Car seats - how long did you rear face your child for?

[ShutterHaze]

I know a lot of people say “as long as possible”, but interested to hear what people have done in practice!

6 for child on 70th centile, 5 for child on 96th centile.

We FF at about 18mo but got the cybex ones with the airbags which makes them much safer than regular FFing seats

Out of interest, I looked at the current UK law re age and it states minimum 15 months for height based seats (E R129) but no age for weight based seats (E ECE R44)

https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules

Our son was about 5.5, we’ll wait longer for our daughter, she has CP so would be more vulnerable in a crash, she is a shorty so far too. Where we live rear facing for children is the norm.

When they outgrew the baby carrier seat, so maybe 16/18 months? They are 21 and 19 now so the rules were different. Mind you, most of my friends FF their DC much sooner as a display of "how advanced" they were or something stupid. Thankfully they never had a crash!

If I had DC now I'd keep them RF as long as I could.

At 6 - new car seat for his birthday as he was so upset (by other people commenting about) the ‘baby’ seat

3 year old is still rear facing

axekid minikid for both. I’d recommend it to anyone

Just shy of her 7th birthday

Just over a year, I think. She gets carsick going backwards and we had a scare where she vomited and choked. Luckily her 8 year old brother was next to her and pulled her out of the seat, put her over his lap and slapped her on the back while I pulled over. She's been forward facing ever since and doesn't get sick like that.

Depending on the side of the child about 14m to just under 2. My youngest is 9, and I didn’t know that extended rear facing was a thing at the time (central London and only occasional car use) It was only once we moved out that we came across anyone doing this.

If I were to have a 4th now I would rear face for longer, perhaps 3/4yrs old depending on the size of the seat and space in the car.

We just turned DD FF and she’s 5 and 3 months. She’s got a long back and short legs like me, so her shoulders no longer fitted comfortably under the headrest (no issues with leg space). I’d have kept her RF for as long as she fitted, if that was age 5 or age 7.

Ah yes. It says a group one seat can be used forward or rear facing from 9kg, which is terrifying.

4.5 and 3.5 have a 12 month old he’ll be RF til atleast 3.5

Terrifying seems a really strong word for the difference in severity from FF to RF in a car. You're still protected by all the other safety features of the car like the crumple zone, anti lock brakes, the solid frame, anti collision systems etc etc.

Genuine question, do you find people cycling on the road with a baby/toddler on their bike "terrifying"?

Because that'd be a much more severe crash, in the unlikely event of a crash, than a forward facing 5 point harness seat inside a car. There are none of the safety features of a car, but you're on the road with other cars.

Where I live, South london, lots and lots of people do the school run with their kids on a bike, including small toddlers.

And yet none of them seem to attract the same safety-related-disapproval of FF car seats.

I'm not having a go, I just find it really interesting.

I always find these conversations interesting as I genuinely don't know anyone who has rear-faced beyond about 2, but we live on an island where the maximum speed limit is 40mph and more often 30 / 20 or even 15mph. No motorway driving, only one short stretch of dual carriageway so serious collisions at speed are thankfully extremely rare. I don't actually remember hearing of a serious crash with children involved in the 20 years I've lived here.

That said, 16 month old DS is RF in a swivel seat and will remain that way for the foreseeable future.

Yep I find that even more terrifying, to be fair. It’s not a thing where I live.

I find the difference between online and IRL pretty stark. I know the people online exist in real life but still. I mentioned in chat with some mum friends that I was worried that DS was getting too tall for his baby car seat someone replied asking if he’ll be going forward facing then. He’s six months old! Only one other person in the group said that it’s actually better to rear face for longer and she wants to RF to 4.

It’s kind of a mix by me. My kids are 2.5, in nursery car park I see about 50/50 mix of rear facing and forward facing (although lots of the ff kids do look way too small for it). I also see lots of kids not strapped in properly and wearing big puffy coats in the car seat, I don’t think you’re taught enough about car seats while pregnant!

Most of my friends with kids are aiming for 4 years old.

I am personally aiming for 5 minimum but my twins are absolutely tiny (10kg & 80cm at 2.5!) and I feel they’ll need the support for longer.

I’m yet to actually see a child over 4/5 in an erf seat in real life, although I’m sure people do it. I mostly see it online.

Between 2 and 3, though my 4 year old chooses to face backwards sometimes still. One issue I have that's never mentioned is being able to hear what your child is saying when they face backwards - I have to get the older one to relay messages if the little one faces backwards!

I have really struggled to find decent information on the subject, even on threads with RF keen beans. I don't doubt the research is out there but a lot of things just seem to be repeated as fact with no source. It's a definite echo chamber.

I also make a concerted effort to not use the car and avoid the motorway if I think there is a a safer back road (live near motorway so suppose it is available for more local journeys than some people do on one). I don't often hear about that aspect of safety on FF/RF threads either.

Four. Tall child and she grew out of the rear facing seat we could fit in our tiny car.
Otherwise I’d have kept going to 5 or 6

both were 6.

I'm a childminder and haven't seen any parents keep their child rear facing beyond 2. You're lucky if they're still even on a booster cushion by 8.

Around 14-15 months due to how much she’d scream and be sick. It was horrific. Car journeys have been peaceful and safer ever since.

My 5.5yo is still rear facing - but he’s the only child I know in real life anywhere near that age rear facing - I think mumsnet gives a skewed version of what actually happens for most children.

My son was 2. I honestly thought it was okay at the time and wasn’t equipped with enough knowledge about extended rearfacing. I’m due a baby early next year and, knowing what I know now, I’ll 100% be rear facing her at least age 4.

My child is 4 and I’m aiming for another 18 months at least