Rear facing car seat?

lake919 · March 2011

I've heard babies need to rear face until 20 pounds, a year old, two years old, the max weight on the convertible carseat...

What are you planning to do? What have you been told? My 6 month old is almost 20 pounds... and his feet almost touch the seat while rear facing... does that mean he needs to be turned around?

wife1014 · March 2011

NO! You cannot turn your 6 month old to forward facing. I am assuming you are getting the 20 lb limit from the infant seat. After he reaches the weight limit on the infant seat, you need to buy him a convertible seat. These have weights for rear and forward facing. You should keep him rear facing for as long as possible and as close to 2 as possible.

lake919 · March 2011

wife1014:
NO! You cannot turn your 6 month old to forward facing. I am assuming you are getting the 20 lb limit from the infant seat. After he reaches the weight limit on the infant seat, you need to buy him a convertible seat. These have weights for rear and forward facing. You should keep him rear facing for as long as possible and as close to 2 as possible.

That's what I thought. We just bought him a convertible, and are switching. I've just read so many things I didn't know what was what! Thank you!

Nhev · March 2011

Noooo, definitely don't turn him around! Check the weight & height limit on his car seat. You may have to get a new car seat (convertible), but it should still be rear facing. The rule used to be rear facing until 1 year AT LEAST, now it's until age 2, even if they have to bend thei knees. We will change her seat when she is 29 inches, which is the limit on her seat. She will still be rear-facing though. ETA: I was too slow to type, but you get it

Kitiara5512 · March 2011

Its minimum 20 lbs and 1 year (now 2) because some kids are still kinda small and may only be getting up to 20lbs at about 1 year. I plan on keeping him rear facing as long as I can, but since he is already 20lbs, I dont know how long that will be, since I cant find any car seats that rear face past 45 lbs, and I have a feeling he will hit that soon after he turns a year old (unless child growth slows down a lot after 6 months?). We will see what happens. I have a coworker who had to move her kid to front facing at 11 months because he would cry in the car because he was so uncomfortable having his legs bent in the rear facing seat, they were touching the seat back at about 8 months.

tct1219 · March 2011

the official recommendation [for at least the past couple of years that i've known it] is at least 2 years and whatever the height max is for your particular seat. you can buy seats that have higher limits to allow your child to be rear-facing longer.

just because your child's feet touch the seat [or even if the knees are bent] doesn't mean it's safer to turn the seat around. here is a crash test video that shows the difference and why it's so important to keep babies rear-facing as long as possible.

i personally have a recaro convertible seat that goes up to 35 pounds rear-facing and will keep her in it that long. i highly recommend buying from a company that voluntarily posts its crash test results [the US doesn't mandate it] and i like recaro because not only do they do that but they also perform side impact crash tests [also not mandated here].

i also have a combi cocorro which is a good convertible seat for smaller cars. good luck!

Bailey81 · March 2011

You can fold their legs or sit them cross-legged while rear-facing if they haven't aged or weighted out yet. They don't know the difference since they've never stretched out in the car before.

KoalaBear103 · March 2011

He will stay rear facing until 2, if not longer. He's a big boy so he will outgrow his infant seat soon. Then we will switch to convertible.

gimmietimmies · March 2011

Sorry, jumping over from another board. Wife's right, you can't turn him until he's at least 12 months, you'll need a convertible seat. Sigh. Babies only outgrow their seats (for length) when their head is less than one inch from the top of the shell, or exceed the weight for that particular seat. Leg length has nothing to do with it. They can do the "criss cross apple sauce" until they reach the weight limits on their rf convertible seats or their heads near the top.

Check out car-seat.org, the info regarding the changes to car seat recommendations is on the site. The current law in US and Canada is minimum 12 months, and then 20 lb minimum. That will likely change given that the APA has changed their recommendations.

Sorry for not doing an intro before, but posts on car seats are starting to get to me.

aforst · March 2011

We kept DS1 rear facing until he was about 27 months. He had not reached the weight limit yet for rear facing, and I planned to keep him rear facing until he did. However, he became very upset while in the car (he did not do that previously). We turned him around and it solved the problem. If your LO is reaching the weight limit for the infant seat, you need to get them a convertible seat and put them rear facing in that. The weight limit for rear facing on a convertible will be much higher around 40-50lbs. Please don't turn your baby around!

TAMLVSCARL · March 2011

Bailey81:
You can fold their legs or sit them cross-legged while rear-facing if they haven't aged or weighted out yet. They don't know the difference since they've never stretched out in the car before.

I just wanted to say your son is gorgeous! Every time I see his pic I mean to say something!

Bailey81 · March 2011

TAMLVSCARL:
Bailey81:
You can fold their legs or sit them cross-legged while rear-facing if they haven't aged or weighted out yet. They don't know the difference since they've never stretched out in the car before.
I just wanted to say your son is gorgeous! Every time I see his pic I mean to say something!

Thanks! I put the old picture back up to remind myself that yes, he does nap. Sometimes.

redjetta22 · March 2011

DS' infant carrier holds up to 35lb and 32in so I plan to keep him rear facing until then at least, and if he's not 2 yet, we might get a convertible one. I just can't imagine the force of a collision on his little neck if facing forward.

juliane2004 · March 2011

He should not be switched. Even if his legs look "squished", it's better to have a broken leg (rear facing) in an accident rather than break his neck (forward facing).

ETA: DD (17 months) is rearfacing in a convertible seat. She isn't 22 lbs yet, which is the very minimum weight requirement in Canada.

rumdrinx · March 2011

how are things with your husband? are you living together yet?

Mama_SAS · March 2011

Kitiara0364:
Its minimum 20 lbs and 1 year (now 2) because some kids are still kinda small and may only be getting up to 20lbs at about 1 year. I plan on keeping him rear facing as long as I can, but since he is already 20lbs, I dont know how long that will be, since I cant find any car seats that rear face past 45 lbs, and I have a feeling he will hit that soon after he turns a year old (unless child growth slows down a lot after 6 months?). We will see what happens. I have a coworker who had to move her kid to front facing at 11 months because he would cry in the car because he was so uncomfortable having his legs bent in the rear facing seat, they were touching the seat back at about 8 months.

It slows down rapidly after 6 months as your child gets more mobile and starts eating more solids & less breastmilk or formula. My son was born at almost 9 pounds, hit 20 pounds just after 6 months, 25 pounds around a year and now he is almost 5 and 45 pounds.

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