So when did you really turn the carseat around?

Mrs.Ram · October 2010

Be honest, I promise I won't judge! I know we're supposed to wait until she's 2, but I just don't see how that's going to be possible. She's already getting too long to be backward facing. I think she weighs around 23 pounds, so is beyond the minimum, but just barely. I've seen pictures of a two year old who was backward facing, and it looked ridiculous to me.

I'm just curious what others have done...

NowDNAtoo · October 2010

I turned DS around at 14 months. He has always been off the chart tall and he was miserable and making me miserable driving too. Once we did that life was much better.

bh2720 · October 2010

Warner is almost 30lbs and he's 36" tall--he's still rear-facing :-) I need to double check, but I think that the rear-facing weight limit on our seat (Britax Marathon) is 35lbs, so we'll keep him rear-facing until then. I can't think of any good reason to turn him around before then.

ETA: As far as how he fits RF, his legs just bend...it's no big thing. He either crosses his ankles or his knees just bow out on either side. He's perfectly comfortable. Also, we have a mirror attached to the head rest in front of him so he can see the front window and we can see him.

LMH1209 · October 2010

DS will be eighteen months old tomorrow, and he's still rear-facing. He's about 25 lbs. and about 34" (maybe more). As bh said, he just bends his legs (or puts them up on the back seat).

We're planning to keep him rear-facing as long as we can in our Britax Diplomat. He'll hit the height limit before he ever hits the rear-facing weight limit. A child can ride rear-facing in a seat until his head is one inch from the top of the seat. (For the Diplomat, which has a head rest that raises, that's with the head rest in its highest position.)

tobeaTodd · October 2010

We turned DD around at 22.5 months. We were heading out on a very long road trip, and she was pretty miserable in the car. Turning her around right before we took off made it new and exciting, and she was much more pleasant for the many hours we were in the car. She was 26lbs and about 34" at the time. Before we turned her around, she seemed comfortable, but she didn't like that she couldn't see us. She just bent her legs, and I didn't give it another thought.

AgrippaRidesAgain · October 2010

At around 20 months. He was 23 lbs and 32".

SoonToBeMrsDTS · October 2010

We waiting until a couple weeks after 2, he was 27lbs. He started sitting indian style once his legs got too long.

Artslvr · October 2010

We just turned DD #2 about two days ago. She's 20 months. We turned DD #1 around a lot sooner, before the "keep them rear facing until they're two" news hit.

The reason? In our new Honda minivan she is behind the passenger seat, which is "my" seat because DH does most of the driving. My belly is BIG and the only way for me to ride comfortably is to recline my seat ever so slightly. I've had the seat pulled as close to the dash as possible and reclined as much as it would go... but I could go no further with her seat rear facing.

So there's my true confession - she's now forward facing so this pregnant lady can be more comfortable. In four weeks she'd be forward facing anyway when the new baby comes. We made it as long as we could.

smacb · October 2010

14 months

JKM416 · October 2010

DD was rearfacing until she was 2 years 10 months...I'm guessing about 35 inches and 29 pounds. Since she never knew any different, she was perfectly fine with riding backwards. I'm sure that on long car rides, it would've been nice for her to stretch her legs a bit - but those were few and far between. Actually, she was able to read, color, and play with her stuffed animals better while rear-facing because her crossed legs made a lap with more "surface area." Now that she's forward-facing, her feet dangle and look a bit uncomfortable...I end up propping them up with bags and gear (on long trips) so that she can use a lap tray.

rnin02 · October 2010

Around 14 months I think, it worked best for all of us at that time. He was thrilled to be able to see through the front and loves watching my navigation system.

crazyDCbride · October 2010

We've had DD FF twice, both times were when we had her carseat in someone else's car.

Both times, she ralphed all over the place.

So - warning - bring an extra change of clothes when you turn her around. You just might be as lucky as me, blessed with a motion-sickness prone child!

jess08200 · October 2010

I guess I'm the exception and changed DS already.

He was 27lbs and 32" at his 1 year check up and they said that we could switch.

His feet were already hitting the back of the seat, you had to bend them, and he didn't look too comfortable.

kirnat848 · October 2010

My first one we turned around when she was a year, before the rear faxing longer came out. The other two were about 14 months. They are all off the charts long and our doc said it was fine to turn them around.

mesr · October 2010

we actually turned our daughter around at 10 months (she was about 21 pounds). it resulted in much more pleasant car rides and a lot less screaming.

MStason · October 2010

We havent done it yet. DD is 28 pounds and 35 inches tall and has no problem sitting rear facing. She fits fine and seems to be happy like that. I will keep her that way until she is two. She is 17 months now.

JKM416 · October 2010

I wanted to add that it's not purely a height / weight milestone that should be considered. In their first few years, kids' anatomy is still undeveloped, with bones not fully formed / strengthened and connective tissues that are still immature. Also consider the size of their heads compared to the rest of their body - it's very disproportionate compared to older kids. Facing forward means their body isn't cradled in a seat that takes the brunt of the impact...their heads are thrown forward just like an adult's would be. While we'd likely just get bad whiplash, their weaker necks and larger heads makes for a dangerous combination. I'm sure if you googled some combination of "forward facing," "car seat," "anatomy," "physiology," etc., you'd find a better explanation than mine. After reading things like that, it made total sense to me to keep DD rear facing until she was much closer to the car seat's limit.

LMH1209 · October 2010

JKM416:
While we'd likely just get bad whiplash, their weaker necks and larger heads makes for a dangerous combination.

One quite descriptive phrase you often see for what can happen because of the weaker neck muscles of infants and young toddlers is "internal decapitation."

vtkgirl77 · October 2010

DD is 16 months and we aren't planning to turn her around anytime soon. I hope to make it to the 2 year mark but we will see how things go. Right now, she's comfortable and able to bend her legs to fit. She doesn't know anything different and she's a good car rider so hopefully it will stay that way.

vtkgirl77 · October 2010

JKM416:
I wanted to add that it's not purely a height / weight milestone that should be considered. In their first few years, kids' anatomy is still undeveloped, with bones not fully formed / strengthened and connective tissues that are still immature. Also consider the size of their heads compared to the rest of their body - it's very disproportionate compared to older kids. Facing forward means their body isn't cradled in a seat that takes the brunt of the impact...their heads are thrown forward just like an adult's would be. While we'd likely just get bad whiplash, their weaker necks and larger heads makes for a dangerous combination. I'm sure if you googled some combination of "forward facing," "car seat," "anatomy," "physiology," etc., you'd find a better explanation than mine. After reading things like that, it made total sense to me to keep DD rear facing until she was much closer to the car seat's limit.

This video is what convinced me to stay rear-facing. After seeing the crash test dummies, I could really see the importance of having the seat rear facing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvyIv9QVRBE&feature=player_embedded

barkers4jmm · October 2010

DD is 25 months old and still rear-facing. She was 35" and 28 1/2 lbs at her 2 year appt. We'll keep her rear-facing in the mini-van until she reaches the carseat max for rear-facing (35lbs). We'll have to turn her seat in our smaller car to forward facing when we install the base for the infant seat on the passenger side (January) because neither seat fits rear facing behind the driver in that car.

wbl · October 2010

We turned DD around at 14 months, before I knew how dramatically better it was for kids to be rear facing. DDS is 12 months now and I'm hoping to keep him rear facing for as long as possible.

asolare · October 2010

we did it around a year but i really wasn't aware until afterwards about how much better rear facing is. i'll try to keep #2 rear facing for much longer, and it should be easy b/c they'll be facing each other and it will be fun!

tracy042206 · October 2010

We turned Maggie FF around 14 mo for a very long car trip. This was also before I had heard about how much better RF was. Molly is still RF at 18mo and I'd like to keep her that way until 2. I think she is so much happier RF than Maggie ever was because she has Maggie to look at back there.

vtmezzo · October 2010

14 months.

hokies94 · October 2010

We made it to 18 months with DD#1. We would have gone longer but it was summer and we had no vents in the back and she would get really hot with no air blowing on her.

DD#2 and DS were both screamers in the car. They were both turned around on their 1st birthday (both were over 20lbs).

Carifly · October 2010

Penny is 2.5 years old and still happily rear facing. I'm not quite sure how big she is, but I know she isn't at the 40"/35 lb limit yet. She's perfectly happy so I'm not inclined to switch her. if she screamed in the car or anything like that, though, I'd probably do differently at this point.

Of course, she is also still happy in her crib- hasn't once tried to climb out of it and I'm quite happy with her in it until she doesn't want to be there anymore.

So both could have something to do with neither she nor me liking change much

Hey Jellisy · October 2010

DD hates the car, we turned her around at 13 months and she was so much happier. So was I. The screaming makes for more distracted driving and likelihood of accident than any worries about forward facing could. I have no regrets.

CrunchOoEezyMama · October 2010

our DD is 95% for height, she was 36.5 inches at 2 years and she is still rear facing (27 months now). We have a Britax marathon and she still has plenty of room to grow while still rear facing. I'll turn her around when she reaches the weight limit or gets too tall, whichever comes first.

So when did you really turn the carseat around?

Re: So when did you really turn the carseat around?

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