you with various extended rear facing options and test them in your car.

Safety-wise, at least 4, preferably older. You can get seats that rear-face up to about age 7 but you won't find them in Halfords and other chain high street shops (who generally give terrible car seat advice anyway). I can recommend the In-Car Safety Centre if you have a branch near you. Or Rearfacingtoddlers.com (who you might be able to see in person as well, depending on where you live).

@doodlepants yes I have a car screamer I don’t want to go anywhere because of it I can’t take the crying I think if she can see me she might be better but she’s very young

Older is better but the extended rear facing seat needs to be able to fit in your car properly, they can be large. A properly installed seat is the most important thing of all. Even when my kids were small they rear faced until 15 - 18 months

Have you tried one of the car mirrors, as she'll see part of you through it through your car mirror reflection

Does she have reflux? Sometimes that makes them cry in the car.
About 4/5 years is the age a lot of people move to FF.

Are you still using an infant/newborn seat?
My daughter hated hers and was like a different child in an extended rear facing seat- it was like having a new baby!

How old is very young?

DS1 was a chronic car seat screamer as a baby. At about 9 or 10 months I tried putting CBeebies on on my phone secured in a plastic wallet to the headrest he was looking it. Cured the screaming instantly. Didn’t have any other screen time so I didn’t feel bad at all. He’d grown out of both the screaming and needing the phone by 2 ish.

Their legs go... wherever they like 😂 up down or sideways, straight or bent, anywhere!

Mine is coming up 3.5yo and still rear facing as it's safer.

But I also think legs dangling down into the footwell would be more uncomfortable and likely to give pins and needles than legs having somewhere to rest on like the back of the seat.

This! DS5 is still backward facing as it's so much safer.

As others have said, technically it depends on the car seat. Reality is rear face as long as possible due to bone and muscle formation and risk of injury.

If baby is a screamer can you put the seat in the front next to you? You’d need to be able to disable the airbag first though.

As a short arse who has to dangle legs everywhere… I’d much much much rather sit crossed legged / folded up then dangling, it’s so uncomfortable and painful.

Can you use a mirror? How will she see you when forward facing? She'll see the back of your head at best. With rear facing and a mirror she can see your face, you can talk to her. It's also an option (usually) to rear face in the front passenger seat with airbags turned off which is better than forward facing

@Lavender2021 yes I am but I’m so confused about which seat to get as it would need to be reclinable as my baby is very particular when it comes to sleep