Curious re: carseat recs

beachbrideinCal

Have you seen the newest recommendations regarding carseats?

https://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/long/30/4/12-a

I didn't know about this when my daughter turned 2 (Apr 25th. '09). Just curious if anyone's doing this or plans to?  Just wondering how it would work. My DD is so tall (ht of the avg 3 1/2 y/o) that it seems like she'd be squished being rear-facing until she turned 2. Just thinking about it because of my son.

 

 

 

NikiGee

I haven't read the recs but know that extended rear facing is best but there's no way it would've worked for us either as dd has always been off the chart for height.

MrsRebecca

I figured we'd keep our kids rear-facing as long as possible according to new recommendations. Then I started hearing from moms that most kids will be too tall around 2 (or less) to sit rear-facing and it's not really realistic for most kids.

So I figure we'll just keep them RF until their legs get too long and then switch them. It's a recommendation but not required so as long as LO is in an appropriate car seat and we're following safety precautions I figure we'll be fine.

casncort

I've seen videos or pictures of 3yo rear facing. They have their legs Indian-style. I had moved my DD forward facing after a year. She was a much happier kid in the car after. When I have #2, I'll probably keep them rear facing longer b/c I'll have DD to entertain them.

kchao

I think it's best to keep them rear-facing as long as possible, but only as long as they are comfortable.  I turned my son around at 18 months because his legs were just too long at that point.  He was happy facing both ways so it was easy to keep him backwards past his first birthday.  I think the most important is to make sure he's backwards at least till 1 year and 20 pounds (per the law), then keep him backwards beyond that as long as he's happy and comfortable (and still fits in the rear-facing limits for the seat).

 

Karen

https://oc.citymommy.com - my favorite site for moms

OCKylie

We had the carseat girl come out to our house and check out car seats -- www.safetyinmotion.org was really helpful - but they said 2 years too and that other countries keep their kids rear-facing until FOUR!  My DH is 6'5" so we'll see how that works out.  They also said it's rec. to keep kids in the back until they are 14!  So they go from backseat to the driver's seat when they get their permit I guess.  LOL!! 

KristelRobin

I would like to go as long as possible, but I'm not sure how it works when their legs get longer.  In the Britax Roundabout and Recaro Como seats, her legs are already touching the seat.  That's not true in the Graco 65, so I might just end up switching seats with my mom to keep DD rear facing longer. . .  We'll see.

brennrobert

There are great pics of older kids (3-4 years) RFing on www.car-seat.org.  I can't remember if they are on the main site or links in the forum.