Rear Facing Car Seats

Babies and infants need to be carried in rearward-facing baby seats. This reduces the risk of death or injury in a crash by 90% compared with being unrestrained.

Rearward-facing seats provide greater protection for the baby's head, neck and spine than forward-facing seats. So, it is best to keep your baby in a rearward-facing seat for as long as possible. Only move them to a forward-facing seat once they can sit up unaided and they have exceeded the maximum weight for the seat or they are too tall for the seat, this is usually when the top of the child's head is above the top of the seat. Or, you could consider using a larger (group 1 or group 2) extended rearward-facing seat. Axkid and BeSafe offer extended Rear Facing Car Seats up to 25kg in weight.

Rearward-facing baby seats have an energy absorbing interior, and an integral five point harness (some have a three-point harness) to hold the baby in place snugly. Take time to get your baby comfortably strapped in and to make sure the harness is correctly adjusted. The top of the harness should be about 2cm below your baby's shoulder. It should be quite tight, so that only one or two fingers can fit between the baby's chest and the harness. The harness buckle should not rest over the child's tummy. Clothing can affect how snugly the harness fits, so check it every journey.

If using an i-size seat, keep your baby in the seat, rearward-facing, until they are at least 15 months old.

Rearward-facing seats can be used in the front or rear of the car, but it is safer to put them in the rear. DO NOT put them in the front passenger seat if there is an active passenger airbag.