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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
When did you turn LO forward-facing?
I know the AAP recommends waiting until they are two now, but I am not sure DD will be comfortable rear facing until then. She is already having to bend her legs in her convertible car seat as they are up against the back of the seat already. I am hoping to wait as long as possible, but thought I would see when others turned their kiddos around.
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Re: When did you turn LO forward-facing?
First of all....OMG, gorgeous photo!!!
I turned DD#2 around at about 18 months. I had just bought a new car, and figured I might as well turn the car seat when re-installing it in the new vehicle.
I felt pretty good about turning her at that point....she's MUCH happier now too!
Thank you. We certainly think she is a cutie! This is one of my favorite photos of her.
We still haven't switched to FF. I fully plan on waiting until 2. Sophia is tall as well and she's just learning to put her legs in a comfortable position.
The video I watched that shows how a baby's head snaps forward (if front facing) in a front end collision has stuck with me.
we just did at 19 months. DS is VERY tall,...36 inches at 18 months and 30lbs but he was reaching the limit of our seat. I asked our ped if we needed to buy another seat for 5 months and she said no. I would have kept him until he was 2 but it was not safe if he was too tall to rear face in teh seat. He is much happier now that he is flipped but he didn't know it any different rear facing. he propped his legs over the side or bent them for many many months!
good luck!
We just did about 2 weeks ago, when she turned 21 months old. She's tiny though (20 lbs) and would've been 100% fine staying RF indefinitely.
I'm sure to be flamed for this.... but we did it because we went on a roadtrip and I wanted her to be able to see the dvd player in the van.
Here it is normal to turn them FF at one, so that's what we did. I was surprised to see on here that the US is two years old for FFing.
FWIW I looove DD FFing, and so does she - much more to look at.
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Not really. It is the law, but not necessarily the norm. I am also in Ontario and DD is still RFing. There has never been a story about legs breaking because they were bent while RFing, but there have been stories of kids being internally decapitated. 4x safer rear-facing was enough for me. I don't understand the bent legs mentatility. As long as your child fits RFing (according to weight limites on the car seat) then they should stay RFing, IMHO. Also, I read somewhere that in Sweden the law is 4 years and they have the lowest rate of auto related child deaths. RFing is known as the "orphan maker" to many paramedics, because in really bad car accidents they are the only ones to survive.
Please don't use the bent legs as a reason to turn your child FFing. They don't know any different, and FFing they won't be sitting with their legs straight out anyway.
We turned them around 19 mos b/c they outgrew the RF height limit for their seats- we have Britax diplomats which are smaller than typical convertibles (and they don't make them anymore) b/c MH couldnt drive w/ the RF convertibles behind the drivers seat.
They never complained or seemed to mind being RF, as many parents will tell you. There are kids who do & who get carsick & stuff though, which is a different story.
We just flipped him last week b/c he was at the pedi & I got an official weight/height...he surpassed the height & weight limit for safe rear facing in our carseat.
& yes, please don't use bent legs and an excuse to turn your child around. Better to have them slightly uncomfortable for a short time & have broken legs in an accident than have a snapped neck...
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DD was 32" tall and 24lbs at her 18month appt, that was 2 months ago. she is still RFing and will stay RFing for as long as i can, she just bends her legs or sits indian style.
i would rather a broken leg than a broken neck or spine.
DD is still rear facing. Since she doesn't seem unhappy rear facing, I would like to try to get as close to 2 as possible before turning her around, but she is a big baby and its getting hard to maneuver her into the rear facing carseat, there is just not enough elbow room. I think by the time she is in a coat, I will need to turn her around, which will be when she is about 20 months old.
I turned DS around when he was 14 months old. As soon as he realized that I was up front and he was int he back, he screamed bloody murder wherever we went. It just was not worth it seeing him trying to twist his body around with his arm outreached toward me, sobbing the whole time.
This for sure, she'll be RF as long as possible in the seat. She sits with her legs bent and it doesn't phase her one bit. Since their tendons and ligaments aren't fully formed they're far more flexible than us and are a lot more comfortable that way than you or I would be.
DD1 was 2.5 years, 32 lbs, and ~39" when we turned her ffing. She outgrew our Marathon's rfing height limit at that point.
DD2 is shorter but a bit heavier than her sister so far. We have a Radian that rear faces to 40 lbs and a True Fit that rear faces to 35 lbs. I'm hoping that she'll make it to closer to 3 years rfing.
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
We will be turning forward facing when she exceeds the weight limit for rear facing, hopefully after she turns 2. Better her be uncomfortable than risk a broken neck.
ETA: I actually think DD2 is more comfortable with her bent legs rear facing than DD1 is with her legs dangling forward facing (DD1 props them on the front seat bent BTW for comfort). But again, it's not about comfort it's about safety....
Still RF in our main trucks but DS out grew the hight limit on the third car seat around 20 months so we turned him FF in the farm truck and he is FF on the tractor this year also but it's safer and it's not like we have any speed in the FF vehicals or much to run into other then hay and cows
DS is 28lbs and 31 inches with long legs. He's RF'ing. He will be RF'ing until he outgrows the seat limit RF'ing. Depending on when that is I will buy another seat so he can RF longer. He doesn't know anything different and he's quite content looking out the window.
& to whoever said you wanted LO to see the DVD player so you turned LO forward. That's a crappy excuse. We moved across the country in Feb and eventhough DS was 10 months so obivously still RF'ing he had a DVD player that he watched with no problems.
This. DS is 18 months, and in the 95 percentile for height. We are leaving him RF until he is at least 2.
This is true for me too.
It's amazing to me how many people switched their LOs to FF for THEIR OWN convenience. Good job, making it less safe for your LO to travel in the car because you couldn't handle their whining/crying, or you "thought" their legs looked cramped, or, well, everyone else was doing it. That's really using your head there.
Sorry if I seem snappy, but I'm very passionate about this issue. I see so many people on Facebook who don't strap their LOs in right or have them FF at 9 months, and it just makes me sick.
DS is very tall, but we won't be switching him until really close to 2.