Hi all.

I wanted to get my LO out of his infant carrier and had previously tried quite an expensive one that was crap so i took it back.

I bought an argos one (nania) yesterday and tried to fit it today but it didnt really look that safe rear facing, and LO's head was slumping forward as the recline wasnt good at all, so i went to halfords who said that they couldnt help me with it as it was not one they were familiar with but did agree it didnt look that safe.

So i was prepared to spend £100 on one in halfords but to my amazement it didnt fit my car (i have a vauxhall astra), he then tried 3 others which didnt fit either as they all had something called buckle crunch which means thta if i had an accident then the buckle would open.

I then decided to turn my one forward facing and it did look much better and LO seemed a whole lot more comfortable that way round. However i am not sure if this has buckle crunch so will go to halfords tommorrow to see if they think it has or not.

My issue really is with this new research that is out about rear facing car seats and that we should leave them rear facing for as long as possible.

With my car it seems quite impossible to have a rear facing one with LO getting bigger.

LO is 9 months next week and is over 19Ib but can sit unaided for more than ten mins and has strong neck muscles.
The guy in halfords told me that as long as he could hold his head up and sit unaided then he would be fine.

What are your views on this dilemma or am i just reading too much into this research.
I personally think he is much better forward facing but just wondered what others thought and also if you know where to go to get the seat checked other than the fore station???? x x

I personally think that if he still fits in his infant seat I would go back to that. I'm all for extended rear facing and here the actual law is they have to be 1yr AND 20lbs before they can be forward facing but it's recommended now to keep them rear facing as long as possible which would be 30-40lbs depending on your carseat...but I am in the US. But still with the research there is showing how much safer it is it goes for all babies even in places it's not yet recommended. I would really keep him in his infant seat if no others fit in your car until the limits of that before putting him forward facing

I had the same problem with my LO and didn't have a clue which car seat to get as there is so many to choose from. In the end we settled with the Maxi Cosi Tobi. Which i must say is brilliant! Was a little bit concerned when we read some of the reviews which said they had some trouble with adjusting the harness, but that was when the seat first came out. The seat now comes with a crumb catcher to solve this problem. I would highly recommend this car seat!

I agree with Mof3 - keep baby rear-facing as long as possible. I think the new research is right. I have a small car and a long tall baby (already 19 lbs at 6mos), so I am sure I'll be in the same dilema as you soon. We have the Britax Diplomat and it seems to still have plenty of room rear-facing. I believe that one was designed for smaller cars.
I found lots of useful reviews and tips at a site called carseats.org (I think that was it?).

I would stay rear facing if possible, its true that its a lot safer. Kathryn outgrew her infant carrier @ 5 months (she's so tall!), we got a big evenflow convertible, luckily it fits rear facing (barely), sure we have to scrunch our legs a bit, but its worth it to us. Can you return the seat you got? If you can maybe keep trying seats untill you find one that fits? Or can you put the front seats up a bit more? Good luck.

My dad has for years been going on about how it is safer to travel rear facing - but he was on about adults as well.

Plus, they can see more as its not rushing past them as fast.

I am not sure how long Emma will be in her ifact seat for as she has grown a lot in the past month and there is about 10cm between her head and the top of the seat.

definately stay rear facing for as long as possible, we have had a maxi cosi priori which went back due to a faulty harness, a britax evolva 123 which also went back due to a faulty harness and now have a maxi cosi tobi which is fab, it fits in almost every car without buckle crunch.

we did also try a renolux 360 which can go forwards or backwards up to 4 years but it didn't fit my car

I had terrible problems getting a seat for my car too due to the dreaded 'buckle crunch' In the end I went for the Concord Ultimax seat which is a bit more expensive but fits rear and forward facing. It fits amazingly well and you can sit baby rear facing until 18months. It also has a recline function that you can use in the rear facing position as well as forward facing.

Maybe worth checking out? I've never seen it in the shops but you can get it online.

Thanks ladies. I have decided to keep him forward facing in our cheapy one. I have looked at the buckle and it is not tight and does not reat on the seat.
The set did not feel safe rear facing and I couldnt see him at all.
He is much more comfortable forward facing, i can see him and the whole thing feels safer to me.
I have worked myself up a about this for far too long now and it keeps coming back to me that me and DF feel alot safer with him facing forward but thankyou for all your adivce x

we had issues with car seaty fitting the vauxhall astra too, Jaymees rear facing seat was fine(a travel systemn one) but at 8 months she is 22 pounds and just to big for, it but we couldn't get a combination one suitable for the two cars so she is now in a forward facing one, not what I wanted but she really didnt fit in her other one and she looks so much more comfortable.
xx