Extended rear-facing car seats: Why they are recommended
Choosing an extended rear-facing car seat has it's benefits, here's what to consider
Extended rear-facing car seats are essentially a Group 1 seat that allows your child to remain rear-facing longer than the traditional Group 0+ seat from newborn, which moves on to forward-facing from around 9 months old.
However, with the now popular i-Size newborn seats, children remain in rear-facing until around 15 months, but many extended-rear facing car seats now allow your child to continue traveling rear-facing until the age of four.
Why is rear-facing safer?
Quite simply, your child is more protected in the event of a head-on collision if they are travelling in a rear-facing car seat.
In a forward-facing seat, if the vehicle is in a head-on collision a child will be flung forward and the impact puts pressure on their immature spine, neck, and organs. If the same impact occurs when travelling in a rear-facing seat, their body will be pushed into the seat which will act as a support for their body and better protect their spine, neck, and organs.
In fact, in any type of crash, if a child is rear facing, the seat will improve protection rather than forward-facing which will cause them to fling forward should the brakes be hit suddenly.
Need to know
Extended rear-facing seats are not yet the norm in the UK at this point, meaning they can be harder to research and can mean a hefty price tag as they are more highly engineered. The good news is that several car seat manufacturers are starting to increase their offering, meaning they are gradually becoming more widely available, and prices are slowly coming down.