Anyone started using a front facing car seat before baby was 9kg???

[Gnomehead]

My daughter is very slight for her age (nearly 10 months and weighs 7.7kg) and we would love to put her in a front facing car seat as she is now getting very frustrated and unhappy with the rear facing one unless she is asleep which is frankly making car journeys a bit of a nightmare.

Has anyone put their baby in a front facing seat before they got to 9kgs? We put her in one to try at the weekend and she looked fine and wasn't too small from a size perspective.
Wondering whether it is a real no-no to get one a bit early?? Help!

Size or length of the baby isn't that important. Weight, and the ability to sit unaided for lengthy periods of time, are far more important. Forward facing seats offer babies far less safety in case of a crash. I personally wouldn't risk it as your little one is quite a long way under the weight limit.

Sorry think she's still too light. Did move mine probably just before turning 9kg - ds was 11 months-ish and dd 17 months ! If space or comfort is an issue get a fixed reversible one(liek Britax First Class) but keep her facing backwarsd for the time being as she woudl be safer if the unthinkable happened.

Her fuss is more likely to do with being restricted when she'd prefer being freely mobile than which way round she is. Can you get ehr some small toys ot fiddle with , preferably which attach to the seta back or can be strapped to the harness so she can't lose them. We had a great mini activity centre from a £ store which had a mirror one side and things to slide and open on other, in the shape of a boat.

My DS was quite tall for his age and weight, we got a big stage 1 and2 seat. It gave more room in the rear facing position than the stage 1 ones. It was great once he was facing forward as it clicked easily into a reclining position.

my ds wasnt lighter when he moved to front facing but he was only 6 months as he is a big boy and well developed. we had him assessed at 2 diferent shops and all said his head control etc was good enough. i know what you mean about the frustration as this was one of the reasons we moved ds but i wouldnt have moved him before he was 9 kg. its all to do with the physics side of things and the seats are designed to work for a certain weight range

i wouldn't do it
both dds were in rear facing until they were about 15 months because they didnt' meet height or weight guidelines, and they could certainly sit up by then
dont' think frustrration or unhappiness count as a reason for switching over!

8kg is the minimum - as is being over 1. They have done the research on this one - and being over 1 was by far the biggest factor. She will just have to be unhappy for a little while longer.

Height DOES matter - this website is a MUST for your links
and it says (I've only included some of the text):
...Rearward-facing seats provide greater protection for the baby's head, neck and spine than forward-facing seats. So, it is best to keep your baby in a rearward-facing seat for as long as possible. Only move them to a forward-facing seat once they have exceeded the maximum weight for the baby seat, or the top of their head is higher than the top of the seat.

all the shops advertise stage 1 seats as being from 9kg or approx. 9months. ds is tall (actually abit of a mutant ) and was getting cramped in his rear facing so when his strength and height etc was assessed and said it was ok we moved him. had they said it wasnt ok even though he was heavy enough, we wouldnt have moved him over. ds was doing alot of physical things early, eg early head control and sitting etc

Sorry haven't read all posts but the advice is the size indicates their chest muscles would not support them in event of a crash. I would hold off, if you really can. Kiddicare.com do flash cards you can hand from the seat for them to look at, try different toys?HTH