My interest in car seats began more than 30 years ago when we bought our first car and I got seats for my two year-old and his newborn brother. I passed my driving test when they were four and two, and I soon began to notice that child seats in other people's cars weren't always installed safely. Over the years I have helped lots of people fit their seats correctly, but it wasn't until 2012 when my seventh baby was six months old that I found out that there is a much safer way to transport children under six years old in the car.
The advice had always been that as long as a baby weighed at least 9kg and could sit up by themselves, it was safe for them to go in a forward facing car seat. It was only because my youngest baby was so big and already weighed 9kg before he was six months old or could sit up, that I started looking for a car seat that would keep him rear facing for longer. And that's when I discovered extended rear facing.
My first reaction was one of relief that there was finally a safer option available for older babies and young children. But soon I became quite angry and frustrated at the fact that it had taken me 20 years and seven children to find out about this. I would never have used forward facing car seats if I had known then what I know now. There just wasn't enough information available to parents about extended rear facing and its safety benefits. Nor were the seats easy to find in shops.
In 2013 I decided to become a certified Child Passenger Safety Adviser and start selling Swedish rear facing car seats myself, so that I could continue to help people keep their children safe in the car.
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