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Parenting after 35
Car Seat Question
Our toddler car seat says something like "child must be minumum of 20 lbs, xx inches, and 1 year old". I don't remember the height, but DD is about 1 lb under weight and 1 inch under height...and 10 months old. She is really getting squeezed into her infant seat, she's probably close to the max weight/height for it. So did you all wait until your LO met all of the qualifications before putting them in the bigger rear-facing car seat?? I put her in the bigger one in the house (it has that infant type cushion for around her head too) and she looked like she fit in it much better, but I don't wanna take any chances.
I'm also wondering what to do if she meets 1 or 2 of the standards but not all three. Anyone had a similar experience? We're going to be driving around 12 hours over the Christmas holiday and I'm hoping she meets the standards for the bigger seat by then for her comfort.
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Re: Car Seat Question
Are you sure the 20lb minimum is not just for forward facing? We have a convertable car seat that we bought when she was just a couple months old and used it rear-facing. The minimum for rear-facing was 5 lbs, but I think the forward facing is minimum was 20lbs.
The law in Florida (and may be everywhere) is you can switch to forward facing at 1 year, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting until 2 years. DD turned a year last month and we use forward facing in our small car (that she rarely rides in ) and still have rear facing in my SUV.
Whoo hoo, I looked for probaby the fourth time and finally found a sticker that said Rear facing was 5-35 lbs and 19-36". I'm going to switch them tonight.
So in your little car that your LO is FF in, did you have to make it face the rear for awhile still?? I don't think DD will meet that criteria until after January, so my DH will have to figure out a way to scoot the passenger seat up for a few months to allow her to RF.
I am glad to read that you found out it's fine to put LO in the convertible car seat RF, really it will save your back not carrying the infant car seat and her around.
As for FF, most state laws are RF at 12 mos, but AAP recomends keeping children until 2 yrs. https://www.childrestraintsafety.com/rear-facing.html. We kept DS RF until 18 mos. because he really was noticing what was going on outside the window. Also, we kept bumping his head every time we put him in the car. Otherwise he was still comfortable RF.
Um, I'd try a shorter road trip with her in the convertible seat before you take it on a long trip, you may find she's better off in the infant seat. I bought S the Britax Marathon when he was about 9 months old but every time he tried to nap in it his head fell forward/sideways and got all kinked, and the head support didn't help one bit, I even tried a neck pillow and the infant head support from his infant car seat, nothing worked. So I actually put his infant seat back in the car. He's only got 1/2 inch left between the top of his head and the top of the seat (the seat has a 32 inch height limit) but his legs are fine, not cramped, and he naps great in the infant seat because it supports his head better and is a little more reclined. I will be sad when it's time to put the Britax back in my car, which will probably happen next month, because that means the end of napping in the car!
This is what I was thinking. If she's being squeezed then she's too big. We put DS in his toddler seat at 6 months because he was being squeezed in his infant seat, and he more than met all of the height/weight requirements for RFing in his toddler seat.
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Yeah, there's something wrong with those Britax seats. Adrian takes great naps in his Graco MyRide 65 and his neck and head are supported. But last week when I was in New England I borrowed a Britax from a friend and he was not as comfortable in it. I'm so glad I didn't spend more money for a Britax, in my opinion, the Graco is much more comfortable for little ones.
This cracks me up, that's exactly what I did and poor DD wasn't very happy. I really want her to be safe, but roomwise and cranium-wise, I'm looking forward to her being able to face front in January. Also, it's much easier to adjust the straps on her particular car seat with her facing forward, but for now, she enjoys watching the tailgaters. haha.