Are Children Uncomfortable with Bent Legs in a Rear-Facing Car Seat?

This is a question that we hear a lot at Global Baby 'My toddler is rear-facing, but he looks so uncomfortable, is it OK to turn him forward-facing?'. 

 The thing is, our children are comfortable in positions that would be uncomfortable for us. I've been prompted to write this blog post because last night I was bathing my daughters, who are aged 6, and 2. We have a bath in our house, but they prefer to bathe in a flexi bucket each, inside the shower. I noticed how scrunched up their legs were inside their buckets, and I thought 'that really doesn't look comfortable'. I'm sure if there was an adult-sized flexi bucket, I wouldn't like it at all!!

But that's my point. Children are flexible, children are comfortable in positions and places that we wouldn't find comfortable. Children lie on the couch with their bodies at funny angles, they sleep in their cots with their legs sticking out between the bars. 

Some children rear-face until they're five or six years old, at this age they have the language skills to tell us that they're uncomfortable, but it rarely happens.

When it comes to travelling in the car, we know that rear-facing car seats are a lot safer. This is because the majority of car accidents happen at the front of the car, so the child's body will continue to travel towards the front of the car after impact.

A rear-facing seat will support a child’s head, neck and spine, in a way that a forward-facing seat doesn't.

If the child is still within the weight and height limits of their rear facing car seat, and they're not complaining, we recommend to keep them facing backwards. The safety benefits of rear-facing outweigh the perceived comfort benefits of forward facing.

xx

Anita

At Global Baby we have a team of qualified child restraint technicians. We're qualified to install your child's car seat in your car. Installation is free with every seat we sell.