Rear facing question

salc21

Ok, here's a question to follow up about the previous post Re: Carseat Law... DS is 18 months and still RF, but I am concerned that he is too tall now. His head goes above the back of the car seat and his legs are pretty scrunched. I was going to try and look about the car seat requirements for length this weekend - what if according to the car seat, he should be turned, but he is still under 2 for the law? Obviously, I'd like to keep him RF as long as possible, but if his height is making it unsafe, than I want to do whatever option is safest!

Ragdolls

His legs' being scrunched isn't an issue - but his head should not be clearing the back of the seat.  I think the guideline is that the child's head should be at least an inch below the top of the seat.

I'm curious to know what seat he's using though and/or how tall he is??  DS is about 37 inches already - and very long in the torso - and still well under the top of our seat.

lauranne

What seat are they in?

There are many seats with higher rear facing limits.

The legs being scrunched isn't an issue. They were scrunched in the womb.  They'll be fine !

anonsouthernbell

The my ride 65 has a very tall shell.  My son has always been 90% or higher for height and can still sit RFing in it.  We actually just turned him around 3 weeks ago and he keeps asking to be turned back to RFing.  (Scrunched up legs like pp mentioned is no big deal)

salc21

He is in an Evenflo - can't remember the brand.... I'm going to look more closely today about where his head is and find the manual about height. I'm not sure 100% sure of his height - he has a really long torso. He isn't hitting the top of DH's car seat (Safety 1st)

Maryland Baby

Certain things I just read say the law for 2 yrs is just a recommendation? I have my DD front facing and she's prob 25lbs I really don't think she could comfortably sit rear facing. But now I am panicking i'm breaking the law! I know RF is safest but her legs would be crushed for sure.

anonsouthernbell

Maryland Baby:

Certain things I just read say the law for 2 yrs is just a recommendation? I have my DD front facing and she's prob 25lbs I really don't think she could comfortably sit rear facing. But now I am panicking i'm breaking the law! I know RF is safest but her legs would be crushed for sure.

its safer for them to break a leg than to hurt their neck and spine.  My son who is 40+ in RFs, well RFed until we just switched him about three weeks ago and now he keeps on asking to be switched back to RFing 

melissabender

This is a recommendation not a law, per a Baltimore County police officer I spoke with last week.  It is a recommendation for the safety of your child.  If your child is within the limits of your car seat to rearface than that is going to be safest.  I can not remember which carseat I have off the top of my head but my son reached the rear facing limit before he turned 2.  That is one thing I did not think to research when we bought a convertible carseat.