Rear Facing Carseats
Can you remember the first time you took your child out in a car? For many parents this will have been the trip home from the hospital. I know I can remember tentatively threading fragile arms through car seat straps and being filled with this overwhelming desire to protect my child.
What happens when your child outgrows their rear facing infant car seat? Most parents progress straight to a forward facing car seat. For many it is seen as a positive step forming part of a series of developmental stages they are keen to tick off.
But did you know that it is 5 times safer for children to be rear facing if they are in a front or off side collision?
5 times.
That’s huge.
The stress placed on the head, neck, spine and internal organs is significantly reduced if a child is in a rear facing car seat.
Linsey set up a Rear Facing facebook page to raise awareness
I was struck by the passion of Linsey Myers who set up a facebook page – Rear Facing – the way forward to raise awareness of the benefits of extended rear facing. On her facebook page she also cuts through the myths & concerns surrounding rear facing, such as ‘my child won’t be comfortable’, ‘where will they put their legs?’, ’my child will be bored’.
There is also a website at www.rearfacing.co.uk run by Helena Atkinson which is jam packed full of useful information.
Extended Rear Facing car seats are available, but they just aren’t as widely promoted as forward facing ones.
There is a change due in the law due in 2013 – no forward facing car seats for children under 15 months.
Interested and want to find out more?
- Join the Rear Facing facebook page which has an actively engaged community sharing information and views
- Sign the motors.co.uk Rear Facing child seats awareness campaign – there is an e-petition here.
- Look at the regulations on child restraint systems from ANEC (European consumer standards)
- You can help by raising awareness. Every tweet and blog post helps – you can link to this one or to the Rear Facing pages.
What do you think of extended rear facing car seats?
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8 Responses to Rear Facing – The Way Forward
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My daughter rear-faced until over 4. When we finally turned her forward facing she begged us to get her a bigger seat to rear-face her longer. She complained about how insecure she felt going up and down hills, how if we hit the brakes she felt like she was going to fly out, how she couldn’t rest her legs on anything, and couldn’t see hardly anything anymore (the front view of a car is less interesting than the rear-view. The rear-view is less obstructed for one thing. For another, you can see all the people’s faces and what they’re doing, and even wave at them and get funny reactions!) Unfortunately, she had to stay forward facing. Once we had the new baby, who sits across from her facing her, that helped. She loves watching her baby sister and little brother. Still, if given a choice, she’d want to rear-face again.
I like rear-facing. It’s safer. But to me it was far more interesting to find out just how much my daughter preferred it.
Hi Emily. Really interesting to hear your experience and that your daughter enjoyed rear facing, which I know is one of the concerns that many parents have when considering rear facing. Thanks for sharing this with us.
[...] it is 5 TIMES SAFER to have your child rear facing. Please look at this blog for some insight: Rear Facing – The Way Forward and also please go to Rear Facing – the way forward for some VERY VERY good facts and links to [...]
Interesting to read that many people have the same questions and concerns surrounding the availability of information on rear facing car seats and the lack of expert advice and support offered by retailers for parents trying to buy a rear facing car seat. This is a good list of retailers here http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/buyersguide.php
This is a really interesting article, I had heard that rear facing seats are popular in other countries but didn’t know about the benefits. Thanks.
Hello Julia. Interesting article. I haven’t seen much on this before and there is some really interesting advice on the facebook page. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Hi, we saw the article about rear facing car seats in the Sunday Times Car section when our daughter was still a baby and we were persuaded. We finally found a London stockist (Baby Nest in Croydon) and tried the two models they had – the Maxi Cosi and the Britax rear facing. We have a Volvo Estate V70 so not a small car and yet to fit the Maxi Cosi version we had to push the front passenger seat so far forward it was rendered unusable so we went for the Britax. The front passenger seat is still quite a way forward but I’m small and can get in. It’s been fine for my daughter but I get so much criticism from my mother saying her legs are cramped up and she doesn’t enjoy the journey as much as when she is in’my car’. We have persevered. The only thing I would say is that out of all her friends she is the only one who is ever car sick. I have taken to sitting in the back with her on long journeys when my husband drives so I am ready with the sick bag now! It may just be coincidence. I hope so because we’re not turning her around yet because I did our research and there are indeed far fewer fatal accidents involving children in Scandinavia because they are all rear facing until 5 (although interestingly my great friend (English) who lives in Stockholm with her two young children but both hers in front facing). It is also harder to see what is going on and harder for me to slip her snacks when I am driving but you can’t get away from the safety factor and that’s what any car seat is supposed to do – protect your child.
Hi Alison – thanks for your comments and interesting to read how you have got on with your rear facing car seat. I feel for your daughter suffering from motion sickness as it is something my son still suffers from age 8! Whether it can be attributed to the rear facing car seat is possible but unlikely. I found this article from the Car Seat Lady discussing motion sickness and rear facing car seats. She cites a study of several hundred children which found identical rates of car sickness for children in rear facing and forward facing car seats – about 2%