Forward facing? Or wait?

daisydana

I was just on the NJ Dept of Transportation website. The law here (maybe everywhere?) is one year and at least 20 lbs for a carseat to be forward facing. Is the reason that some people wait to turn it from rear facing because it is safer that way?

I ask because not only does my DH want her forward facing in his truck, but my Mom went and got a seat for her car and mistakenly bought one that ONLY faces forward. She is waiting to use it instead of taking it back.

I don't have a problem with keeping it rear facing in my SUV if it's safer. Can someone just tell me the reason/s? TIA.

robynlesley

People wait because it's safer.  I still have Aaron rear-facing in his convertible car seat at 16 months (and close to 27 lb).  I'm trying to keep him rear-facing as long as possible but I honestly don't think I'll make it to age 2.  I have 18 months as goal for now.

 

dkays

I plan on keeping T rear facing as long as possible just because it is safer.  There are some videos online explaining why rear facing is safer. She has no problem with rear facing but she does usually have someone in the back with her for entertainment.   My older daughters were all forward facing before they turned one but that is only because the rear facing recommendations till 2 yrs old were not made yet.

 

Piranha54

The "new" American Academy of Pediatricians recommendation is rear facing until they are 2 years old, not sure if there is a weight associated with it.  They issued this about a year ago, maybe a little longer.  There are huge trauma and state by state motor vehicle crash data that was used as the basis for their recommendations.  I think if you go to aap.org you can search and find the actual recommendation.  Some of the car-seatdata.org (or something like that) sites might also have some additional information as well.  I know these recommendations were patially behind Britax's redesign of their seats to increase the weight limits.  I will keep Ellie rear facing as long as possible - as many know, this is a soap box issue for me, I've worked trauma and currently work at a Children's Hospital and have seen too much.

carladillon

The law is one year, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends to wait until two. We kept her RF in my CR-V, but moved her to FF in DH's Civic since he was cramped. We drive my car 95% of the time when we are all together.

Puckchick07

From Livestrong.com

Backward Until Age 2

The AAP once told parents to leave children in a rear-facing seat until age 1, or around 20 pounds. However, it updated its guidelines in 2009 to state that parents should keep children in a rear-facing position until the age of 2, or until they have reached the maximum weight (often 30 to 35 pounds) allowed in the car seat. The AAP bases the update on statistics showing that toddlers between 12 and 23 months old are five times safer when they ride rear-facing as opposed to forward-facing.

 

LyndaCarter

DD#2 will stay Rear Facing until she's 2. I've seen way too many of those videos demonstrating what can happen with Forward Facing vs. Rear Facing to do it early. We moved DD#1 when she was 20 pounds and the ped said we could. That was before those new reports came out though. I'm just glad we didn't have any bad accidents.

Daisiesinmygarden

M is rear facing and I would keep her that way until I sent her off to college if I could. We got the new Britax Marathon 70 and a big factor in choosing it was the higher rear facing weight. She is 19 months and will stay RF until 2 for sure, then we'll discuss changing her to FF.

Dragonflyer

Finn is still rear facing and still likes it. We went on vacation and he was forward facing in that car but we still have his seat rear facing in my car and it will stay that way until he is out of it weight or height wise.

SFAug07

We'll keep her rear facing as long as possible, probably until she outgrows the height of our Britax Marathon. Weight won't be an issue as she is 23 pounds and it goes up to 65 pounds. I saw some statistics and videos that showed the impact forward facing compared to rear facing. I'd rather her (or us) be a little crammed.

daisydana

Thank you for all the feed back. I have to discuss it with my Mom and DH. We were all under the impression that at a year we would switch her. Now I have to show them the videos I just watched. Um, yeah... she can be BORED a little longer facing the rear, thank you very much.