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Would you like your baby to be five times safer....

92 replies

lagoonhaze · 01/05/2012 22:22

in the car?

If so then check out extended rearfacing car seats.

When I had my DS i went down the traditional route of infant carrier and forward facing at around 9mths. I was blissfully unaware of the risks that forward facing seats could pose to a young child body.

I started to see posts on mumsnet about extended rear facing (ERF) and it sparked me to do further research.

From //www.carseat.se

Children who sit rear facing in a car seat cut the risk for death or injury dramatically. But why is rear facing so much better and where did the idea come from?

There are three main reasons why rear facing is so much better. First one is the outstanding protection of a child?s head, neck and spine in frontal collision which is roughly 80% of accidents. Second is superior protection in side collisions. A rear facing child is pushed further into the car seat where it?s well protected. Third is a social reason, rear facing car seats often work better since driver/passenger can more easily communicated with the child


From before my DD was even conceived I knew she would be extended rearfacing and I set to work about slowly convincing my DP. I expected a struggle as this baby was his 3rd and my 2nd and all the other DCs were turned round like other around the year mark.

He looked at the research, videos and said yes knowing what I know now I, happy for us to ERF best start saving up for the seat!

Im pleased he has come to this conclusion with me as its something I feel very passionate about. However when I mention it to friends they look at me like I have two heads!

So if you want to check it out for yourself here are some good sites.

//www.rearfacing.co.uk

This is their facebook site which can answer any questions

www.facebook.com/groups/209783279077720/357870094269037/?notif_t=group_activity#!/RearFacingTheWayForward

Another fab site is

www.carseat.se/

There are loads of seats becoming available due to consumer demand. This along with an expected law change in early 2013 to keep all babies rearfacing til 14 mths means hopefully they will become the norm.

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helenlouisey · 02/05/2012 08:14

Yep, my 3 and 1/2 year old is still in a rear facing car seat , real lack of awareness of the benefits of keeping children in rear facing car seats for as long as possible.

Great post Lagoonhaze, and anything that can be done to raise awareness is very worthwhile.

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Hpbp · 02/05/2012 09:50

Lagoon, thank you very much for this post, I wasn't aware of this at all. the rearfacing link speaks for itself, I am more than convinced.
Helen, can I ask you which car seat you are using for your 3.5 YO ? mine is same age and 100cm and 16kg.
Thanks

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Iheartpasties · 02/05/2012 10:06

Thank you for this. I will do some reading of your links and have a think about what type of car seats we will buy! We're (fingers crossed) getting a car soon so will need two car seats :)

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lagoonhaze · 02/05/2012 11:27

Glad you have all found it useful. It really is something the government are letting people down on by lack of info.

On the rearfacing Facebook page there is a video that is really good. Cant link as on phone.

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lagoonhaze · 02/05/2012 11:33

A seat which interests me is

www.securatot.co.uk/klippan-kiss-2?category_id=61

It's an infant carrier and an Erf. It appears pricey but when i think of what I've spent on my other seats it's not bad value!

We are getting a britax two way elite for out next seat as we have storage boxes.

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FrozenNorthPole · 02/05/2012 11:39

Agreed - we have 2 BeSafe Izi Combi isofix seats from Paul Stride in York and my children (3.5 years, 1m tall and 17 kg, and 2 years, 84 cm tall and 14 kg) love being able to see out of the back windscreen.

My feeling is that more and more people are buying these seats now, which hopefully means that the prices will begin to drop even further.

On the Car Seats sub-forum there's lots of info and, if you shop carefully, you really don't end up spending much more than on a good FF seat.

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AngelFairy · 02/05/2012 11:46

Thank you.
I always thought changing them to forward was wrong, but we're forced to except the experts research... Hmm

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Hpbp · 02/05/2012 11:51

Brilliant, many thanks, ladies for these info. I will have to look at carseats soon so will definitively keep your advice in mind.

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lagoonhaze · 02/05/2012 18:18

Such lovely positive responses. If ERF has interested you please share your experiences amongst your friends especially new and expectant parents who are unaware it even exsists.

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helenlouisey · 02/05/2012 18:33

We also have the same car seat as frozen north pole, the besafe izi combi, the weight limit is 18kgs & don't think there are the same restrictions re height, but check this with retailer before you buy one. My son is very skinny so about 14 kgs so hoping to get another year or two use out of this car seat.

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ragged · 02/05/2012 18:35

ffs, zealots.
Neah, I'd rather my baby danced in middle of the lorry-ridden road. Why wouldn't I feel that way?

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lagoonhaze · 02/05/2012 18:41

ragged?????

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lagoonhaze · 02/05/2012 21:05

bumping for the evening crew

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Daisybell1 · 02/05/2012 22:53

Thanks for this. I've posted on the car seats site looking for advice on this matter. I think I'm convinced about the additional safety but with the proviso that the seats fit my cars properly. I think I'd prefer a properly fitting ff seat to a poorly fitting rear facing one.

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lagoonhaze · 02/05/2012 22:58

Hi fellow herqules fan club! Will have a look at your post x

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lagoonhaze · 04/05/2012 18:23

Bumping again

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lagoonhaze · 07/05/2012 09:09

Bumping for the bank holiday crew!

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ItsMyLastOne · 07/05/2012 16:27

My sister has a klippan kiss in our mum's car. It was seriously useful when her dd gets sleepy whilst out, say at a party or something, and she can sleep in it and then be wheeled along (using the pull out handle and wheels on it) back to the car to go home. And she still fits ok to do this in the infant carrier part at 20 months. Although she is too tall to use just the infant carrier part in the car alone.

I have a maxi cosi mobi and besafe izi combi in my car. The maxi cosi is great but is quite long so not suited to all cars. The besafe is quite upright so probably best for older children, maybe 10+ months, but is super comfy looking with lots of padding.

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PestoPenguin · 07/05/2012 16:35

We have a Klippan Kiss for our 2.5 yr old. It's great, and is our 3rd DC for be RF at that age. DC4 will also be kept RF for several years once they arrive in the Summer Smile.

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Flightty · 07/05/2012 16:48

hiya, thanks for this thread...I'm not sure what we should do, as we already have a concord Ultimax for dc3, which is RF till 18 months, and a kiddy Comfort Pro which is like a 3 stage seat, but has an impact shield so I thought it was much safer than normal FF seats?

If anyone can suggest what to do I'd be obliged...can we keep the concord RF for longer? Would it still be safer?

And is our Maxi Cosi with the Easybase thingy any use? That's just till 9mo I think.

Thanks for any suggestions.

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PestoPenguin · 07/05/2012 18:22

With the concorde you need to look at the weight limit. If your DC is still lighter than the weight limit and the top of their head is below the top of the seat then they should still fit regardless of age.

I don't think the impact shields make ff as safe as rf. It is to do with the movement of the child's head and neck during a front-on collision (which are vastly more likely than rear impact ones and more serious usually too).

There's a really good youtube clip, but I can't find it...

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DuelingFanjo · 07/05/2012 18:26

when they bring the price down I will buy one Sad

unfortunately DS has been in a forward facing carseat for many months. I am inclined to agree with ragged. It was only after joining mumsnet that I realised there was so so much to feel guilty about as a parent Sad

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Flightty · 07/05/2012 18:30

Thanks, Pesto - that makes sense, both points. Will keep checking the weight and so on so we can use the Concord as long as possible.

I've only used the kiddy for my 4yo so far, but was going to keep it as a spare for dc3, as you can use it from I think 9 months - but I don't like the idea of the impact shield covering the child almost entirely anyway Smile

I'm glad we can go till 18 months at least unless we have a very fat baby.

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Flightty · 07/05/2012 18:31

I think cars should be designed so that the back seats all face backwards, neatly solving the problem.

And with integrated child securing thingies. Doesn't the Seat Alhambra have built in child restraints?

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bishboschone · 07/05/2012 18:34

Can someone explain to me where the child's legs go in these seats please?

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