I just want to add my comments on the car seat thing.
It’s not just the government swapping and changing policies and law etc for no apparent reason.
If you are in a head on collision and the child is rear facing all the child’s body weight gets propelled into the the seat of the car seat pushing the child into it. Whereas when the child is forward facing the child gets thrown forward even just cm until the body hits the straps yet the neck and head continue to travel and it’s at a ridiculous rate. It’s something like 300 times their body weight on their little necks.
don’t quote that figure- I’m rushing to go out and I don’t have time to go through my phone to find the exact figures but I do know it extreme and if you watch child crash test dummies you will keep your child rear facing for as long as possible.
My little one is almost 5 and thankfully a dot and she is still rear facing. Obviously her legs end up crossed but it’s not as bad and squashed as I thought it would be.
I recommend anyone to look in the Ins and outs of car seats. My 11 and 9 year old still have the car seat with the back because we have a very very close family friend who was in a car accident.Their son was 10 at the time and didn’t use any car seat.
It was a side impact and his head hit the door. He is now severely brain damaged. If he had a seat with the back and head protection he would have come away unscathed because the car seat would have taken the majority of the force.
preach over!!