Rear facing child seats are 5 times safer....

[SpeckledJim]

mollytherocker said:

Well, I have decided that rear facing it is. Having researched the subject, I am convinced that on balance, they are far safer. I am buying this for my 18m old daughter.

http://www.mothercare.com/Britax-Max-Fix-Rearward-...

At the end of the day, it comes down to her safety if the worst happens. All the arguments about being uncomfortable, not liking facing rearwards, having to put the passenger far too forward etc etc disappear into irrelavance when you look at what is important.

MTR

Well, that's unarguable, but you haven't swapped your dangerous 18 year old Porsche for a new Volvo V70, have you?

Safety isn't everything.

[mollytherocker]

SpeckledJim said:

Well, that's unarguable, but you haven't swapped your dangerous 18 year old Porsche for a new Volvo V70, have you?

Safety isn't everything.

The seat is not going in my 18 year old car. I am sure you can work that out yourself.

Safety is indeed not everything, we have to live our lives and you may aswell be dead rather than cocoon yourself in dullness and a boring existence.

However, when you can make a proven improvement to your childs safety without hardly any downsides, its a no-brainer.

Also, these will be law eventually up to 4yrs, when we catch up to other countries like Swedeen.

[jamieduff1981]

mollytherocker said:

Well, I have decided that rear facing it is. Having researched the subject, I am convinced that on balance, they are far safer. I am buying this for my 18m old daughter.

http://www.mothercare.com/Britax-Max-Fix-Rearward-...

At the end of the day, it comes down to her safety if the worst happens. All the arguments about being uncomfortable, not liking facing rearwards, having to put the passenger far too forward etc etc disappear into irrelavance when you look at what is important.

MTR

There's nothing wrong with the conclusions nor the facts. Much will depend on the number of passengers carried, how frequently and the type of journeys undertaken though. I arrived at a different answer, by weighting the subjective aspects differently.

I'd rather have a comfortable and contented child in the back who doesn't whine to the point of distracting me into having the crash I bought the child seat to protect her in. Crashing is a fairly rare chance event. I personally put more emphasis on enjoying the non-crashing parts more, but each to their own.

Even still, I hope your purchase works out well for you, and that you never have to rely on the extra safety.

[mollytherocker]

jamieduff1981 said:

There's nothing wrong with the conclusions nor the facts. Much will depend on the number of passengers carried, how frequently and the type of journeys undertaken though. I arrived at a different answer, by weighting the subjective aspects differently.

I'd rather have a comfortable and contented child in the back who doesn't whine to the point of distracting me into having the crash I bought the child seat to protect her in. Crashing is a fairly rare chance event. I personally put more emphasis on enjoying the non-crashing parts more, but each to their own.

Even still, I hope your purchase works out well for you, and that you never have to rely on the extra safety.

Hi Jamie

I considered all of the points you mention. As you say, it is not a simple subject, there are many facets to it and you have to make your own decision.

I have done what I think is safer for my daughter in the majority of circumstances, considering all of the variables.

[jshell]

mollytherocker said:

Well, I have decided that rear facing it is. Having researched the subject, I am convinced that on balance, they are far safer. I am buying this for my 18m old daughter.

http://www.mothercare.com/Britax-Max-Fix-Rearward-...

At the end of the day, it comes down to her safety if the worst happens. All the arguments about being uncomfortable, not liking facing rearwards, having to put the passenger far too forward etc etc disappear into irrelavance when you look at what is important.

MTR

Good choice. We went for: http://www.besafe.com/en/Car-seat-Products/Toddler... Bought one for Norway - mandatory, and one for the UK, just becasue we think it's a great seat. Our little one is nearly 3 and very tall, but kids of that age are so flexible that the bent knees is absolutely no problem - the whole of Scandinavia can't be that wrong! Mirror installed and a DVD player for her to watch and she's very comfortable and safe.

[aizvara]

jamieduff1981 said:

I'd rather have a comfortable and contented child in the back who doesn't whine to the point of distracting me into having the crash I bought the child seat to protect her in. Crashing is a fairly rare chance event. I personally put more emphasis on enjoying the non-crashing parts more, but each to their own.

Do you know that you'd have an uncomfortable and discontented child otherwise, then? The reason I ask is that my son still is happy going backwards in our car at three-and-a-half.

[Foppo]

I understand you safety point of vieuw regarding a child seat.Our granddaughter is 22 months and we take her regulary for a drive or pick her up.Me babysitting.

We have the child seat behind the passenger seat of our car.CP4 Grand Picasso there is plenty of room.

God forbid but in a really bad crash I don't think it makes that much difference
what type of seat a child is in.The child seat has to be secure not wobbling all over the place and the child well strapped in.

[jshell]

Foppo said:

God forbid but in a really bad crash I don't think it makes that much difference
what type of seat a child is in.

Whereas many of us do think the type, make and construction of the child seat does make a big difference - particularly in the event of a larger crash!

[mollytherocker]

Foppo said:

God forbid but in a really bad crash I don't think it makes that much difference

I am afraid that it does. The difference in a front impact (Circa 70% of accidents) is very big. Small children have very weak neck bones and muscles.

[Foppo]

Had a read on some of the continental sites,they are saying that a child is far safer on the backseat than on the front.Different opinions are there any proper test results regarding this.I.E Different cars speed town and motorway driving?

Got me curious now.

[jamieduff1981]

aizvara said:

jamieduff1981 said:

I'd rather have a comfortable and contented child in the back who doesn't whine to the point of distracting me into having the crash I bought the child seat to protect her in. Crashing is a fairly rare chance event. I personally put more emphasis on enjoying the non-crashing parts more, but each to their own.

Do you know that you'd have an uncomfortable and discontented child otherwise, then? The reason I ask is that my son still is happy going backwards in our car at three-and-a-half.

My eldest is about to turn 4 and the youngest about to turn 2. They moaned constantly in the latter months of being rear facing, and travelled much easier as soon as they were faced forwards in new seats.

I am not going to buy a rear facing seat and a long wheelbase XJ to fit them in just to prove what I most strongly suspect would be the outcome - that being that they hated staring at a seat. I also prefer to be able to interact with them (or at least the front passenger) on long journeys rather than just condition them to stare at a DVD player. Even passing them food or drink from the front passenger seat is greatly simplified by not having them facing backwards.

[Bill]

mollytherocker said:

I am afraid that it does. The difference in a front impact (Circa 70% of accidents) is very big. Small children have very weak neck bones and muscles.

Have you got a source for that? Just because it seems very high. I would expect most accidents would be rear Enders (so 50:50 front:rear) but if 70% are front impacts that leaves only 30% for all the rear/side impacts. Unless it means that 70% involve a front impact. IYSWIM...

We went to Sweden when our twins were 2 1/2 and aside from the issues fitting them in the car when SWMBO and I are both 6ft+ and folding the kids up to get them into their seats they were fine with it. The seats did mean I had huge blindspots though, thankfully there's little traffic in Sweden.

[mollytherocker]

You dont need a LWB Jag for a rear facing seat. The Britax fits fine in my wifes Citroen C4.

In terms of facing backwards, my daughter know no different and in any case, its tough!

[mollytherocker]

Bill said:

Have you got a source for that? Just because it seems very high. I would expect most accidents would be rear Enders (so 50:50 front:rear) but if 70% are front impacts that leaves only 30% for all the rear/side impacts. Unless it means that 70% involve a front impact. IYSWIM...

We went to Sweden when our twins were 2 1/2 and aside from the issues fitting them in the car when SWMBO and I are both 6ft+ and folding the kids up to get them into their seats they were fine with it. The seats did mean I had huge blindspots though, thankfully there's little traffic in Sweden.

I got it all from various sources, you can find it quite easily.

I too thought it would be 50/50 but there are many frontal impacts into trees, walls, stationary parked cars etc.

[Bill]

mollytherocker said:

I got it all from various sources, you can find it quite easily.

I too thought it would be 50/50 but there are many frontal impacts into trees, walls, stationary cars etc.

I seem to be worse at googling than you as I can't find anything at all

[DoubleSix]

mollytherocker said:

You dont need a LWB Jag for a rear facing seat. The Britax fits fine in my wifes Citroen C4.

In terms of facing backwards, my daughter know no different and in any case, its tough!

Indeed. My little one doesn't much like having her teeth brushed or washing her face. But guess what? I'm in charge, not her!

[Foppo]

mollytherocker said:

You dont need a LWB Jag for a rear facing seat. The Britax fits fine in my wifes Citroen C4.

In terms of facing backwards, my daughter know no different and in any case, its tough!

I think on this subject we end up going around in circles.As long are you are happy and your daughter is, that is fine by me.

I make sure our granddaughter is as safe as can be on the backseat facing forward.She loves looking out the window and is content.

More important is that I drive safely and not get involved in any crashes.

[jamieduff1981]

mollytherocker said:

You dont need a LWB Jag for a rear facing seat. The Britax fits fine in my wifes Citroen C4.

The rear facing Stage 1 seats touched the back of the passenger seat in our S-Type - a large saloon car. I'm confident a bigger one wouldn't fit without causing positive discomfort to the front passengers. I'm not prepared to wedge the girls in with their knees up by their face for a journey from NE Scotland to SW Wales either.

Each to their own though.

[aizvara]

jamieduff1981 said:

My eldest is about to turn 4 and the youngest about to turn 2. They moaned constantly in the latter months of being rear facing, and travelled much easier as soon as they were faced forwards in new seats.

I am not going to buy a rear facing seat and a long wheelbase XJ to fit them in just to prove what I most strongly suspect would be the outcome - that being that they hated staring at a seat. I also prefer to be able to interact with them (or at least the front passenger) on long journeys rather than just condition them to stare at a DVD player. Even passing them food or drink from the front passenger seat is greatly simplified by not having them facing backwards.

Fine that you don't want a rear facing seat, but I think you exaggerate the problems.

Similarly, my son hated his rear facing baby seat; travelling by car was not fun. It was a maxi cosi something or other. I don't think it was a good fit for him at all.

Since we got him a proper one, he's been fine. He doesn't look at the seat back, he can see out the rear window and side windows easily. We haven't conditioned him to watch DVDs (he's conditioned us to point out big trucks and tractors), and I can talk to him just as well as if he were forward facing. We also don't have an XJ (much as I'd like one), just a small saloon. Plenty of space for the seat and still room for a front passenger.

On long journeys my girlfriend sits in the back with him. When its just me and him in the car, I'd rather he was forward facing and sat right next to me, but that will wait until he's older.

Foppo said:

More important is that I drive safely and not get involved in any crashes.

With my boy in his rear facing seat, I drive like an absolute knob.

[mollytherocker]

Foppo said:

More important is that I drive safely and not get involved in any crashes.

You should be doing that anyway. Its not one or the other and you cant control what other idiots do!