Rear Facing Is Definitely The Way Forward

When the subject of a group 1 car seat for Mini Cheddar came up just under 3 years ago I remember having a discussion with a friend about the news following research on forward facing seats versus rear. It was all over the news about rear facing being so much safer and was the law in Scandinavia.

My little girl had spent almost 9 months looking at the back seat of the car though and the choice of forward facing seats was immense. My friend and I both chose forward facing as we were looking forward to our little girls being able to see us.

Oh how naive we were.

I've always wondered about rear facing seats. Wondered if they were any good, how much leg room children had and if MC would like facing the back seat again. So when I heard that Tots 100 were supporting motors.co.uk in their campaign, along with RoSPA and BeSafe, to raise awareness of rear facing car seats I put ourselves forward to trial a rear facing seat - how could I not after being so intrigued for so long.

Simple click and the
ISOfix button turns green

Following research from motors.co.uk they found that a massive 70% of parents were unaware that Group 1 rear facing car seats even existed. This is so shocking considering that rear facing can be up to 5 times safer than forward facing seats. MC will be out of the Group 1 in a few months so I was looking to see if it was something we could use for Tiny Ched as he'd be none-the-wiser over forward facing for younger children. Cunning, I know.

Put the bar down at
the back and secure

A lot of parents have said that rear facing seats are difficult to fit so we were challenged to watch a video (which can be viewed here) and try and fit the seat according to the instructions. When we initially saw the seat we thought it would be difficult but after watching the video it was super easy and the few simple images on the side of the car seat were fantastic too. I think the video will definitely help those fitting seats with the belts. We were sent the ISOfix version.

Wind the front support

The seat was actually much easier to install than our current forward facing car seat. I have to say we are also mighty impressed with how great the seat looked and how incredibly study and secure it is - again, so much better than our forward facer.

But it wasn't really for us to decide. Mini Cheddar was the ultimate tester.

The verdict?

She absolutely loves it! She actually has a higher seating position so she can see so much better out of the side window and, instead of looking at an obstructed view out of the front window, she gets a whole back window to see out of. Believe it or not she doesn't like going in the forward facing seat that we've now put in my car (Daddy's got the new seat!). She enjoys watching the other cars on the road 'chase' us and will squeal with delight at how much more she can see.

If I'm being honest I thought we may be sending the seat back or passing it on to someone but no, we are definitely keeping it.

We are all rear facing converts.

MC very pleased with her new seat

Even 'dolly' loves it

This is not a sponsored post.  

We were sent a BeSafe iZi Kid ISOfix car seat to review but 

all photographs, words, views and opinions are my own.