What is the rule on fwd facing?

MBandBud

I guess the rule probably varies by state and I could look it up, but what is the recommendation?  What are you doing? 

LIAngel

Nicholas RF til right before he turned 2.   Ava will RF til 2 yrs or maybe longer.  However I do plan to FF her when we drive the 15 hours to NY this summer, since I'm sure she won't want to spend all that time looking at the back seat (and so she can watch the DVD player in the car just like Nicholas).   She'll be 16 months old when we drive up.   Then when we get home, I'll RF her again. 

PhillySue

Laws vary by state so that will depend where you live.  The AAP recommend RF until 2 years old vs the original 1 yr old.  We kept K rear facing till 2 1/2.  I think a good rule of thumb is keep them RF as long as they can tolerate it since it is definitely safer.  Katie had no issues RFing that long and she has always been a pretty big kid.  She bent her legs and fit fine.  At 2 1/2 we felt she was big enough to be safely turned forward. 

AuburnBride06

Here;s what the AAP reccommends:

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/on-the-go/Pages/Car-Safety-Seats-Information-for-Families.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR:+No+local+token

 

We are going to keep DS RF as long as his seat will go. He is 18 months now. We have the Graco My Ride 65 which I believe is a 40lb RF limit.

ETA: he is only 22lbs now. 

superned

The actual laws vary state to state.  I think the "20 pounds AND one year" is pretty common.

The AAP's recommendation is to at least two years.

Best practice according to child passenger safety experts is to RF to the height or weight limit of the child's safety seat (whichever comes first).

The two seats that DH and I have are RF to 65 and 70 pounds and 49" and 50", so we could probably RF her until kindergarten.  Unfortunately, RF two big convertible seats in either of of cars will be a challenge because DH is so tall (6'4"), so we will keep her RF until #2 grows out of the infant seat.  My plan right now is to make it to age 3 and then see how it goes.

Your child is the safest they will ever be RF in a properly installed car seat.  Each time you move to the next step, you take a step down in safety, so the safest thing to do is to go through each step (RF, FF 5-pt harness, and booster) to the highest height and weight possible.

MBandBud

Thanks ladies.  DD is 22 mo and still RF.  It's not that big of a deal and I'm pretty sure our seat can withstand her to a high weight - she is only 27lb now.  I suppose I'll leave her that way - but I have to say it would be nice to ff - but not at the risk.  Thanks for reaffirming that I need to keep her RF!

krissyh21

My plan was to follow recommendations of RF until his weight limit. But he is 23 pounds at 2.5 years old and at just about 2 he screamed bloody murder the whole car ride anywhere we went. We flipped it to see if it made a difference, it did and such is life - plans and kids don't always work out the way they should . He is much safer now that I am not distracted by his screams and racing to get to my destination quicker to stop them.

samk213

DS is almost 2 and is still in the center rear facing.  If I had my way, he'd be rear facing forever; however, we have a new baby coming in September and our back seat can only accommodate 2 carseats but it doesn't look like I can do his rear facing behind the passenger, so he will probably have to front face behind the passenger.  My DH has really wanted to turn DS forward facing because it is a hassle getting him in the carseat and he doesn't like it, but I have held firm and told him its safer for DS.  Just google "internal decapitation" and watch the Youtube video and be prepared to cry.  If I can prevent something like that, I will.

kkfeb04

The AAP recommends to age 2.  DS was switched to FFing 3 days after DD was born which was a month ago, so he was 24 1/2 months old.  He was within an inch from the top of his Graco MyRide which an inch from the top is the height limit.  He's a very tall boy though at 37.5".  If it was up to the weight limit only he would be RFing probably to age 5, he's only 27 lbs now.  We waited until DH had to install the infant seat.  We moved DS from the middle and put him behind the passenger seat since with two children, it is easier to put him in first and then put DD in on the other side, I really didn't want her outside the car while I had to sit and get him in nor did I know how I would get him in there FFing, his head was always getting hit by accident when he was RFing trying to get him in the car (I blame that on the huge belly though).  I would prefer to keep him RFing forever (he never complained about it) but there's no way that we could use the front passenger seat with a RFing carseat.

alchris

As long as possible in the height/weight limits of the seat!  It's so much safer.

Age two is the MINIMUM recommended, but much longer is better.  In other words, barring a child throwing up RFing, AT LEAST age two, not just until age two!

CandT

My pedi said the APA reccomends 2 yrs, but our state law is 1yr. We are doing 2 yrs.

skoorbnibor

the recommendation is currently to keep rear facing as long as the child doesnt outgrow the limits on the seat

E was rearfacing until he was 3 

LisaBRM

If it was up to me, Alana would stay rear facing until at least 3.  She doesn't complain about it one bit, and, really, why would she?  She doesn't know anything different.  She folds her legs up and is just fine.  Unfortunately, at 28 months, she is pushing 39 pounds, so, with the rear-facing weight limit at 40 pounds, I'm going to have to flip her any day now.  I keep stalling because I really, really do not want to do it.

UsedToBeGoldie

laws and recommendations are often not the same.

recommended to rear face until 2yo - so you avoid "internal decapitation"... google and you'll find some good info about it- and why it's so important to RF until 2yo.... which will eventually become law in many states.

law is usually 1yo AND 20lbs before turning forward.... I kept DS1 rear facing until 18mo (before the 2yo info was avail)... and the twins were rear facing until the week after they turned 2yo.