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Original poster

Rear-facing car seats, saw this today...

21 replies

SpinyNorman · 12/06/2009 09:56

here

My (very big) 8mo DD is almost too big and heavy for the car seat we bought when she was born, was just going to buy a front facing seat from mothercare, but saw that article this morning and was wondering if any MNers could recommend a good rear-facing seat?

TIA

OP posts:
norktasticninja · 12/06/2009 10:00

I have the BeSafe iZi Combi and it's fab, the BeSafe iZi Kid is very similar and also highly rated. I'm not in the UK so I can't do you a helpful link but I'm sure it's google-able.

Have a look here www.rearfacing.co.uk/.

silverfrog · 12/06/2009 10:02

I have a BeSafe IziKid Isofix, and it is fabulous. Very secure, very comfortable, and rates highly in tests.

I have also had a Britax rearfacing seat - sorry, i can never remember what it was called, maybe Fixway? - and whilst it was ok (and better than FF), the BeSafe is infinitely better.

sweetkitty · 12/06/2009 10:08

DD3 is 11 months and still rear facing, her seat goes up to 15 months.

Up here it seems it's as quick as parents can get their DC out rear seats, I have had a few comments now about DD3 still being in a "baby seat" it's like a badge of honour "he was too big for his baby seat at 6 months!"

crokky · 12/06/2009 10:20

This worries me.

Both my DCs are very tall, but both farily slim.

DD is 14m and rear facing in a Britax First Class Si Ultra (I think). This can go up to 13kg rear facing so she will stay in it until then. She grew out of her baby seat at 5 months as she was so tall her head was hanging out and the straps were nowhere near high enough for her shoulders. She is safe in this seat, but only until 13kg.

My DS is 3.3 and the size of an average 5yo (110cm tall). I can't see how i could squash him into a rear facing seat - please correct me if I am wrong. He is far too big for group 1 seats and is in a group 2 wearing the adult seat belt forward facing. I don't like it but don't see antoher option (Britax evolva 123 didn't fit our car).

difficultdecision · 12/06/2009 10:41

we have the brio zento and it's great. DS is only 17m and is not very tall but we figure it should last him until he is nearly 5 at this rate.

crokky - might be worth either visiting or calling the in car safety centre at essex who have a wide range of rear facing seats to try. If your DS is too big for a rear facing seat then forward facing seats are still very safe, it's a question of keeping them rear facing as long as possible - that will be different ages for different children.

More information on www.rearfacing.co.uk - give the guys a car in essex, you might be surprised

difficultdecision · 12/06/2009 10:45

give the guys a ring even - you can give them a car if you want

Original poster
SpinyNorman · 12/06/2009 11:15

Thanks for all the replys, have managed to find somewhere that stocks those seats in the UK if anyone is interested here

Didn't realise they would be so expensive

OP posts:
LittleGreenBean · 12/06/2009 12:12

Thanks for the link to UK stockist SpinyNorman; they do seem pricey but seem to have good reviews. Have only just seen the article this morning myself and am on the verge of getting a new seat as ds has almost grown out of his first seat, being pretty tall.

It's scary that we don't seem to have the most up to date information on safety available in this country and that all the big sellers are pushing forward facing seats.

silverfrog · 12/06/2009 12:16

the Incarsafetycentre also stock some, and the Gro group (makers of Grobags) are starting to import, also I think, see here

It is also possible to get them sent over form Europe, but that usually works out more expensive (I did that for mine, as not available over here yet)

silverfrog · 12/06/2009 12:17

oh, also meant to sya that a lot of the european car manufacturers (Volvo, Mercedes, Saab) also sell RF seats, but you have to do a bit of digging to find this out, as the showroom staff don't normally have a clue.

differentID · 12/06/2009 12:22

LGB, not everyone at the big sellers push forward facers. I try my best to get customers to keep their lo's rear facing, it's just the seats are not easy to get hold of.

mistlethrush · 12/06/2009 12:25

We had the Britax one for tall ds - and could move it to forward facing later.

LittleGreenBean · 12/06/2009 12:36

Thanks DifferentID; it's good to hear that some folks out there are trying to help educate people. It's worrying to hear that British car manufacturers are producing RF seats and exporting them to Scandinavia...

I feel totally confused now about the kind of seat i should be looking for as the combination ones looked ok, but the rear facing website suggests that they are not that safe either.

silverfrog · 12/06/2009 12:39

I think the view on combi seats is that they are a compromise all round - as a seat cannot be designed to be the best it can at RF and the best it can at FF. somewhere, something will be compromised (imo).

that said, they are not unsafe as such, but not as good as some other seats.

the safety tests linked to on the rearfacing site are well worth looking at. it does take some reading (with the aid of Babelfish!), but the comments and results can be eye-opening.

differentID · 12/06/2009 12:41

have a look at this one

LittleGreenBean · 12/06/2009 12:42

Thanks Silverfrog; i see what you mean about having to find a compromise At least having a RF seat would be a million miles better than a FF, especially while they are still dinky.

difficultdecision · 12/06/2009 12:43

snowflakes have the zento too - we ordered from them and their service was very good.

www.prams-pushchairs.co.uk/brio-zento-black-grey-p-373.html

clayre · 12/06/2009 12:46

I heard about this on the radio this morning and have been looking onthe internet this morning iwht a picture of a rear facing seat with a 3/4year old in, i have a 4 year old and i can not fathom out how they would fit comfortably in the seat without having their knees up their nostrils!

silverfrog · 12/06/2009 12:49

the style of the seat is quite different.

dd1 fitted in hers until nearly 4,and she is very tall.

see here

silverfrog · 12/06/2009 12:52

sorry for abrupt post, I was being hassled by dd1 to turn cbeebies on

anyway, dd1 was in a RF seat until 3.6ish (prob a bit later than that), and we only changed her round as she kept getting her feet stuck, and twisting her knee (she is autistic, and has spatial awareness issues, so couldn't work out where to put her feet once they got a bit big to dangle. they would have fitted ok if she had listened to us )

dd2 is currently RF, and is 2.4, and at her current rate of growth will stay RF until she is about 6!. there is plenty of room between the seat and the back of the car seat for feet/legs.

nicm · 12/06/2009 12:59

hi we have the britax 2 way elite for ds 14 months although my 3 yo mindee sometimes uses it. don't think it's as expensive as some of the other rf but is really good and fits loads of cars.

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