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How long did you keep your child rear facing?

I'm just interested really, out of my NCT group we are the only ones who still have baby rear facing (little one is now 16 months). With out fail all the other NCT babies were in their stage one car seats at 9 months. We are luckly disco is a titcher so is still in his pebble but I think the day he has to move is fast approaching

Discos stage 1 car seat is the pearl which is forward facing (we were lucky to have it brought for us and it fits our current base) however H and i are now debating if we hit the savings and get an extended rear facing.

SO just a musing do you think the latest thinking on extended rear facing is publicised well enough? I don't it can be hard to track down and most people we know have been keen to switch little ones out of group 0 ASAP and into forward facing. None of my NCT group had even thought about extended rear facing when they have asked what we are looking at for discos next seat

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  • Aaron was 3 and a bit. Phoebe is still rf at 2.5 for us now its going to be more a case of what seats we can fit with 3 children

  • I'll be following this with interest as E is 15 months and still (just) RF, we do have our FF seat just haven't had chance to fit it yet but I feel a bit reluctant yet unsure why. I'd love to read what others think and any advice, didn't know about extended RF.

  • We kept C rearfacing until he was about 3y9m - we had the Besafe Izi Combi Isofix in both cars for his stage 1 car seat as I really wanted to keep him rearfacing as long as possible, and only changed when MrDD had someone go into the back of his car so had to replace his seat and wasn't worth buying another stage 1 at the time, then 2-3 months later also changed mine for a stage 2.

    I don't know of anyone else IRL who kept their child rearfacing past about 12months

  • Isla was RF up to 14 months in her cabriofix and she was a long baby. We then put her in the pearl
  • I'm intrigued about this. Ben is still RF at 11months as he still fits in the pebble, just tho. I'm hoping to keep him RF for as long as possible, so looking into car seats for the next stage. I watched the video on why to keep them RF and it scared me enough to want to do it for as long as possible.

  • 15 months, then J's head was getting to the top. I tried a couple of rearfacing seats out in my car, including the cybex swively one which was the smallest, but it just didn't fit - I couldn't have my seat in my normal driving position. I couldn't really afford to buy a bigger car for more room, so we went with the pearl instead.

  • Tate was over 3, Rafferty is 21mths and still rearfacing.  I love the look of the new 2way Pearl and would be very tempted if we didn't already have a rearfacing seat.  We have the Brio Zento which is good but heavy and awkward to fit into different cars.

  • Just over 3.5 years for both children. Just changing my youngest this week. We had 2 Besafe Izi Combis and 2 Britax Hi-Ways (imported from Sweden). I have a Mazda 2 and had no problems fitting but I am happy to sit nearish to the steering wheel when driving.

  • I can't understand why people rush to put them in the stage 1 seat.

    I think with some people it's like a race to get yo the next stage with everything- weaning, shoes, car seats.

    Personally I think they grow up far too fast and want to keep them as a baby as long as I can!

    W stayed in her stage 0 rear facing car seat until 14 months. She could have lasted longer height wise but the straps didn't extend enough . I was really sad to change her seat as it was a sign she wasn't a baby anymore!

  • Just over a year. He hated his rear facing car seat as he got bigger. We do a lot of motorway journeys and he would just scream. He's so much happier now he can see us. We didn't rush to swap his car seat by any means. I don't understand anyone last puts their baby forward facing under a year.

  • *prepares to be flamed*

    9 months.

    We are so rarely in the car, and he screams every time RF but it's a bit better when FF. I say screams, what I mean is screams and screams and cries until he is choking on his own saliva, soaking wet hair from his tears and needing to be cuddled for a long time afterwards before he can calm down. I do NOT mean a few crocodile tears.

    We only drive in the suburbs and with London traffic we're rarely even going at 20mph let alone 30, it's very stop/start so we're almost never travelling at speed. We almost always use public transport and only put him in a car when really necessary. We weighed up the very unlikely scenario of a crash vs the absolute certainty of his extreme distress and have made an informed decision. If he was fine in the car, or if we drove more/at higher speeds, we may have made a different decision... but with our circumstances we felt and still feel we have made the right choice for us.

  • My big boy is RF in one car (be safe izi combi ) and he is 2.5 years. He is FF In the other as the car we had at that time couldn't fit the be safe one in it. My little boy is only 13w so still in his 0 seat. No idea what we will do when the time to change comes. Maybe get a new FF for big boy as he will be around 3 by then. I love the be safe one but it does make it a lot less legroom in front. My hubby can only just drive one of our cars at present, although he said that we can move the back seat back a bit (Mazda 5)

  • A is 4 in January and still RF - he will be until we need that seat for R (who is nearly 1 but still quite small so i'd guess a few more months)

  • E has only just about outgrown her cabriofix at 18 months.

    We've got a Joie Stages and will stay rearfacing until around 4years old as it's just so much safer.

  • Isobelle was in her baby seat until she was 18 months as she's not tall & that's when she weighed 20lbs. She's now in an Besafe Izi Combi Isofix X3 Rear Facing & judging by her slow weight gain will be in it till at least 4 years!

  • E is in an Axkid Kidzofix and should be in it until she is 4 at least. She is tall so we bought the seat with the tallest shell on the market. I just couldn't ignore the fact it is so much safer.

  • Luke was 12 months and just over 8kg. we didn't have an infant Rear facing seat as he had lived in hospital until then. When he was ready for discharge we went out and bought a  stage 1 seat Maxi Cosi Priori.  It's one of my little regrets that we never got to carry him out of hospital in a little car seat :(

  • We've just gone RF at 10.5 months as I need to return the pebble and being car seat less for a few weeks isn't an option. Es head was just at the top but we'd have got a good few inches before ears were but our stage 0 was losing tension in the belt. After a mile drive to school last Friday I found E almost out her seat. Both arms out, up on her knees. So it had to go.. whether she'll tolerate RF again when we get the seat back is another question.

  • Just under a year, he has always been big and to be honest he hated the car until we forward faced. I know it's not safest but neither is having a screaming child whilst driving.

  • We have just moved from the cabriofix to an extended rear facing seat, we have the new britax dual fix which swivels and is fab, also have the joie stages for my mums car as she doesnt have isofix.

    For us there is no question that we wouldn't stay rear facing, the child's spine (neck) is so much more protected when rear facing in a collision, my husbands has a trauma induced spinal cord injury so as yu can imagine it is a top priority. we are also the only people we know in real life that have done extended rear facing. The UK law is changing though (in 2016 i think) and all childern will have to stay rear facing til 18 months rather than 9.

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