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Original poster

Right then; car seats; total confusion!

28 replies

Chchchchanging · 30/05/2015 19:07

Dc2 due in 20 weeks...
In interest of spreading cash and keeping eye out for deals wanted to suss out car seat market
Last time had maxi cosi and base followed by maxi cosi pearl and same base
Original seal handle gone so need to buy new one... But with the rear seat guide I'm lost!
I have a saloon car it's big enough, but there is no way a 3.5 year old would be able to rear face, and front passanger not have face to windscreen
Small matter of they don't look safe for legs and are Â£400 meant I intend to continue down multi seat route as before
But
If it's law coming in will the seats become more ergonomic and also economical?
Am I worrying about too much with wedged in toddlers?
What have you all decided to do?

OP posts:

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NickySummerbee · 30/05/2015 19:09

I'm interested in your answers. I am bemused by the whole affair.

AbbeyRoadCrossing · 30/05/2015 19:13

I'm confused as well. DS has outgrown his and I've got another baby on the way. The difficulty we have is we share cars with other family members so for long trips we have one that takes isofix, but for our little run around car we need one that goes on the seatbelt without isofix. So we need a car seat that does both and lasts a while.

dementedpixie · 30/05/2015 19:13

The new law is to rear face until 15 months old - it only applies to specific i-size-seats though.

The existing seats are also legal and will still have the weight guide of up to 13kg

ARV1981 · 30/05/2015 19:14

After lots of research, I've decided on maxi cosi 2 way fix base with a pebble plus and then later a pearl when baby gets bigger.

I want to keep it rear facing for as long as possible, but long legs run in my family so it may not be for very long! My nephew is 18 months and tall, and he's still rear facing in a pearl + 2 way base in my sister's golf - if that helps? Not sure his exact height but my friend's 4 year old is only just a little taller than him!

dementedpixie · 30/05/2015 19:14

www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules/using-a-child-car-seat-or-booster-seat explains it a bit more

Momzilla82 · 30/05/2015 19:15

Facebook group called rear facing seats for toddlers in very helpful on this whole issue.

NickySummerbee · 30/05/2015 19:15

So is it still legal to use my bucket seat that has a weight limit of up to 13kg, and then move DC into my forward facing toddler seat?

FoxSticks · 30/05/2015 19:20

We have a besafe combi which is a huge monster of a seat but fits in our saloon ok. There isn't a huge amount of leg room in the front but it's not uncomfortable either. As it's a combi it is rear facing with isofix in our car but goes forward facing in grandparents cars who don't have isofix. Our three and a half year old is perfectly comfortable in it. As for her legs, I'd rather they were damaged than her neck, but as far as I'm aware their are no recorded incidents of rf seats damaging legs in a collision.

Orangedaisy · 30/05/2015 19:20

As far as I understand it the thing about staying rear facing is that it is far, far safer for head, spine and neck than forward facing. It might be higher risk for leg injuries but on the whole a broken leg has to be better than a broken neck... I also read about childrens' natural sitting position being cross legged (as they have to be in a rear facing seat) so no issues with them being that way in the car. So DD is in a cybex sirona rear facing and will be for as long as she can be. Tbh she doesn't know any different so I can't see it being a problem.

dementedpixie · 30/05/2015 19:36

Yes it is still legal to use the existing seats that have a weight limit of 13kg.

Both sets of laws will run in tandem for another couple of years I think

dementedpixie · 30/05/2015 19:38

www.childcarseats.org.uk/types-of-seat/i-size-seats/

HazleNutt · 30/05/2015 20:48

my 23-month old is a 95th percentile for height, in 3Y clothes, and fits fine in his Cyber Sirona, rear-facing. Sitting cross-legged is much safer than forward-facing.

MissTwister · 30/05/2015 21:26

Ive got a question! How do you keep an eye on a newborn (breathing etc) in a rear facing seat when you're driving?

dementedpixie · 30/05/2015 21:28

You can buy viewing mirrors although I never used one

SlinkyB · 30/05/2015 21:30

MissTwister you can buy a special mirror with a strap on, which attaches to the headrest of the car seat (facing baby). So when you look in your rear view mirror, you can see them in the mirror.

Hope that makes sense!

CakeMakesMeHappy · 30/05/2015 21:32

I have a mirror, it's handy to check her if she's fussing.

guinnessgirl · 30/05/2015 22:28

I'm all confused about this too, as our car is 14 years old, so no isofix points, and no plans to change car anytime soon. Not sure how that works with the new law

MissTwister · 30/05/2015 22:38

Thanks Slinky and Cake- I bought a rear view mirror from Mothercare but it seems to suggest its only for front facing babies i.e you attach it to your rear facing mirror. I'll investigate further but if you know where to buy one let me know!

candyflosscloud · 30/05/2015 23:01

In all honesty I don't understand the logic I mean yes I understand the thing about the neck etc but does that mean adults have to face rear as well considering it can happen to adults as well? (someone I know there friend died when having a car crash due to their neck snapping) I mean there always on about "bowed legs this bowed legs that" but HOW, HOW is that good for legs to have them seperated (which is the only comfortable position for those that have to rear face when having long legs).

dementedpixie · 30/05/2015 23:04

guinnessgirl, the new isize seats are isofix only so the new guidelines will not apply to you. You can still use current seats that are weight based rather than age based.

FoxSticks · 31/05/2015 00:36

candyflosscloud here's some information from a website called rear facing, the way forward. It has lots of information about why rear facing is safer for children in a frontal collision including comparison films of rear facing and forward facing collisions.

"The neck is completely unprotected when the head is catapulted. Whether the child can withstand the force of impact has nothing to do with muscle power. It is the spine that has to keep the head in place. (Not even physically strong adults can keep their heads in place using muscle power in an accident, but adult's skeletons are different to children's, as we will see.) A child's spine and skeleton is still growing. It has not solidified into bone yet, but is still very soft with lots of cartilage. This means that the neck is vulnerable to the great force it's being subjected to in a car crash and in a worst case scenario the neck will stretch so much that the spine snaps. This is called internal decapitation and basically means that the child has been internally beheaded. In tests, the dummy's neck has been stretched as much as 2 inches, but the spine can not be stretch more than a quarter of an inch before snapping. A child is much more vulnerable in an accident as they are still growing. Their proportions are not the same as adults'. Their heads are 25% of their bodyweight. If adults' heads where the same proportions the head would weigh 20kg."

I presume when you talk about bowed legs you mean rickets? Rickets is nothing to do with how you sit or leg position, it's due to a vitamin d and calcium deficiency. Sitting rear facing would not cause bowed legs.

candyflosscloud · 31/05/2015 00:54

I'm just going by what my health visitor told me and the pregnancy book I got given in 2012 when I was pregnant with my first son. If I sit crossed legged for a long time my legs start to ache etc If my newborn is born with long legs then the only position he would be able to sit in would be crossed legged so I would worry about the health of his legs.

Also like I said before I understand the safety of the neck etc but I would prefer it if they had better design seats that allowed more leg room where the children looked comfortable and they had more easy to get them in the back as we have a 3 door car and whilst the baby seat if okay now when the child moves up to the next stage carseat heaven knows how he would be able to get in and I can't just go down to the bottom of the money tree and get a new car as much as I would love to.

GunShotResidue · 31/05/2015 02:54

"Surely That Must BeÂ Uncomfortable?

No, it isn't. Children's skeletons are still largely made of cartilage, and they are far more flexible thanÂ adults. Small children naturally sit with their legs bent, and when they are very little this is actually better for the development of their hips and spine. Even older children don't experience any discomfort when they sit like this.

Won't They Break Their Legs In A Crash?

You often hear parents of rear facing children say that they would rather their children broke their legs instead of their neck. After all, broken legs can be fixed. But the reality is that there are no known cases of a rear facing child breaking their legs. It is however quite a common injury in forward facing car crash victims."

From:
www.rearfacingtoddlers.com/faq.html

Children's legs are naturally bowed, they straighten out as they grow. Pretty much the only thing that will stop them straightening is Rickets caused by vitamin D deficiency. Sitting cross legged won't make a difference :)

Roseybee10 · 31/05/2015 06:02

a child's head is much heavier in relation to their body than an adults. The older the child, the more in proportion they become.

I don't get the fixation people have about wanting to turn their babies around as early as possible when it's SOOOO much safer to have them rear facing as long as possible (more RL people like its a right of passage or something).
Yes it actually would be safer for adults to rear face too but it's not possible.
Scandinavian countries keep their children rear facing until at least four with some being 7.

My dd 1 is almost 3, very tall and still rear facing. She's never complained of sore legs or being u comfy (and believe me she lets you know when she's not comfy).
She was rear facing in a micra with plenty of space for the passenger in the front seat until I traded it in two months ago for a Note (boot space mostly as had a new baby and all the junk for both to fit in).

You can get an extended rear facing for under £200 now. Most babies are able to stay in their infant car seat until their head is higher than the seat so people do tend to move them into the next seat more quickly than needed tbh.

Topsy34 · 31/05/2015 07:30

It really is safer to rear face for as long as possible, have a look at the which crash testing, its eye opening.

Legally carseats only have to withstand a crash at 20mph, head on. So this is what manufacturers test. Which? Take it a step further a do side impact in car chassis at 30mph as well as head on.

The which? Videos along with a bit of research and visiting Kiddicare helped up choose what we wanted.

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