Turning the Car Seat

Mrs.LLG · November 2010

When did you turn your convertible car seat from rear facing to forward facing - how old was your little one?

raceyrae · November 2010

I had hoped to make it till 2 yrs with Natalie but we turned her at 17 mo. I was spending too much time trying to hand her things, etc. to get her to calm down from being annoyed with being in the car seat that I found it to be an unsafe way to drive. I'm aiming to keep Claire rearfacing till 2 yrs but we'll see how it goes after 18 mo.

lalabee0425 · November 2010

Keira hated the car and I finally turned her at 17/18 months. I probably would have turned her before that if she would have weighed more. She was still just over 20 lbs and I wanted her to weigh more than a few lbs over the minimum FF weight!

Life is SO much easier with her FF. It has saved a lot of car fits. I was planning on keeping her RF until 2, but she had other plans and driving with a screaming kid was no fun.

becki777 · November 2010

We turned Caleb at 15months. We were in FL on vacation and it was SO hot and our car has no rear vents. He was much happier (and cooler) forward facing! I never had a goal of how long I wanted to keep him RF.

Mrs.LLG · November 2010

D has been having some minor meltdowns when it comes to getting in the car seat, not all the time, but more often that I am cool with. He's definitely over 20lbs, he was 23lbs @ 1 year. I'm just wondering if switching him to forward facing would help prevent the melt downs.... I really want to keep him RFing till 2 but I'm not sure that's going to happen for everyone's sanity!!

alchris · November 2010

DD will be 3 tomorrow and she's still RF. There would have had to have been a medical/severe safety reason for me to move her FF before 2 years, and I wanted to keep her RF as long as possible after that. She's still about two years away from the max weight limit and further from the max height limit (since the height limit is the same FFing), but we won't last that long.

dbertagni · November 2010

Jocelyn was also a chub and weighed 23lbs at 12m but we waited until about 17m to turn the seat. We also had several kicking meltdowns (one where she kicked the mirror and cracked it and cut her foot). She has been A LOT happier since FF. I even asked the pedi and he said they suggest turning around 2 but the current guideline is 1 which they are fine with. I was totally comfortable turning her. We also invested in a DVD player and it has saved us!

cate1119 · November 2010

We just turned her yesterday - so she's 19 months and 22 lbs. We planned on keeping her RF until at least 2, but decided to turn her to prevent the meltdowns she's been having lately getting into her carseat.

bobsbride2006 · November 2010

Right about one year. She was 23 pounds and super long. She had no room for her legs! She's much happier FF!

bobsbride2006 · November 2010

FWIW, I work in the ER. As long as kids are properly strapped in to a properly installed car seat, they do really well in an accident. I've not noticed a difference in FF vs RF.

Mrs.LLG · November 2010

bobsbride2006:
FWIW, I work in the ER. As long as kids are properly strapped in to a properly installed car seat, they do really well in an accident. I've not noticed a difference in FF vs RF.

Thanks! I appreciate your input! I'm going to try and wait another couple months and reevaluate the situation but the fight to get into the seat is really getting on my nerves!

crescentmoon99 · November 2010

We also turned him FFing around 18 months. He was a big boy, around 28 lbs by that time, so that made me feel a little better about it, but honestly, he was miserable rear facing. Car rides were miserable for everyone, and it was making me a distracted driver. It was night and day as soon as we switched him. He was happy, which let me be a happy, attentive driver.

There's so much mom guilt on us now for all these decisions, obviously you want to keep your child safe, but you have to weigh all the factors involved. I mean really, we'd all be safer if we just didn't ride in cars at all, you know?

MrsHughesNC · November 2010

18 mos here too.

SpeedGlenn · November 2010

We turned Ben 3wks before his first b-day. We win the bad parents award! He was enormous and was over 20lbs well before he turned one, and like all the other kids, he hated being RF.

QCBride06 · November 2010

I had hoped to wait until 2 years old but ended up turning him in August, he was 20 months. He would have been fine (I think) until 2 but I started watching a 3 year old little girl and I figured if she was forward facing, he'd want to be too; so I bit the bullet.

jenhum · November 2010

Mads is still RFing, but she doesn't seem to mind being in the car other than long trips. My mom just got her a DVD player, so I will see how that goes on our next long trip (over Thanksgiving), and if she is still fussy I'll go ahead and turn her.

If the DVD player works it's magic, I'll probably wait until it gets hot again. We just spend so much of our time driving on the highway, that I just feel better with her RFing (esp since she doesn't mind that much).

starz080 · November 2010

We turned one carseat around 17 months and just never got around the turning the other one around (in DH's car) until 18 months or a little after. I think FF is harder! She doesn't fall the sleep as easily, but then again sometimes it can be easier too. It's easier to see what she's doing, give her stuff she drops, etc. She's been well over 20 lbs for a long time (long before she turned 1). lol.

NatPhoto09 · November 2010

Nicolas was about 17 months. He did not weigh enough until then. He was miserable in the car from 4 months until about 15 months. If he would have been heavier at 1 year I would have flipped him them. He loves the car now and it is his favorite place to sleep. FF has been great for us.

unc00ref · November 2010

I planned to wait until 3 yrs with Brooks, but he reached the seats RF weight limit at 35 pounds so I had to turn FF. We made it to 2.5 years. My goal with Caroline is 2.5 as well. My DH is pushing for turning at 2, but she's still a little smaller - she only weighs 27 now.

JenShea · November 2010

I'm going to keep DS RF until the next baby comes. The carseat he's in won't really fit unless the passenger seat is in the dashboard when it's RF. He'll be 20 mos. old then.

MrsHughesNC · November 2010

I'm glad you asked this question here instead of the 12-24 month board. Big Smile

Mrs.LLG · November 2010

MrsHughesNC:
I'm glad you asked this question here instead of the 12-24 month board.

Would I have been yelled at?

Apparently even here people have very differing opinions....

MrsHughesNC · November 2010

Mrs.LLG:

MrsHughesNC:
I'm glad you asked this question here instead of the 12-24 month board.

Would I have been yelled at?

Apparently even here people have very differing opinions....

LOL.. yeah, probably.

This is definitely a hot topic that everyone has an opinion about, but so many just seem so super judgy over there (about everything though, really!)

nark · November 2010

We just turned her last week.

Well, actually, we just moved her out of her infant seat last week, b/c we're big procrastinators and hadn't bought a new seat yet. Embarrassed

We opted for a 3-in-1 instead of a convertible (got the Graco Nautilus).

She really digs FF and LOVES her new "chair". She used to act like we were so mean for putting her in the car, and yesterday she actually drug me outside to the car and begged to go for a ride. The cup holder is her favorite.

Heels.Fan03 · November 2010

I was planning to wait until at least 2 years, but we turned DS at about 17.5 months. He didn't seem to mind facing backwards (no meltdowns) but he started getting carsick, and the only thing we could attribute it to was RF. Once we turned him, we had no more problems, so I am assuming that is what it was. He does love FF now.

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